Interesting news coming out of CBS today. First, the Wall Street Journal reporting that Katie Couric is "likely" to leave the network--before her contract expires, possibly after the inaguration of the next president:

After two years of record-low ratings, both CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the "CBS Evening News" anchor is likely to leave the network well before her contract expires in 2011 -- possibly soon after the presidential inauguration early next year.

Ms. Couric isn't even halfway through her five-year contract with CBS, which began in June 2006 and pays an annual salary of around $15 million. But CBS executives are under pressure to cut costs and improve ratings for the broadcast, which trails rival newscasts on ABC and NBC by wide margins. [...]

CBS, of course denies all this.

Remember the iconic 1951 Cold War era film, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”? It was a black and white film starring Michael Rennie as Klaatu, an alien who came to Earth to warn our warring nations that a galactic police force had deemed the world a “danger” to intelligent life everywhere and that we faced annihilation unless we acted nice. It was one of the classic, dystopian films with a utopian message. If only we could all just get along! Well, true to the axiom that there isn’t anything new in Hollywood, it is being remade as a Keanu Reeves vehicle (that’s Hollywood talk for “starring Keanu Reeves").

Now, the original film was all about love for your fellow man, ending war, planting daisies and a being nice little Earthling… or Klaatu and his trusty robot Gort will blow you up. As the Cold War was looming in the minds of the civilized nations and MAD* had set the table for “doomsday clocks” and backyard bomb shelters, the original “Day” was a timely, if not a bit hamhanded, epic with a message. The title character, Klaatu, when hiding as a human, even took the name “Mr. Carpenter” as an allegory to Christ. Naturally, the bad, bad humans martyred the kindly “Mr. Carpenter” in the end. It was all very much geared for its time.

We're back. More later.

The Costs of Containing Iran via the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.c...
Direct Link:Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaf...

Over the past year, Washington has come to see the containment of Iran as the primary objective of its Middle East policy. It holds Tehran responsible for rising violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lebanon's tribulations, and Hamas' intransigence and senses that the balance of power in the region is shifting toward Iran and its Islamist allies.

Curbing Tehran's growing influence is thus necessary for regional security.Vice President Dick Cheney announced this new direction last May on the deck of the U.S.S. John C. Stennis in the Persian Gulf. "We'll stand with our friends in opposing extremism and strategic threats," Cheney said. "We'll continue bringing relief to those who suffer, and delivering justice to the enemies of freedom. And we'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region."

With Pope Benedict coming to visit the United States next week relations between Roman Catholics and Protestants will likely be the subject of media scrutiny. The pope's itinerary includes a visit to the White House with President Bush, a Protestant, who was re-elected with 51 percent of the Catholic vote in 2004, despite running against a Catholic.

Although certain doctrinal differences remain in place, conservative Catholics and Evangelical Christians have been drawing closer together in recent years, according to a new book that explores the growing influence of Christian voters.

Deal Hudson, the executive director of the Morley Institute for Church and Culture in Washington D.C., describes some of the key factors responsible for the convergence between conservative minded American Catholics and Protestants in his just released book.

Age old grievances have gradually receded to the point where Christians from various denominations have joined together to resist secular assaults on shared values, Hudson argues in  "Onward Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States."

I don't understand what the liberals are griping about the healthcare situation.. Someone please explain!

An early morning start to your day. Posts may be sparse today as NewsBusters staffers attend the 21st annual "DisHonors Awards," the MRC's fake award show that pokes fun of the worst examples of media bias in 2007.

The nominees are here.

On Friday, ABC's 20/20 featured a story about a Long Island man, John White, who was put on trial for shooting a teen, Dano Cicciaro, at the end of his driveway after Cicciaro and some friends showed up at 11:00 PM during a dispute with White's son Aaron. While the story was mostly balanced in noting the strengths and weaknesses in each side's case, at one point, Elizabeth Vargas oddly asked White why he didn't remove the bullets from his gun before confronting the group of five hostile teens: "So you grabbed it hoping to scare the boys? ... So why not take the bullets out?"

More details of the case can be found here. Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday April 4 20/20 on ABC:

ELIZABETH VARGAS: It was just after 11:10 PM, August 9, 2006. Dano Cicciaro and four of his friends pulled up outside the home of John White. According to the White family, this is what it looked like to them: bright lights shining up their driveway and several angry young men shouting outside.