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Kevin Spacey (originally aired May 20, 2006)
- Anderson Cooper (immigration, New England storms)
- Monologue
- Presidential Outtakes (Iraq, NSA, New Orleans)
- Weekend Update (English as national language, same-sex marriage, religion gone nuts, DOL study)
- Neil Young
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- Anderson Cooper. The two topics covered here are President George W. Bush's immigration plans and New England storms.
- Bush Address. President George W. Bush's May 15 address on immigration reform is on-line here. In the speech, he called for greater border security, including the use of new technology and the deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard members to the Mexican border. National Guard members will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities and will be deployed to assist existing Border Patrol units by "operating surveillance systems, analyzing intelligence, installing fences and vehicle barriers, building patrol roads, and providing training," Bush said.
Bush also called for a temporary worker program and for a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for many years to be able to apply for citizenship. "What I've just described is not amnesty, it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen," he said.
Various surveys have estimated that the number of illegal immigrants grew dramatically over the 1990s. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated in 2003 that there were 7 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2000, almost doubling since 1990 (on-line here). A more recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center (on-line here) estimated that there were 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States in March 2004.
- New England Storms. New England states were hit by heavy rains beginning May 12, flooding some areas and forcing some evacuations. The governors of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine declared states of emergency in at least some parts of their states. None of the affected areas were declared federal major disaster areas eligible for federal funding as of May 21.
Monologue. Do more people vote on American Idol than for president? According to a USA Today article (on-line here), there were 24 million votes cast in the 2003 finale and more than 65 million votes case in the 2004 finale. By comparison, the U.S. Census reported that more than 126 million people reported voting in the 2004 presidential election (on-line here). People can cast only one vote each in a presidential election, but can vote multiple times in American Idol.
Presidential Outtakes. Here is some information regarding each quote/outtake.
- "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." This quote is from President George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address (on-line here). Months later, Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV questioned the veracity of that statement with a July 6, 2003 op-ed piece in the New York Times in which he described his role in investigating - and discrediting - Niger's suspected link to Iraq's weapons program. Within days, CIA Director George Tenet issued a statement (on-line here) that the reference to British intelligence should not have been presented to Bush when the CIA had already concluded for itself that the allegations were dubious.
- "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." This quote is from Bush's May 1, 2003 speech from the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln (on-line here). By the time of that speech, 109 U.S. military personnel had been killed in action or died of wounds from action. In the three years since that speech, more than 1,500 U.S. military personnel have been killed in action or died of wounds from action.
- "I don't believe anybody I'm aware of in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons." This quote by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld seems to be from a May 14, 2003 Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing (Rumsfeld's prepared remarks are on-line here). Before the Iraq war, Vice President Dick Cheney said several times that Iraq was trying to acquire nuclear weapons and could acquire nuclear weapons soon (see an August 26, 2002 speech on-line here). Cheney did say in a March 16, 2003 appearance on NBC's Meet the Press (transcript on-line here) that "we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons," though he referred at other points in this appearance to Iraq pursuing such weapons.
- "We will respond, John, to requests of our commanders on the ground. And I have yet to hear from our commanders on the ground that they need more troops." This Bush quote is from a November 4, 2004 press conference (transcript on-line here). Some administration officials have acknowledged that they did believe more troops were needed in 2003. Former Ambassador L. Paul Bremer said in 2004 that there were not enough U.S. troops in Iraq during his time in Iraq and that his requests for more troops were not met. According to a statement put out by DePauw University (on-line here), Bremer said in an appearance there that "[t]he single most important change - the one thing that would have improved the situation - would have been having more troops in Iraq at the beginning and throughout … Although I raised this issue a number of times with our government, I should have been even more insistent." More recently, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview broadcast on April 30 that he had advised President George W. Bush and his military advisors before the Iraq war to use more troops (article on-line here).
- "They're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." This quote by Vice President Dick Cheney is from a May 2005 interview with Larry King (on-line here). When asked if President George W. Bush agreed with Vice President Dick Cheney's comment that that the Iraqi insurgents were in their "last throes," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on June 23 (transcript on-line here) that Bush did agree that "there is significant progress being made by the Iraqi people on the political front. And that's what the Vice President was talking about in his remarks. He was talking about the significant progress that's being made, and he was talking about how the terrorists, the ruthless enemy that we're working to defeat, along with the Iraqi security forces, has not been able to stop that progress." In the year following Cheney's comment, more than 600 U.S. military personnel have been killed in action or died of wounds from action.
- "Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order." This quote by Bush is from an April 20, 2004 appearance in which Bush urged the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act (on-line here), about a year and a half before the New York Times first reported in December 2005 that the Bush administration had authorized the National Security Agency to monitor communications involving U.S. persons within the United States without warrants.
- "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." This Bush quote is from a September 1, 2005 interview with Diane Sawyer. In the spring of 2006, news organizations reported on video and transcripts of an August 28, 2005 videoconference in which President George W. Bush received warnings of Hurricane Katrina before it made landfall (article on-line here). The White House issued a March 2 release responding to the video, saying that the video had been available to the public for months and that it showed Bush being involved and responsive (release on-line here).
Weekend Update. Some of the topics included:
- English as National Language. The Senate voted on May 18 in favor of an amendment that would define English as the "common and unifying language of the United States that helps provide unity for the people of the United States" and that would direct the federal government to "preserve and enhance the role of English as the common and unifying language of America." The roll-call vote is on-line here. It is unclear whether the measure will become law.
- Same-Sex Marriage Amendment. The Senate Judiciary Committee on May 18 moved forward a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit same-sex marriages. The text of the amendment as reported by the committee is as follows: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman." Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said in a May 18 statement (on-line here) that this amendment was unnecessary and was being used as a campaign tool.
Neil Young: "I Do Not Agree with Many of This Administration's Policies." Neil Young recently released a new album entitled "Living with War," which features anti-war songs including one called "Impeach the President." Young refers to the album on his website (on-line here as "metal folk protest?"
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Ripped from the Headlines?
West Wing: Santos discusses a lawsuit about intelligent design
West Wing: Electoral map as of the 10/9 episode; Santos needs to catch up big-time
SNL: The Miers nomination
South Park: Inspired by Katrina
Boston Legal: End to assault-weapons ban
Daily Show: A 2004 study found that 21 percent of young people regularly get their campaign news from comedy shows like the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Saturday Night Live. So, some footnotes.
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By Stephen Lee
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