Welcome to News and Current Events 301! For this
week, we will cover 5 interviews on Meet the Press.
This Unit is the Meet
the Press unit. It will deal with 5 interviews from this year that deal
with politics. We will NOT pay attention to the panelists (though you are more
than welcome to watch them and bring some of their information into the
discussion) as panelists tend to try to influence us on what to think about
what we just saw. With that in mind, let’s get started!
For Meet the Press, the months of June, August, September,
AND October were the juiciest for political interviews, etc. The subject
matters that were covered were:
1) After
the 1st Presidential Debate
2) Joe
Biden saying he was in favor of Same-Sex Marriage
3) A
Portrait of Vice-Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan
4) Mitt
Romney’s first (Non-Fox) TV Interview
5) The
Middle East Uprising in Libya, Egypt, and so forth.
We will go in order as the above.
Post-Debate #1
(The transcript is below for those of you who don’t want to
watch it)
(We are only going up past the 24-minute mark)
October 7th, 2012: One Sunday after the first
Presidential debate in which Barack Obama did not seem to be a very
enthusiastic candidate, and one that the pundits clearly thought Mitt Romney
won. NOTE: Since this is a PANEL interview, we are only going to deal with the
two political, non-panel (on the panel) guests: Newt Gingrich and Robert Gibbs.
Discussion, Robert Gibbs:
1) What
did Gibbs think about the jobs numbers?
2) What
is Gibbs’ take on Romney’s debate performance?
3) What
is Gibbs’ take on the jobs numbers?
4) What
is Gibbs’ take on Obama’s debate performance?
Discussion, Newt Gingrich:
1) What
did Gingrich think about the jobs numbers?
2) According
to him, what does the “average American” think and how does it play to the
election?
3) What
does Newt Gingrich say about Jack Welch’s claim on the job numbers? Why does he
say people are losing confidence in Washington?
4) What
is Gingrich’s take on Obama’s debate performance?
Long Question: Looking solely at Robert Gibbs and at Newt
Gingrich, who do you think voices concerns closer to your own if the election
were held again? In other words, who makes the better case?
Joe Biden in favor of
Same-Sex Marriage
May 6th, 2012: Joe Biden comes out in favor of
same-sex marriage, making him the first Vice-President of ANY American Presidential
administration ever to back same-sex marriage. We’re going to try to stay away
from your own personal views, as that could get nasty; instead, we are going to
deal with the politics of it, as well as deal with the other things that Mr.
Biden said.
Discussion:
1) Does
Vice-President Biden think about the state of the economy? (Remember, this is
May) How does he dress up the results?
2) How
does Vice-President Biden admit that there is a recession?
3) Why
does he think the American public should not elect Candidate Romney?
4) What
is Chen’s future, according to Joe Biden?
5) What
is Biden’s take on the rumors about him not being the running mate?
6) What
is Biden’s take on the issue of love?
7) What
accomplishments does Biden say that Obama has on the issue of National Security?
Why does he think Mitt Romney fails in this regard?
8) Why
does Joe Biden want a strong Republican Party?
Long Question: In the realm of politics, do you think
Vice-President Biden should have come out in favor of same-sex marriage BEFORE
the President? Do you think this “forced” Obama’s hand in this matter? Is it
really the Vice-President’s place to mention his views independently of the
President?
Portrait of Paul Ryan
August 12, 2012: Meet the Press did a profile on the
recently-announced vice-presidential running mate, Paul Ryan. As you read
and/or watch, answer the following questions:
Discussion Questions:
1) What
does Priebus say about the economy?
2) Do
you think than Paul Ryan was the most risky choice Romney could have made for
running mate? Why or why not?
3) Describe
Reince Priebus’s statement about Paul Ryan’s ideas.
4) How
does Paul Ryan want to change the Medicare/Medicaid system?
5) Is
Romney’s vision on Medicare the same vision as Paul Ryan’s, according to
Priebus?
6) Is
Paul Ryan “Ready on day 1” according to Priebus?
7) What
are Paul Ryan’s most desirable characteristics, according to Scott Walker?
8) What
is the opinion of most of Americans, according to the poll?
9) According
to Scott Walker, has the Obama administration succeeded or failed in protecting
“future generations?”
Long-Answer Question: Do you think Mitt Romney picked Paul
Ryan to win Wisconsin? If so, do you think that that was shortsighted? Why or
why not?
Mitt Romney’s First
Non-Fox TV Interview
September 9, 2012: Presidential
hopeful Mitt Romney goes on Meet the
Press, hoping to explain himself and his ideas further. For this one, we
are talking more about his political views, which is the second part of his
interview.
Discussion:
1) Why
does Mitt Romney say the math for his economic plan adds up?
2) What
does he want to increase defense spending?
3) Why
does Erskine Bowles think that his plan will not work?
4) What
methods does he plan to use to “lower the burden” on Middle Income Families?
5) What
does he say make him qualified to balance the budget?
6) When
does he say the budget will be balanced?
7) Does
he want to cut a deal with Democrats?
8) What
is the problem with the country, according to him?
9) What
does he want to change about “healthcare reform?”
10) What will
Romney do about Medicare?
11) How does
Mitt Romney explain why Afghanistan was left out of the convention speech?
12) What is
Obama’s greatest failure of his foreign policy, according to Mitt Romney?
13) Does he
think the country is safer because of Obama?
14) What is
Romney’s “red line?”
15) Will
Romney overturn Roe v. Wade?
16) Does
Romney care about his political prospects?
17) Why does
Romney think he should be President?
Long Question: Do you think Mitt
Romney did a good job of explaining himself and his views? Why or why not?
Middle East Views
September 16th, 2012:
Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, goes on Meet
the Press and calls the Benghazzi embassy attack an “isolated incident.”
Many politicians, notably on the right, claim that she and the Obama
Administration were playing politics and trying to downplay the importance of
Al Qaeda and other extremists elements that President Obama had done a good job
of defeating thus far.
Discussion Question:
1)
What does she say the attack was based on?
2)
What is the US view?
3)
What does she liken it to?
4)
What information about the incident does she
currently have at hand?
5)
Does Susan Rice say there was any sort of
“failure” there?
6)
How does Egypt serve U.S. “interests?”
7)
What does she say about the other Middle East
leaders?
8)
Was the U.S. “apologizing” for the violence?
9)
What does Rice trump up?
10)
What is
the U.S.’s “line in the sand” when it comes to Iran?
11)
According
to Rice, are the dealings with Iran succeeding? Why or why not?
Long Question: Does what Susan Rice
says about that incident, match what actually happened? Why or why not?
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