Washington Post television critic Tom Shales never really cottoned to the idea of Christiane Amanpour hosting ABC News' Sunday morning show, This Week. And in his comically bitchy review of Amanpour's debut yesterday, he wonders: does she support the Taliban?

Back when Amanpour was given the job in March—taking over for George Stephanopoulos—Shales was flamed for his initial reaction, which was basically: why doesn't she love Israel enough, and what is up with that ugly hair of hers?

Shales wanted ABC's White House correspondent and temporary fill-in Jake Tapper to get the permanent job, instead of a foreign correspondent like Christiane Amanpour. Because, as Shales notes in today's review, when you pick a "foreign" reporter, what happens? They start loving the Taliban and stuff!

Even so, the adept and likable Tapper stood a good chance of steering "This Week" into the kind of dominance that "Meet the Press" has so long enjoyed. And it didn't require any globe-trotting Fancy-Pants to do it.

Perhaps in keeping with the newly globalized program, the commendable "In Memoriam" segment ended with a tribute not to American men and women who died in combat during the preceding week but rather, said Amanpour in her narration, in remembrance of "all of those who died in war" in that period. Did she mean to suggest that our mourning extend to members of the Taliban?

Probably not, brilliant television connoisseur and closet idiot Tom Shales!

Oh, and yes, "globe-trotting Fancy-Pants" are his actual words, that he typed, in an article. Another zinger from this article: "Grand Duchess Amanpour." You know, because she was a foreign correspondent! Delightful. Please, share more from your literary bag of treasures, Tom Shales.

[Image via AP]