Heads UP: PBS NewsHour Tonight -- Must See TV

[Armstead]

For those in the later time zones. Watch the PBS Nes House for a One-Two Punch.

Forst Peace activist Medea Benjamin faces off with Richard Pearle. Then former UN Weapons Inspector Rolf Ekus sticks it (ever so politely) to the whole rationale for the War.

He comes up with the most realistic assessment I've heard from anyone so far. And -- if we had a real media in this country -- would put cartons of eggs on all supporters of the War in iraq.

If you missed it, sometimes they put some of their reports on the web too. Catch it if you can.

[arcane1]

1. sweet, thanks for the heads-up!

[MuseRider]

2. Thanks

missed it but glad to see you are back. I will check for a web report.

[otohara]

3. I'll Watch

I usually switch to BBC at half past the hour. But I'll watch the whole thing - thanks

[realFedUp]

4. ok, thanks

will watch.

[IkeWarnedUs]

5. Perle is getting hammered

Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange (wearing a big Code Pink button and matching shirt) is really letting Perle have it.

Finally, someone on a pannel saying what I am yelling at the TV!

[Flying_Pig]

6. Can't wait to see Herr Goebbels-Perle take some whacks!

<>

[Clete]

7. Perle refuses to admit that the money

for reconstruction has gone into the hands of Halliburton and Bechtel without any results. Medea told him he needed to walk the streets of Baghdad with her to see the garbage, raw sewage and humanitarian despair. He tried to spin that she didn't care about Iraq's reconstruction, but she didn't let him get away with it. She told him they needed the UN to come in and get things going so it could be turned over to the Iraqis as soon as possible.

Honestly, that man, Richard Perle, is real Republican slime, creepy and diabolical almost in demeanor.

[scarletwoman]

8. Wooo hoooo! Medea is BLASTIING the U.S. occupation!

Wow, what a match-up; Richard Perle and Medea Benjamin! Talk about your polar opposites! This is high entertainment if nothing else!

Medea blasts, Perle offers the rote talking points. Good on NewsHour for giving Ms. Benjamin a platform, she's wonderful!

sw

[stopbush]

9. Perle got his ass handed to him!

What an idiot he is.

THIS is THE GUY who was a major architect of the Iraq quagmire being taken apart by a...a...a...WOMAN. And not a "policy expert" woman like, er, Condasleeza.

Perle sez "I just talked to so-and-so diplomat, and he sez..." to which Medea imediately responds "I just came back from Iraq...do you know better what's going on by sitting in Washington?"

And so it went.

I bet Perle had a shit fit after that taping. He is so used to being given a free ride by the media - who treat him as some oracle of foreign policy, rather than a bought-and-paid-for profiteering-enabler - that he must have felt completely ambushed. PLUS, Medea had no problems interrupting his usual filibustering to make her points (attacking the repigs with their own tried-and-true tactics is certainly sweet to behold!)

She controlled and won the debate. I was waiting for her to tell Perle that his old ivory tower way of thinking means nothing in the reality that he and bush have created on the ground in Iraq.

Brava, Medea!

[KoKo]

10. Missed it, but will try to find reply on NPR....stopped watching them..but

this one sounds good....too late to catch it tonight.....thanks.

[Armstead]

11. Streaming Replay Available

It's available at
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/index.html

For amusement watch the Pearle/Benjamin face off.

BUT LISTEN TO THE WEAPONS INSPECTORS POINT. He's not a dynamic speaker but his words are dynamite. He puts the lie to the arguments about WMD's in an even-handed way.

[scarletwoman]

12. YES! The weapons inspector was quietly awesome!

He laid out the facts in a carefully measured delivery -- it was really quite effective, totally countering all the bullshit.

This has to be one of the BEST NewsHours I've seen in a long time! Thanks for posting the video link, I really hope more folks will catch it.

sw

[RetroLounge]

13. Medea Benjamin totally rocked.

She handed Perle his lunch on every point.

and is it just me, or does Richard Perle look like Simon Bar Sinister from Underdog???

[JohnOneillsMemory]

14. "Simon says...Freeze!"

You're right. He's a dead ringer for Underdog's evil nemesis...