On this morning’s “This Week” broadcast on ABC former
governor Jennifer Granholm barely got a word in as Bill Kristol tried to
dominate the panel discussion by using an old cable TV trick: When someone
tries to interrupt you to make a contrary point, just keep talking louder and
louder so you drown the others out.

On the subject of Obamacare taking effect, a possible
government shutdown and lifting the debt ceiling, host George Stephanopoulos
gave Kristol free reign to sink the discussion into a near-shouting match. It’s
increasingly irritating that Stephanopolous allows these panel discussions to
sink to cable’s level. Worse yet, he long ago broke with “This Week” tradition
by inviting the participation of fringe commentators such as Katrina Vanden Heuvel
and Kristol, whose initial claim to fame was as an aide to Dan Quayle.

David Brinkley must be rolling over in his grave.

As for Granholm, when the discussion turned to whether Obama’s inability to deal with Congress and negotiate compromises contributes to a possible
shutdown, Stephanopolous missed the obvious question for the
ex-governor: “You’re the only person at this table who has actually dealt with
government shutdowns, what lessons did you learn from your budget battles with
the Republicans in the Michigan Legislature?”