At the top of Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry proclaimed: "President Obama calls out Congress to strike a deficit reduction deal during a feisty news conference." Moments later, fellow co-host Matt Lauer added that the President "gave Congress a pretty good tongue lashing on Wednesday." Curry further described how Obama "rebuked Congress for taking recesses instead of tackling legislation to try to help turn around the economy." In a later report on the press conference, White House correspondent Chuck Todd announced: "On issues ranging from taxes, the debt ceiling, even Libya, President Obama issued a blistering critique of Republicans... continue reading
Apparently, a pledge to reduce the deficit and cap spending long-term and vote for a strict balanced budget amendment is an extreme measure. CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, reporting on the conservative "Cut, Cap, Balance Pledge," quipped that "it's not exactly cut, cap, and balance. It may be more body-slam and pile-driver." The pledge , sponsored by numerous grassroots conservative groups, entails signers promising to oppose an increase on the debt limits unless three conditions are met. The conditions are that the spending cuts must reduce the deficit "next year and thereafter," caps on spending must be instituted to bring about... continue reading
'The problem is this issue with the House Republicans,' NBC's Chuck Todd declared Wednesday night in naming the culprit blocking help to Americans whom anchor Brian Williams asserted 'are hurting every day and hoping for a result to make their lives better.' In a story on President Barack Obama's press conference, Todd maintained Obama and the Senate could come together, but he blamed the conservatives for preventing a debt ceiling deal, fretting over 'that new conservative, the Tea Party caucus' which rejects 'anything that even remotely looks like a tax hike on anybody.' CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, however,... continue reading
MSNBC's Martin Bashir, who once argued Sarah Palin's bus tour was in " breach of federal law ," attacked Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday, wondering if the 69-year-old Republican is "suffering some kind of mild dementia or long-term memory loss?" Excoriating McConnell for rejecting tax increases as part of a potential budget deal, the former ABC Nightline anchor regurgitated a litany of liberal talking points about the Bush years on his eponymous program: Mr. McConnell castigates two years of Democratic profligacy at the hands of President Obama, but has he failed to remember that it was President Bush who... continue reading
Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today, left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow slammed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: " ...his brand at this point is, 'I'm the guy who screams at my own constituents'....his brand is 'I will be rude.' And rudeness is actually what he's trying to sell as a form of political authenticity." Co-host Ann Curry mentioned Christie criticizing President Obama for being too focused on popularity rather than policy and wondered: "Does the New Jersey Governor have a point that the President is making mistakes because he wants too much to be liked?" As Maddow launched into her rant... continue reading
On Wednesday's NBC Today, correspondent Kelly O'Donnell declared that Michele Bachmann "faces new candidate scrutiny, including financial records for a family business" and proceeded to hype a non-controversy of a mental health clinic run by Michele Bachmann's husband accepting Medicaid reimbursements for treating low-income patients. O'Donnell implied such reimbursements conflicted with the Minnesota Congresswoman calling "for less government spending and opposes an expansion of Medicaid." Appearing on the broadcast minutes later, left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow cited O'Donnell's report and proclaimed: "Michele Bachmann is trying to make this case that she's a purist Tea Party candidate despite the fact that... continue reading
ABC, CBS, and NBC all failed to mention former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's affiliation with the Democratic Party on their Monday evening news broadcasts and the Tuesday morning shows. Blagojevich was convicted by a jury on Monday on 17 out of 20 charges, mainly related to the attempt to sell the Senate seat of President Obama. Only CBS's Early Show noted his party with a "D" on-screen. NBC devoted the least amount of time to the breaking news, a total of 1 minute and 50 seconds between NBC Nightly News and the Today Show. Brian Williams actually didn't mention the... continue reading
The 'Inside the List' column for the New York Times' Sunday Book Review, compiled by Jennifer Schuessler, discussed Ann Coulter's latest New York Times bestseller 'Demonic' under the subhead ' Woman In Black .' The first paragraph of the Times' official Topics page for Coulter describes the author as ' ultraconservative ,' and Schuessler's Book Review brief is no less loaded: When Ann Coulter last appeared on the hardcover nonfiction list in 2009, with 'Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America,' some commentators asked whether the conservative attack dog had lost a bit of her sales bite. 'Guilty' spent... continue reading
One disgraced former governor hosted another disgraced former governor Monday night to praise New York's same-sex marriage bill. CNN's In the Arena host Eliot Spitzer brought on former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey to discuss the bill in what turned out to be a love-fest in honor of McGreevey's pro-gay sentiments. McGreevey, a Democrat, announced he was gay in 2004 while he was in office as governor of New Jersey. The announcement came as he resigned from office revealing that he had a gay affair with another man while married to his wife. [Video below.] Spitzer was more than willing... continue reading
'Page One,' a new documentary about a year in the life of the New York Times directed by Andrew Rossi, is showing at the sleek new Lincoln Center theatre on Manhattan's Upper West Side for a mere $13. While not openly partisan or even political (there were no Obama stickers spotted on desks, no rants about the paper's myriad conservative critics), 'Page One,' which captures in semi-compelling if scatter-shot fashion a year or so in the life of the Times' media desk, fits snugly into the Upper West Side mentality of entitled liberalism. It's a running conversation running over with... continue reading