1. CNBC: "On Many Issues" Dean "Centrist," But Lauer: Too Liberal? Monday night on CNBC, David Shuster delivered another effort to portray Howard Dean as less than liberal. On the News with Brian Williams, Shuster contended: "On many issues, Dean is a centrist. He supports the death penalty, gun ownership and balanced budgets." But Shuster's story did go on to recount how competitors Joe Lieberman and John Kerry are calling Dean too liberal to win a general election. And on Tuesday's Today, during an interview with Dean, Matt Lauer actually took him on from the right: "Are you too liberal... continue reading
1. CBS Re-Runs Soldier Derisively Chortling, "Morale? What's That?" CBS's Byron Pitts in Baghdad, who incessantly focuses on discontent amongst U.S. soldiers, so loved a soundbite he got of a soldier derisively chortling, "Morale? What's that?", that he used it again Sunday night in a story aired six days after the first time he showcased the outburst. By Sunday, three days had passed without a U.S. soldier getting killed in Iraq, so Pitts adjusted the frequency of deaths to at least once "every three days" and argued that "if looks could kill, the death toll would be so much higher."... continue reading
1. Clift: Baghdad "More Hospitable" to al-Qaeda Now Than Pre-War Newsweek's Eleanor Clift thinks "al-Qaeda is probably finding it more hospitable in Baghdad today than they did before" President Bush launched a war on terrorism, she charged on McLaughlin Group over the weekend. 2. Stephanopoulos Asks Qaddafi for Advice on Battling Terrorism ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked a terrorist for advice ("What would be the wise course for the United States to follow now in Iraq?") Sounding just like a media liberal, Muammar Qaddafi warned that for the U.S. Iraq "will be like Vietnam." On Sunday's This Week, Stephanopoulos summarized how... continue reading
1. CBS Finds al-Qaeda Aiding Saddam Day After it Discredited Tie A day after CBS's John Roberts discredited any pre-war ties between the Iraqi regime and al-Qaeda, highlighting how disgruntled former national security staffer Rand Beers claimed "that connection was way overblown" as Roberts warned that "the President's critics say that his claims of an Iraq/al-Qaeda alliance may be the next shoe to drop in the intelligence controversy," on Thursday's CBS Evening News reporter Byron Pitts in Iraq relayed how "military commanders now believe al-Qaeda terrorist cells are most likely working in Iraq, part of the resistance still loyal to... continue reading
1. Most See Intel Criticism as Political Game, But Media Obsessed The majority of the public believes Democrats are "playing politics" in their attacks on President Bush over pre-war intelligence claims, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll discovered. Nonetheless, reporters at the presidential news conference on Wednesday repeatedly pressed the issue and ABC, CBS and NBC led their evening newscasts with it, providing further evidence of how the agenda of liberal Democrats matches the media's agenda. ABC's Kate Snow demanded: "So do you take personal responsibility for that inaccuracy?" CBS's John Roberts highlighted his own derisive question: "But when... continue reading
1. Jennings Showcases Biden's Tantrum Doubting Wolfowitz's Honesty Peter Jennings decided to highlight on Tuesday night Democratic Senator, and potential presidential candidate, Joe Biden getting on his high-horse at a hearing in which he had a little tantrum about the Bush administration not coming up with a new cost number for operations in Iraq. Biden impugned the integrity of the Bush administration officials, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and OMB Director Josh Bolten: "When are you guys starting to be honest with us?" 2. Public "Soured" on "Right-Wing" and "Too Hawkish" Bob Hope Some prominent media obituaries and tributes... continue reading
1. CBS's Glumness on Iraq: Low Morale, Kids Yell "Go Home Bastards" It's amazing American soldiers manage to get anything done in Iraq, judging by the gloom and doom conveyed by CBS News reporter Byron Pitts about how they're angry and have low morale and Iraqis scorn them. On Monday night, he found anger all over. "On the streets of Baghdad," he intoned, "American soldiers are angry because American soldiers are still dying as the search for Saddam Hussein grows bloodier for both sides each day." He soon contended that "children who used to run along convoys waving and smiling... continue reading
1. Clift Suggests Sons Killed to Silence Them on Lack of WMD Uday and Qusay killed to keep them silent on lack of WMD? Newsweek's Eleanor Clift suggested on the McLaughlin Group over the weekend that the in killing Uday and Qusay Hussein, "two intelligence assets who could potentially lead us to the weapons of mass destruction," the Bush administration "surrendered a major opportunity to uncover" those weapons "unless," she added nefariously, "they don't believe those weapons are there." 2. CBS Seeks Out Soldier's Mother Who Feels Bush "Betrayed" Her CBS painted President Bush as just as dishonest as President... continue reading
1. ABC's Martha Raddatz Suggests Hypocrisy in Dead Photo Release U.S. hypocrisy on photos? ABC's Martha Raddatz on Thursday night gave legitimacy to the charge that it's hypocritical for the U.S. to release photos of the dead bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein when the U.S. commander in Iraq had "scolded Al-Jazeera television for airing pictures of dead American servicemen." 2. Networks Give Cheney Short Shrift, Undermine His Credibility CNN's NewsNight, which two weeks ago relayed a false Internet story about how a CIA "consultant directly told the President that this African uranium deal was bogus," a fraudulent story it... continue reading
1. Miklaszewski Relays Gripe Son Killing Used "Too Heavy Firepower" Just can't win/the media always find a negative angle on good news, part one. In reporting on the killing of Uday and Qusay Hussein, on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News Jim Miklaszewski griped about how "there are questions today why the U.S. military used such heavy firepower to take down a few lightly armed men." But his complaint about overkill in firepower came after he recounted how the U.S. forces escalated their weaponry to overcome the resistance as the four men in the house opened fire and injured three soldiers, prompting... continue reading