1. ABC Criticizes Bush for Not Condemning Anti-Islam Remarks Assuming Islam is a religion of peace, Peter Jennings passed along what he suggested were alarming new poll numbers, about the public seeing Islam as encouraging violence and lacking respect for other religions, before turning to Dan Harris for a rundown of anti-Islam comments from evangelical leaders. Harris blamed Bush: "Critics suggest the administration waited so long to condemn the statements from leading evangelicals because they didn't want to alienate a key constituency before the midterm elections." 2. To the Washington Post a Liberal is a "Centrist" The Washington Post can't... continue reading
1. Gore Not Bitter Enough for Walters, She Urges Hillary for VP During her 20/20 interview with Al Gore shown on Friday night, Barbara Walters expressed exasperation with Al Gore's lack of outrage over not getting the presidency, wondering "why aren't you...bitter?," suggesting he declare "I won the popular vote!" and demanding: "How can you sit here this calmly now?" She also declared that "there are few things Al Gore cares more about than the state of the American family," and wanted know if he would "consider Hillary Clinton as a possible running mate" so "you could have a Gore-Clinton... continue reading
1. CBS Leads with Daschle Blast at How Bush Losing War on Terror Democrats complain about the media not giving enough air time to their views and CBS jumps. Dan Rather turned over the top of Thursday's CBS Evening News to Tom Daschle's blast at the Bush administration's anti-terrorist efforts, highlighting how Daschle had raised "questions about how the war on terror is really going." Daschle got 32 seconds to assert that "I think we have to question whether or not we're winning the war" and that "whatever" the administration is doing, "it's not enough." 2. Jennings vs. NY Times... continue reading
1. Jennings: Bush Assumed "Iraq Would Not Cooperate" Jennings versus Rather. Peter Jennings displayed smug delight Wednesday night as he reported on Saddam Hussein's announcement that he would allow weapons inspectors into Iraq, adding: "The Bush administration has been threatening war almost on the assumption that Iraq would not cooperate." But CBS's Dan Rather noted how all Hussein had done was take "the first small step required of him to possibly avoid war." 2. ABC Highlights Greenspan Opposition to Tax Cut Plan ABC ignored Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan when he made a point which favored conservatives, but highlighted how he... continue reading
1. Washington Post Labels GOP Senate Chairmen, Not Democratic Ones Washington Post labeling bias, part one: In offering short bios last week of 13 Republicans Senators slated to become committee chairmen, the Post applied ideological labels to 11, with nine of the 11 getting tagged with a conservative label. But 17 months earlier, when the Jeffords defection put Democrats in control, the paper's page of profiles of the newly elevated Democratic chairmen not only labeled just one Democrat as a liberal, it managed to apply conservative tags to two outgoing Republican chairmen. Conservative to the Post: Pete Domenici and John... continue reading
1. Bill Moyers: GOP Imposing "Radical Ideology" Republicans are about to use "the power of the state" to enforce "their radical ideology" Bill Moyers charged Friday night. After Moyers dedicated much of his PBS show, Now with Bill Moyers, to the evils of U.S. "imperialism" and the Bush-led "oligarchy," he warned that the government "is united behind a right-wing agenda." That agenda, Moyers claimed, "includes the power of the state to force pregnant women to surrender control over their own lives," transferring "wealth from working people to the rich" and "giving corporations a free hand to eviscerate the environment." 2... continue reading
1. Brokaw Scolds Bush for "Rolling Up Record Deficits" After President Bush's Thursday afternoon press conference, NBC's Tom Brokaw remarked about how by advocating more tax cuts Republicans are "rolling up record deficits again." CNBC's Ron Insana, however, undermined Brokaw's concern. CBS's Dan Rather noted how Bush wanted to re-nominate two judicial picks which the Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee rejected, explaining: "Judge Owens was resisted because of her positions against abortion, Pickering on questions of racial prejudice." But, Rather quickly added, "mind you those were questions, accusations." 2. Bush Allows Helen Thomas to Pose Left-Wing Question President Bush let Helen... continue reading
1. Nets Skip Historic Nature of GOP Success The broadcast network evening shows on Wednesday night acknowledged the Republican victory and how it left Democrats reeling, but none made clear the historic nature of the Republican triumph as none informed viewers that it was the first time 1934 that an incumbent President picked up House seats in his first mid-term election. ABC came closest as Linda Douglass noted: "Analysts say Mr. Bush's success in this campaign was historic." 2. Bush's "Conservative Agenda...Ended Up Alienating" Jeffords ABC's Terry Moran on Wednesday night tried to steer President Bush away from pursuing conservative... continue reading
1. Baffling Why Poor Economy Didn't Help Democrats Election Night Theme #1: Baffled by why the poor economy didn't help Democrats more and hurt Republicans more. 2. Blaming Democratic Losses on Not Being Liberal Enough Election Night Theme #2: Blaming Democratic losses on their candidates not being aggressively liberal enough instead of crediting Republican policy positions for propelling their victories. 3. Warning Bush to Not Pursue Conservative Agenda Election Night Theme #3: Warning it would be unwise for President Bush to pursue a conservative agenda. 4. What "Worries" You Most About GOP Senate Takeover? Highlighting "Republican Voter Suppression Tactics" A... continue reading
1. MSNBC Anchor Casts Ballot for Liberal Democrat The anchor of MSNBC's election night coverage, Chris Matthews, told Phil Donahue on Monday night that he had already voted for the liberal Democratic candidate for Governor in Maryland, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, though he expects her to lose. 2. Streisand: Wellstone Crash "No Accident" Barbra Streisand, the New York Post's "Page Six" column asserted on Monday, "is privately saying that Senator Paul Wellstone's plane crash was 'no accident.'" Meanwhile, Streisand's Web site urges her fans to vote, warning that if Republicans win "there will not be any check on the power of... continue reading