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Edited on Sat Aug-01-09 11:05 AM by Sugarcoated
(Kitty Pilgrim is filling in for Lou Dobbs)
Well, joining me now are three of the country's best political minds, Joe Conason, columnist with Salon.com. We Miguel Perez, syndicated columnist and CNN contributor, and Tara Wall, deputy editor for "The Washington Times."
And thanks for being with us.
You know, I think we should start with the beer summit. To me, that was one of the more intriguing aspects of the week of news.
Miguel, your -- your thoughts on that.
MIGUEL PEREZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I was a little bit disappointed. I expected more to come out of that summit, if you -- that's what you want to call it.
You know, I really wanted these two guys, the sergeant and the professor, to come out and say, listen, we were both a little wrong here, and let's mend things, but let's have the whole country mend things. Let's, both of us, work on racial profiling, with the president's support.
I needed a plan or something to...
PILGRIM: You needed closure, did you?
PEREZ: I wanted something constructive to come out of that, and it didn't.
PILGRIM: All right.
Tara, you -- you actually in your column called it a sideshow.
Elaborate on that a bit for us.
TARA WALL, DEPUTY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES": Well, it was a sideshow to sidestep the, you know, verbal gaffe that the president admittedly made, which, you know, some say amounted to apology; other didn't.
But I also said, you know, I wouldn't express disappointment, because I was a little bit cynical early on. I probably -- I was hopeful, but still cynical, in that nothing probably would really come out of it, in that it was obvious these men had -- both had -- the two men involved had very strong positions on both -- both sides, and that this was more of what the president had talked about we shouldn't be doing, is simply just talking about race, as opposed to doing anything about it.
It was obvious that was not going to take place, which begs the question of why. And then we were focusing, as a media -- the media was focusing on all the wrong things, focusing on what kinds of beers these guys were going to drink and what kind of picnic table they were going to have, as opposed to -- I think, if they had been challenged a bit more on what the substantive issues were going to be, or at least the substantive conversation that was going to come about, or anything forthcoming that was going to come about, I think we would have -- we could have and should have expected more.
But, you know, short of that, no one was really questioning what they should have been questioning and how this was going to raise the discussion of race relations in general, not just racial profiling. And I think we all recognize that that's not what happened here. But if you're going to raise the level of discussion about race, then let's -- let's start with a conversation.
PILGRIM: But, Tara, Tara...
WALL: But that also starts with an apology. That also starts with an apology.
(CROSSTALK)
PILGRIM: You seem to be blaming the -- the press' coverage of it, as much as the substance of the event.
Joe, thoughts on this?
JOE CONASON, COLUMNIST, SALON.COM: Well, I thought, from the president's point of view, it worked out as well as it possibly could, because he didn't want the subject changed to racial profiling. That was an accident and a mistake, a trap that he fell into. He wanted to cool things out.
And I think Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley helped him do that with their statements afterwards. I think, you know, Professor Gates even showed a sense of humor about it. He said, you know, Sergeant Crowley is not bad guy -- or a likable guy when he's not arresting you.
And that kind of put a friendly coda on the whole thing that was I think the best the president could have hoped for at this point.
(CROSSTALK)
PEREZ: But imagine how much more the country could have gained if these two guys got together now and said, listen, now we are going work together to work on these problems.
CONASON: Well, but, you know, Miguel, they did say that. I mean, basically, they -- Professor Gates...
(CROSSTALK)
CONASON: Professor Gates said, it's incumbent on us to try to continue this discussion afterwards, not necessarily in the White House, because that's not what the president wants.
I think in Cambridge, perhaps, they will talk about this. And maybe they will meet again. But, from the -- from President Obama's point of view, this isn't the subject that he wants at the top of the agenda right now. And -- and I think he's right.
(CROSSTALK)
PILGRIM: Tara, go ahead.
WALL: And I think that -- and, Sergeant Crowley also pointed out, you know, we will simply agree to disagree.
So, to that extent, there's not going to be any movement in that regard as far as who is going to agree with whom and who is going to apologize to whom, and, frankly, who is teaching whom.
And, so, what -- what the president did, though, was I -- he recognized -- and the polls bear it out -- is that he really put his foot in it, if you will, and wanted to doing do something to resolve this quickly, so it wouldn't hurt him, essentially, politically.
It already has somewhat. And I think he realized that. And I think it had more to do with that. I don't -- I don't question his motivation for wanting to put race out there. But I do question his real lack of acknowledgement that there is real -- any real ability to actually do anything, beyond making this a photo-op.
(CROSSTALK)
PILGRIM: All right, Tara, we are going to take a break, and we will come back with some other subjects. And we will more with our panel in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: We're back with our political panel.
I would like to move on to the subject of health care, gentlemen and Tara. And one of the things that intrigues me is President Obama's former physician, Dr. David Scheiner, says he doesn't like the president's proposal. He feels like it is a succession of compromises.
And that really sort of strikes me, that his own physician is worried about this, especially in the cost structure of it.
Miguel, your thoughts on this?
PEREZ: You know, because it is a succession of compromises, I don't think the doctor knows what we are talking about. I don't think President Obama knows what we are talking about.
There are so many things going around regarding this plan, this health care reform, that we -- nobody knows exactly what is being proposed. The American public certainly don't know. And that is causing all the problem and the confusion.
If the president had a definitive plan, and he was proposing, this is exactly what I want -- instead, what he is saying is, let's see what comes about, and then maybe I will go along with it, and I will like it, and I will take credit for it.
And the American people can see right through that.
PILGRIM: It's an extremely difficult issue. I think you will give him that.
Tara, quickly, what -- your thoughts on the president's approach to health care.
WALL: It's true. And I think he should have done more on the front end to listen to what constituents and taxpayers and Americans were saying. They were saying that this plan is not palatable. The polls have borne that out. They say they don't like -- 56 percent don't want an overhaul.
They -- 80 percent like their insurance. They want to keep it. So, I think having that having in consideration and recognizing now that the Blue Dogs...
CONASON: Seventy-two percent say they want the public option.
(CROSSTALK)
CONASON: You can find a poll that says anything about this, because people don't know...
WALL: Sure, but the public didn't like it. And he has to acknowledge that.
CONASON: Well, you know, the...
(CROSSTALK)
WALL: The Blue Dogs had to be responsible to their constituents.
And, at the end of the day, I think it will be like health care insurance, not health care reform.
CONASON: All of them -- all the members of Congress are responsive to their constituents, Tara, not just the Blue Dogs.
The president came in with an aim to do something about health care. It has been a festering problem for 60 years. It is not true that he didn't say anything about what he wanted. He laid out principles for what he wanted to change in the health care system as it stands now. And he said... (CROSSTALK)
PEREZ: Very vague, though.
CONASON: No. They were very specific. And the president said, please, in Congress, come up with the bills that will meet these proposals, and I will consider signing them.
(CROSSTALK)
PILGRIM: Tara.
WALL: He left it up to Congress.
CONASON: He didn't.
WALL: And lord knows they know how to spend all our money.
CONASON: He didn't just leave it up to Congress. He has to sign the bill. And that's how the system works.
WALL: Sure. Sure.
PILGRIM: OK. We have -- we have to -- we have to hold it there. Thanks very much. We will be debating this for a while, though, I think.
Joe Conason, Miguel Perez, and Tara Wall, thank you very much.
CONASON: Thank you.
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