Sunday Mornings

I was not at home this weekend, but the first thing I did when I got home was watch two programs that I record weekly on my DVR: This Week with George Stephanopoulos and Meet the Press with Tom Brokaw (Brokaw has taken over temporarily after the sudden death of long-time host Tim Russert).  They are phenomenal shows, and when the government needs to talk to the people, it often does it through these two broadcasts.  Some people say that the hosts are too partisan – Stephanopoulos was a high-ranking adviser to Bill Clinton and Brokaw has shown some liberal leanings during his career – but I think they both do a good job of being neutral and usually ask the questions that I want to have answered.  Though Meet the Press is really the more prestigious show, I tend to like This Week better, because of the roundtable analysis portion.  I’m a big fan of George Will, who’s a regular at the roundtable, and Stephanopoulos does a great job of mediating the discussion between Will and a rotating cast of other analysts.  Meet the Press tends to get higher profile guests, but often they forgo their roundtable analysis segment.

This morning, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appeared on both shows to talk about the current financial crisis.  If you get a chance, watch the interview of Paulson on This Week, and the ensuing roundtable discussion – it’s the best reality TV there is.  You can also watch Paulson’s Meet the Press interview.