Pardon Our Appearance

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I have posted some pictures today. We traveled up Capitol Hill yesterday to interview Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill. In addition to the interview with the senator (we aired Part 1 last night and Part 2 airs tonight), I took some still pictures. I wanted you to see the Hart Senate Office Building (the newest of the Senate Office buildings) and the senator's office.

Inside the Hart building there is a huge sculpture in the atrium. It is several stories high and quite interesting (see the pictures.) I had never been in the Hart building. I interned in the Senate in 1975 — years before this building was built — and my cubicle was in the Russell Office Building. And, as luck would have it, every senator I have interviewed over the years had an office in one of the two older buildings. Thus today was interesting to me, and seeing the interior of the newest Senate office building was long overdue.

I also took pictures inside Senator Obama's office where we did the interview. You can tell by the pics that we take over an office when we set up. We move furniture and desks, set up lights, cameras, lots of wires and cords. I hope we put the senator's office back to the way it was before we showed up! Senator Obama has many prints and paintings on the wall. I took some pictures of his wall so that you can see it. I can't decide if I like the Ali picture better than the Justice Marshall painting. It is a toss up.

By the way, in case you did not watch last night and see our interview with Albert Brooks, his new movie, "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World," opens tomorrow. If you go, write me an e-mail and tell me what you think.

One other thing: Could you forward the link for www.gretawire.com to a friend? If everyone sends it to one friend, we could get about 200,000 readers (the readership ranges from 60,000 to 100,000 daily.) Gretawire is growing, but I would love to see the readership double overnight.

Now for some e-mails:

E-mail No. 1

Dear Greta,
The person who wrote to you saying female journalists shouldn't be sent to Iraq overmade his premise, but he does have a point. Unfortunately, Islamic extremists have no respect for females and they are more likely to be treated badly if captured.
However, if they know the risks and still want to go, we must let them. For heaven's sake, some of the best journalists we have, yourself included, are female.
Cordially,
Daniel Beegan
Rumford, ME

E-mail No. 2

I find it sickening that people are accusing Beth Holloway Twitty of trying to profit from Natalee's disappearance. I'm certain Beth would gladly live in a cardboard box on the street if she could only have her little girl back. On top of the pain and grief she's suffering, Beth has had far more than enough frustration and accusations from Aruba. She doesn't need it at home, too.
A life-long friend of mine's sister was murdered by her husband. It took several days of massive searching and interrogation to find her body. I saw what it did to their mother. I cannot imagine if people had been accusing her of trying to profit from the loss of her child. Such accusations are sick, cruel, and barbed with Satan's claws.
Gwen Brown

E-mail No. 3

Hi Greta
Just finished reading your blog and e-mails for today 1/18/06. I would like to say to the woman who wrote about Scott Peterson being tried and convicted by the media and that there was not sufficient evidence and the jury was wrong (E-mail No. 7)... that hopefully she will never encounter someone who is a psychopath... then she will know how shrewd and self serving they are... and at your benefit... Scott Peterson looked, acted and non-verbally spoke guilty the entire course of events... even without the media doing their spins.
Thanks,
Pat
Ft. Myers, FL

E-mail No. 4

Oh, yes, Greta, you are so right. The longer this goes on for Beth, the harder it is. And even if you know what happened to your child, time does not heal all wounds. And good grief, not even being able to find her! (I will never know what happened to my second son, but at least I was able to bury him). I just feel so bad for Beth and her family. Not knowing is honestly one of the most difficult things in losing a child (or anyone you love dearly). And to set the record straight on "bringing closure." There is no closure in the loss of a child.
Gayle Kretschmer
Fernley, NV

E-mail No. 5

I fail to see how George Smith's wife was drunk beyond remembrance at 4-4:30 a.m., yet 3-4 hours later she was sober, and remembered a spa appointment! I think she knows plenty about what happened to her husband and had a hand in it... and wasn't as drunk as she claims she was. I want to know what she was drinking as anything I've ever drank beyond remembering certainly didn't sober me up that fast... had a hangover for many hours and slept longer than 3-4 hours to sober up!
Diann
VT

E-mail No. 6

Greta,
In regards to the email posted on your Jan. 18th blog by Leona [Jayne], she wrote "I'm sick of the tell-all books about missing and murdered people. Is this the new way to make a million? Have a family member show up dead or missing with an interesting story... then write a book? I'm not wasting another second praying for or giving another dime to these people."
How incredibly insensitive can this woman be? I only wonder how she would feel if one of her loved ones was murdered or missing? Some people live their lives in callous judgment of others, and I find it reprehensible.
Lauren Oggs
Mandeville, LA

E-mail No. 7 — In yesterday's blog, I provided some trivia that Susan Estrich was the first woman editor in chief of the Harvard Law Review and Senator Barack Obama was the first African American editor in chief. This next e-mailer has passed on more info to us:

Hi there, Greta,
Noted with passing interest your reportage of Obama and Estrich and their connection with the Harvard Law Review. Noting that both are prominent Democrats, I wondered how that trend might have been realized over the history of the Review. Chased down some info before getting distracted by other more to-the-point activities but did note the info quoted here from "The Harvard Law Review - Glimpses of its history as seen by an aficionado" written by Erwin N. Griswold.
The first black member of the Review was Charles Hamilton Houston, LL.B. cum laude 1922, S.J.D. 1923, who served on Volume 35. The second black member was William Henry Hastie LL.B. cum laude 1930, a member of the Board of Volume 43, who later became Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Other black members of the Board have included William T. Coleman, Jr., J.D. magna cum laude 1943 ('46), later Secretary of Transportation, and current Harvard Law School Professors Christopher F. Edley, Jr. (Volume 90) and David B. Wilkins (Volume 93). As the Review enters its second century, it has just elected its first minority President. Raj Marphatia of Volume 101.
The first woman member of the Board was Priscilla Holmes, LL.B. 1955, who was on the Boards of Volumes 67 and 68. She was followed by Nancy Goldring, on the Board of Volume 69, by Nancy Boxley, on the Boards of Volumes 70 and 71, and by Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Board of Volume 71. The first woman President was Susan R. Estrich, President of Volume 90, and now a Professor at the Harvard Law School. The second woman President was Carol S. Steiker, President of Volume 99.
Am wondering if president and editor in chief are one and the same or two separate and individual positions?
Pete Kennedy

E-mail No. 8

I heartily agree with e-mailer No. 7, Diane Eaton, who says she believes there was not enough evidence to convict Scott Peterson. I have so many doubts about that case! The jury was a really big problem. They seemed to have had a good panel, and then all of a sudden we get Richelle Nice, who before she got on the jury was reported on FOX News and on Nancy Grace's program to have openly and blatantly FLIRTED with Mark Geragos. She is truly a certified NUTCASE if I ever saw one. I have always said I hope to God no one like her is ever on a jury of my peers. Now, of course, since she has voted for Scott's conviction, she is no longer "Strawberry Shortcake", but Miss Credible? When the prosecutor can answer for me the question of who was on the Peterson computer searching for pool umbrellas with a daisy pattern, then I will be happy. That fact has never been refuted. That evidence was left unhandled by the inept Mark Geragos. I think Laci was alive and well and on that computer on the morning of the 24th at 8:30 a.m. Why did Geragos not make a big deal out of this? Lots of other reasons too.
Patricia Hicks

E-mail No. 9

Dear Greta,
The four men walk into the Smith cabin. They need to sit down to play the drinking games... two chairs are in the cabin and Mr Smith got the two patio chairs (loud banging noise heard next door) to make four. When they were done playing (drunk) the three men leave (seen leaving) and Mr. Smith put the two patio chairs back on the deck (banging sound) because it is difficult to move around the small room with extra chairs in there... That's why the chair was backward on the patio. Mr Smith just threw them out there and when he did I think he injured himself and he went overboard. He could have tripped and hit his head on the railing. There would not be blood on the railing because of his speed when he hit it. I think the three men did not have a clue that he went overboard...
Respectfully,
Steve W. Morris
Parkersburg, WV

E-mail No. 10

Hi Greta,
Kudos to Al Brooks for his new movie. There are millions of Muslim people who would be happy to shed this blight that has been bestowed upon them by the fanatics. There are some beautiful Muslim people who deserve to be faithfully represented by Hollywood and Mr. Brooks is right, there should be more films like his.
Thanks for having Albert on your show!
Blair

E-mail No. 11

Greta,
Just got back from a cruise and I'm also a retired detective from LAPD.
I had a stateroom similar to Smith's in that it had a balcony. The ventilation systems are such on these cruise vessels that if your patio door is standing open it's almost impossible to close your stateroom door without it slamming. It's actually a wind tunnel effect with the air rushing in through the patio door out the stateroom door into the interior hallway. If you were to conduct the same experiment that you did on your show this evening while the ship was underway at sea instead of tied up in port I'd bet you'd have a difficult time keeping the door from slamming unless you conscientiously held onto the stateroom door with both hands when you closed it.
In fact, my wife had difficulty even opening our stateroom door from the inside when our patio door was open.
What this means to me is that when someone left Smith's stateroom and the passenger next door heard the door slam, the patio door was already open. I'll bet that Smith was already over the rail and either still on the awning or into the water. (The amount of blood shown in the photos on the awning indicates to me that he either came to rest on the awning for a few moments before the rolling of the ship rolled him off or he was leaning over the rail above the awning bleeding from a head wound for a few moments before going over the rail.)
Bobby Lutz
Lake Arrowhead, CA

E-mail No. 12 — This next e-mail is about our interview with Senator Barack Obama:

Hi Greta,
My political preference is Republican, however, I will say that I am most impressed with this young man. I remember the first time I heard him speak, I guess about a year ago, I was especially taken with him. He reminds me of some of the decent Democrats that used to be!
Later and have a great evening!
Sylvia

E-mail No. 13

I used to like you very much but, if you are going to feature one politician, don't call it "fair and balanced." Perhaps you should go back to CNN where this is expected.
Where is O'Reilly when you need him?
K. Witt
Toledo, WA

ANSWER: You must not be a daily viewer. Daily viewers know that our show often has Republicans on alone (e.g. Newt Gingrich and Dan Quayle were recently on alone, Dr. Henry Kissinger is a frequent guest, etc.) Our show is not a "contest" between two parties — there are shows like that and I find them interesting but that is not our show. Our show is a bit different — I am curious as to what my guest thinks and why. Our show, whether you agree with the guest or not, is more of a probing format and not a debate.

E-mail No. 14

Greta,
I was lucky enough to catch your interview tonight with Senator Obama and I have to say that I was impressed by both his answers and demeanor. He appears to be a person that can stand on his own and hopefully he will separate himself from all of the finger pointing over this ethics issue and work towards a solution that will put trust back into the elected office be it Democrat or Republican. Maybe an independent committee of ordinary citizens could review ethics cases and make recommendations for further action or policy change. If so sign me up. Let’s stop worrying about which side of the isle we’re on and work together to put integrity back into our government.
Darrell
TN

ANSWER: Darrell, I am sick of the finger pointing, too. No matter who does it, Republican or Democrat. I just want things fixed.

E-mail No. 15

Regarding the Jan. 18th airing, the canopy that George Smith may have fallen on was convex in shape and not concave as Greta had said. If it were concave, he would not have been able to have fallen off. Love the show.

ANSWER: Yes, you are right.

E-mail No. 16

Greta,
With all due respect you and your guests need to check your dictionary. My dictionary has the following definitions.
Concave
1. curved inward like the inner surface of a bowl or sphere
2. used to describe a polygon with an interior angle greater than 180˚
Convex
1. with a surface that curves outward rather than inward
2. shaped like the exterior of a sphere, paraboloid, ellipsoid, or any other outwardly curved surface
3. used to describe a polygon with no interior angle greater than 180˚
Don McManamey
Wichita, KS

ANSWER: I have to defend my guests on this. They were not the dopes. I was. I am the one who said it. I won't do it again. Well, at least I hope I won't.

E-mail No. 17

We watched your interview with U.S. Senator Barack Obama and it was anything except "fair and balanced." He represents only one side of the aisle. It is NOT okay for U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, "the world's smartest woman possible candidate" to refer to our
Congress as being "plantation managed." We would like her to apologize to the American people. ALL of us!
Leila Hayward
Omaha, NE

E-mail No. 18

Greta: Your interview with Albert Brooks on his latest movie "Comedy In the Muslim World" fell short of my high expectations. Firstly, you never asked on why he picked India for the filming. Granted, India has the 2nd largest Muslim population in this world, but it is 80% Hindu and the fabric/values of the society tends to display the colors of the majority of the people. Secondly, the clips clearly showed the female actress in the traditional Hindu attire characterized by the "bindi" (red-dot for the westerners). Looks like the content of the movie doesn't match the contents.
I'm quite disappointed with this segment.
Kirti
Portland

ANSWER: It is a movie. I did not say it was the news or a documentary. I don't know if I was unclear about this and if others were confused like you. I am curious if others were likewise confused.

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