Norah O'Donnell unsurprisingly conducted a confrontational interview of Senator Rand Paul on Tuesday's CBS This Morning , pummeling the Kentucky Republican for his strong opposition to the National Security Agency's controversial PRISM surveillance program. The anchor played up how " all three branches of government have approved this surveillance " after Paul asserted that "we don't want the government looking at our entire life." O'Donnell also hammered the senator for supposedly not speaking up earlier about his objections to this electronic monitoring: "There was an invitation in 2011 for...all lawmakers to view this classified report on what was going on...... continue reading
In an interview with Bill O'Reilly on Tuesday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer seemed perplexed by the Fox News host asserting that "the Obama administration doesn't tell us anything" about numerous government scandals: "So you think there's been less transparency under this administrations than there has been under past administrations?" [ Listen to the audio ] O'Reilly responded: "I don't know. I mean maybe, but I can't find out anything. Can you? I don't know what happened in Benghazi, I don't know what happened in the IRS, I don't know what happened with James Rosen....they won't tell us anything."... continue reading
Good Morning America hasn't made time to cover a possible prostitution scandal involving Hillary Clinton's State Department, but the show's hosts gushed over the politician's debut on Twitter . News reader Josh Elliott thrilled, "Hillary Clinton has arrived on Twitter. And, boy, does she have people talking because in part of her description of herself." After reading the description of Clinton's bio, the GMA anchors raved over the former Secretary of State's skill at social media. Robin Roberts lauded, "She's so good at that!" Entertainment reporter Lara Spencer agreed. Sam Champion bragged, "I tweeted her yesterday. I saw it early... continue reading
Acting as though he were Barack Obama's lawyer, George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday's Good Morning America repeatedly pressed John Boehner as to why he doesn't believe the President's explanation about the IRS scandal. After the Speaker of the House marveled, "How can your chief of staff, your general counsel know and you not know," the GMA co-host lectured, " That's a pretty serious charge." Stephanopoulos continued, "Have you seen any evidence or has Chairman [Darrell] Issa produced any evidence that this was led by the White House in any way, shape or form?" The former Democratic operative turned journalist complained, "What... continue reading
Appearing on Thursday's PoliticsNation , MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe -- formerly of Newsweek -- harkened back to President Bill Clinton's impeachment and the Reagan-era Iran-Contra scandal to warn Republicans against pursuing Obama administration corruption. When host Al Sharpton wondered how Democrats can get Republicans in Congress to support their economic agenda, Wolffe started off mocking Republicans before raising scandals from the past: Well, you would think that Republicans know about jobs first because that was their slogan when they took back the House in 2010. You would think they may have learned something from their experience in the Clinton... continue reading
Liberal anchor Chris Matthews on Monday suggested that sequester cuts impacting shelter and housing funds could result in "some women" "dying this week." Matthews brought on the former National Organization for Women Chairman Kim Gandy to warn of impending death. (The Hardball host didn't identify Gandy's work for the very liberal NOW. Instead, he described her as the President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence.) Matthews derided, " How do you get the members of Congress to say, look, some women are going to die this week because these shelters are closing their doors to them?" The anchor... continue reading
On Sunday's CBS Evening News , John Blackstone spotlighted the sob story of fourth graders who are lobbying President Obama to allow the return of their former classmate, Rodrigo Guzman, who was deported with his family back to Mexico. Blackstone sympathized with the schoolchildren who "hope to visit Washington, to personally lobby for Rodrigo's return." The correspondent trumpeted the children's cause: " The students' activism shouldn't be surprising, perhaps, in a class where they've been studying civil rights leaders ." The only soundbites that Blackstone played during the report came from the fourth grade teacher and students at Guzman's former... continue reading
The ABC and NBC morning shows on Monday ignored or downplayed the role the President of the United States played in the unfolding spying scandal that broke last week. The journalists at Good Morning America never once uttered the name Barack Obama. The hosts of NBC's Today left it to their guest to question the implications for the President. It was CBS This Morning that saw possible damage to Obama. Major Garrett warned, "The White House knows that this is an intelligence crisis that could become a political crisis." The reporter added that the administration "had to admit a politically... continue reading
Appearing as a guest on Friday's PoliticsNation show, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter -- formerly of Newsweek -- asserted that, if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan had won the 2012 presidential election, "things would be so much worse," as he took relief in President Obama's ability to veto Republican-supported legislation. He also echoed the liberal rhetoric of labeling Republican efforts to prevent voter fraud as "voter suppression." After introducing Alter's book, The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies , host Al Sharpton recounted President Obama's re-election victory, and wondered why Republicans will not cave in to the President: "He won... continue reading
Appearing on Monday's NBC Today , Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald corrected co-host Savannah Guthrie on her framing of the NSA phone and email surveillance controversy after she inaccurately cited government leaker Edward Snowden: "Snowden makes what I consider to be a rather remarkable claim stating, quote, 'I, sitting at my desk certainly had the authorities to wiretap you'....He didn't say that he had the ability to do it....He said he had the legal authority to do it." Greenwald responded: "That isn't what he said. He didn't say he had the legal authority. That's a word you included in the statement... continue reading