“The Republican Hour”

Watching the CNN program “Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer just now makes me think the program should be renamed “The Republican Hour.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee member Tom Cotton, R, Ark, held forth on the Brussels attack as well as slamming the president over going to a ball game in Cuba while the attack was happening. Cotton was one of the Republican congressional members who met this week with Donald Trump. This came only a couple of weeks after a secret meeting  among the powerful in tech and politics discussing how to stop Trump. And who was on the guest list? Reportedly, Sen. Tom Cotton attended. The young Arkansas senator would not criticize Trump and only say about The Donald’s stand on waterboarding or beyond, that “the United States of America doesn’t torture.” He said “all” American soldiers undergo waterboarding. I don’t know whether that is true. I know it has been used in surviving training, especially with Special Forces. If you happened to be an active Army member or recent retired or former soldier send me a message.

Cotton served in the Army. He was a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan although he reportedly spent most of his time in ceremonial duties in Washington, D.C.

Next up was another Wolf favorite, Sen. John McCain, R, he took the slam Obama route by saying we have a lack of leadership in fighting ISIS. As a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain went through torture that is beyond imagination. I was glad to hear his stand against torture, although with McCain, you never know when he may go off the deep end.

Blitzer has been chummy with GOP congressional members, particularly after the party gained the majority in Congress. To be fair, most of the members interviewed by Blitzer are either committee or subcommittee chairs even though some would quibble over that detail.

A favorite of  Wolf’s is the weasel-look-alike, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R, Utah, head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government. Say what you will, Chaffetz has an interesting background. He was a Democrat in college. His father was previously married to Kitty Dickson, the wife of former Democrat presidential candidate, and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Chaffetz was the co-chairman of the Dukakis campaign in Utah. Chaffetz was rejected after applying to the U.S. Secret Service. He was chairman for the Jon Huntsman GOP campaign for president during the 2004 campaign and was later Huntsman’s chief of staff. Despite his background with liberal and moderate politicians of both parties he is usually a hard-ass right-winger when the situation calls for it. Take his proposals which would reward the anti-government nuts like Clive Bundy.

This is not to say Wolf has gone native. But he does frequently have call-in interviews with Donald Trump, and it is no doubt that Blitzer was one of the large contributors of the estimated $2 billion in free advertising for the Trump.

Okay, maybe I just pick on the Republicans interviewed by Blitzer. I do think the famous cable journalist still has the reporter’s yearning for the “big scoop.” And, as I write this Wolf is about to interview a Democrat in Congress, so I will just conclude with this. I imagine true-believer Republicans still think CNN as that “liberal” network. I don’t think so. But I suppose it is all how one interprets the news.