Is God Mad At Rudy? Is 'No Child Left Behind' Working? Is It Disrespectful To Call It The Popemobile? Are We Overdoing It With The Question Marks?
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"Morning Meeting" is a recap of our daily editorial meeting. If we had a show today, these are some of the stories you would probably hear.
Happy Hump Day people! We're on the downhill sliiiiiide to the weekend! All morning we'll be giving away a stress-buster spa day at Gene Juarez! And in the 8 o'clock hour it's Battle of The Sexes!
Oh wait...that was the other morning show I worked for...
Here in NPR land we like to keep it classy. Today's morning meeting featured Alison, Luke and Dan in NYC, and Matt in DC (where he quietly sobbed over his lost cell phone...sorry dude).
Oh right, the news.
NEWSCAST -- Our excellent and yet to be determined newscaster would have had lots of stuff for you all today: A judge throws the book at Scooter Libby, a new report finds that the No Child Left Behind act has improved test scores (at least in some areas), and a 27-year-old German guy tried to jump into the Pope's car today. (Notice how we didn't call in the "Popemobile"? More on that later). Plus, 2,654 Republican candidates squared off in a televised Presidential debate last night, and people are worried the logo for the upcoming London Olympics might cause seizures.
Things we'd give some proper time to...
GOP SLAMS BUSH IN DEBATE -- Ten would-be GOP Presidential candidates debated in New Hampshire last night. Unlike the first time they did this, there was lots of dissing of President Bush. Rudy Guliani got a message from God when he tried to talk about abortion, and I was struck by just how many people were on the stage. I mean, seriously, ten candidates? Dan wondered what you actually have to do to get up there. Could any of us just say we're running and be in the debates? Do they just take the first ten people who show up at the auditorium?
REVOLT AT ANTI-ABORTION SUMMIT -- Some of the biggest players in the anti-abortion (or some would say pro-life) movement are meeting this week to strategize and, according to the LA Times, things are getting a little fractious. Basically some smaller groups are accusing the big guys (Focus on the Family, etc.) of making money off the movement, yet dragging their feet on getting abortion banned. The absolutists want an "all out effort for an all out ban," as the LAT puts it.
RECORD DIVORCE SETTLEMENT -- A Chicago woman stands to get $184 million as part of a divorce settlement with her husband of 32 years. The couple's story is interesting -- they came here from Ukraine decades ago with basically nothing -- and it raises the question: Does she deserve all that cash? While her husband was earning the money she was, in the words of her lawyer, providing "love, support, advice and counsel." But was it $200 million worth? This is one of those topics that is totally uninteresting until you (ahem) or someone you know gets divorced. We'd probably talk to some folks who were going through it, or maybe a former couple that figured out a way to keep the bloodletting to a minimum (novel!).
JUMP MY RIDE -- A "deranged" German man tried to jump onto the Pope's ride this morning. He didn't get that close, but Alison and I were both kind of shocked at how many news outlets (by which I mean pretty much all of them) just casually called his car "The Popemobile." I mean, I'm not even Catholic but that's like a nickname right? What if he had been killed? Would they be throwing Popemobile around like that? Alison is looking into the origins of Popemobile, and you'll be hearing about it on today's podcast.
SPEAKING OF WHICH... Also on today's podcast: Ballet Flats be hella popular right now, and so are The Webby Awards. We'll break down the five-word acceptance speeches. Listen up, son.
10:09 AM ET | 06- 6-2007 | permalink
