Couric's "Million Mom" Tribute; "Thank God" Democrats Blocking Conservative Judges; Newsweek's Thomas Pleased by Smaller Tax Cut 1) Million Mom March founder Donna Dees-Thomases made a "special contribution to motherhood and...to all of mankind," Katie Couric gushed in a pre-Mother's Day tribute to three women who demonstrated "how mothers can really be used as instruments of social change." 2) Best Question of the Weekend: Fox News Sunday host Tony Snow to Senator John Edwards, who voted against convicting Clinton for lying, on why Democrats would be upset if Solicitor General nominee Ted Olson lied in his hearing. "Why would a... continue reading
"No Way to Bankroll Big Tax Cuts"; "Staunch Conservative" Nominees; Drugs from the Left; "Democrats" Vs. "Conservatives" 1) Dan Rather opened the CBS Evening News by conveying only how "critics say" Bush's budget "doesn't add up" because "there's no way to bankroll big tax cuts while at the same time saving Social Security, providing prescription drug coverage for seniors, and spending more on education, defense and other programs." 2) Despite the inclusion of two Clinton judges, Wednesday's morning shows insisted all eleven of Bush's judicial picks were "conservative." CBS's Julie Chen identified them as "all staunch conservatives." Dan Rather put... continue reading
"Controversial" Judge Nominees; MSNBC's Reno Lovefest; Bush's SUV Lifestyle; Bush Linked to Unfair Paddling; Sheen's Dinner Partner 1) ABC's Jackie Judd stressed how Bush's list of judicial nominees "is weighted with conservatives." She named as "controversial" three, including Michael McConnell, "who argued in support of banning homosexuals from the Boy Scouts." FNC's Jim Angle noted how the eleven are "diverse" with three women, two blacks and a Hispanic. He recalled how McConnell clerked for William Brennan, "one of the court's most revered liberal judges." 2) MSNBC's Brian Williams delivered a lovefest with Janet Reno on Tuesday night. He didn't pose... continue reading
Traficant "Embarrassment" to GOP; Lack of More Day Care Spending Denounced; U.S. at Fault with U.N.; Bush's Media Free Ride 1) ABC's Linda Douglass on the indictment of Congressman James Traficant: "Now Traficant is a Democrat, but this indictment is actually an embarrassment to Republican leaders..." CNN's Wolf Blitzer agreed. 2) Douglass also put abortion ahead of all issues as she labeled potential judicial nominee Chris Cox as "very conservative" because he is "opposed to abortion rights." 3) Good question of the weekend, Tim Russert to Democratic Senator John Kerry on putting the same national effort into missile defense as... continue reading
Bush Just Like Jimmy Carter; Bush "Rammed" Budget; Ted Kennedy Too Conservative; Couric Indoctrinating Her Daughter; Lauer "Sexed Up" 1) Peter Jennings used President Bush's order for federal agencies in California to reduce energy use as a chance to again blame "deregulation" while CBS's Dan Rather analogized Bush's move to what Jimmy Carter did twenty-plus years ago. 2) ABC's Linda Douglass complained about how Bush decided to "ram" his budget through without the numbers being "analyzed as closely as they were" when "President Clinton was President" and with Democrats "completely shut out of the process." 3) Ted Kennedy is too... continue reading
"Controversial" Missile Defense; Smaller "Big" Tax Cut; Lauer Pounded at Hughes from Left on Bush's Conservatism 1) Missile defense enjoys overwhelming public support, but CBS's Dan Rather insisted: "The President backs an expensive, controversial plan." Tom Brokaw referred to the "controversial missile defense system." Peter Jennings snidely observed: "Critics often object to the animation in news reports because the animation usually has the systems working." 2) A smaller tax cut remained "big" to Dan Rather and only those trying to reduce the rate of increase in spending, conservatives, are ideologues who earned a label from ABC and NBC. 3) Matt... continue reading
Bush Caused "Permanent Damage"; Daschle Wants to Poison Kids Too; Missile Defense "Feared and Reviled"; Media "Sucking Up" to Bush 1) Without contradiction, NBC's Andrea Mitchell on Monday night featured a left-winger who made the preposterous claim that in its arsenic decision "the Bush administration is really risking millions of lives by not implementing the new standards." Instead, Mitchell focused on how "Republicans worry" about "the more permanent damage to the environment" Bush has caused. 2) "What is it about poisoning the nation's children that Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle enjoys?" National Review Editor Rich Lowry asked in employing the... continue reading
Russert Validated DNC Attack Ad; Donaldson: Nuremberg Standard for Kerrey?; Alter's Gorbasm; Jennings Lauded "Living Wage" Effort 1) "There's nothing inaccurate in that ad," Tim Russert told Karl Rove about a DNC television ad which features a little girl asking, "may I please have some more arsenic in my water, mommy?" But on Friday evening, FNC's David Shuster and Jim Angle outlined how the ad is inaccurate. 2) After showing a clip of the new anti-Bush DNC ad in which a little girl asks her mother for "more arsenic in my water," CBS News White House reporter John Roberts relayed... continue reading
ABC to Bush: Most Dislike Policies; MRC's Report Card on the Networks: An F for CBS News 1) ABC's Charles Gibson pressed President Bush about how most say of him, "Nice guy, but we don't like his politics or his policies" and was appalled that Bush had not yet asked Bill Clinton for advice. CBS's Jane Clayson took on Bush from the right, raising with him how an aide had said that eliminating abortion "is not a policy priority." NBC's Matt Lauer demanded to know that if gas hits $3.00, how can he "reassure people sitting out there right now... continue reading
"Rocky Record on the Environment"; Bush's "Camouflage for His True Conservative Colors"; Time's Global Warming Hysteria Undermined 1) President George W. Bush has a "sometimes rocky record on the environment," Tom Brokaw declared as a fact on Tuesday night before he showed Matt Lauer demanding of Bush: "So you can look me in the eye and say that you are a President committed to cleaning up the environment." 2) Reviewing Bush's first 100 days after 93, NBC's David Gregory focused on how "critics call" his "compassionate conservative" message "camouflage for his true colors as a conservative Republican." Gregory claimed the... continue reading