CNN reported a new bombshell in the ongoing Libya fiasco on Monday night, while the broadcast networks had already moved on from the story. CNN's Erin Burnett disclosed that "key intelligence" was left out of the post-Libya narrative given to the American public. The networks made no mention of Libya all day Monday and through Tuesday morning after being late to new developments in the story. "[T]here were a decision made as to some of these key things that obviously are now considered to be crucial to this – essential to this attack were left out of the briefing points... continue reading
The day before Wednesday's presidential debate, CNN hosted liberal journalist Carole Simpson to give her take on the event. Not surprisingly, she laughed at Mitt Romney while praising President Obama. "Romney is practicing zingers. He's not very funny," Simpson mocked Romney, before laughing. What did she say for President Obama? "I think he's much more comfortable in his skin." "He's been on Letterman . He's been on Leno . He's been on The View . They're doing all of these shows and I think he's much more comfortable in his skin. When he sang the Al Green song, you know,... continue reading
Politico edged ever closer towards total parody on Tuesday with a headline that seriously wondered, " Joe Biden: Sex symbol? " Senior Washington correspondent Jonathan Allen gushed, "Joe Biden’s bringing sexy back — to the Medicare-eligible set." The journalist, who touts his "National Press Club’s Sandy Hume Award for Excellence in Political Journalism," rhapsodized, "The vice president, who turns 70 in November, has been on a tour of diners and delis in swing states, charming as many white, blue-collar voters — and their mothers — as possible." Allen noted Biden's skill as a retail politician and added, "It’s undeniable that... continue reading
In a report on Tuesday's NBC Today , correspondent Kelly O'Donnell described "awkward stumbles" for Senator Scott Brown and challenger Elizabeth Warren in a Massachusetts senatorial debate on Monday. Brown's supposed stumble was that he "first named an ultra-conservative" Antonin Scalia as an example of "a very good judge" and model Supreme Court justice. O'Donnell described Warren's stumble being that she named "retiring" Indiana Senator Dick Lugar as a Republican she could work with if elected. In reality, Lugar was defeated by Richard Mourdock in the Republican primary. At the top of the segment, O'Donnell noted that debate moderator and... continue reading
Talk about missing the elephant (or is it donkey?) in the room – on Tuesday's CBS This Morning , Nancy Cordes reported that Senator John Kerry is " playing Mitt Romney in mock debates " with President Obama before Wednesday's debate. But she didn't once mention that Kerry's debate skills didn't help him in 2004, when he lost a presidential race to President George W. Bush. Cordes did note that " Romney and ... Kerry know each other well. They're both longtime politicians from Massachusetts ." She also twice emphasized that Obama's campaign was " working hard ... to try... continue reading
Ignoring other conservative condemnations of liberal media bias, CNN's Brooke Baldwin on Monday afternoon pulled tape of former President George H. W. Bush all the way from 1992 ranting about the press – and then snidely pointed out how it "did not help" him. "[C]omplaining about the media did not help Bush One. He lost his bid for re-election," noted Baldwin on Monday afternoon's Newsroom , who compared Paul Ryan's claim of media bias on Sunday to Bush's 1992 rant. So Ryan hitting out at the media won't help Team Romney? CNN's conservative commentator David Frum offered a half-decent answer,... continue reading
In an irony of ironies, a CNN roundtable on media bias featured a liberal figure of the institutional media, Chrystia Freeland, claiming that Paul Ryan has gotten "pretty fabulous treatment" at the hands of the media. Her statement came on Sunday's Reliable Sources . "I think he's had pretty fabulous treatment in the press and maybe actually a lack of scrutiny of what he's actually saying," Freeland opined, pointing to the "image" of him as "superwonk." She ironically addressed media bias as a liberal member of the mainstream press. [Video below. Audio here .] Some of Freeland's worst moments included... continue reading
New York Times media reporter David Carr's Monday column, " Tired Cries of Bias Don't Help Romney ," challenged the "tired cries" from conservatives, including MRC president Brent Bozell, alleging liberal media bias, but was itself filled with tired and unconvincing arguments. Carr didn't precisely defend his colleagues from the charge of bias, instead focusing on the outposts of conservatism like talk radio and even social networks (presumably including Facebook) to suggest there's no "partisan conspiracy" afoot. Who said there was? As Bernard Goldberg famously wrote of liberal bias, "It comes naturally to most reporters." In the last few days,... continue reading
On Monday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie promoted "a congressional battle in Massachusetts featuring a very familiar name" and wondered, "Could another Kennedy be headed to Congress?" In the report that followed, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell lamented the end of 65 years of Kennedys in Congress, then proclaimed: "But now a new generation has stepped forward." In reference to Joseph Kennedy III running for Congress in the Bay State, O'Donnell announced: "In Massachusetts politics, he's no ordinary Joe....Going door to door in the rain Sunday, he bears both a family resemblance and a weighty family legacy." She noted him... continue reading
Norah O'Donnell made it clear on Monday's CBS This Morning that her job as anchor is to repeat her stick-a-fork-in-Romney mantra and boost President Obama. On the issue of the upcoming debates, O'Donnell asserted, "We already know he [Romney] has high negatives - perhaps, a likeability problem ." She later asked if " we see the competitive President Obama ... or will we see the cool, constitutional law professor? " The anchor couldn't be bothered to bring up the continuing unrest in the Middle East; the related issue of the Obama administration's changing story as to what happened in the... continue reading