Katrina Guests on Sunday Talk Shows

Hurricane Katrina had a monopoly on the Sunday talk shows this morning.

A brief recap:


Meet the Press

Tim Russert had an EXCLUSIVE interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Of course, that EXCLUSIVE aired before CBS' 60 Minutes was able to air its EXCLUSIVE with Nagin.



In my opinion, Russert was way too soft on Nagin. He did confront him on some of his controversial statements, but Russert appeared reluctant to sway from NBC's template that the Katrina anniversary should primarily be a Bush bash-fest.

Russert did address Nagin's most recent publicized questionable comment.

In the upcoming 60 Minutes interview, Nagin said:

"You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed and it's five years later. So let's be fair."

Russert asked how Nagin could refer to the World Trade Center site as a "hole in the ground." He wanted to know if Nagin would apologize for calling the sacred ground a hole.

Nagin tried to justify his statement more than apologize for it.

He said he should have called it an "undeveloped site."

Nagin claimed he was taken out of context. He babbled about the interview with 60 Minutes being done two months ago. He went off on the fact that the interview was supposed to be an exclusive, but then CBS started "running promos," as if his comment was unfairly leaked to the rest of the media as a ratings ploy and to make him look bad.

I fail to see what difference it makes whether the interview was taped this morning or two months ago or whether CBS was reneging on any of its promises to him. That doesn't alter what Nagin said.

Certainly, by appearing with Russert, Nagin decided to chip away at CBS' EXCLUSIVE and make it significantly less exclusive.

Russert prompted Nagin to say that he feels the pain of the 9/11 victims' families. Nagin talked about the relationship between New York and New Orleans, how the cities have supported each other when in crisis. He said that his city has seen death, too.

In short, Nagin suggested that people watch the interview before criticizing his comment. He insinuated that the uproar was CBS' fault.

Although he offered one of those "I'm sorry IF anyone was offended" apologies, Nagin did admit that he could have used a less offensive term, like "undeveloped site."

Russert then turned to another controversial Nagin remark.

At the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, Nagin said:

"[Katrina] exposed the soft underbelly of America as it relates to dealing with race and class. And I, to this day, believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response."

Nagin dodged the inflammatory nature of that statement, too. He claimed he meant that the slow response was because the individuals affected by the hurricane were "poor people."

He called it a class issue, not a race issue.

But then Nagin turned around and said that "race obviously was in play" and that race "definitely had some impact."

Russert failed to get Nagin to clarify.

It was typical Nagin. He claimed to have been misunderstood.

It was typical Russert. He let Nagin have a pass.



FOX News Sunday

The joyous news of the freeing of hostages Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig upstaged the Katrina anniversary on FOX.

Katrina also took a backseat because New Orleans City Council president Oliver Thomas missed his scheduled appearance.

Wallace said that Thomas "overslept" and he had also missed a briefing on Ernesto.

It sounds like local New Orleans government officials are as competent as they were a year ago.

So Katrina stepped aside to allow Senator Joe Biden to have a rather brief segment on FOX. Biden wasn't in the studio. He was speaking from South Carolina, on the presidential campaign trail.

His spot was indistinguishable from his other TV interviews. The hair plugs looked as bad as ever. Same old, same old.

On the freeing of Centanni and Wiig, Biden said that there seems to be "some element" within the "Palestinian lexicon" that wanted them released.

Yeah, well, whatever that means. The Holy Jihad Brigades aren't good guys.

Chris Wallace then shifted to Iraq. When he pointed out that violence in Iraq was down in August, Biden responded, "I don't think there's any reasonable prospect for things to work in Iraq."

He complained that there were no jobs for young Iraqi men.

Biden brushed off the lessening violence. He said, "This is a momentary decrease in the sectarian violence in the region."

He believes that there's "no reasonable prospect for the insurgency to end."

Wallace wanted to know, given that Iran unveiled a new reactor yesterday and Russians were backing off their promise to push for sanctions, how Biden would handle Iran.

The Biden plan: "Continue to push to see if we can hold the sanctions together."

He called it a "test for the UN" and suggested that we develop a policy of containment.

What a leader!

In conclusion, Wallace asked whether a northeast liberal like Biden had a chance in the south against a candidate like John Edwards.

Biden replied by rattling off a string of absurdities. He claimed that his state, Delaware, isn't a northeast liberal state.

Huh?

He said that his state was a "slave state."

WHAT?

He said that his state is a "border state" and it has the eighth largest black population in the country.

Because Delaware was a "slave state" that means that people in the South will be receptive to a Biden candidacy?

Unbelievable.

It was inane Biden at his best.



This Week

Over on ABC with George Stephanopoulos, Former FEMA chief Michael Brown was the whiny guest of honor.

I didn't watch it.



Face the Nation

Bob Schieffer interviewed Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

Prior to that segment, Harry Smith was reporting from New Orleans, standing in front of a pile of debris.

Smith said that if there's any lesson to be learned from Katrina it's that "you're on your own." He pondered the question, "Who in your right mind" would rely on the government to assist in a disaster?

Barbour countered Smith's doom and gloom by saying, "Most of our state is way past the recovery stage." He said, "We're into rebuilding."

Barbour acknowledged, "We've got a lot to do, but we're much further along [than New Orleans].

Naturally, Schieffer didn't want to hear that. He tried to inject some charges of sinister activity into the mix by pointing out that seven casinos are ready to open but some people are still out of their homes.

Barbour called attention to the fact that getting those casinos up and running meant people had jobs.

From the portion I watched, which was very brief, Schieffer looked foolish.


In sum, this is just the beginning of Katrina-fest. The anniversary of Hurricane Katrina will be a media obsession for at least the next week, and an opportunity to cast the Bush administration in a negative light.

And to add to the drama, as if scripted by Aaron Sorkin, Ernesto is making his way toward the Gulf.