The journalists at ABC News have refrained from questioning Barack Obama's unilateral tone at the State of the Union address. Reporter Jim Avila on Tuesday's Nightline went so far as to compare the President to an iconic movie character. Regarding Obama's threats to use executive actions to accomplish his goals, Avila enthused, " This was President Obama, the go-it-alone Terminator, mindful he has only three years left. " [MP3 audio here .] The ABC journalist heralded, "This was a stare down, chest pumping President, angry and resentful about a Congress determined to log jam his ideas." Avila did describe the... continue reading
The networks played right into President Obama's hand Wednesday evening as they touted his push for a minimum wage increase while giving barely any voice to his Republican opposition. "[T]he President was out there hitting that 'give America a raise' theme hard today in campaign-style events both in Pennsylvania and in Maryland," noted ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl. "Does that idea have a snowball's chance?" asked CBS News anchor Scott Pelley about the minimum wage increase. Both CBS and NBC highlighted businesses already paying employees a higher minimum wage, including Costco, whose CEO has openly supported the idea... continue reading
On Wednesday evening's newscasts, the networks all hyped GOP congressman Michael Grimm (N.Y.) threatening a reporter after Tuesday's State of the Union address while skipping the Republican response to the address entirely. Of Grimm's outburst, ABC's Jeff Zeleny quipped, "It was not the State of the Union response Republicans had in mind." It was the response that the networks chose to cover, though. "Later, there was a far less dignified moment with a congressman from Staten Island, New York," CBS anchor Scott Pelley introduced the story. There were two Republican responses to the State of the Union address, as well... continue reading
The Minority Leader of the United States Senate appeared on The Kelly File , Wednesday night, to announce a push back against the IRS’s latest attempt, via new rules, to silence conservative groups. Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) network reaction? Silence. Not a single network morning show, on Thursday, reported on the latest charges from Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Appearing on the January 29 edition of FNC’s The Kelly File , McConnell told host Megan Kelly about the proposed regulations: “Megyn, they’re now initiating a new rule through the Treasury Department in the IRS to quiet the voices of... continue reading
NBC's Today on Thursday decided to make Republican Congressman Michael Grimm's verbal attack on a reporter after Tuesday's State of the Union a two-day story, with fill-in co-host Tamron Hall proclaiming: "Well, there's more fallout this morning from an ugly scene following the President's State of the Union address." [ Listen to the audio ] The additional "fallout" that Hall mentioned was simply the Congressman offering an apology to New York One reporter Michael Scotto. In the report that followed, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell declared: "Democratic critics say the Congressman is a hot head who should play a political... continue reading
Thursday's New Day on CNN spotlighted President Obama's latest push for gun control, and lamented how " gun issues got just a mention in this year's State of the Union ," compared to last year's post-Sandy Hook address. Anchor Kate Bolduan underlined how supposedly " gun control is expected to dog him [Obama] while he's on the road." Correspondent Brianna Keilar later asserted that "in 2013, it was one of President Obama's – probably, one of his biggest disappointments – a failure to advance a gun bill . And that issue is front and center today, even as he's pushing... continue reading
Appearing as a guest on Wednesday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell , MSNBC's Krystal Ball cracked that Republicans "must feel like they should just take a vow of silence" until the election as she alluded to New York Republican Rep. Michael Grimm's meltdown with a reporter and Mike Huckabee's recent comments about the so-called "war on women." Referring to Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers giving the Republican response to the State of the Union address, Ball observed: She is a different face of the Republican Party, and everything she did was completely overshadowed. Now, we've got Michael Grimm, we... continue reading
CBS This Morning on Thursday ignored the larger issue behind the blacklisting of a small Christian film that had its Oscar nomination revoked. Talking to Bruce Broughton, the man who wrote the title song for Alone Yet Not Alone , reporter Ben Tracy failed to wonder if there was a religious motive behind the controversial actions. On Wednesday, the film's nomination was stripped because Broughton, a former Academy official, had previously sent out a mild e-mail promoting the film. Tracy noted that "Academy rules do not prohibit sending e-mails or even the more aggressive 'for your consideration' ads all over... continue reading
MSNBC airs a bizarre video montage at the beginning of every episode of The Ed Show , but the program was especially outlandish on Monday and Wednesday, depicting President Obama as a series of larger-than-life figures. The liberal network first portrayed the chief executive as Superman standing on top of the White House, and later placed the Democrat's head on George Washington's body in the famed painting of the crossing of the Delaware River. Two days later, The Ed Show lead segment repeatedly showed a graphic depicting the President as Uncle Sam, holding a pen in his boxing glove-covered hand:... continue reading
NBC's Brian Williams was dripping with praise and support for President Obama after his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, touting areas where he was "strong" and quoting a sympathetic New Yorker interview of the President. " A lot of things will perhaps be remembered from this speech ," Williams announced, as if the address was almost a classic. He touted that Obama was "strong on education, strong on immigration" and "used humor and feistiness the second half." Later on, Williams launched into a defense of the President's shortcomings: "[I]t was David Remnick in the New Yorker magazine,... continue reading