In an effort to insulate President Obama from criticism during the government shutdown and focus all blame on members of Congress, NBC's Today created the Twitter topic #DearCongress to provide "a forum for you to vent." [ Listen to the audio ] After urging viewers on Tuesday to use the hastag in their anti-Congress tweets, on Wednesday, the hosts of the network morning touted the success of the effort. Co-host Savannah Guthrie announced "growing public outrage on day two of the government shutdown." In a report that followed, White House correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: "Across the country, a growing chorus... continue reading
Nancy Cordes stood out on Wednesday's CBS Evening News for pointing out Senator Harry Reid's eyebrow-raising " why would I want to do that " answer to a question about approving funding for cancer research for children. Meanwhile, on NBC Nightly News , John Yang hyped how " 200 patients a week ... including about 30 children " had been turned away from "last-resort medical treatment" due to the government shutdown, without mentioning Reid's gaffe. Jim Avila also ballyhooed the detrimental effects of the shutdown on World News , and used man-on-the-street interviews to hint that Tea Party Republicans were... continue reading
MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Wednesday night mocked his Fox News competition, wondering when someone would write a book entitled Killing O'Reilly. [MP3 audio here .] The Hardball anchor appeared on the Colbert Repor t to promote his own tome, Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked . Stephen Colbert put Matthews on the spot, wondering if Ronald Reagan was a better president than Barack Obama. Matthews surprisingly answered, " In the end, yeah. In the end. Because he ended the Cold War. That's hard to beat. Hard to beat that, baby." Of course, Matthews does have a book to... continue reading
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Thursday fired back at the liberal, Obama-friendly talking points from MSNBC host Thomas Roberts. At one point, a disgusted Priebus, appearing to discuss the shutdown, slammed MSNBC, attacking, " T h is is a joke. I think you ought to just apply for a job in the Obama administration or the communications department of the DNC." [MP3 audio here .] An annoyed Roberts rather mildly replied, "No, I'll come work for you guys and help you sort out what's going on, because your message is a little befuddled." The MSNBC anchor acted as... continue reading
On October 1 the Washington Times reported that Dr. Ben Carson revealed he had his first ever encounter with the IRS after he delivered a speech critical of public policy in front of Barack Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast back in February. So far ABC, CBS and NBC have yet to report on this stunning revelation. In fact they’ve stopped reporting on the IRS scandal altogether. It’s been 99 days since ABC last mentioned the IRS targeting scandal, way back on June 26. NBC hasn’t touched the story in 98 days and CBS last did an IRS story 70... continue reading
On Tuesday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, during a discussion of conservative figures comparing ObamaCare to drug addiction, guest Joe Madison attacked Rush Limbaugh as a "fat ass," and raised the talk radio host's past addiction to the painkiller Oxycontin as the liberal talk radio host bristled at the comparison of drug addiction to government-run health care. Madison began his rant: Let me tell you, they just can't stand the fact that they've got a very smart, intelligent black man that has out-thought them, out-campaigned them, beat them twice without any controversy. The nerve, the absolute nerve to use crack cocaine, something... continue reading
In an exclusive interview with President Obama on Wednesday, CNBC chief Washington correspondent John Harwood lobbed this softball on the political fallout of the government shutdown: "Before the election last year, you said you thought there was a possibility your re-election would break the fever within the Republican Party. Didn't happen. Do you see this moment as a chance, through this political confrontation, to break the fever now?" [ Listen to the audio ] After the President proceeded to blame Republicans in Congress for the shutdown, Harwood actually challenged Obama on his attacks on the GOP: "I wonder about your... continue reading
For two straight days, Nancy Cordes strongly hinted on CBS This Morning that House Republicans were to blame for the ongoing government shutdown. On Tuesday, Cordes hounded GOP Congressman Robert Pittenger: " All the polls show that a majority of Americans don't want to see the government shut down over ObamaCare. How can you say the American people is on your side? " The correspondent tossed a similar question the following morning at Pittenger's colleague, Rep. Phil Gingrey: " How long are you willing to keep the government partially closed over ObamaCare? " During both reports, she didn't bother to... continue reading
On Tuesday's PoliticsNation , MSNBC.com Executive Editor Richard Wolffe -- formerly of Newsweek -- predicted that, because Republicans embraced the Tea Party, setting up the path to a government shutdown, Republican party members are "destroying their brand" and "will not be trusted" "for a generation to come." Wolffe began: ...we've got to take this back a few years to what the Republicans decided to do about the Tea Party. They could have said, "Hey, let's leave it like the Ross Perot guys as some third party, it'll die out on its own." He continued: Instead, they took them on board... continue reading
On Tuesday's AC360 Later , Tina Brown said that Republicans are fighting ObamaCare with "suicide vests" and that President Obama looks "statesmanlike" in talking to Iran but not the GOP. "Maybe Vladimir Putin can break the logjam here," The Daily Beast co-founder quipped. She added, "It is just incredible to me to watch these Republicans putting on their suicide vests and thinking this is going to have some kind of outcome for America." [Video below. Audio here .] House Speaker Boehner has "just become this rallier of these crazy people," Brown continued. Of President Obama, she praised him for being... continue reading