As the Democrats enter from stage left, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld exits stage right. While Rumsfeld’s ouster has been cheered by commentators of all political stripes, he will perhaps be missed most by some of his greatest antagonists. Brooke speaks with CNN Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre about Rummy’s reign as media darling.
As the so-called tsunami of Democratic victory crashed over congressional districts from East to West on Tuesday, it slowly became clear that Senate control could very well be changing hands by sunrise as well. NPR’s Mike Pesca watched the returns from the HQ of Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, the challenger in one of the tightest Senate races. He tells Brooke how it all went down.
Democrats weren’t the only ones crowing about the election results. Sighs of relief could also be heard from certain conservative commentators, Rush Limbaugh included. Brooke talks to (paleo) conservative activist Richard Viguerie about why the congressional shift is a victory for right-wing media.
If the election really was a referendum on the war in Iraq, it’s hardly surprising that Iraqis themselves, and Arabs throughout the Middle East, would be paying attention to the outcome. But there’s attention… and then there’s close attention. Brooke speaks with Middle East media watcher Marc Lynch about the Arab media coverage of this week’s news.
In the course of performing her civic duty this week, Brooke had a little mishap. She promptly took to the airwaves to recount the story, but in doing so, inadvertently let slip the recipient of her vote. In some newsrooms, the slip would have been considered a mark against her journalistic credibility. But is it really? Two years ago, Brooke put the question to an array of (objective) sources, and compiled this report.
When a male prostitute outed evangelical leader Ted Haggard last week, the media were suddenly faced with a he said-he said scenario. And so they turned to their favorite arbiter of truth: the polygraph machine. Despite its track record, nothing offers the promise of impartial, mechanical justice like the lie-detector. Brooke talks with UCLA law professor Jennifer Mnookin about the persistent popularity of the polygraph.
