NEPOTISM REIGNS…. Mid-day yesterday, I noticed that Mark Halperin had a headline that read, “Round 2: Liz Cheney vs Axe.” Round 1, apparently, was President Obama and former Vice President Cheney, and Round 2’s “Axe” refers to David Axelrod, Senior White House Advisor to the president.
Halperin added, “The two surrogates weigh in on the Cheney vs. Obama debate shortly after their speeches in MSNBC interviews. Must-see video….”
Notice the problem? Liz Cheney was brought on to offer analysis of her own father’s speech, and parrot her dad’s criticism of the president. (What a surprise — she found her dad’s argument very persuasive.)
What’s more, as part of a full-throated defense of her dad’s torture policies, Liz Cheney has been all over the television news. I asked my friends at Media Matters to check on just how many interviews Cheney has done lately. They came up with this list that spans the last 10 days (and today isn’t over yet):
* On the May 22 edition of ABC’s “Good Morning America”
* On the May 22 edition of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
* On the May 22 edition of CNN’s “American Morning”
* On the May 21 edition of CNN’s “AC360”
* On the May 21 edition of Fox News’ “Hannity”
* On the May 21 edition of “MSNBC News Live”
* On the May 20 edition of Fox News’ “Your World”
* On the May 17 edition of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”
* On the May 16 edition of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Saturday”
* On the May 15 edition of Fox News’ “On the Record”
* On the May 12 edition of Fox News’ “Live Desk”
* On the May 12 edition of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
That’s 12 appearances, in nine and a half days, spanning four networks. (On today’s “Morning Joe,” Liz Cheney was on for an entire hour — effectively becoming a co-host of the program.) And this is just television, and doesn’t include Liz Cheney’s interviews on radio or with print media.
There’s no modern precedent for such a ridiculous arrangement. Dick Cheney launches a crusade against the White House, and major outlets look for analysis from Cheney’s daughter? Who everyone already realizes agrees with everything he says about torture?
This is just crazy.
