1. Blackout a "Metaphor" for Inadequate Government Regulation A few journalists on Friday and over the weekend raised "deregulation" as the culprit in last week's big blackout, though transmission systems were never deregulated. On Sunday's Meet the Press, Time magazine's Joe Klein pined for more government as he saw the outage as a "metaphor" for how "we haven't taken government nearly as seriously as we should, the detail work of government. And it's coming to bite us." NBC's Lisa Myers argued: "Deregulation has meant the interests of individual power operators don't always track what's best for the overall system." On... continue reading
1. Rather Proposes Given Blackout, Bush Cancel Fundraiser Speech Is President Bush the Commander-in-Chief or the Electrician-in-Chief? A bit past 6:30pm EDT, less than three hours into the blackout in some parts of the Northeast, CBS's Dan Rather wanted to know if "any serious thought" had been given to canceling Bush's appearance a few hours later at a San Diego fundraiser, "given the fact that so many millions of people are going through this in the Northeast?" As if Bush in California could somehow fix a power grid in Ontario if only he weren't at a dinner. And when Bush... continue reading
1. On CNN's NewsNight , It's the "Far Right" Versus Schwarzenegger To CNN, the California recall campaign pits Arnold Schwarzenegger and "moderate Republicans" against the "far right." A single story on CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown on Wednesday night employed the term "far right" three times to marginalize Republicans who disagree with Schwarzenegger's liberal positions on a series of issues, though CNN naturally did not describe his positions as liberal. 2. ABC Trumpets How Davis "May Top" Buffett with Bill Clinton CBS and NBC on Wednesday night acknowledged that Arnold Schwarzenegger's newly announced economic adviser, Warren Buffett is a Democrat... continue reading
1. CBS's Smith Claims Prop 187, Blocking Handouts to Illegals, Lost Though by an overwhelming 59 to 41 percent margin in 1994 California voters backed Proposition 187 to cease providing government services and handouts to illegal aliens, on Tuesday's Early Show CBS's Harry Smith maintained that Arnold Schwarzenegger's admission he supported the proposition shows he is out of step with California voters since "that was a ballot initiative that was voted down by, that most Californians did not support." But on Wednesday morning he conceded his error. 2. Condemning Schwarzenegger for Backing "Anti-Immigration Measure" Arnold Schwarzenegger is a blank slate,... continue reading
1. CBS & ABC Describe as "Controversial" Bush's EPA and New Nominee When reporters describe a policy or person as "controversial" you know they must be referring to a policy or person which upsets liberals. CBS's Dan Rather employed the term once and ABC's Charles Gibson used the term three times on Monday night in reporting on President Bush's decision to nominate Utah Governor Mike Leavitt to succeed former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman as EPA Administrator. 2. Network Vet: "Dukakis Was No Liberal and Neither Was Mondale" Former NBC and CNN political reporter Ken Bode, on the Chris Matthews... continue reading
1. Couric Tags Arnold as Nazi's Son, Then Condemns "Dirty" Tactics Katie Couric certainly has chutzpah. On Thursday's Today, beating Democratic operatives to the punch, Couric reminded viewers of Arnold Schwarzenegger's "baggage," from "smoking marijuana" to being "the son of a Nazi Party member" to "allegations" that he's "sexually harassed women and committed infidelity." But on Monday morning, she dared to scold Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon as she cited a newspaper report about how a Simon strategist promised to spotlight "the actor's raunchy past and liberal social views." Couric then demanded: "How dirty will you get?" 2. Lauer Worries... continue reading
1. ABC Blames "Determined Group of Well-Financed Conservatives" Sounding eerily like Hillary Clinton's claim of a "vast right-wing conspiracy," ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas blamed "a determined group of well-financed conservatives ready to exploit" the "weaknesses" of a recall law and unpopular Governor for the circus of California's gubernatorial race featuring "former child actor Gary Coleman" and "Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt," though modern conservatives had nothing to do with the century-old law which made it so easy to get on the ballot. 2. Gergen Mocks Schwarzenegger's Inexperience, But Touts Huffington Former presidential adviser and current U.S. News Editor-at-Large David Gergen... continue reading
1. Stephanopoulos Delivers Dem Attack Strategy on Schwarzenegger Good morning, America, here's the Democratic spin of the day. On today's Good Morning America, instead of conveying the reaction of both Republicans and Democrats to Arnold Schwarzenegger entering the gubernatorial contest, George Stephanopoulos devoted nearly all of his analysis to how Democrats will undermine Schwarzenegger. Stephanopoulos reported that those he talked to "point to a couple of hopeful signs in this election." First, that since Schwarzenegger announced "on the same day that Gary Coleman of Diff'rent Strokes got into the race as well, just points up the whole freak show nature"... continue reading
1. NBC Blames Global Warming for European Heat Wave It was inevitable. Whenever someplace in the world gets hot for a few days, sooner or later a network story will blame it on global warming. NBC's Patricia Sabga won the contest on Wednesday night when she warned that "scientists attribute the extreme temperatures to what's been described as a dome of hot air hovering over Europe, a summer weather pattern that may become the norm." Sean Seabrook, identified on screen as a "meteorologist," then asserted: "Scientists appreciate now that global warming is taking place and I think these occurrences of... continue reading
1. Stephanopoulos Delivers Dem Attack Strategy on Schwarzenegger 2. Couric on Schwarzenegger: "He's the Son of a Nazi Party Member" 3. NY Times Contrasts Nuclear Proliferation with Arnold's Bikini Wax 1) Good morning, America, here's the Democratic spin of the day. On today's Good Morning America, instead of conveying the reaction of both Republicans and Democrats to Arnold Schwarzenegger entering the gubernatorial contest, George Stephanopoulos returned to his roots as a liberal Democratic operative for Dick Gephardt and Bill Clinton, and devoted nearly all of his analysis to how Democrats will undermine Schwarzenegger. Diane Sawyer set him up on Thursday... continue reading