American Morning
Meet AM: Rick Saleeby – Writer
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/10/saleeby.acdc.art.jpg caption="Rick Saleeby yelped upon seeing a camera, and asked us to use this photo of him with favorite band AC/DC instead."]
Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.
Today, we’d like you to meet Rick Saleeby. Rick writes for American Morning, which he says means “making people care in under 30 seconds” – he writes short and to the point, as you’ll see. You might recognize his name from his daily blog, which explains what’s on tap for the day. He’s been working in television since college, and has been with AM for one and a half years. Rick is known for his sense of humor and is unfailingly friendly to everyone.
How did you end up being a writer?
I majored in Radio and Television at St. John’s University in New York. Realizing I had a face for the former, I did mostly sports radio and play-by-play in college. An internship at a local TV station later spring-boarded me into a career of teleprompter decorating.
President Obama and the "F" word
The music had barely ended at the Inaugural Balls when conservatives took aim at President Obama's big government policies. Since then their aim has only sharpened.
Townhall.com's David Limbaugh may have one-upped his conservative brother Rush by telling a radio audience in San Francisco that the President is the head of a "Gestapo government."
Glenn Beck actually dropped the "F-Bomb" (as in Fascism) when talking about the Obama administration's plan to stimulate the economy. "We're into socialism now (but) that's not our final destination. Our final destination is happy-faced fascism." Watch
And the American Spectator's Quin Hillyer of the Washington Examiner wrote a column in the American Spectator" titled "Il Duce, Redux?"
Hillyer told CNN that when he looks at the Obama administration what he sees are "historical comparisons (to) Mussolini's Italy." He says that "it first started with the takeover of the banks, and when you start taking over banks you've done the very first step that Mussolini did."
The University of California's George Lakoff isn't surprised at the conservative furor over Obama's big government solutions. "This is part of a general conservative mode of operating to get the base stirred up for electoral reasons and reasons of support," he says.
CNN's chief political analyst Bill Schneider says it's unusual that opposition attacks started so early in a new President's term, but that may be because the Democrats have hit a conservative nerve. "The complaints are really about economics, and they are very loud," says Schneider. "But these are things that (are) core beliefs of Republicans."
Lakoff adds that Obama's scrutiny of failing banks and business "is something that conservatives hate, the very idea there is any kind of regulation from the outside."
As for the public, CNN's own polling this week shows that two-thirds of Americans think the President's plan to get involved in how businesses are run is either just about right, or ought to be increased.
What do you think of the comparisons between President Obama's administration and Fascism?
More Americans killed in U.S. in a month than in Iraq this year
It’s a sobering subject to talk about. More Americans have been killed in mass shootings over the past month than have died in Iraq so far this year. 13 people were murdered in Binghamton, New York alone last Friday and three Pittsburgh police officers were shot dead by an alleged white supremacist who supposedly believed the Obama administration was coming for his guns. John Avlon, columnist for the Daily Beast, says we can't solve the problem if we don't keep track of the dead. Avlon spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s American Morning Friday.
Kiran Chetry: You started a running tally on the website the Daily Beast. You say keeping a tally is an important reality check. Please explain.
John Avlon: I think so often we cover the tragedy of these shootings and then we move on to the next thing and we don’t see it in the larger context. You can't understand this violence unless you see it in context. And when you realize that more Americans have been shot in mass murders this month than have been killed in the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan this year, that’s a sobering reality check. And it’s the kind of thing that can maybe help us face reality and then marshal our forces to change it.
What’s on Tap – Friday April 10th, 2009
Happening now:
- Nature’s fury in the plains and Midwest. Wildfires are breaking out all over Oklahoma and north Texas. One entire town has burned. Residents are trying to out run fires fueled by hurricane force winds. In one small Arkansas town, authorities are going door-to-door, checking on residents after a tornado ripped through,killing at least two people and damaging more than 100 homes.
- Intense negotiations are underway with four armed, dangerous and increasingly desperate pirates off Somalia. They’re holding an American Captain on a 28-foot lifeboat that’s out of fuel and described as being “dead in the water.” They are running out of options, with a Navy destroyer watching their every move and two more ships on the way right now.
- President Obama is being briefed on the pirate standoff. He's also asking for more money for wars being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Obama’s Millionaire’s Club – When President Obama moved into the White House earlier this year, he took several of his fellow Chicago millionaires with him. Newly released disclosure reports show virtually all of the top Chicagoans serving in the West Wing had assets valued at a million dollars or more at the end of 2008.
- Kumar goes to the White House – If only Obama were president before they made “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.” Kal Penn (Kumar) has decided to accept a position in the Obama administration. At least now we know why they killed him off on “House.”
- Where’s the dog, Mr. President? That swing set only bought him a few weeks. The president said he would fulfill his campaign promise of a puppy after returning from NATO. What better time than Easter weekend. Maybe this one will come with bunny ears? Stay tuned…
We Listen!
Here’s your daily recap of the best feedback we got from YOU today. Continue the conversation below. And remember, keep it brief, and keep it clean. Thanks!
On Thursday, American Morning viewers were consumed by the Somali pirates’story. The majority of viewers were anxious to take action for a quick resolution, claiming that the U.S. would lose respect if we negotiated with the pirates. A minority were angry at the U.S. apathy toward such hijackings in the past, with America only now interested in the underlying issues in Somalia.
- Mary: I AM OUTRAGED THAT THE NAVY HAS NOT ENDED THIS and that this company has not let the Navy do their job. If these pirates get what they want with the US Navy ship on site – they will believe they are UNSTOPPABLE by the USA! With no government to control or even give these pirates too. I think the Navy should take them all to a US controlled jail as terrorists.
- Andrew: You Americans take the biscuit! For 3 years I have watched you guys reporting on piracy with humour. But now it's an American flag attacked, you go ape! You should have gone ape 3 years ago, and now you probably wouldn't have been in this mess. BUT, how about a story of why piracy is going on?? Stop dumping your shipping rubbish on the shores of Somali. Support the Somali fishemen who lost their fishing rights to the factory fishing boats of the world. Open your **** eyes and see what’s going on in the world.
Tell us what you think: How do you feel about the pirates potential power in the Somali region? Do you believe, as the first viewer above, that if the U.S. doesn’t end the hostage situation that the priates will be “unstoppable?” Was the U.S. too slow in its response? Should the U.S. negotiate with the priates? Was the United State wrong in waiting to address the issue of the Somali pirate attacks? Do you believe there may be more underlying issues that need to be addressed, as the second viewer states?
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