In an article on the sudden stroke suffered by Senator Mark Kirk, the Associated Press on Monday gratuitously piled on the Republican, currently in intensive care, making sure to note that in the last campaign, questions were raised "about his own honesty." The section was removed and then added back to the version on the Washington Post's website. After detailing the condition of Kirk, the AP's Sophia Tareen and Tammy Webber devoted three paragraphs to dredging up old attacks: "Kirk was elected to the Senate in 2010, winning the seat formerly held by President Barack Obama after a hard-fought election... continue reading
Worried that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was being too critical of President Obama on Sunday's Meet the Press, moderator David Gregory attempted to steer the discussion toward bashing Republicans: "Where have Republicans been culpable for the paralysis in Washington? You've spoken about the President....what role do Republicans play?" Christie hit back, placing the burden for compromise back on Obama: "...my point to Republicans has been to you've got to force those conversations. Now if the President's not interested in having them, and if he's not interested in developing those relationships, then there's little the Republicans can do." Now compare... continue reading
When did NBC News suddenly become concerned with the welfare of the Republican Party? On Monday's NBC Today, former Democratic staffer and current chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd hyped Republican fears of Newt Gingrich: "...look what Gingrich did when he was essentially on the ballot, if you will, in '96 and '98, he helped re-elect a Democratic president..." Todd promoted the idea of the GOP in disarray: "So there is this panic that they could not just lose the presidency, but lose control of the House and actually blow their chances at picking up the Senate. That's why this... continue reading
Former Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos on Monday questioned Newt Gingrich's "character and temperament." The Good Morning America co-anchor interviewed the Republican presidential candidate and unselfconsciously scolded, " I know you've faced these kinds of questions before. Is there any way for you to put this issue of temperament to rest?" [MP3 audio here .] Stephanopoulos began his attack by highlighting, "Let me get to the question of character and temperament. Rick Santorum on This Week , yesterday, called you a friend but also erratic and a high-risk candidate." Back in the early '90s, Stephanopoulos was in charge of handling Bill... continue reading
After Newt Gingrich recently proclaimed that "more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any President in American history," presumably referring to the straightforward statistic that a record number of Americans now receive food stamp assistance, FactCheck.org set out to prove him wrong. In its analysis , FactCheck.org interpreted Gingrich's statement as referring only to the number of additional people who have been added to the program during the Obama administration, and, after noting that 14.7 million people were added during the eight years of the Bush presidency, and that another 14.2 million have been added... continue reading
Last Friday saw two high-profile liberal pundits - one on Bloomberg News's Political Capital and the other on PBS's Inside Washington - repeating the story that Newt Gingrich divorced his first wife while she was being treated for cancer without noting that one of Gingrich's daughters - Jackie Gingrich Cushman - last May specifically disputed the account that her mother, who is still alive, ever had cancer, or that her father initiated the divorce during a hospital visit. On Bloomberg News's Political Capital show, host Al Hunt only vaguely noted that Gingrich's daughter had disputed some of the commonly believed... continue reading
Given his high unfavorable rating, Newt Gingrich 'cannot win a national election,' MSNBC's very liberal host Lawrence O'Donnell insisted early Saturday night when it became clear Gingrich would win the South Carolina primary, 'it's impossible.' O'Donnell's assessment, however, is held beyond left-wingers animating MSNBC shows. Saturday night, Fox News veteran Brit Hume asserted: 'Republicans in Congress will be terrified to run with this man for fear they will lose the House and the Senate.' Sunday morning on ABC, George Will imagined 'people are waking up who are running for office as Republicans – from dog-catcher to Senate – and they're... continue reading
Bill Moyers returned this month to PBS stations to once again peddle his far-left hatred of conservatives. On Friday night he took to HBO to discredit the Republican presidential field with the first refuge of liberals unable to sustain an argument: racial smears. To Bill Maher's delight, Moyers charged 'the delusional fringe has come in from the margin and runs' the Republican Party before he alleged Newt Gingrich is 'playing the race card' and so, he maintained, in some sort of attempt at humor: 'I would have been very glad that I saved my Confederate money because if he is... continue reading
John H. Cushman, Jr. of the New York Times almost completely slanted to the left in his Friday article about the Obama administration's decision to force religious organizations to include free contraception in their employee insurance plans. Cushman quoted from HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, liberal Senator Barbara Boxer and the president of notorious pro-abortion " Catholics for Choice ," but only included a six-word quote from the other side of the debate. The writer led his post on the liberal paper's political blog , The Caucus, by noting that " the Obama administration said it would give religious organizations one... continue reading
The internet group "Anonymous" claimed to have shut down the websites of the Justice Department and FBI, but CNN's Amber Lyon aired another soft report on the group's escapades without any voices from the opposing side. Lyon's video appeared during the 3 p.m. hour of Friday's Newsroom. Lyon remained neutral on the group's tactics, from reporting their "favorite weapon" of web attacks to asking how long it took them to crash the Justice Department website. And according to Lyon, "the bust of MegaUpload.com was the straw that broke the camel's back in the collective's fight against anti-piracy legislation". MegaUpload was... continue reading