In the midst of the failure of President Obama's $800 billion or more 'stimulus spending' program, ABC on Friday night asserted the solution to the devastating report, of zero jobs created in August, is...more stimulus spending. Since 'the debt, say most economists, is only a long-term concern and the U.S. can borrow money right now at practically no interest,' reporter Jim Avila contended the federal government 'should launch a stimulus program as big as the one that was launched in World War II.' Avila insisted 'the non-political, overwhelming answer from a dominant majority of economists' as to what the government... continue reading
Republican Congressman Joe Walsh and left-leaning MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir got into a contentious exchange over Barack Obama on Friday. The Congressman bluntly explained to Bashir, " Your profession did not vet [Obama]..." [MP3 audio here .] Bashir became visibly upset as he discussed Walsh's plan to skip the President's jobs speech next Thursday, implying racism as the reason. The anchor theorized, "I am asking you, are you able to be as disrespectful to the office of president by simply walking away from something that every member of the Congress is going to attend? Is that also because he's black?"... continue reading
The NBC and ABC morning shows on Friday indicated a growing impatience with not knowing Sarah Palin's presidential plans. NBC's Chuck Todd declared of the Labor Day holiday, " I think one thing about Sarah Palin is that this is her last weekend to cry wolf, essentially ." Over on Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos talked to reporter John Berman and insisted, "But, as you point out, the longer she stays out [of the 2012 race], actually, the less relevant she becomes." The ex-Alaska governor will be visiting New Hampshire and Iowa over the long weekend. Berman expressed bewilderment about... continue reading
Following Wednesday's NBC News/ Politico Republican presidential debate which will last one hour and forty five minutes, MSNBC will devote more time, two hours and fifteen minutes, to a group of ten left-wing commentators – with a mere two non-liberals mixed in – to analyzing what the Republicans and conservatives said. The far from fair and balanced line-up of those with a history of hostility toward conservatives will showcase MSNBC's prime time anchors: Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, Lawrence O'Donnell and Al Sharpton. Plus, Eugene Robinson, Howard Fineman, Michael Eric Dyson, Melissa Harris-Perry of the far-left The Nation and... continue reading
MSNBC's Richard Wolffe went there. The political analyst for the "Lean Forward" network actually played the race card in his analysis of why the Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner did not accept Barack Obama's big foot move to deliver a speech to Congress on the same night as a GOP presidential debate, as he pondered "it could be, let's face it, the color of his skin." Appearing on Wednesday's edition of The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Wolffe made the following accusation of racism: The interesting question is: what is it about this president that has stripped away... continue reading
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Thursday pressed Dick Cheney over his new book, wondering " what changed Dick Cheney from the man who was seen by everybody as the moderate voice of Republicanism in Washington D.C. to a man who seemed to morph overnight into Darth Vader? " Of course, when Cheney was a Congressman (from 1979 through 1988), he earned a perfect 100 score from the American Conservative Union three times and was at 90 or above another three years. The former Vice President appeared on Morning Joe to promote his new book and even offer some surprise appreciation for... continue reading
On Thursday's Today show NBC's Savannah Guthrie prodded Jon Huntsman to slam his fellow GOP presidential candidates Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann as too conservative, as she pressed the former Governor of Utah: "Are they too far right to win and beat President Obama?" For his part, Huntsman played into Guthrie's portrayal of his competitors by responding that the American people "don't want politics at the extreme ends," as seen in the following exchange: SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Do you think that Governor Perry or Michele Bachmann are too far right to win and beat President Obama? JON HUNTSMAN: Listen, all I... continue reading
Former Democratic operative turned journalist George Stephanopoulos on Thursday attempted to spin the botched scheduling of a proposed Barack Obama speech to Congress as, generically, " politicians behaving badly ." Talking to his friend (and colleague from the Clinton White House) James Carville, Stephanopoulos framed the issue: "But, who could have predicted the fight over the timing of the President's speech? It seems like both sides in Washington, now, determined to get everyone hating them." However, even Democratic operatives, including Carville, have admitted the White House handled things poorly. The Obama administration first proposed a speech on Wednesday, September 7... continue reading
Representative Andre Carson's inflammatory attack on the Tea Party has yet to have received any attention from the Big Three networks. As reported by Politico on Wednesday, Rep. Carson accused Tea Party-friendly members of Congress of wanting to bring back Jim Crow and went so far to accuse his colleagues of wanting to bring back lynching: "Some of them ... would love to see you and me ... hanging on a tree ." Jake Sherman's report for Politico noted that the "explosive comments, caught on tape, were uploaded on the Internet Tuesday, and Carson's office stood by the remarks." The... continue reading
New York Times media reporter Jeremy Peters issued a warning to young journalists on Wednesday's front page, ' Covering 2012, Youths on the Bus ': There are partisan bloggers out there who are out to embarrass mainstream journalists. Ironic, given that mainstream journalists have been doing just that to conservative politicians for decades. A group of five fresh-faced reporters from National Journal and CBS News clicked away on their MacBooks one recent afternoon, dutifully taking notes as seasoned journalists from the campaign trail shared their rules of the road. .... Preparing journalists to cover the presidential campaign these days is... continue reading