Matthews: Huckabee & Thompson 'Fanatics,' Obama 'Really Cool' --1/18/2008

1. Matthews: Huckabee & Thompson 'Fanatics,' Obama 'Really Cool'
Appearing Wednesday night on NBC's Tonight Show, MSNBC's Chris Matthews suggested Republicans are like Iraqi factions, with a "fanatics" wing, and oozed over Barack and Michelle Obama, hailing them as "really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy," insisting it's a "spiritual experience" to attend an Obama rally. When asked by Jay Leno about the uncertain Republican primary forecast, Matthews argued: "They got their Shia wing, the fanatics. They've got Huckabee. This where I get into trouble. This is just where I get into trouble. Huckabee and Thompson are the Shiites." Matthews also went into a typical swoon for his favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama: "If you're actually in the room when he gives one of his speeches, and you don't cry, you're not an American." Matthews could not help slipping into a sales job for Barack and his wife Michelle: "They're cool people. They are really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy when you see them together. They are cool. And they're great-looking, and they're cool and they're young, and they're -- everything seems to be great. I know I'm selling them now....But the fact is, I wouldn't be an honest reporter if I didn't tell you what the spiritual experience is like of being in a Barack Obama rally."

2. Left-Wing Pressure Leads Matthews to Apologize for Hillary Remark
Bowing to pressure from left-wing groups, MSNBC's Chris Matthews spent the first five minutes of Thursday night's Hardball personally apologizing to Hillary Clinton for insinuating that she owed her political success to sympathy derived from having endured Bill Clinton's unfaithfulness. At the top of the show Matthews begged for forgiveness: "Some people I respect, politically concerned people like you who watch this show so faithfully every night, people who care about this country think I've been disrespectful for Hillary Clinton, not as a candidate, but as a woman....Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depending on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying. And it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, normally like me."

3. Cafferty Sees Hillary 'Fearmongering,' Pro-Life as 'Crap' Issue
On Wednesday's The Situation Room on CNN, during the roundtable segment, Jack Cafferty charged that Hillary Clinton's recent contention that she would be best prepared to deal with a terrorist attack amounted to "the same boogeyman fearmongering garbage we've had from the Bush administration for the last five years." He added that "it isn't the terrorists that are going to take this country down. We're doing a good job of that all by ourselves." Cafferty also lamented that Republican candidates were talking about issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and the Confederate flag, which he called "the same crap that we hear every election cycle." He went on to recommend both spending cuts and tax increases to improve the economy.

4. Olbermann: Critics, Including Military Officers, 'Can Go to Hell'
On Thursday's Countdown, after recounting the story of American soldiers deployed to Iraq while still recovering from injuries, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann seemed to oddly suggest that not only military officers, but also politicians and even commentators, presumably conservative ones, were responsible for the orders that these troops be deployed. The Countdown host contended these critics of his are the same people who accuse those who are anti-war of "hating the troops" and of being "anti-American," and suggested that they "go to hell." Olbermann: "The men who ordered them back, in the military, and outside of it, are the ones who accuse those who criticize them of hating the troops or of being anti-American. And frankly, those politicians, those commentators, and those senior officers can go to hell."

5. ABC Promotes Author Who Touts Abortion as a Way to Reduce Crime
Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner appeared on Thursday's Good Morning America to talk about crime and also to repeat his unsubstantiated argument that legalized abortions have resulted in less crime. The journalist and author asserted: "What happened when Roe V. Wade was handed down was that unwanted children are basically at a much greater risk for being born into the circumstances where they're more likely to lead a criminal life. Not every unwanted child by a long stretch, but typically." In other words, 35 years after the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court decision, "the generation of people around then included fewer unwanted children and therefore fewer criminals." At no point did Roberts question this assertion or mention that it has been repeatedly challenged since Dubner and his economist co-author Steven Levitt made it in their book. In fact, a study by another economist, John Lott, found that legalized abortion actually increased the murder rate by seven percent. However, unimpeded by contradictory arguments, Dubner simply told Roberts: "It's good to know what forces work in society, if for no other reason than to keep doing the right thing." The right thing, one presumes he means, is to maintain abortion rights.

Matthews: Huckabee & Thompson 'Fanatics,'
Obama 'Really Cool'

Appearing Wednesday night on NBC's Tonight Show, MSNBC's Chris Matthews suggested Republicans are like Iraqi factions, with a "fanatics" wing, and oozed over Barack and Michelle Obama, hailing them as "really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy," insisting it's a "spiritual experience" to attend an Obama rally. When asked by Jay Leno about the uncertain Republican primary forecast, Matthews argued: "They got their Shia wing, the fanatics. They've got Huckabee. This where I get into trouble. This is just where I get into trouble. Huckabee and Thompson are the Shiites." Matthews also went into a typical swoon for his favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama: "If you're actually in the room when he gives one of his speeches, and you don't cry, you're not an American." Matthews could not help slipping into a sales job for Barack and his wife Michelle: "They're cool people. They are really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy when you see them together. They are cool. And they're great-looking, and they're cool and they're young, and they're -- everything seems to be great. I know I'm selling them now....But the fact is, I wouldn't be an honest reporter if I didn't tell you what the spiritual experience is like of being in a Barack Obama rally."

[This item is gathered from two Thursday postings, by the MRC's Tim Graham, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org
And: newsbusters.org ]

The Laura Ingraham radio show played this clip of Matthews repeatedly Thursday:
"Nobody seems to be the leader yet. Nobody's Ronald Reagan. They don't seem to have a -- used to be the Democrats were the disorganized political party. Now, the Republicans are like the -- like the Iraqis. Have you noticed? They got their Shia wing, the fanatics. They've got Huckabee. This where I get into trouble. This is just where I get into trouble. [ Laughter ] Huckabee and Thompson are the Shiites, and the Sunni, the more moderate guys, are McCain, and -- who else they got over there? And uh, Rudy Giuliani. And then they got Romney, the Kurd. I mean, they're all over the place. Who's gonna unite them?"
Leno added: "And Senator Larry Craig is the guy with the sheep."

The MRC's Geoff Dickens reported that Matthews used a variant of this attack line on Hardball on Wednesday as well:
"I was suggesting, I know this is gonna cause trouble, which is what I like to do but the Sunni wing of the Republican Party has got McCain and Giuliani in it, the more extreme people, the zealots, are Huckabee and Thompson. Then you've got the Kurds, Romney. I mean who's gonna put all these guys together?"

But it wasn't all about the Shi'ite Republican fanatics. Matthews also went into a typical swoon for his favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama:

JAY LENO: Well, you know what's interesting? I'm somewhat of a cynical person. And you kind of meet all these people. But I have to say, on the night of the Iowa caucus, I'm sitting there with the remote in my hand, you know. And I come to MSNBC and I was holding the remote and I hear Barack Obama starting to give his acceptance speech and go -- and, you know, I put the remote down, and I actually felt something. When he talked about his mother's from Kansas, and the father in Kenya. It's an American story.
MATTHEWS, putting his hand to his chest: I love it. I love it.
LENO: And you know-
MATTHEWS, hand still on chest: And you're talking to me.
LENO: -and it moved me. I don't know whether whether I'm being naive, but-
MATTHEWS: Well, we're white American guys. We want this fight over with. We're tired of is hatred and this back and forth thing that's been going on for 300 years, this back and forth racial thing. I said something nice about Hillary Clinton, personally. Let me tell you something about Barack Obama.
If you're actually in the room when he gives one of his speeches, and you don't cry, you're not an American. It's unbelievable. I've heard him. He does the Jack Kennedy humor. He says things like, "hey, they've been going through my kindergarten papers." You know? Or he has these wonderful -- you know, when they do these genealogy things, you want to be connected to somebody cool. And because he's mixed race, he says, "you're hoping it's somebody like Lincoln or Willie Mays." Who else can say that? Lincoln -- or Willie Mays? End up being related to [makes a face] Dick Cheney! [Laughter]

After a minute of Leno talking up potential vice presidential nominees (they discussed Huckabee and Richardson), Matthews picked up where he left off: "But the fact is, I wouldn't be an honest reporter if I didn't tell you what the spiritual experience is like of being in a Barack Obama rally. It's an honest statement."

Matthews ended by mocking Mitt Romney for running against Washington and lobbyists, saying that was hypocritical because his father George Romney was a lobbyist for auto companies.

Matthews also tried out a populist speech about how the country needs change, how it needs a brand-new President who changes the country overnight, and extracts us from Iraq, and enacts "universal" (government-run) health care, and it's the press's job to make that happen:
"I feel this country's in a rut, in a bad rut. We're stuck in a war that's going on four or five years and never seems to have an ending to it. It's not about winning or losing, it's about getting home. Ever. We look like we're on a war to -- [Cheers and applause] someday coming home. We know as long as we stay over there, they're gonna hate us more. We know that. It makes sense. If they were here we'd hate them more. It looks like we're always gonna go to war with Iran eventually, it looks like. It's just a matter of time. We're stuck on illegal immigration. Why don't we pass a law we believe in enforcing, and get it done with. Nobody wants to get it done with. The same with health care. Why should a guy or woman that's working 40 or 50 hours a a week, I'm not talking about somebody who's not working, I'm talking about a guy or woman who's working hard not have health insurance of some kind?
"We ought to solve these problems. And yet every year, they dicker around. And you know -- [Cheers and applause.] I don't believe in this Kumbaya politics, where everybody loves each other. No, I don't want you to get along. I want you to get something done. And I'd rather you fought about it, and then got something done than liked each other. And the press, by the way -- our job should be jab these guys, kick 'em in the butt over and over and over again, and say 'get the job done.' And I think that's our job. [Cheers and applause.]"

Left-Wing Pressure Leads Matthews to
Apologize for Hillary Remark

Bowing to pressure from left-wing groups, MSNBC's Chris Matthews spent the first five minutes of Thursday night's Hardball personally apologizing to Hillary Clinton for insinuating that she owed her political success to sympathy derived from having endured Bill Clinton's unfaithfulness. At the top of the show Matthews begged for forgiveness: "Some people I respect, politically concerned people like you who watch this show so faithfully every night, people who care about this country think I've been disrespectful for Hillary Clinton, not as a candidate, but as a woman....Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depending on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying. And it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, normally like me."

In a Thursday story, "Chris Matthews Backs Off 'Nasty' Remark on Clinton," the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reported: "Under pressure from feminist groups and his own bosses at MSNBC, Chris Matthews apologized yesterday for remarks about Hillary Clinton that he now admits sounded 'nasty.'" For the entire article: www.washingtonpost.com

[This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Thursday evening on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The following is Matthews' full mea culpa to the liberal former First Lady as it occurred on the January 17 Hardball:

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Good evening, I'm Chris Matthews, welcome to Hardball. Well, we're in a time of a lot of frustration in this country, Iraq, of course, the lack of health care for people that work every day. Gas prices going up, the weakening economy that scares us every day. And I come on here every night and try to wrestle with these frustrations and also the changes in our country. We might soon have the first woman President. The first African-American President or a man older than we've ever elected before. And, of course, we always treat things here with hope, our uniquely American hope that we can actually make things better. That we can make the greatest of country, not only survive, but as William Faulkner once said, "prevail." In the midst of talking about this, almost always without a script and almost always on tricky subjects of gender and race and right and left and what's in our country's interest and who I think is telling the truth and who I think isn't, I know I'm dealing with sensitive feelings. I've accepted all of this as part of the business I have chosen. This program, I am proud to say is tough, fearless, and, yes, blunt. I want people to react when I say something. I don't like saying things so carefully and so politically correctly that no one thinks they've even said anything.
What I've always counted in all the wild, speeded-up conversations on Hardball and elsewhere on television, is my good heart. I've always felt that no matter how tough I got, how direct, how provocative, how purposely provocative, people out there watching would know I was not out against them, that it was them I was rooting for. That while, that while I was tough on individuals who sought to lead the country, I was not against the hopes we all have for a fair shake. In fact, a better deal for people who have been held back before we came along. Some people I respect, politically concerned people like you who watch this show so faithfully every night, people who care about this country think I've been disrespectful for Hillary Clinton, not as a candidate, but as a woman.
They point to something I said on MSNBC's Morning Joe the morning after the New Hampshire primary, that her election to the U.S. Senate and all that's come since was a result of her toughness, but also the sympathy for her because, her husband embarrassed her by the conduct that led to his impeachment because he, in the words I used "messed around." The truth, of course, is smarter, finer, larger than that. Yes, Hillary Clinton won tremendous respect from the country for the way she handled the difficult months in 1998. Her public approval numbers spiked from the mid-40s up to the 70s in one poll I looked at. Why? Because she stuck to her duty. She performed strongly as First Lady. She did such a whale of a job campaigning for Senate candidates, especially Chuck Schumer of New York, that she was urged to run for a Senate seat there herself. She might have well have gotten that far by another route and through different circumstances, but this is how it happened. The rest is history. How Hillary went up to New York, listened to people's concerns and beat the odds as well as the Republicans to become a well respected member of the U.S. Senate.
So did I say it right? Was it fair to say that Hillary Clinton, like any great politician took advantage of a crisis to prove herself? Was her conduct in 1998 a key to starting her independent electoral career the following year? Yes. Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depending on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying. And it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, normally like me. As I said, I rely on my heart to guide me in the heated, fast-paced talk we have here on Hardball. A heart that bears only goodwill toward people trying to make it out there, especially those who haven't before. If my heart has not always controlled my words, on those occasions when I have not taken the time to say things right or have simply said the inappropriate thing, I'll try to be clearer, smarter, more obviously in support of the right of women, of all people, the full equality and respect for their ambitions. So I get it.
On the particular point, if I'd said it the only reason John McCain has come so far is that he got shot down over North Vietnamese, North Vietnam and captured by the enemy, I'd be brutally ignoring the courage and guts he showed in bearing up under his captivity. Saying that Senator Clinton got where she got, simply because her husband did what he did to her is just as callous, and I can see now it comes across just as nasty, worse yet, just as dismissive. Finally, as if anyone doesn't know this, I love politics. I love politicians. I like and respect people with the guts to put their name, their very being out there for public approval so that they can lead our country. And that goes for Hillary and Barack and John and all the rest who are willing to fight to take on the toughest job in the world. So, let's get on with the show. Whoa.

Cafferty Sees Hillary 'Fearmongering,'
Pro-Life as 'Crap' Issue

On Wednesday's The Situation Room on CNN, during the roundtable segment, Jack Cafferty charged that Hillary Clinton's recent contention that she would be best prepared to deal with a terrorist attack amounted to "the same boogeyman fearmongering garbage we've had from the Bush administration for the last five years." He added that "it isn't the terrorists that are going to take this country down. We're doing a good job of that all by ourselves."

Cafferty also lamented that Republican candidates were talking about issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and the Confederate flag, which he called "the same crap that we hear every election cycle." He went on to recommend both spending cuts and tax increases to improve the economy. Notably, Cafferty's reference to the Confederate flag gave an impression that he saw one of the candidates pushing the issue, when in reality, as reported by CNN's John King at about 4:30 p.m. EST, the discussion of the Confederate flag consisted of a few people protesting outside, and a man in John McCain's town hall meeting audience bringing up the subject and complaining about the Arizona Senator's opposition to the flag's display above South Carolina's state capitol, with McCain defiantly standing by his opposition. Cafferty also neglected to mention that McCain has been talking about fighting against wasteful spending, which is consistent with some of what Cafferty was pushing for.

[This item, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, was posted Thursday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Wednesday, January 16 The Situation Room on CNN, including parts of the roundtable segment, and John King's report on McCain from earlier in the show:

# 6:30 p.m. WOLF BLITZER: All right, does she have it right, Jack, Hillary Clinton, when she says that whoever is the next President is going to immediately be tested by al-Qaeda and the bad guys and that she would be ready to take charge and deal with that threat on day one in the White House?
JACK CAFFERTY: Well, let's just hope whoever is President won't continue to sit and read My Pet Goat if it happens. It'll probably happen. This is the same boogeyman fearmongering garbage we've had from the Bush administration for the last five years. Wrap your house in clear plastic sheeting and duct tape because there's terrorists hiding under your bed. We'll probably be attacked again. Britain was attacked. Britain is still there. The Prime Minister is still doing his job. The country is still functioning. And this country will survive, too. It isn't the terrorists that are going to take this country down. We're doing a good job of that all by ourselves.

Later, Cafferty derided issues of concerned to Republican primary voters, like abortion and same-sex marriage, as "the same crap that we hear every election cycle":

CAFFERTY: Well, you know, Romney may be able to capitalize on his background as a businessman, but the legacy that is our current set of economic problems is largely the result of Republican policies that have been in place for the last six years. I listened to the show today. I heard McCain talking about he's proud of his record on abortion. I heard Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to put God in it in some way. I heard somebody else talking about flying a Confederate flag over a courthouse. Marriage is between a man, it's the same crap that we hear every election cycle. And no one is talking about the kinds of spending cuts and tax increases and sacrifices that the American public are going to have to make if they want to keep this country from sliding off into Third World status at some point.

# 4:30 p.m. JOHN KING: [McCain] knows full well he needs to get his campaign back on track here in South Carolina. He has flatly said today that he will win South Carolina on Saturday. To get the votes here in this conservative state, he's appealing to the large veteran population, stressing his credentials, both serving in the Navy and what he believes are his unique credentials to lead the war on terror. He's also appealing to fiscal conservatives here, saying he has a record of fighting pork barrel spending back in Washington and would use the veto pen aggressively to wipe out any wasteful spending passed by Congress. But at the beginning of both of his events so far here today, something you don't always hear in public from John McCain, a passionate defense of what he says his lifelong opposition to abortion.
JOHN MCCAIN: I'm proud of my pro-life record of 24 years in the United States Congress.
MCCAIN: I believe in protecting the rights of the unborn. I have a consistent, unwavering voting record.
KING: McCain telling us after one event that he is doing that at the top of his speeches because of phone calls and some mailings being done here in South Carolina questioning his commitment to the anti-abortion cause. So Senator McCain says he needs to do that to appeal to conservatives here. Tough questions about immigration at a town hall here the senator saying he gets the message from his previous support of allowing illegal immigrants to stay. He says he would now secure the borders first and then worry about the rest. And, Wolf, one ghost of the campaign from eight years ago. Back then, John McCain angered many conservatives in this state by opposing the flying of the Confederate flag above the South Carolina Statehouse. Listen to this exchange at a town hall.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN IN AUDIENCE: You came out in favor of removal of the Confederate battle flag when 76 percent of Republicans in this state, when polled, said they wanted it to stay on the capitol dome. What's your answer for that?
MCCAIN: My answer, sir, is that I cannot be more proud of the overwhelming majority of the people of this state who have joined together, taken that flag off the top of the capitol, put it into the place where it belongs.
KING: After that event, McCain saying the applause at that town hall convinces him that most conservatives stand with him on that issue, and that the people of South Carolina, Wolf, want to leave the flag controversy behind them. Again, the Senator campaigning aggressively. He will be here through Saturday. He says he must win, he knows he must win, and he says he will win.

Olbermann: Critics, Including Military
Officers, 'Can Go to Hell'

On Thursday's Countdown, after recounting the story of American soldiers deployed to Iraq while still recovering from injuries, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann seemed to oddly suggest that not only military officers, but also politicians and even commentators, presumably conservative ones, were responsible for the orders that these troops be deployed. The Countdown host contended these critics of his are the same people who accuse those who are anti-war of "hating the troops" and of being "anti-American," and suggested that they "go to hell." Olbermann: "The men who ordered them back, in the military, and outside of it, are the ones who accuse those who criticize them of hating the troops or of being anti-American. And frankly, those politicians, those commentators, and those senior officers can go to hell."

Olbermann seemed to be citing a January 17 story in the Denver Post which focused on the case of Master Sergeant Denny Nelson of Fort Carson, Colorado's Third Brigade Combat Team, who was deployed to Kuwait, ostensibly for "light duty" as a liaison officer, while recovering from a leg injury he suffered on a trampoline. Nelson was deployed despite a decision by the Soldier Readiness Process site at Fort Collins that he should not be deployed. After his arrival in Kuwait, and his discover of plans to send him into Iraq sooner than originally planned, a physician emailed Nelson's superior officer in Fort Collins, Captain Scot Tebo, "urging him to send Nelson back to the U.S.," leading to the master sergeant soon returning to the country. Denver Post story: www.denverpost.com

[This item, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, was posted Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Below is a complete transcript of Olbermann's comments from the Thursday, January 17 Countdown show on MSNBC, which were part of a regular segment on Bush administration scandals titled "Bushed!":

"And number one, 'Veterans-Gate.' We've already seen how the administration treated Iraq and Afghanistan vets at Walter Reed. Now, from Fort Carson's Third Brigade Combat Team from Colorado, an email from the team surgeon that, quote, 'We have been having issues reaching deployable strength, and thus have been taking along some borderline soldiers who we would otherwise have left behind for continued treatment.' Specifically, a master sergeant named Denny Nelson, whose leg and foot were so injured that at home, he was issued a permit for a handicapped parking space, whose doctors said he was not permitted to carry more than 20 pounds, he was sent back for service in Kuwait.
"Men like Denny Nelson are the heroes. The men who ordered them back, in the military, and outside of it, are the ones who accuse those who criticize them of hating the troops or of being anti-American. And frankly, those politicians, those commentators, and those senior officers can go to hell.

ABC Promotes Author Who Touts Abortion
as a Way to Reduce Crime

Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner appeared on Thursday's Good Morning America to talk about crime and also to repeat his unsubstantiated argument that legalized abortions have resulted in less crime. The journalist and author asserted: "What happened when Roe V. Wade was handed down was that unwanted children are basically at a much greater risk for being born into the circumstances where they're more likely to lead a criminal life. Not every unwanted child by a long stretch, but typically."

In other words, 35 years after the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court decision, "the generation of people around then included fewer unwanted children and therefore fewer criminals." At no point did Roberts question this assertion or mention that it has been repeatedly challenged since Dubner and his economist co-author Steven Levitt made it in their book. In fact, a study by another economist, John Lott, found that legalized abortion actually increased the murder rate by seven percent. However, unimpeded by contradictory arguments, Dubner simply told Roberts: "It's good to know what forces work in society, if for no other reason than to keep doing the right thing." The right thing, one presumes he means, is to maintain abortion rights. To read Lott's study, go to: lsr.nellco.org

[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Thursday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Dubner's contention is that the fewer people born into lower socioeconomic circumstances, the fewer criminals America will have to deal with. However, as John Lott pointed out in both his study and Freedomnomics, a book written in response to Dubner's, this doesn't appear to be the case.

An August Cybercast News story relayed Lott's argument:

Lott's study argues that after the high court ruled that states must allow abortion, more permissive sexual behavior and less contraception produced three things: an increase in out-of-wedlock births, a reduction in the number of children placed for adoptions, and fewer married parents.

"Those are contradictory directions," Lott, an economist and senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, told Cybercast News Service. "What ties them together is liberalized abortion rules. It affected decisions on premarital sex and careful contraception. It's a matter of economics. When something seems less costly, there's more of it."

Lott noted there are many good single mothers doing an excellent job rearing their children. But those children almost never get as much attention as children in a two-parent family, he said. Further, children in single-parent families statistically have more social development problems and thus statistically are more likely to be criminals.

END of excerpt

For the entire CNS article, go to: www.cnsnews.com

During his January 17 GMA appearance, Dubner did make a few arguments that could be described as conservative and rarely seen on network television. (He claimed that gun laws don't work very well.) But when someone makes a statement as incendiary as calling abortion a solution to crime, it behooves those individuals at ABC and Good Morning America to feature a counter-balancing position.

A transcript of the January 17 segment, which aired at 8:35am:

ROBIN ROBERTS: "Freakonomics" author Stephen Dubner is a master at helping us not only ask questions, but also to question the answers we get from the usual sources. And this morning, Stephen is here to talk about a subject that no one else is talking about and to help us understand why people are no longer talking about. You have our attention. It's good to see you. So, what is this topic that voters or the candidates not talking about?
STEPHEN DUBNER (Author, "Freakonomics"): Yeah, the candidates are not talking about it because the voters are not thinking about it. And what they're not thinking about is crime, violent crime. Right? So, in past presidential campaigns it's been a big feature of a lot of campaigning and almost bizarrely this year, it doesn't exist.
ROBERTS: People want to know why. And they look at a couple things. Strong economy and the number of police on the street. A factor?
DUBNER: A strong economy or a weak economy doesn't really affect crime a lot. It's a very weak relationship between the economy and crime. Number of police on the street, however, has a big effect. And so, right now, perhaps heading into a recession, people are worried, will crime get worse? The short answer is probably not unless it leads to fewer police.
ROBERTS: And now, that's-- I'm glad you said that. Because, people thinking about a recession and they're thinking, oh, boy, is the crime rate going to go up? Also, when you think about crime, think about those that are in prison and those that are on death row.
DUBNER: Right. Capital punishment, it turns out is not really a deterrent on crime because of the way it's carried out in this country, the long lag and so on. If we were to be the kind of country where capital punishment were carried out the minute after you committed or were convicted of a crime and you killed people on the spot that would change the scenario. But the way it works right now is, it's not a deterrent. Prison, meanwhile, is a huge one. So, there are a lot of reasons to not be happy about the fact that we have more than two million people in prison in this country. But, the number of prisoners has a strong effect on how much crime there is. And the more we put in prison the less crime there is.
ROBERTS: But Death row doesn't really--
DUBNER: No. Not a deterrent.
ROBERTS: How about legalized abortion and aging population? What kind of effect does that have when it comes to the crime rate increasing?
DUBNER: Right. So, years ago, people were thinking that as the country gets older there will be less crime because older people aren't criminals, for the most part. But that shift happens very slowly and does not have a big effect on crime. The legalization of abortion, however, as jarring as this notion is-- What happened when Roe V. Wade was handed down, was that unwanted children are basically at a much greater risk for being born into the circumstances where they're more likely to lead a criminal life. Not every unwanted child by a long stretch, but typically.
ROBERTS: Sure. Sure. Sure.
DUBNER: And so, you saw that a generation later, the generation of people around then included fewer unwanted children and therefore fewer criminals.
ROBERTS: I want to get to a subject that always makes people a little uncomfortable. Gun laws and wanting to know the effect that that has.
DUBNER: Not anywhere near as much effect on crime as people think or hope.
ROBERTS: Really?
DUBNER: The reason is this: When you have a regulation, like against guns, when there's a big existing black market working against that regulation, it kind of takes away the effect. In other words, you can make all of the gun laws you want, but if there's a thriving black market, as there is in this country for guns and almost anyone can still get a gun pretty easily, the law is not going to stop much crime. And that's what we found.
ROBERTS: How about the market for drugs?
DUBNER: Drugs is a big one, especially crack. The crack market turned out to be a very violent one. It was a struggle for turf. It was a struggle for profits. And people willing to kill and die for that. Crack has subsided. It hasn't gone away but it's subsided a lot and, therefore, a lot of the violence with it. So, all of these things that we're talking about that made crime fall in the last 20 years, the good news is, none of them seem poised to change greatly in the coming months or years. And therefore, the crime picture continues to look pretty good which is why you're not going to hear about it on the campaign trail.
ROBERTS: Well, I'm glad we're talking about it. They might not be talking about it. But it's something--
DUBNER: It's good to know what forces work in society, if for no other reason than to keep doing the right thing.
ROBERTS: Yeah. You always make us think. Hmm. Stephen Dubner, thank you very much.
DUBNER: Thank you, Robin.

-- Brent Baker