The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Without wasting any time, here's the much talked about back-and-forth CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan engaged in over the past week: Jim Jordan: "He's (Trump) always been square with me." Anderson Cooper: "What about the American people?" Jordan: "The American people elected him President of the United States." Cooper: "But I mean, have you ever heard the President lie? That's why I'm asking you." Jordan: "I have not. And the American people feel like what the treatment he's receiving from the top people of the FBI..." Cooper: "I don't think you can talk about all the American people. But I'm asking you -- just yourself, have you ever heard the President lie?" Jordan: "I have not." Wow... Through January 10th, Washington Post fact-checkers Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly tallied 2,001 misleading claims spouted by Donald Trump through his first 355 ...

I didn't expect this reaction, but right from the start of the Stormy Daniels interview on 60 Minutes last night, a knot formed at the pit of my stomach, and a feeling of nausea and discomfort came over me. It was odd, for not much new material was revealed in Ms. Daniels' interview with Anderson Cooper. At the same time, though, there was no mistaking that near vomit-inducing sensation which had seemingly taken over my body throughout the duration of the back and forth. I think one reason for this unanticipated reaction is the fact it's starkly different to hear and see a person talk about a traumatic experience than it is to simply read about it in a newspaper. This is why viewing a documentary can possess greater sway and power than an autobiography regarding the same individual/event, because we get to actually see and hear people's stories and emotions. Reading about how a person cried uncontrollably doesn't tend to impact us as much as actually seeing and he...

Anderson Cooper: "So, how have you been liking this weather we've been having in the area? Too hot for me, I tell you!" Melania Trump: "I'm only happy when it rains. I'm only happy when it's complicated. And though I know you can't appreciate it. I'm only happy when it rains." Cooper: "Okay then. Let's move on to something else. With your husband as the Republican presidential nominee, going head-to-head with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, if Secretary Clinton were here right at this very moment, what would you have to say to her?" Trump: "I don't like a thing about your mother. And I, I hate your daddy's guts too. I don't like a thing about your sister, no, no. 'Cause I, I, I, think sex is overrated too." Cooper: "Secretary Clinton's parents have passed and she doesn't have a sister. I won't even comment on that other bit. Perhaps I should go a different route and give y...

While Fox News hosted the first Republican debate this primary season, CNN has hosted the past two debates, one for both the Republican and Democratic parties. Their Republican debate was mostly moderated by Jake Tapper and the Democratic debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper. Jake Tapper seemed to treat the former of the two debates like a hybrid of a reality television show and a TMZ special. The vaguer and more intense the responses from Republican candidates Tapper got, the more likely he was to get excited and return the favor by asking another series of general yet insensitive questions, hoping to spark a fist-fight. Anderson Cooper, meanwhile, treated the latter of the two debates like a hybrid of an actual debate and a conspiracy forum. At times he'd ask ridiculous questions which seemed to derive from a right-wing conspiracy-oriented website, yet he'd consistently ask each candidate for specifics, and when he wasn't satisfied with a response, he wasn't coy to...

Almost exactly a month ago, following the second set of Republican primary debates, I updated my rankings of those 15 candidates (http://thekind-heartedsmartaleck.blogspot.com/2015/09/my-updated-gop-candidate-rankings-were.html), so I felt it was only fair to do the same for the Democratic candidates following their first debate. Luckily for me, I'll only have to rank 5 candidates instead of 15. Starting at the bottom: 5) Jim Webb : While I greatly respect and admire this man's military service, not to mention his willingness to work with the other side of the aisle and form compromises, he was still almost unbearable to watch last night. Sitting at such a low percentage amongst Democratic candidates and wanting to make a strong and favorable impression to boost said approval ratings, I can understand why he wanted more airtime to talk last night. However, in making this blatantly obvious on a number of occasions, he came across as the potential Whiner-in-Chief. No, it wasn...

Los Angeles Clippers owner (for now) Donald Sterling, after hearing his interview with Anderson Cooper, is bound to have his own reality show one day - probably titled, What Would You Say? (cue The Dave Matthews Band), Everybody Hates Donald , or The Big Douche Theory . After having racist comments of his recorded and aired for the world to hear, Mr. Sterling decided to defend himself and attempt to partially dig himself out of a hole in an interview with Anderson Cooper. How did that go? Let's look at a few quotes, shall we? Here is one of my favorites: "I'm not a racist. I made a terrible, terrible mistake." I think I'll play off that very quote from this point forward. For the following quotes, I think I'll just precede them with the words, "I'm not a racist, but..." Here we go... - "I'm not a racist, but Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people. And some of the African-Americans, maybe I'll get in tro...