CHUCK TODD GIVES THE GAME AWAY.

Politics is pro westling.  Are you going to believe me, or Chuck Todd?

Here's last Sunday's Meet The Press.  (I watch it, so you don't have to.)  After a long prologue that might have brought up some of the controversies from the Democrat forum just past, the first guest is Beto O'Rourke.  Here's Mr Todd's first question, if that's what you want to call it, to him.

Look, Senator -- Republican Senator Pat Toomey, from Pennsylvania, you heard the Chris Coons comment there, at the end of the, end of that package, there. And Pat Toomey tweeted the following. "I agree with Chris Coons. This is an awful and extreme idea. Thankfully, there's not enough support in Congress to do it. But with this rhetoric, undermines and hurts bipartisan efforts to actually make progress on common-sense gun-safety efforts, like expanding background checks." He went on the record, Congressman. A few other Democrats have gone with blind quotes. There's a lot of hand wringing about what you said, agreeing with your sentiment but concerned that the rhetoric is going to actually backfire. What do you say?

Play the tape if you'd like: it sounds a lot like the suck-up sports correspondent leading the losing coach on. You know the drill: tough afternoon, that replay review went against you ...

Later comes this, also in a gentle tone.

Explain your change of heart. You describe -- to be a bit harsh here, what you just said about, sort of, the weakness of Washington, you used to be one of those members of Congress who used to advocate this very careful wording on guns. Where did you go wrong?

Then the skateboarder gets plenty of time to deliver a full answer.

Next up, another Democrat hopeful, Cory Booker, and another leading question in a gentle tone.

Before I get into some of the specifics of this campaign, I want to quote something from Maureen Dowd's column this morning in the New York Times. She writes about sort of the larger issue of watching the debate. Headline says, "Are Democrats doomed?" And she writes this: "It's a paradox wrapped in an oxymoron about a moron. Trump's faux authenticity somehow makes the Democratic candidates seem more packaged, more stuck in politician speak."

You and I were discussing this before. This debate process isn’t -- it's very rigid. Lots of people on stage and all of that. Are you concerned -- she seems concerned about the picture that the country is seeing right now of the Democratic Party. Are you?

Just once I'd like somebody ... probably a panelist, as it would be a career killer for a candidate to say so ... to note that the 2019 World Series field hasn't yet been determined, and perhaps it would behoove the networks to ignore the presidential election and concentrate on summer reruns.

But again, Mr Booker gets the controversy led to him as if the fourth-highest card in the suit.

But do you worry that you're scaring -- that either you're doing one of two things: overpromising something that can't be delivered or -- and at the time also scaring independents who are fiscally frightened by it?

And so it goes.

After the panel chews over assorted process things, it's time for the main event, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Let me start with sort of a 30,000-foot look at the world right now. India and Pakistan are warning of a nuclear confrontation over Kashmir. Turkey is poised to choose Russia over NATO, which it joined almost 70 years ago. And Japan and South Korea are in a trade war and have terminated their intelligence-sharing pact. These are allies I'm speaking of here. Do you feel as if the globe is more stable with President Trump as commander in chief now than it was three years ago?

That seems like a reasonable question, although, when you play the tape, you hear the truculent tone.  The representative generally is able to finish her statements (perhaps Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan set too egregious an example), but as we continue the conversation, we get Mr Todd's Kinsley gaffe.  "Sorry, I hate interrupting over satellite, because it sounds -- it can sound ruder than it's intended to be."

"Ruder than it's intended to be."  Priceless.