Morning Jolt: The ‘Songbird’ Attack Makes the Opposite Point McInerney Thinks It Does

Every time you see a news anchor pose a question to a talking head on television, that person is, consciously or subconsciously, trying to achieve two nearly contrary goals:

Say something provocative, daring, memorable, attention-getting, debate-stirring, and if there's time, insightful. (Or maybe inciteful.)

Don't say anything too controversial, dumb, or offensive.

With surprising regularity, guests aim for one and completely forget about two.

Retired Air Force lieutenant general Thomas McInerney was a guest on Charles Payne's program on the Fox Business Network yesterday, discussing the confirmation hearing of CIA director nominee Gina Haspel. The topic turned to the no-longer-in-use enhanced-interrogation program, and McCain's argument that because of Haspel's role in destroying videotapes of waterboarding, she should not be confirmed.

You could go in a lot of directions in an attempt to defend Haspel. You could note, as many of her defenders have, that from 9/11 to spring 2004, the White House's lawyers and the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel wrote memos explicitly authorizing the ...

May 11 2018

VISIT NATIONALREVIEW.COM

Presented by

The 'Songbird' Attack Makes the Opposite Point McInerney Thinks It Does Jim Geraghty Every time you see a news anchor pose a question to a talking head on television, that person is, consciously or subconsciously, trying to achieve two nearly contrary goals: Say something provocative, daring, memorable, attention-getting, debate-stirring, and if there's time, insightful. (Or maybe inciteful.) Don't say anything too controversial, dumb, or offensive. With surprising regularity, guests aim for one and completely forget about two. Retired Air Force lieutenant general Thomas McInerney was a guest on Charles Payne's program on the Fox Business Network yesterday, discussing the confirmation hearing of CIA director nominee Gina Haspel. The topic turned to the no-longer-in-use enhanced-interrogation program, and McCain's argument that because of Haspel's role in destroying videotapes of waterboarding, she should not be confirmed. You could go in a lot of directions in an attempt to defend Haspel. You could note, as many of her defenders have, that from 9/11 to spring 2004, the White House's lawyers and the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel wrote memos explicitly authorizing the ... Read More Top Stories Stop Complaining about Twitter — Just Leave It Graham Hillard Twitter does not represent a vast cultural wave coming to sweep us all away; it's merely an aggregator of... The Tech Giants' Misconceived Attack on Bail Bonds Walter Olson The Tech Giants' Misconceived Attack on Bail Bonds ADVERTISEMENT Random Thoughts on the U.K. Elections John O'Sullivan The Tories did better than expected, which may not be an unalloyed... Time for Facebook to Get Serious about Tackling Anti-Conservative Bias Eric Wilson High-priced lawyers and a PR blitz aren't nearly enough to fix the... Political Romance and Political Tragedy Armond White Alan Rudolph's Ray Meets Helen revives e pluribus... Concentrated Power Leads to Political Backlash Jonah Goldberg The power we invest in the Supreme Court doesn't warp and bend our politics solely during confirmation... ADVERTISEMENT From Our Sponsor "New Video: Senate Democrats continue to obstruct President Trump's extraordinarily qualified nominees from becoming judges. It's time Senate Democrats stopped playing games! " Click here to watch! Photo Essays President Trump Greets Freed Americans Cartoons of the Day: May 10, 2018 ADVERTISEMENT Follow Us & Share 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser.