Talking to former Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw on Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer touted low approval ratings for some newly elected Republican governors and theorized: "They went into office with messages of austerity. And now a year later, you look at their approval ratings and they're falling. Is this buyer's remorse?" A graphic appeared on screen showing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with a 43% approval rating, Ohio's John Kasich at 33% and Florida's Rick Scott at 29%. Lauer failed to mention that President Obama's own approval rating stood at 43%, according to a Thursday Gallup poll , with... continue reading
On Thursday's NBC Today, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd recited Obama administration spin as he gave a fully positive assessment of the President's Wednesday announcement of an Afghanistan troop withdrawal: "The President went with the most aggressive compromised withdrawal plan he could get commanders at the Pentagon to sign off on." Moments later, Todd declared: "It was a sober sounding president, not a triumphant one, who announced from the White House that he's fulfilling his promise to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces next month." The headline on screen throughout the report touted a line from the speech that... continue reading
A frothing Chris Matthews on Wednesday excoriated Rush Limbaugh as "evil" for spreading "lies" about global warming. The Hardball host highlighted a new Rolling Stone article by Al Gore that chides Barack Obama for not doing enough on climate change. Matthews, however, chose to attack Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh: "These people are evil in what they're doing. I'm not saying their souls are evil, but what they're doing is really, really wrong and it's not the President." [MP3 audio here .] The MSNBC host declared no room for debate on global warming, announcing, "But here is a fact on... continue reading
The ABC and CBS morning shows on Wednesday gushed over "baby whisperer" Barack Obama. Both Good Morning America and the Early Show played White House-produced video of the President comforting a baby while working a rope line. GMA's Lara Spencer lauded, " You know, the President is plenty busy trying to turn the economy around. But he still has time to stop some babies from crying, of course ." Spencer narrated footage of First Lady Michelle Obama handing the wailing child to her husband. After the baby quit crying, the journalist enthused, "Finally is President Obama a baby whisperer? The... continue reading
During a fluffy human interest story on Wednesday's NBC Today about a man in Holland who built a full-size replica of the biblical Noah's Ark, correspondent Janet Shamlian turned serious for a moment, wondering: "But how realistic is this Dutchman's dream of doom? Because of global warming, the concept of a flood happening here is not unheard of." [ Audio available here ] Shamlian touted how "Al Gore predicted as much in the movie, 'An Inconvenient Truth,'" followed by a clip of Gore lecturing in the film: "If Greenland broke up and melted, this is what would happen to the... continue reading
ABC and NBC have delivered fawning coverage of First Lady Michelle Obama's visit this week to South Africa and Botswana, oozing over the "celebrity" and "excitement" of the "patented Michelle power" on display. To its credit, CBS has largely taken a pass on the idolatry. On the June 20 edition of ABC's World News, anchor Diane Sawyer raved: "Wherever she travels, she travels with a signature message, hope, health, and laughter for the young...She's already proven she's the one person who can modernize any ancient protocol...Seven days, three generations of American women, signaling they're ready to dance to any song."... continue reading
When Good Morning America's Robin Roberts conducted a softball interview with Barack Obama on Friday, she sought out questions from basketball stars. On Wednesday, however, George Stephanopoulos grilled Republican Jon Huntsman with queries taken straight from the White House's 2012 reelection team. Stephanopoulos played up the presidential candidate's promise for " a civil campaign " and an ABC graphic reminded, " Huntsman's Promise to be Civil ." Yet, the journalist quoted an Obama spokesman warning that Huntsman "would slash our commitment to education." After reading this attack, Stephanopoulos parroted, "He says you're proposing a return to the failed economic polices... continue reading
On Tuesday night, NBC decided to highlight a series of stumbles by Republican presidential candidates, none of them all that significant (Romney having $100 bills in his wallet and Perry referring to Twitter as 'tweeter'), before later in the newscast showing White House-produced video of a baby which stopped crying when handed to President Obama. 'The White House would probably love for us to believe this next piece of videotape is evidence of special healing powers,' Williams announced, feeling obligated to make clear he realized 'it isn't, but it is amusing.' Looking at the announcement by Jon Huntsman, Andrea Mitchell... continue reading
New York Times investigative reporter Mike McIntire penned a hit piece on Justice Clarence Thomas for Sunday's front page, trying to find a controversy in the funding by a friend of Thomas of a cultural museum in the justice's hometown of Pin Point, Ga.: ' The Justice and the Magnate – Friendship and Museum Project Put Focus on Ethics .' But looking past the loaded headline and lacings of ominous word choices like "ethically sensitive," one is hard-pressed to find any hints of actual wrongdoing on the part of Justice Thomas. Prominently placed, hostile investigations of conservative-friendly groups (that lead... continue reading
Good Morning America's reporters on Tuesday hyperbolically attacked John McCain for creating a "firestorm" and a "political calamity" by suggesting that illegal immigrants have been responsible for fires in the southwest. Reporter Clayton Sandell recounted the blaze in Arizona and hyperventilated, " Now, a political calamity has flared after Senator John McCain blamed at least some of the fires on illegal immigrants. " He ignored mentioning the documented proof that illegals have been the cause of past fires. The journalist played a clip from Clarissa Martinez of the radical left-wing group La Raza. She attacked McCain for "demoniz[ing] Latinos." (Sandell... continue reading