7 Best Moments from Sunday Talk

A promise of troops out of Iraq by 2011, the L.A. Times takes a beating from Howie Kurtz, and Brit Hume nips at the Obamas’ new puppy. Watch all the highlights in our weekly wrap-up.

KRUGMAN DOUBLES DOWN ON DOOM

President Obama may be showing some optimism about the economy, but Paul Krugman, who’s lately become an unexpected thorn in the side of the administration, concedes on This Week With George Stephanopoulos only that “things are getting worse less slowly.”

TOP U.S. COMMANDER IN IRAQ: THE END IS NEAR

General Ray Odierno tells CNN’s John King on State of the Union that he is confident that U.S. combat troops will be out of Iraq in 2011. He also shows some skill at evasive maneuvers when King asks what he thinks of serving under a man who opposed the surge.

BRIT HUME NO FAN OF OBAMA PUPPY

On Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume weighs in on Obama's new puppy. The verdict? While he likes the name, he dismisses—humorously, we hope—the breed as a bit "girly."

THE U.S. VS ‘ILLITERATES WITH RUSTING AK-47S’

Talk about asymmetric warfare. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, appearing on Meet the Press, uses some rather vivid language to back Robert Gates’ push to reengineer the Pentagon for challenges like pirates and insurgents in Afghanistan.

MEXICAN AMBASSADOR: THEY’RE YOUR GUNS, AMERICA

On Face the Nation, Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan tells Bob Schieffer that 90 percent of the guns coming into Mexico are from the United States, an estimate with which the NRA—and many independent sources—might beg to differ.

INTRA-MEDIA SMACKDOWN: KURTZ VS. THE LA TIMES

There are more newspaper-bashers in the media-criticism business than can be counted, but Howie Kurtz isn’t among them—usually. Pulling no punches, Howie of Reliable Sources lays into the Los Angeles Times for a recent ad on the paper’s front page.

WORST ANALOGY EVER: PUPPIES ARE LIKE PIRATES

The last word on the Obama puppy conversation—and there was one on every talk show this week, believe us—goes to Paul Krugman, who manages to make less sense than Newt Gingrich (something conservatives would say happens quite often) in comparing the Obama puppy story to the pirate crisis. Source: This Week With George Stephanopoulos

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