ABC on Monday night rebuked the Republican presidential field for not adequately condemning Rush Limbaugh for his “slut” characterization of Sandra Fluke, for which he apologized on his Monday radio show. “The Republican presidential candidates still tried to dodge having to make tough comments about the power broker,” anchor Diane Sawyer announced in framing the World News story. Reporter Dan Harris contended, without identifying who is making such a complaint, that “leading Republicans are essentially being called cowards for their tepid criticism of America’s most powerful conservative radio host.” After a bite of Mitt Romney saying “it’s not the language... continue reading
On Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, after the panel roundly bashed Rush Limbaugh and Republicans f or not denouncing him enough, correspondent Savannah Guthrie surprisingly criticized President Obama's response to the controversy: "The President also in danger, perhaps, of an overreach by calling this law student [Sandra Fluke]....that seemed a little nakedly political." Time's Mark Halperin quickly ran to Obama's defense: "I don't think that's an overreach, it's a brash political move, clearly political." He then gushed over the President's skill in handling the issue: "...the President talking about both the appreciation for religious liberty and the reproductive health issues... continue reading
On Monday's CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose hinted that Republicans needed to go further in decrying Rush Limbaugh's slam of radical feminist and law student Sandra Fluke. Rose asked Senator John McCain, " Are you satisfied that those Republican officials have gone far enough in condemning these statements? " McCain replied, " Oh, I'll leave that up to pundits like you, Charlie " [audio available here ]. The morning newscast also highlighted how " seven companies have pulled commercials from Limbaugh's nationally syndicated show. Online data company Carbonite said the on-air attack crossed the line.... Limbaugh had some defenders, but... continue reading
Appearing on Saturday's NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press host David Gregory argued that the issue of contraception was a loser for the GOP: "I think there are a lot of Republicans who are worried that this is...a fight that the Republicans probably should not be having right now, over contraception of all things, which is pretty much a settled matter in terms of access for women..." In addition, Gregory hit Rush Limbaugh for taking the debate over the ObamaCare contraception mandate to "a much more offensive level," and argued: "...he escalated it to a degree, there's a lot of... continue reading
On Saturday, NBC's Today actually had the nerve to give left-wing activist and MSNBC host Al Sharpton a platform to condemn Rush Limbaugh, with co-host Amy Robach wondering: "...is this something the Republican Party needs to deal with right now?" Sharpton mounted his high horse as he proclaimed: "They're going to have to deal with it, one, because they have really made Rush Limbaugh such a great part of the conservative movement.... you can't have him as a major spokesman in your movement and then he says something as offensive and misogynist as this and you act like he's just... continue reading
Journalists on Monday's Good Morning America chided the Republican presidential candidates for "equivocating" and not strongly condemning Rush Limbaugh's comments about Sandra Fluke. Analyst Matt Dowd appeared to deride Mitt Romney for "missing a huge opportunity" to slam Limbaugh. John Berman focused on the fact that the conservative radio host called his own words "insulting" and that his apology went " much further than the words used by the Republican presidential candidates, whose condemnations all came with equivocations or deflections ." [MP3 audio here .] Berman harped on this point, making it twice: "...Because of that language used by Rush... continue reading
No love on the Sunday morning television talk shows for Rush Limbaugh, not even a mild defense as the unifying theme was disappointment in Mitt Romney for not denouncing the leading national conservative talk radio host. “The problem with Rush Limbaugh,” NBC News White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie complained in pretending to care about the fate of Republicans, “is that he re-framed the debate on Democrat’s terms” and “Romney lost an opportunity there to speak out forcefully against” Limbaugh which “would have shown some political courage, some backbone and ultimately,” she argued, “that would help him with conservatives.” Meet the... continue reading
Appearing as a subsitute panel member on the Friday, March 2, Inside Washington on PBS, Politico columnist Roger Simon recited the liberal line of attack on Republicans as he theorized that female voters were being turned off from Republicans. After quoting the Democratic charge of there being a GOP "war on women," moments later he wondered why Republicans were trying to get government 'into our wombs." As the group theorized about the reasons that poll numbers for Republican presidential candidates were suffering, Simon chimed in: And there's also a larger price you pay for this. Women, I think, can be... continue reading
On Thursday's All Things Considered, Julie Rovner, NPR's resident ObamaCare flack, claimed that the U.S. Senate rejecting an amendment protecting religious liberty was " closer than the 63 percent majority that supports the contraceptive coverage requirement " from the federal government, according to the poll from the liberal Kaiser Family Foundation. The organization is an oft-used source for Rovner. The group obtained the 63 percent figure by asking a question that omits the religious liberty component to the firestorm: " In general, do you support or oppose the new federal requirement that private health insurance plans cover the cost of... continue reading
In a report for Thursday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Andrea Mitchell referred to A ndrew Breitbart as "the shooting star of the conservative blogosphere" and contemptuously remarked: "Breitbart, who called Sen ator Ted Kennedy a villain and worse when he died, called himself an 'accidental cultural warrior.'" The segment included this sound bite from the late writer and publisher: "The media says 'Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies.' Give me one example of a provable lie. One." Mitchell couldn't resist answering the challenge: "One prominent Breitbart target, Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod, fired unfairly after Breitbart posted edited... continue reading