"SOMEBODY NEEDS TO HOSE YOU DOWN"

That's the quote of the morning: "Somebody needs to hose you down."

Brit Hume said that to Juan Williams during a discussion regarding the indictment of Scooter Libby.

His quote could have been directed to each of the libs appearing on the Sunday talk shows that were gleefully characterizing the Bush presidency as dead.

On FOX News Sunday, Chris Dodd was giggling with excitement.

Harry Reid, on ABC's This Week, pulled off a better performance than Dodd. He managed to put on a sad face. Reid grimly stated what a mess the country is in, running through a litany of "disasters" embroiling the nation.

Referring to the Bush administration, Reid said, "I've been in public life a long time. I've never been so disappointed...dejected."

I'd like to ask Reid if he felt a tiny bit of disappointment when PRESIDENT Bill Clinton was forced to admit that he lied under oath, lied to his cabinet, lied to members of the Democrat Party, and lied to the American people about perjuring himself and obstructing justice.

Behind the grave expression, Reid was reveling in the opportunity that Stephanapolous gave him to bash Republicans.

Also on ABC's This Week was Time reporter Matt Cooper. He was a participant during the roundtable segment. As a witness in the case, Cooper is not bound to secrecy. He can say whatever he wants. However, Cooper can't claim to have anything resembling journalistic objectivity when discussing the matter.

The same goes for Tim Russert. He's in the middle of the case against Libby. Due to that fact, I believe Russert should recuse himself as host of Meet the Press until the case is resolved.

Wishful thinking, I know.
Transcript

Russert displayed that he was incapable of acting as a fair moderator when the subject is Scooter Libby. His choice of quotes, his highlighting of certain sections of the indictment, not to mention his creepy grin and equally creepy twinkling eyes, showed that he should not be allowed to be part of any debate on the case.

Sure, William Safire and David Brooks brought some balance to the discussion, but not enough in my opinion.

NBC looks terribly biased by having Russert in charge of a program dealing with a matter that involves him intimately. I suppose that's precisely why NBC could not care less that there is a conflict of interest when Russert participates in reports on Libby.

All the shows touched on Miers withdrawing her nomination for Supreme Court justice.

On Meet the Press, Russert pulled up a quote from former Senator John Danforth.

Senator Danforth said this the other day. "I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right ... I don't think this is a permanent condition, but I this has happened and that it's divisive for the country."

How does President Bush embrace that base, provide a Supreme Court nominee acceptable to that base, and still appeal to swing independent voters and moderate Democrats?
Russert singled out the "Christian" Right as forcing Miers to step aside, as well as controlling the Bush administration's agenda.

If I recall correctly, and I do, the Christian Right did not oppose Miers. Among the very loud opposition voices were Bill Kristol, Mark Levin, the Wall Street Journal, George Will, Robert Bork, and Ann Coulter, to name a few.

When did these people become members of the Christian Right? Apparently, some converted to Christianity while I wasn't paying attention.

FOX ran a funny string of clips showing Dems echoing the same talking point last week. They all made reference to the radical, far Right.

When will the Dems learn that they just can't repeat the talking points that are circulated? They have to vary them at least a little bit or they come off as suffering from the Parrot Flu.

Watching Meet the Press, I caught two commercials promoting upcoming NBC shows. One was for tonight's Dateline. NBC has decided to give the distinguished, credible Joe Wilson a forum.

If this interview is anything like Jamie Gangel's EXCLUSIVE back in July, it will be a disgrace. In Gangel's interview, I got the feeling that she was Wilson's PR agent. She provided a forum for him to perpetuate his lies and spin without a single challenge to his "inconsistencies."

I can only imagine what tonight's interview will be like.

The other promo was for the low-rated Hardball with Chris Matthews. The bit teased, "Is this the tip of the iceberg?"

Despite Patrick Fitzgerald's caution to not exaggerate Libby's indictment and read meaning into it that is not there, Matthews and NBC are trying to turn the charges against Libby into Watergate.

The libs need to get a grip.

As Brit Hume suggested:

HOSE THEM DOWN.