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My oh my, if you haven't seen it yet, take a peek at Stephen
Cobert at the White House Correspondents' dinner. He created quite a ruckus.
Even First Lady Laura Bush got miffed, which was obvious at the end. She walked
right past Colbert. (My update and full review here.) There's more at Editors
and Publishers. Colbert put together a tough routine, though I didn't catch
the whole speech. But nobody was spared from what I caught, with Helen Thomas
offering the closing act, which was priceless. It will be interesting when people
start weighing in.
The Sunday morning political talk shows always bring out one response from
me. Will there be any women invited on to talk about the issues that matter?
Will women be invited to take part in the political conversation that shapes
careers, issues and sometimes the agenda for Monday and beyond? One central
focus of mine is “Meet the Press,” the worst at inviting women on
the panel. There is usually only one represented, if there are any women at
all. I've talked about this a lot over the years, but now
I'm going to focus on it regularly.
So, this week, how many females will make it on the Sunday shows? “Face
the Nation” wins this week; three female guests (counting Condi)! I can hardly contain
myself. Good for CBS. Frankly, I can't remember the last time any of the shows
had a trifecta of females.
Of course, Tim Russert invited no women this week, which is typical. I guess he and his female
producer believe women can't speak about economics, energy and oil prices. That's
for the boys to discuss. But wait a minute. Mr. Russert doesn't even invite
women on when “family values,” abortion and faith are discussed. You've
got to wonder on what topic he feels women should be included. It's hard to
figure out. Someone should help Russert discover the importance of including
women around his table. For that matter, why isn't Maureen Orth pushing her
husband on this issue? She's a seasoned writer for Vanity Fair. Surely she's
noticed the imbalance. Or maybe Russert prefers to only interview women on his
CNBC show, where they are tucked away and talking about matters smaller than
what's discussed on Sunday. How can a man this powerful be this dense?
Why is
everyone letting him and every other Sunday talk show get away with it?
As for the rest of the line up beyond Russert, if Condi wasn't invited, it
would be all testosterone, all morning. I'm no longer shocked. Here's the
line up.
FOX NEWS SUNDAY: White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten
and incoming White House press secretary Tony Snow.THIS WEEK: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen.
Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), actor George Clooney and former senator J. Bennett
Johnston (D-La.).FACE THE NATION: Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rice.MEET THE PRESS: Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman
, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), American Petroleum Institute President
Red Cavaney, TheStreet.com co-founder Jim Cramer and author Daniel Yergin.LATE EDITION: Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Barbara Boxer
(D-Calif.), former CIA director R. James Woolsey, former Israeli intelligence
director Efraim Halevy and Rice.
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