Interviewing Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor about her new memoir on Monday's NBC Today , co-host Savannah Guthrie worried that political division was undermining the high court: "Do you think that it's bad for the credibility of the Court as an institution if people have the perception that it is splitting along partisan or ideological lines?" Sotomayor countered: "Yes. If I believed that that was the reason for the split, which I don't. The fact that there's a circuit split makes it clear that there are different ways of looking at the situation and that the answer is not a... continue reading
Reflecting the typical Washington definition of a budget “cut” – in which a slight reduction in a projected increase is a “cut” and a measurable decrease in the rate of growth is a “draconian” cut -- on Sunday’s Face the Nation CBS’s Bob Schieffer despaired over how “to stave off these horrendous, these gargantuan cuts in defense and social programs” in the sequester? In fact, as Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University pointed out , “without a sequester,” by 2021, “federal spending would increase $1.7 trillion (blue line). With a sequester, federal spending would increase... continue reading
For three consecutive nights on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams proclaimed the country to now be in the "post-Newtown era," as he and reporters promoted how "the White House prepares its battle plan" to push for more gun control following the school shooting. [ Listen to the audio ] On Tuesday, Williams kicked off the coverage by describing how "in our post-Newtown era," the Obama administration was "gearing up for a fight on this issue." In the report that followed, correspondent Ron Mott touted "a growing chorus of calls around the country for gun restrictions,... continue reading
Paul Krugman's Friday column for the New York Times , " Coins Against Crazies ," announces his support of a bizarre-sounding budget solution taken up mostly on the left: A trillion-dollar platinum coin that would supposedly avoid the looming problem of the debt ceiling. But more offensive than Krugman's nodding along with this unlikely idea is his referring to Republicans as terrorists. PIMCO chief executive Mohamed El-Erian explained the platinum coin idea: "Under legal authority it already has (which is meant for decorative coins), the U.S. Treasury would issue to itself a very large platinum coin -- say a single,... continue reading
On Friday's CBS This Morning , Bill Plante refreshingly spotlighted how firearms are used to protect the lives of ordinary Americans. Plante noted how the National Rifle Association "Tweeted a story...about Melinda Herman, a Georgia woman who shot an intruder in self-defense as she waited with her two children in a closet ....She fired at the man multiple times with a .38 caliber handgun ." The two other Big Three morning shows failed to mention this story during their coverage of the current gun control debate. ABC's GMA actually minimized the air time they devoted to the issue. News anchor... continue reading
When Breitbart.com's Ben Shapiro on Thursday evening used his pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution on the set of Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN's Piers Morgan asserted that he, like the NRA, was deviously trying to frame gun control as an assault on the Second Amendment. "You come in. You brandish your little book as if I don't know what's in there," Morgan sneered. "My little book? That's the Constitution of the United States. Our founding document, Piers," Shapiro shot back. [Video below. Audio here .] Morgan took issue with Shapiro's interpretation of the Second Amendment as a defense against tyranny:... continue reading
CNN keeps giving oxygen to the gun control movement. Correspondent Jason Carroll touted the push by New York City and Philadelphia for stricter gun laws and loaded his report with pro-gun control statements on Friday. Carroll quoted four guests in favor of stricter gun laws and provided only one statement to the contrary, from Pennsylvania's governor explaining why the state court struck down Philadelphia's gun control measures. He began and ended his report with a grieving Philadelphia resident who railed against guns on the city streets. "Anger and rage rise to the surface because there has to be something that... continue reading
Former Democratic Governor Ed Rendell channeled Piers Morgan on Friday's Now with Alex Wagner program on MSNBC. Rendell even upped the ante, claiming that there was a positive side to the Newtown, Connecticut massacre – that it boosts liberal efforts for stricter gun control [audio available here ; video below ]: ED RENDELL: The good thing about Newtown is, it was so horrific that I think it galvanized Americans to a point where the intensity on our side is going to match the intensity on their side . The former politician from Pennsylvania also contended that the strong stand from... continue reading
Chris Matthews on Thursday smeared Congressman Steve King as a racist, declaring that the Republican representative is "prejudiced against Latinos." The liberal cable anchor came to the conclusion while discussing King's attempts to change the 14th Amendment to exclude so-called "anchor babies." Matthews played a 2011 clip of the congressman asserting that illegals "sneak into the United States for...the purposes of having the baby" and then " they get the little birth certificate with their little feet prints on there." The host pounced, " And the derogatory way he talks, you got the sense he might just be prejudiced against... continue reading
In an interview with National Rifle Association president David Keene on Friday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer wondered: "Do you have the support in Congress to block any federal ban on assault weapons in the coming year?...How close do you think Congress can get on that?" He then speculated: "People talk about the power of the NRA. They look at it almost, you know, in monumental terms. Do you think in the wake of these shootings that power has been eroded at all, Mr. Keene?" [ Listen to the audio ] Keene rejected the framing of Lauer's question and... continue reading