Anyone catch Douglas Holtz-Eakin on NPR's Morning Edition?

[Orrex]

Here's the link.

Here's the (paraphrased) synopsis:

Steve Inskeep: The war in Iraq is now projected to wind up costing between one and two trillion dollars. The original Whitehouse estimates were between 50 and 60 billion. Why the discrepancy.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin: War is unpredictable/no one could have guessed the cost/it would have been $50 to $60B if the war had been in-and-out/You can't put a dollar figure on unknowns

SI: But would any credible economist have said at the outset that $50 to $60B was likely a good estimate?

DHE: War is unpredictable/no one could have guessed the cost/it would have been $50 to $60B if the war had been in-and-out/You can't put a dollar figure on unknowns

SI: The war has cost between $5B and $6B since inception. Was the $50B-$60B figure ever realistic?

DHE: War is unpredictable/no one could have guessed the cost/it would have been $50 to $60B if the war had been in-and-out/You can't put a dollar figure on unknowns

And so on and so on and so on. Inskeep offered no serious rebuttal and didn't appreciably follow up on any question other than to ask again in different terms. Of course, there was no counter-opinion by a non-Bush-appointee, so the audience only got to hear the carefully programmed remarks of a loyalist.

Overall, a poignantly missed opportunity.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I heard it

and I got the impression that DHE was speaking very cautiously-like he knew what he was saying at the end was baloney, but that he didn't dare contradict Der Fuehrer.

[Orrex]

2. I think that's a good assessment

Still, I was bothered by Inskeep's refusal to call him out. If someone is going to the press as a baloney advocate, he should be grilled for it.

Mmmm... Grilled baloney...

[I Have A Dream]

3. I think that part of the problem is that "Morning Edition" never has...

(or only very rarely) has interviews that are longer than a minute or two in length. This just doesn't allow for in-depth analysis/critiquing of what the interviewee's saying -- they instead need to keep things moving. I really like "Morning Edition", but I think that this is a weakness of the format that's used. Another way that this format doesn't work is that they'll cut guests off mid-sentence on something really important that they're saying. The hosts seem to have very little space to allow for anything in-depth.

[Orrex]

4. Yeah, format's a problem

All Things Considered, at least, has the time to allow substantially longer pieces, even if they too often run puff pieces about flagstone-stacking at Home Depot or the like.

I'd just like to see them challenge the bullshit once in a while. When a Bush cheerleader hits the air with a line of crap, I'd love the moderator say "We all know that you're talking out of your ass right now."