"Haunted. On fire. On the wings that we create."
I watched some of CBS News' Sunday morning show. It was way better than I expected.
This week’s soundtrack: Chelsea Wolfe - “Dusk”
I was in a waiting room on Sunday morning while Face the Nation was on the TVs. I am not a regular viewer of Sunday morning political programming; there used to be a common thought that such shows – Meet the Press, specifically – had some finger on the pulse of the political world. I don’t think that’s the case anymore, though my viewing of Face the Nation was better than I thought it was going to be. Not great, per se, but not bad at all.
It speaks fairly clearly (and negatively) about my feelings regarding TV news that I was pleasantly surprised by such a feckless show. The bits I saw – the back half, basically – was something out of a marginally edgy Lincoln Project project endeavor. That’s definitely damning, insomuch as the political environment needs a lot more than some Republicans mad at Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz. While I was watching, Face the Nation showed an interview with Lindsey Graham about the passing of Dianne Feinstein, an interview with former Defense Department chief Mark Esper and a joint interview with the Problem Solvers caucus leadership (Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Brian Fitzpatrick). I watched the full episode today, which means I also saw the opening segment with the main character of the past week: Embattled Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
As such, the theme of the non-McCarthy bits of the show seemed to be “bipartisanship über alles.” Graham’s eulogizing of Feinstein – a fairly conservative member of the Democratic party, though that owes as much to her hanging around a while and the party moving as anything – was mostly about her ability to work with Republicans. This, of course, was part of the fairly widespread criticism of Feinstein during the later stages of her life and, of course, her death.
(One of the first things I ever had to do in real journalism was to write obituaries at the Columbia Missourian, though mostly for non-public figures. I’m mas o menos on the idea that we should write hagiographies of people like Feinstein when they pass; Jimmy Carter is getting a living funeral now of laudatory commentary – Face the Nation ran a segment about his 99th birthday and everyone seemed to love the guy! The same guy who was hated most of my life! – and Feinstein got the opposite. The Dark Knight quote is fairly accurate to Feinstein; if she left office 15 years ago, she’d simply be a feminist trailblazer. Instead, the broaders picture of her life is now in focus, which is fine. She is both a feminist trailblazer and a sometimes dangerous centrist. A woman who held on too long and someone who represented her state/city very well. A laudable public servant and an out-of-touch Senator. That’s how 90 years works.)
Similarly, having the Problem Solvers caucus leaders on the show to talk about the most recent shutdown game of chicken in Congress, is a wonderful idea that is out of the 1990s or 2000s. The Problem Solvers caucus itself is a relic. This shutdown mess (just as it is each time it has happened since 2013) is fairly indicative of a broken political system that is asymmetric in its approach to power, nihilism and governance. The things that Gottheimer and Fitzpatrick (and Graham, in eulogizing his colleague Feinstein) espouse – solving problems, finding common ground, etc. – are theoretically wonderful, but they do not exist in our current reality.
For one, this particular fight over funding the government doesn’t have a ton of common ground. If the Freedom Caucus doesn’t want to send money to Ukraine, there isn’t common ground with the other members who do. If that same group wants to oust McCarthy, there’s no common ground with people who don’t. McCarthy talked a lot about “securing the border” when he spoke to Brennan; vagueness of such a statement aside, it’s a seemingly strongly-held belief to which there is no halfway.
The middle ground approach – as the Problem Solvers fancy themselves – is not an option for many people and it’s not really available for most members of Congress. Most people want common ground, but that common ground is increasingly difficult to find.
(Rightfully, I’d say. If you have a position that is deeply-rooted and are going against something you consider absolutely unacceptable , a halfway version is not OK. For example, there is no middle ground to “let’s electrocute gay people to make them straight” . I don’t find an acceptable middle ground to my own position of “do not electrocute gay people.” The “electrocute half of the gay people” middle ground is, quite frankly, unacceptable.)
All of this is to say that Face the Nation is hardly something I think is serving the U.S. viewership perfectly, especially considering our current political climate. It exists in a world that’s fairly outdated and it exists for a viewership who doesn’t feel the very real consequences of the centrist policies it seems to softly endorse.
All of that said, I was very impressed by host Margaret Brennan. During the Graham interview, she pointed out the strongest division points between him and Feinstein (abortion, mostly) and had him on his heels regarding his abortion restricting bill. During her interview with Esper, she was bulldogish in her pressing him about GOP presidential contenders, Esper’s former boss and the state of the GOP regarding Ukrainian aid being taken out of the government funding bill. During the Problem Solvers segment, she continually pressed Fitzpatrick on the Freedom Caucus’ want to oust McCarthy. She didn’t take the avoidance answers well and pressed on questions in ways that others often (Chuck Todd is terrible, for example) do not. At points, she treated Congress’ inability to fund the government as anyone should: Frustrated, exasperated and blaming of those at fault (the Freedom Caucus). She didn’t try and “both sides” it, she just pressed on about the GOP caucus tantrums.
She’s a pro, even if I don’t exact love the way her show is booked (she also interviewed Kathy Hochul for a segment) or presented. Like I said, the show exists in Joe Biden’s demented nostalgia world (nice people – white men, mostly – reaching across the aisle because of decency and governing… things that don’t really exist) of the rose-colored past. But, it’s worthwhile to ask questions like “why can’t Congress fund the government?” or “why is the Speaker facing a mutiny?” or “what does the GOP do when it has the House?”
The answers matter, even if a functioning government shouldn’t have to ask those questions.
I don’t follow these sort of developments in the same way that I did during my previous job. I put together a story at my new gig that was outdated about 36 hours after it posted (though, it’ll probably be worthwhile to read when the CR runs out in November). But, it speaks to something I was constantly ranting about at said previous job: Congress is not doing its constitutional duty in funding the government and it’s mostly the fault of the Republican caucus. Brennan understands that.
During the McCarthy interview, she dove right into the fray by asking about the Gaetz plot to oust him. She had him on his heels the entire 10-minute segment, fact-checking him in real time him when he said inaccurate things and enduring his condescension of “did you watch the floor debate?” questions. When McCarthy tried to blame it all on the Senate, she didn’t back down and asked if he could deliver a budget bill (for his part, McCarthy got out of that by blaming the Senate over and over and he filibustered out of her Trump questions and she ran out of time).
These are the big parts of how Brennan impressed me. At one point, Fitzpatrick tried to paint the Squad as similarly extremist as the Freedom Caucus trying to get rid of McCarthy and Brennan didn’t take the bait. It’s easy to see our parties’ extremes as symmetrical, but they are not. At all. During the previous Congress, the most critical members of the Democratic caucus against Nancy Pelosi were all around the spectrum; from centrists like Abigail Spanberger to progressives like Cori Bush. In the GOP, it’s just the Freedom Caucus, which is, in fact, one side of the spectrum.
The Squad is not extremist, nor is it anti-authority. The members are progressive, for sure, but they are not nihilistic nor do they stomp their feet when they don’t get their way. The two parties, in many ways but especially this way, are not the same.
I don’t know if Brennan knows or cares about this, but she clearly kept her eyes on the prize: A small group of GOP caucus members are trying to burn it all down and her job was to find out why (and why McCarthy can’t control his caucus). This has nothing to do with the Democrats and, though she didn’t say that, it was clearly the undercurrent of the entire show. That, in and of itself, is impressive.
Programming Update
I am sorry for missing last week. The fall holiday season is tough for me (last Monday was Yom Kippur and we’s smack in the middle of Succot right now) and my job had our big Health IT Summit during the days of repentance between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. I did some awards hosting at the summit and some panel moderation.
Anyway, sorry for missing a week. I hope it won’t happen again soon.
Lulu Update
I went on a work retreat last week in Virginia, which meant that Lulu had to be boarded at the pet resort I send her. That also means that I get a posed photo of her and a report card of her time spent there. It is exceptionally stupid and I love it more than anything.