EmailHow does Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan really feel about "demon sheep"? And has the Tea Party gained momentum after Sarah Palin's speech last night calling it the "future of politics in America"?
Plenty was covered during expanded "This Week" roundtable this morning. Joining me today was George Will, Bloomberg's Al Hunt, Peggy Noonan, Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post, and John Podesta of the Center for American Progress. Here’s some highlights and watch the full roundtable video HERE.
"This Week" Roundtable Takes on the Economy
The Roundtable this morning reacted to my interview with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on reason for banks being cautious on taking risk and borrowing money, despite signs of a recovering economy.
WILL: “[Banks] know that interest rates eventually are going to go up. They can't go down. They're zero now. So any increase in interest rates is going to be adverse.”
PODESTA: “It seems to me that if — the other thing we absolutely know is that if we return to the policies that got into this mess, it's going to produce the same result.”
MARCUS: “It is going to be a long slog out of this, and it's not at all clear that it's going to be a steady uphill climb. “
NOONAN: “I think people who might otherwise be hiring or taking on new help or expanding are feeling nervous. I think they're feeling nervous in part because every time the administration speaks about economic issues, what they say doesn't sound true. It sounds like some kind of mix between "rah-rah" and gobbledygook.”
Watch Video HERE:
To Mirandize or Not? The “This Week” Roundtable Weighs In…
The Roundtable this morning mostly agreed that the interrogation of the Christmas Day Bomber was mishandled by the Obama Administration. But, Podesta didn’t find fault with the White House and thinks Republicans owe the FBI an apology.
WILL: “The point of counterterrorism is not to prosecute successfully terrorists; it's to prevent terrorists from committing their acts in the first place. It is prevention, not prosecution. And this looked like just another way of saying, "We're not George Bush," which isn't the point.”
MARCUS: “Whether he's tried in a criminal court or in a military commission, he's still going to be invested with all sorts of rights that apparently Sarah Palin's not comfortable with.”
PODESTA: if all those politicians stopped attacking the FBI. Mitch McConnell likened the FBI to a Larry King interview. Maybe if they'd stop with the politics… I think he owes the FBI an apology.”
Watch Video HERE:
Roundtable Talks Tea Party and Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin’s keynote address at the first ever National Tea Party Convention last night had the Tea Partiers yelling “Run, Sarah, run”. Palin called the conservative movement the “future of politics in America.” Will the Tea Party be a plus for the GOP or will it leave them with a hangover? Here’s some highlights of what the roundtable thinks of Palin’s speech:
NOONAN: “tell you, it's almost odd what struck me. The Tea Party movement itself has to decide if it is a movement, in which case it will probably become part of a broad Republican coalition, or if it is going to be a third party.”
MARCUS: “I'm not really sure that having it be a movement that's part of the Republican Party would be good news for the Republicans.”
PODESTA: I think, actually, in the end of the day, it's going to be a problem for the Republican Party. And — and I think Governor Palin could be a problem for the Republican Party.
HUNT: “HUNT: The Tea Party movement will clearly help Republicans this year, because they're an insurgent party this year. They create energy out there.“
Watch Video HERE:
Demon Sheep – like a “nervous breakdown”
This week, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina, released a web-ad for the Senate for the Republican nomination against former Republican Congressman Tom Campbell, where she labels him a “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” But the quirky so-called “Demon Sheep” ad is making quite a stir that Republicans are now running to the right for the mantle of fiscal conservative.
TAPPER: Do you want to get in on that action?
NOONAN: That — I've watched that thing three times. It is –I'm fascinated by it. It is less like a political advertisement than it is like a nervous breakdown. It is crazy. Its text doesn't follow its art, if that's what it would be called. It's like — it's like an answer to the question, what would happen if Salvador Dali made a tech (ph) commercial?
TAPPER: You don't — you don't like the demon sheep? You're not a fan of the demon sheep?
NOONAN: I kind of love it.
Watch the exchange HERE:
-jpt