Sunday Morning Punditry

I couldn't wait for this last football season to end. The NFL essentially stole my husband, who on Sunday mornings would turn the living room into his weird little war room, one T.V. tuned to whatever game was on, the other hooked up to the GameCube so he could play Madden while watching the game, and the laptop open with stats websites on screen. On top of all that, I was getting really creeped out by the Patriots' unnerving perfection. I'm pretty sure they are actual robots. Or cyborgs. Whatever. It's not cool. What really upset me, though, was the loss of my favorite weekend activity. Sunday morning political punditry.

Now that the whole NFL shebang is wrapped up, I could not possibly be more stoked. My weekend routine has been restored, and because it is the craziest election year evvaaaahhh (!!!!) every Sunday is like Christmas. Here's how it goes:
9am- This Week with George Stephanopoulos



I'm glad this guy kicks it off because his show is the easiest to handle. He's no hardship on the eyes, there's usually a minimum of shouting at his round table, and he shows clips of jokes from The Daily Show every week (among others, but I don't have cable so this is my only regular exposure to Jon Stewart). This way, Landon and I can focus on arguing over who is going to make the coffee (an argument I almost always lose) so that we are sufficiently caffeinated to deal with the more taxing programs.

10am- Meet The Press with Tim Russert

God, I love Tim Russert so much. Last Sunday, Nader came on the show to announce his candidacy and it was pretty clear that Russert only allowed this so he could be the first to publicly and politely ask him what the fuck was wrong with him. In different words of course, but the sentiment was the same. When they went to commercial, Russert wouldn't even look at him.

Another reason I love this show is the frequent inclusion of David Gregory (on whom I have a crush that even I don't understand) in the round table.



And because it's an election year, we shall soon see the return of Russert's white board, something I've been looking forward to since 2004!!



I love it!! Almost as much as I love...

11am- The McLaughlin Group

From the moment John McLaughlin barks "Issue One!!" at the shows' opening, to when he gives his often absurd prediction at shows' close, I am giddy as a school girl. A really, really dorky school girl. Some of my favorite things:

1. McLaughlin and Pat Buchanan have been working together since the Nixon years and it shows. The buddyhood between those two is palpable, and as you may know, buddyhood is one of my absolute favorite things in the whole world. Never in a million years did I think I would enjoy anything involving Pat Buchanan, but such is the power of The McLaughlin Group.

2. Clarence Page looks like a turtle, and I love it when people look like turtles.


3. Making fun of Monica Crowley (newest addition to the group, replacing Tony Blankley) and her sartorial choices. One week she showed up in prairie garb, allowing for a half hour's worth of Sarah, Plain and Tall and Deadwood jokes. The next week, she appeared to be rocking some sort of Melanie Griffith in Working Girl look. I'm pretty sure The McLaughlin Group set doesn't have the budget for a wardrobe person. Or a mirror. In all fairness, though, this is what she looks like on a good day:


Not bad, I guess. Anything's better than Tony Blankley. That guy is a motherfucker.

4. The aforementioned predictions. My all-time favorite is the time McLaughlin ended the show crowing, "Liquor is BACK!! Byyyyye-Bye!!!"