Leading a panel discussion on her Tuesday 1 p.m. ET hour show on MSNBC, host Andrea Mitchell ranted against Republican efforts to enact pro-life legislation at the state level: "Texas isn't the only state where Roe v. Wade is being challenged....We've seen in Ohio, John Kasich and company sneaked it in to a budget bill....Wisconsin, there's an injunction against enforcement of what the legislature there did under Scott Walker." [ Listen to the audio ] Minutes later, Mitchell encouraged her fellow abortion advocates to use the issue to attack the GOP in 2014: "...if the pro-choice community frames this in... continue reading
The year 2013 has reached its half way point, and PBS’s Washington Week used last Friday’s episode to reflect on the past six months of D.C. politics. During the course of the reflections, moderator Gwen Ifill trotted out the oft-uttered liberal complaint about “distractions” that have impeded President Obama’s second-term agenda so far. She lamented, “ You know, the one thing that's been a common theme throughout this first six months has been distractions. The ways in which pure politics has driven what ends up happening.” These “distractions,” of course, are what many people refer to as “scandals.” They include... continue reading
CNN mentioned Eliot Spitzer's prostitution scandal in every single report on his comeback bid in politics on Monday and Tuesday, but hid that he was recently a CNN prime-time host in five of the seven reports. Spitzer was originally hired by CNN as a liberal voice, to co-host a prime-time show with "conservative" Kathleen Parker that debuted in October of 2010. When Parker left the show months later in February of 2011, Spitzer – originally hired for his liberal bias – became the sole host of In the Arena , which was canceled later in July. Yet CNN only disclosed... continue reading
Two weeks after Texas state senator Wendy Davis and a mob of abortion activists prevented popularly supported pro-life legislation from being passed in the Lone Star State, on Tuesday's NBC Today , news reader Natalie Morales warned of another upcoming vote on the bill: "The battle over abortion rights is focused on Texas, where a controversial bill that failed last month will be back up for a vote." [ Listen to the audio ] In the report that followed, correspondent Gabe Gutierrez declared Texas to be at "the epicenter of the national debate over abortion" and hyped "another showdown" at... continue reading
For the second day in a row, the journalists at Good Morning America failed to identify prostitution patron Eliot Spitzer as a Democrat. Yet, in a story on the politician's comeback, reporter Claire Shipman made sure to highlight former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford as a Republican. Regarding Spitzer's bid to be the New York City comptroller, Shipman enthused, " A new political lesson for Eliot Spitzer: Infamy might work to his advantage." She continued, "It certainly brought the former New York governor crowds he could not have imagined before his prostitution scandal cost him his job in 2008." [MP3... continue reading
Hardball guest host Michael Smerconish on Monday was so gentle with reformed prostitution patron Eliot Spitzer that even the former governor seemed uncomfortable. Talking about Spitzer's new run for New York City comptroller, Smerconish enthused, " Governor, does running now mean that resigning was unwarranted?" He continued, "Would a Spitzer victory mark the of end of the sex scandal as we know it? And I'm asking, really, have we become too intrusive into our elected officials' and candidates' private lives?" This appeared to be too much for Spitzer. He allowed, "Look, I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask,... continue reading
On the Wednesday, July 3, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell , MSNBC contributor Joy Reid compared abortion restrictions to "Shariah law" as she blasted North Carolina state senate Republicans for the "sneak attack" of including the restrictions in a bill banning Islamic law in the state. Reid: I think what probably happened here is that the legislators in North Carolina looked at what's happening in Texas and other states where women are fighting these laws, where they're fighting these bills. Where they're coming out and protesting, and where it's becoming national news, and they decided to make the world's... continue reading
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux went to ridiculous ends on Monday to suggest that a testimony in defense of George Zimmerman could be used by the prosecution. A witness testified that she recognized Zimmerman's voice crying for help in a 911 call as he struggled with Trayvon Martin, because she worked with him on a political campaign. Malveaux suggested that the prosecution could argue that Zimmerman's jubilant cries during political rallies could be similar to his voice while "pummeling Trayvon Martin" with "a sense of joy." [Video below. Audio here .] Defense attorney Mark Nejame shot that proposition down immediately. " Whoever... continue reading
In a show of advocacy and not journalism, CNN skirted the policy details of the student loans debate and instead just paddled Congress for letting the loan rates double, on Monday's New Day . Co-hosts Kate Bolduan and Chris Cuomo begged Congress to "fix" the student loan rate increase that automatically went into effect on July 1. They dubbed it the "'Come on Congress' campaign." Cuomo scolded Congress: " This student loans thing, we want to be on it just about every day. They can fix it. They know it was a mistake. You can't compromise education in the country,... continue reading
Monday's CBS This Morning twice mentioned Kristin Davis, one of Eliot Spitzer's electoral opponents, during an interview of the disgraced former New York governor, but failed to mention that she claims to be the madam who sold Spitzer the services of prostitutes. Norah O'Donnell wondered, "Did you just look at the role of comptroller and say, ' look, I'd be running against Kristin Davis. I could probably easily get elected '. O'Donnell led the interview with the issue of the former governor's prostitution scandal, and later mentioned Davis' name, but failed to mention the possible connection. Co-anchor Gayle King also... continue reading