In a break from the usual softballs that Barack Obama receives at news conferences, the President on Friday endured some tough questions, including a testy exchange with ABC's Jon Karl. The White House correspondent pressed Obama, looking for a "direct response" to a previous question: Will the U.S. launch strikes against Syria, regardless of whether Congress approves it? Obama lectured, " And you're not getting a direct response. Brianna [Keilar of CNN] asked the question very well. You know?" Karl shot back, "It's a pretty basic question." [MP3 audio here .] An annoyed Obama, in Russia for the G20 meeting,... continue reading
Nightline , the show born out of a crisis in the Middle East, has devolved into a superficial, tabloid-heavy program that has hardly bothered with the growing crisis in Syria and Barack Obama's handling of it. Since August 21, the program has allowed a mere four segments (18 minutes and eight seconds). In contrast, Nightline has devoted over 24 minutes to light-weight topics such as the Amish Mafia TV show, a full report on the best summer songs of all time. Other stories include a look at "color runs" (a "fun" race in which joggers have paint thrown at them.)... continue reading
In an interview with former Bush national security advisor Stephen Hadley on her Thursday MSNBC show, host Andrea Mitchell pinned all of President Obama's problems selling military action in Syria to the Iraq War: "There is such a credibility gap between the White House and Congress, the leftover, the hangover from the Iraq War. So can you be at least a little sympathetic to what the administration is encountering now with Congress, in explaining the intelligence and getting people to believe it?" [ Listen to the audio ] Mitchell led up to that slanted question by declaring: "I don't want... continue reading
Someone pass the smelling salts. Liberal CNN host Carol Costello expressed her disgust over conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh's upcoming children's book, " Rush Revere and The Brave Pilgrims ." Costello first snarked on Twitter about Limbaugh's book announcement: " Um. Oh. Seriously? " Minutes later, the on-air personality Tweeted , "I'm a little sick now ." Costello's openly slanted post was the first response to a Huffington Post Tweet on Limbaugh's book. The CNN anchor has a long history of slanting to the left. Just over a month earlier, on August 2, Costello laughed out loud on Facebook... continue reading
On Wednesday's MSNBC Daily Rundown , minutes after President Obama denied setting a "red line" on Syria's use of chemical weapons, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd excused the obvious falsehood: "I think it was clear that the President was trying to depersonalize the Syria issue a little bit....to say, you know, 'Stop making this about the President personally, depersonalize this.'" [ Listen to the audio ] Following those instructions from Obama, Todd proceeded to blame Republicans for the President trying to distance himself from his own red line: "...there are some House Republicans who are looking at this only... continue reading
Wednesday's CBS Evening News twice underlined President Obama's 2012 "red line" remark before playing a soundbite of the Democrat's "I didn't set a red line" reversal earlier in the day. Scott Pelley noted that " a year ago, he [Obama] warned the Syrian dictator that a red line would be crossed if the dictator used chemical weapons against his rebellious citizens." Major Garrett soon added that Obama " set a red line on the use of chemical weapons 13 months ago ." [MP3 audio available here ; video below ] None of the Big Three evening newscasts played the actual... continue reading
According to Chris Matthews on Wednesday, there's one reason prominent Republicans will vote against a resolution allowing Barack Obama to bomb Syria. Of course, the motive behind 2016 conservatives such as Marco Rubio and Rand Paul is "hate." The Hardball host insisted that the situation in Syria "is offering a roadmap to the Republican nomination for President next time." Rather than principled beliefs, the anchor flatly declared, " The more you hate Obama, the more you are deeply entrenched in the deepest bunker of the GOP ." Matthews instructed viewers to watch the Syria vote as it was "the testing... continue reading
MSNBC commercials have a long history of explicitly touting the network's liberalism. But a new ad combines that style with the exploitation of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. In the latest promotion, an almost exclusively left-wing group of hosts hold up a whiteboard with messages explaining how they are personally living out King's dream. This came after footage of the civil rights leader. Instead of any dialogue, the commercial featured peppy, upbeat music. Chris Matthews's sign read, " I am advancing the dream by...fighting for voting rights! " 9/11 Truther and MSNBC host Toure insisted that he's... continue reading
On Tuesday, just days before the one-year anniversary of the September 11, 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams conducted an exclusive interview with White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice and completely ignored the topic. Meanwhile, September 16 will mark the one-year anniversary of Rice, then ambassador to the United Nations, taking to the Sunday shows to falsely claim the planned attack was the result of a spontaneous protest. The last time Williams interviewed Rice was December 13, 2012 and it was entirely about Benghazi. However, during that exchange, Williams sympathetically labeled Rice a "victim of... continue reading
On Tuesday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post and MSNBC contributor Goldie Taylor joined host Al Sharpton to lambast the GOP for suffering from "Obama Derangement Syndrome," picking up on criticism of President Obama putting his foot on his desk in the Oval Office, without noting any of the visceral hatred felt toward George W. Bush by the Democratic base during his time as President. At one point, Milbank may have been vaguely hinting at hatred coming from Democrats in the past, although the Washington Post columnist accused the GOP of greater transgression as he claimed that... continue reading