November 15, 2008 / by emptywheel

 

No Girlz Aloud

Here’s the lineup for the big newsmakers on tomorrow’s shows.

ABC News this Week:  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA).  Topics: The nation’s economy, a possible national stimulus plan, and the fiscal crisis facing his state.  Plus, Schwarzenegger’s thoughts on the future of the Republican Party and his state’s passage of the same-sex marriage ban Proposition 8.

CBS’ Face The Nation:  Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) Chairman, House Financial Services Committee; Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) Ranking member, Senate Banking Committee; Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA); Newt Gingrich (R) Former House Speaker.

Fox News Sunday:  An update on Capitol Hill’s plans for dealing with the financial crisis from Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)., and Byron Dorgan (D-ND).  Plus  Gov. Tim Pawlenty, (R-MN) and Michael Steele.  And the Fox News All Stars.

NBC’s Meet The PressSen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Co-Chair of the Senate Auto Caucus and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.  Topics: Pressure on the Government to bailout the U.S. auto industry.  Then, T. Boone Pickens on how our nation’s energy dependence effects both our environment and our economy.  Roundtable: New York Times Columnist Tom Friedman; Washington Correspondent For BBC World News America, Katty Kay, NBC News Correspondent Andrea Mitchell; and Tavis Smiley.

Notice something different from what the shows had for the last nine months or so, when we had a girl (either Hillary or Palin) competing to be President or Vice President of the United States?

No more girlz–at least none besides the Washington villager pundits.

Now, some of these decisions make sense. I have no complaint that Carl Levin–one of the biggest auto bailout champions in Congress–is matched up against Richard Shelby–who’s trying to make the world safe for Japanese SUVs built in Alabama’s non-union plants. Similarly, House Financial Services Chair Barney Frank against Senate Banking Ranking Member Richard Shelby makes sense for partisan balance. Hopefully Arnie will get on and talk about how Prop 8 is evil and bad for the economy. Though if you really wanted to talk about Prop 8, don’t you think it would have been a good idea to get someone whose marriage may have just been dissolved, like Ellen Degeneres? Pawlenty and Steele make sense if you want to talk about how the Republican party might drag itself out of the hole it’s in. Bobby Jindal, for the same reason … But Newt? And are Kyl and Dorgan the only people who know about a potential financial bailout? 

Maybe I’m just being really picky. But during the entire primary and general election season, we had a lot of new girlz on the Sunday shows to talk politics: Claire McCaskill, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Carly Fiorina (till she got banned by the McCain campaign), Jane Swift, and many more.

But all of a sudden, now that there’s no chance a girl will be President or Vice President next year, voila! No more girlz on the Sunday shows.

Copyright © 2008 emptywheel. All rights reserved.
Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/2008/11/15/no-girlz-aloud/