CNN hasn't covered developments in the IRS targeting scandal for eleven days, since correspondent Dana Bash claimed on July 25 there was "no evidence" the White House was involved. State of the Union host Candy Crowley briefly mentioned the scandal on her July 28 show but said nothing of any new developments. In the last week, National Review reported e-mails that "suggest collusion" between IRS official Lois Lerner and an attorney for the Federal Election Commission to investigate a conservative group. CNN said nothing of the report. Other developments in the last week include a House GOP claim picked up... continue reading
CNN's Carol Costello blamed Congress for Friday's jobs report and laughed at House Republicans who will shut down the government if necessary to defund Obamacare. In a Facebook post, Costello wrote , "Many economists think the economy could be a lot better if Congress did its job, but the House is, again, threatening to shut down the government. We've been down this road before...but, with an approval rating of 17 per cent, you'd think the House would come up with something new. Hahahahaaha. " [Video below. Audio here .] On the 9 a.m. ET Newsroom she implied Congress, not also... continue reading
Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir has fingered the main culprits behind Detroit’s bankruptcy. According to him, it’s none other than Fox News host Sean Hannity and all his fellow racist conservatives who were threatened by Smokey Robinson. In his July 27 screed for Salon headlined “Why the Right Hates Detroit” O’Hehir claimed the fall of big cities like Detroit and New Orleans had less to do with longtime Democratic rule and more to do with the right’s desire, as seen in the “coded racism of Sean Hannity” to punish the cities that spawned “the worldwide revolution symbolized by hot jazz, Smokey Robinson... continue reading
Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden on Wednesday spent the entire show investigating the possible closing of the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi. For a series that's devolved into a celebrity-obsessed tabloid, it was a surprising return to the Nightline of old. However, McFadden still tilted towards the pro-abortion side. After being bluntly told by a pro-life protester that unborn babies are dismembered during abortions, McFadden lectured on the remark itself: [ MP3 audio here .] The anchor also referred to those who demonstrate outside clinics as "hard-core," not a term she used for the other side. However, McFadden and Nightline... continue reading
Appearing on Thursday's PoliticsNation , MSNBC's Krystal Ball accused conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh of "racism" and "sexism" and charged that "He is offensive in every way you can be offensive." Host Al Sharpton had introduced the segment by marking the 25th anniversary of Limbaugh's nationally syndicated radio show, and, after offering congratulations, then launched into complaints: "It is a remarkable feat. But it's how he's done it that's toxic and relentless and downright ugly criticism of the left." After Sharpton noted that Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had praised Limbaugh, liberal talk radio host... continue reading
Late Thursday, news broke of the State Department ordering numerous U.S. embassies across the Middle East closed on Sunday, August 4 due to terror threats from Al Qaeda. While the Big Three network evening newscasts all covered the important development that night, not one of them made any mention of the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the consulate in Benghazi, the perpetrators of which remain at large. By Friday morning, the networks managed to add brief mentions of Benghazi to their reporting. On NBC's Today , chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell noted: "... in the aftermath of Benghazi,... continue reading
On Wednesday's PoliticsNation , MSNBC host Al Sharpton not only accused FNC's Bill O'Reilly and other right-leaning hosts of "distorting" the actions of Democrats on the issue of racial "grievance," but the MSNBC host for the third time in the past couple of weeks recounted and distorted comments O'Reilly made in September 2007 about his trip to a predominantly black restaurant in Harlem. MSNBC contributor Goldie Taylor compared O'Reilly to 1960s segregationist Lester Maddox, a Democratic governor of Georgia known for trying to undermine the Civil Rights Movement. Sharpton recounted that President Obama and other Democrats are trying to have... continue reading
CNN's Arwa Damon scored an exclusive interview with a suspect in the Benghazi attacks, yet CNN chose to air it only once. Aside from a brief mention of it on Thursday morning, the network dropped its own scoop for almost 24 hours after breaking it at 5 p.m. Wednesday on The Situation Room . None of the three broadcast networks mentioned the story on their Wednesday evening newscasts, and only CBS talked about Benghazi on Thursday, though they didn't mention Arwa Damon's report. CNN host Wolf Blitzer hyped the CNN exclusive that's "already making huge waves here in Washington." Yet... continue reading
During a panel discussion on Thursday's NBC Today about comments from Pope Francis on homosexuality, co-host Matt Lauer asked the group of usual liberal pundits if the Pontiff's remarks were a "watershed moment for gays in the Church" or "just a very minor shift." [ Listen to the audio ] Advertising executive Donny Deutsch cheered: "I think it was a watershed moment. I think we're seeing a moment in time from the Catholic Church, all across what's happening in this country with laws being passed, that the gay lifestyle is finally becoming like, 'Yeah, so what?'" Lauer tried to rein... continue reading
ABC and NBC on Thursday continued to fret over the implications the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal will have on Hillary Clinton. Today's Matt Lauer worried, " By association, does this do damage to Hillary Clinton?" Over on Good Morning America , George Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton campaign operative, pointed out that Weiner refused to leave the race "even as another supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton come forward, urging him to drop out." Who was the "supporter" that Stephanopoulos mentioned? The host's friend and fellow Clinton aide, James Carville. In a clip, Carville lectured, "If I were working [the Weiner]... continue reading