NBC's Today kept up its complete omission of the Fast and Furious gun-running controversy on Wednesday, even as a House committee prepared to vote later in the day on whether to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. CBS This Morning stood among the Big Three morning newscasts in devoting a full report to the issue. ABC's Good Morning America gave only a 20-second news brief on the controversy. Overall, NBC has punted on the story since December 2010, when the scandal first emerged. NBC Nightly News had its own blackout on Fast and Furious until June 12,... continue reading
In an attempt to twist the Obama administration's Fast & Furious gun running scandal into bad news for Republicans, on Wednesday's The Daily Rundown on MSNBC supposed Republican pundit Michelle Bernard proclaimed: "...when you think about just the damage that has been done over the last year to the GOP's brand, this is just another – adds more fuel to the fire." [ Listen to the audio ] Bernard was referring to the possibility of Attorney General Eric Holder being held in contempt of Congress for not providing documents about the failed policy to lawmakers. Instead of questioning the White... continue reading
Liberal MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Tuesday slimed the House GOP investigating Attorney General Eric Holder as racist, insisting that the possible contempt charges over Fast and Furious had an "ethnic" feel. Using charged, racial imagery, Matthews demonized, "Is this sort of stop-and-frisk at the highest level? Go after the attorney general, get him to empty his pockets, stand in the spotlight." The Hardball host, who had previously been ignoring the Fast and Furious scandal, changed course and portrayed the whole thing as a bigoted witch hunt. Talking to former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Matthews speculated: " I don't... continue reading
For such a historic figure, Barack Obama sure doesn't have much influence on the world. That's the theme of reporter Peter Baker's front-page "news analysis" for Monday's New York Times , portraying the president as a passive victim of world events spinning unluckily out of his control: "Obama's Focus on Re-election Faces World of Complications ." For Barack Obama, a president who set out to restore good relations with the world in his first term, the world does not seem to be cooperating all that much with his bid to win a second. That reality has been on vivid display... continue reading
ABC offered rising Republican Marco Rubio an extended interview for Monday's Nightline , but pressed the Senator on briefly attending a Mormon church as a child and on a misstatement over when his parents left Cuba. In contrast, the same network and show gushed over Barack Obama in 2008, thrilling that his rallies were like " Springsteen concerts ." Reporter David Muir on Monday highlighted that in Rubio's newly released autobiography, the Republican references his "journey to Las Vegas, where for a time, the family switched to the Mormon church." Muir probed, " You were baptized in the Mormon church?... continue reading
On Sunday's Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC, as host Harris-Perry led a discussion of what the presidential candidates will need to do to appeal to white voters, panel member and CNBC contributor Keith Boykin asserted that Republicans have "carefully caricatured" the Democratic Party as the "party of black people," and suggested that Americans have been duped into believing that most federal tax dollars are spent to benefit black Americans. Boykin: The Republican Party has not only caracatured the Democratic Party as the black party, but they've also described government as about black people. So when people think about government, they... continue reading
Chris Matthews on Monday smeared supporters of enforcing America's immigration laws, linking them to the post-Civil War "back to Africa" movement for African Americans. After liberal columnist David Corn insisted that Mitt Romney had boxed himself in, politically, on the issue, Matthews snarled, " How is this any different than the big boat argument of people when it comes to African Americans after the Civil War? " Matthews continued, "This idea of 'put them on a boat and send them back where they came from.'" Finding the worst motives in his political opponent, Matthews insisted, "You know, he says that... continue reading
On Sunday's NBC Meet the Press , liberal historian Doris Kearns Goodwin pleaded with President Obama to tell voters: "'I am doubling down on what I did.' He didn't do enough on the stimulus. He didn't do enough investing in the future. The things he believes in, he has to say we need more of it. And that's our future." [ Listen to the audio ] Goodwin implored Obama to "diagnose that what went wrong has gone wrong for 20 years, not just the last four years. The middle class has been squeezed for a long time because of an... continue reading
In the hours immediately after the Obama administration announced it would not deport young illegal immigrants who met certain criteria, CNN invited on a parade of pro-Obama guests who applauded the President's action, including four individuals who entered the U.S. illegally and one lawyer for an illegal immigrant. In all, from 10:30am until 4pm on Friday, MRC analyst Matt Hadro discovered, CNN interviewed eight guests who favored President Obama's new immigration policy, and only one guest who opposed it, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who appeared three times. The airtime for guests praising the President (32 minutes, 16 seconds) nearly tripled... continue reading
NBC's Nightly News on Friday offered a one-sided segment touting Barack Obama's decision to lift the threat of deportation to young people who came to America illegally. The Pete Williams report featured six clips of individuals or groups thrilled by the reaction, only two against and one nuanced response by Mitt Romney. Williams began by touting, " Young people covered by the new policy cheered the announcement outside the White House ." An unidentified woman enthused, "I can't describe it. It's so amazing. I'm so happy." A crowd in front of the White House chanted, "Yes, we did! Yes, we... continue reading