The HBO series Newsroom on Sunday continued its clumsy examination of liberal media bias. In the Aaron Sorkin-created series, "Will McAvoy" (played by Jeff Daniels) is a "Republican" anchor at the fictional ACN network. Yet, he constantly bashes members of the GOP in the harshest terms. In the September 15 season finale, McAvoy, who in a previous episode referred to the Tea Party as the " American Taliban ," huffed, "I call myself a Republican because I am one." In the episode, which was set on election night 2012, McAvoy then proceeded to denounce the party he claims to be... continue reading
On Tuesday's NBC Today , co-host Savannah Guthrie noted an offensive tweet by one Russian lawmaker reacting to Monday's Navy Yard shooting in Washington D.C.: "After those terrible shootings in Washington yesterday... he tweeted that the tragedy was, quote, 'A clear confirmation of American exceptionalism.'" [ Listen to the audio ] Guthrie explained the comment was a "not-so-subtle reference to Vladimir Putin's op-ed in The New York Times last week" and concluded: "Now this Russian lawmaker has followed up with a tweet that I really think is in some pretty poor taste." Fellow co-host Matt Lauer agreed: "You want to... continue reading
On Monday's The Last Word show, after former chess champion and Russian political activist Garry Kasparov charged that President Obama had "blown up [the] reputation of his office" by allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to talk him down from his "red line" warning against Syria, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell tried to argue that Obama had not really lost face since he never specifically promised military action, even though the President warned of "enormous consequences" if chemical weapons were used. [Video below] The back and forth started after O'Donnell asked "what advice" the Russian activist had for Secretary of State John... continue reading
A mass shooting couldn't halt Good Morning America's continuing disintegration from a news program to a tabloid-focused entertainment show. On Tuesday, the show devoted more time to Britney Spears's new Las Vegas show and Dancing With the Stars than to the slaughter of 12 people in Washington D.C. The journalists at GMA allowed nine minutes and 24 seconds to the massacre at the Navy Yard. However, an interview with Spears and a full report on dissecting Dancing With the Stars (another ABC program) amounted to 11 minutes and 54 seconds. At 7am, before even launching into a recounting of the... continue reading
In an interview on Tuesday's NBC Today with Dr. Janis Orlowski, chief medical officer for Medstar Washington Hospital Center, co-host Matt Lauer seized on her call for an end to gun violence following Monday's Navy Yard shooting as a demand for gun restrictions: "You say you didn't want to wade into the issue of gun control and yet your comments are resonating with people..." [Listen to the audio ] Though Orlowski never specifically mentioned gun control, Lauer fretted: "...but we also heard emotional comments after Newtown and Aurora, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Are you worried that your comments will be soon... continue reading
CNN's Chris Cuomo teed up Sen. John McCain to bash fellow Republicans on Monday's New Day , for putting partisanship before the country on Syria and the budget. " Do you believe if there were President Romney that members of your party would have the same resistance to going in that they are showing right now? " Cuomo pressed McCain on a Syria intervention. Would Cuomo ask if Democrats were supporting President Obama's foreign policy purely out of partisanship? [Video below. Audio here .] McCain responded that "probably some" Republicans oppose intervention in Syria "just because they dislike President Obama."... continue reading
During CNN's live coverage of Monday's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, anchor Carol Costello asked when the last time was that a gunman wreaked "havoc at a U.S. military facility." In 2009, a jihadist killed 13 in a mass-shooting at Fort Hood in Texas. " I used to work in Washington, live in Washington. This seems so unusual to me that a gunman could create this kind of havoc at a U.S. military facility ," Costello stated. " Have you ever heard of it happening before, Brian? " she asked correspondent Brian Todd, reporting live from the vicinity of... continue reading
CNN's Piers Morgan lashed out at NRA "cowards" hours after Monday morning's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, and asked President Obama to take "action" against gun violence. Just as he did after the Aurora shooting, Morgan took to Twitter. "Where's the @NRA today? Oh that's right, Wash Naval Yard is a heavily secure place so doesn't fit their agenda. #silenceofthecowards," he tweeted . He called on President Obama for " action " on gun violence: "I'm absolutely sick of these endless bloody mass shootings in America. You promised action after Sandy Hook @BarackObama - where is it?" "It's time... continue reading
Between August 13 and September 13, MSNBC's PoliticsNation host Al Sharpton has been so obsessed with FNC host Bill O'Reilly's criticism of food stamp abuse, the MSNBC host has on seven separate occasions played a clip of O'Reilly complaining that some food stamp recipients are "parasites" who abuse the system. But Sharpton has repeatedly portrayed O'Reilly's comment as a general attack on the poor, as his PoliticsNation program seven times has played the same clip -- or a shorter version -- of the FNC host. O'Reilly, from the Monday, August 12, The O'Reilly Factor on FNC: "My contention is that... continue reading
Talking to NBC's chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd on Sunday's Meet the Press , moderator David Gregory noted "Benghazi back as a political focus this week" following the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack, prompting Todd to observe: "It is. The House Republicans have not dropped this as an issue." [ Listen to the audio ] Todd continued: "They didn't talk about it last week during the one-year anniversary of the Benghazi attack. But this week, on Thursday alone, three different hearings are going to be taking place on the same day on Capitol Hill. House Republicans, they don't... continue reading