CNN to Launch Political Game Show?

According to sources, CNN is preparing a possible Jeopardy-styled game show to air on the cable network. Contestants would be quizzed on presidential politics and Anderson Cooper is slated to host.

I just have to say this. If a cable news channel (take your pick as to which one–CNN, MSNBC, FOX) hosted a game show, how would that be different from normal coverage? The newscasts themselves, not to mention they events they purport to cover, already bear all the marks of pure entertainment. Dramatic music. Pauses for effect. Flashing graphics. Nifty trips for the winning contestant–at taxpayer expense, no less. The only things missing are consolation prizes for the losers. Oops. Check that. We do have the vice presidency, talk shows, and book tours for those who fail in their quest.

Iran Heats Up

Iran is not going away. During his State of the Union Address, President Obama repeatedly congratulated himself for what he portrayed as his foreign policy successes, including a reduction of forces in Iraq and a winnowing of Guantanamo Bay detainees. More pointedly, the President believes he has made progress in his negotiations meant to induce Iran to cease and desist its nuclear weapons program. The President even declared he would veto any congressional effort to sanction Iran, regardless of the nation’s compliance, or lack of compliance, with negotiated deadlines.

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) disagrees. “There’s a serious threat that exists in the world and the president last night kind of papered over it,”Boehner said at a press conference Wednesday morning. To further thumb his nose at the President’s threat, Boehner revealed that he has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress about the Iranian threat. Brendan Bordelon, at National Review Online, has the story.

While one might expect that Republicans would tweak the president over the issue, some of Obama’s fellow Democrats are less than impressed with the White House’s rhetoric on Iran. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the highest ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the following in a committee session:

“I have to be honest with you: The more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran…It feeds to the Iranian narrative of victimization when they are the ones with original sin.”

D.O.J. Not to Charge Wilson in Ferguson Shooting

Many expected the final shoe to drop on Darren Wilson to be the Department of Justice charging the Ferguson, MO police officer with civil rights violations for his shooting of Michael Brown. The shooting and a grand jury’s decision not to indict Wilson sparked protests that often turned violent.

The New York Times‘ Matt Apuzzo and Michael S. Schmidt note that the decision not to charge Wilson is still incomplete since it is the recommended course of action by D.O.J. lawyers who have investigated the case. Attorney General Eric Holder could override that recommendation, but that would be unusual and is unexpected.

If this happens, how will those critical of the grand jury process in Ferguson respond? Granted, the charges are different, but the facts are the same. Will this vindicate the overall justice system, at least as it related to Brown’s death? Those who claim racism distorted the prosecution in Ferguson will find it hard to make the same argument against Holder and Obama if they decline to move ahead.

Abortion and “Black Lives Matter”

Ken Blackwell, former Treasurer and Secretary of State of Ohio, has a sharp critique of the movement that is protesting police violence against African-Americans. He notes sardonically that those concerned with lives lost at the hands of law enforcement should at least consider the staggering abortion rates within the African-American community. According to his data, roughly 36% of all abortions in America involve African-Americans, while the population at large is nearly 13%, so they are disproportionately represented compared to other populations.

While there are clear differences between police violence and abortion, one is obviously legal and tragic while the other is tragic and legally ambiguous in many circumstances, the numbers are too large to ignore. In 2010, more than 138,000 African-Americans were aborted.