During a panel discussion on Thursday's NBC Today about some school districts arming teachers to defend against mass shootings, fill-in co-host Carson Daly teed up New Jersey American Federation of Teachers president Donna Chiera to slam the idea: "Donna, you're a teacher. What's the impact – what do you think the impact would be on a child if they knew their teacher was carrying a gun?" [ Listen to the audio ] Chiera launched into a bizarre rant: "I would hate for students to say, 'Oh, my goodness, if I answer the wrong question, is my teacher going to shoot... continue reading
On Tuesday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, host Al Sharpton complained that a "war on the poor" has been "launched" by the right, prompting Washington Post political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson to complain of a "dangerous tone" from conservatives and "antipathy towards Americans." Setting up clips from Rush Limbaugh and FBN's Charles Payne, Sharpton fretted: And, you know, Nia-Malika, the thing that concerns me, though, is when you look at the words and the war on the poor that it seems that the right has launched. Look at this. After Sharpton suggested that such talk would undermine the passage of legislation, Henderson began... continue reading
ABC and CBS both failed to point out San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's Democratic party affiliation on their Wednesday morning newscasts. Good Morning America devoted just one 17-second news brief to the ongoing Filner scandal. CBS This Morning didn't do much better, with two news briefs on the former congressman. NBC's Today didn't set aside any air time to the controversy. The NBC morning show did one-up its Big Three competitors in identifying Anthony Weiner as a Democrat. Stephanie Gosk underlined the " Democratic drums are beating loudly for Anthony Weiner to step out of race for New York mayor... continue reading
Angry liberal Chris Matthews on Wednesday foamed at Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul, deriding the conservatives at "terrorists." The Hardball anchor repeated the smear over and over, even going too far for former Obama political aide David Axelrod. Previewing the segment, Matthews threatened, "Finally, let me finish with the political terrorists of the right... Their names are Cruz, Paul and Lee." [MP3 audio here .] The host fumed that the attempts to defund Obamacare are "more than just obstructionism, this is political terrorism." Matthews then dropped the adjective "political" and simply declared, "I believe it's terrorism."... continue reading
On Tuesday's All In show, MSNBC's Chris Hayes recalled that "my mouth opened" and declared that "I could not believe this was in the paper," as he recounted that liberal New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd raised questions about whether former Rep. Anthony Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, has been tolerant of her husband's behavior because of her Muslim upbringing. Hayes recalled his bafflement during a segment devoted largely to attacking FNC's Sean Hannity and his guests for raising similar questions on his weekend special, Saving America . Notably, Rush Limbaugh was attacked on Monday's PoliticsNation by host Al Sharpton for... continue reading
After a tease of upcoming coverage of the Anthony Weiner sex scandal, on Wednesday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer tried to make the news of political controversy bipartisan: "Republicans are facing a few issues of their own, highlighted by a war of words between Chris Christie and Rand Paul." [ Listen to the audio ] Introducing the report, fellow co-host Savannah Guthrie announced a "heated feud" between the two Republicans, followed by correspondent Peter Alexander proclaiming: "A Republican family feud growing nastier by the sound bite." As the headline on screen declared a "war of words," Alexander asserted: "The... continue reading
Although most of the evening newscasts on Tuesday and morning shows on Wednesday ignored Barack Obama's plan for a "grand bargain," ABC's Good Morning America covered the latest budget move and wondered why Republicans would "reject a tax cut for corporations." Reporter Jim Avila offered an incomplete description of the President's latest plan, citing personal animus on the part of the Republicans: " When would Republicans reject a tax cut for corporations? Answer, when it's proposed by this man, the President, who says he wants to break the capital logjam, by agreeing to lower taxes for businesses. " Obama's proposal... continue reading
On Monday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams declared that Hillary Clinton's lunch with President Obama put the possible 2016 Democratic contender "a safe distance from the scandal in New York that now includes a longtime aide." Introducing a report on the meeting, Williams noted how "Bill and Hillary Clinton are trying to keep their distance from any associations with Anthony Weiner , whose wife is a longtime Hillary Clinton aide and confidante..." [ Listen to the audio ] Continuing to fret over the impact the scandal may have on the Clintons, correspondent Andrea Mitchell decried Weiner's continued candidacy... continue reading
On the Monday, July 29, All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes had to make a retraction for incorrectly citing statistics on Friday suggesting that a higher percentage of black murder victims are murdered by whites than the percentage of white murder victims killed by blacks. Hayes had used the incorrect numbers as he mocked FNC's Bill O'Reilly for his recent commentary which dealt in part with black-on-black crime. On Friday's show, the MSNBC host had erroneously declared: Well, now, O'Reilly's argument is that fear of black men is justified by the risk they pose. Well, here's some data that... continue reading
Monday's CBS Evening News offered the usual biased coverage of religion, and specifically, the Catholic Church, as it reported on Pope Francis' widely misrepresented remarks on homosexuals. Dean Reynolds' only talking head was a former priest who apparently "quit the priesthood...after he felt the Church intended to purge gays ," and even wondered if the Pope was throwing out Catholic teaching: " Do you think he's breaking with the Vatican? " Reynolds also hyped that the Roman pontiff offered a " potentially controversial position " with his recent remarks, when in reality, they are consistent with what the Catechism of... continue reading