Pedro Ramirez knows his "future depends on" President Barack Obama's success in passing "immigration reform," specifically the "Dream Act," CBS's John Blackstone asserted in a Tuesday night story which corroborated the need for Obama's quest by holding up Ramirez as an innocent victim. "He is student body president at California State University at Fresno where he'll graduate this month following years of accomplishment," Blackstone heralded, "until his parents admitted to him they've been living here illegally since he was three years old. Last year he joined other young undocumented immigrants pushing for passage of the Dream Act. It would award... continue reading
NPR's Mara Liasson noticeably left out anti-illegal immigration conservatives on Tuesday's Morning Edition as she reported on President's Obama's latest push for "comprehensive" immigration reform. Liasson only played clips from the President, Democrat Rep. Luis Gutierrez, and Republican consultant Marty Wilson, who claimed that " the hardline approach on immigration ... is not going to work ." Host Steve Inskeep introduced the correspondent's report by noting the President's forthcoming speech later in the day outlining his "principles for an immigration overhaul." He continued by recalling how "President Bush's immigration efforts encountered opposition from his own party, and many Republicans are... continue reading
If CNN's Roland Martin gives the same answer as a tea party conservative, you know you've asked him a pretty bizarre question. On Monday's 10 a.m. EDT news hour, CNN anchor Carol Costello asked the panel if Obama is now "unbeatable" due to the killing of Osama bin Laden, falling gas prices, and a positive May jobs report. Of course, the election is over one year away, not all of the possible Republican candidates have officially declared their intentions, and the direction of the economy remains to be seen. But CNN apparently thought it fitting to ask the experts if... continue reading
On Sunday's Reliable Sources, CNN host Howard Kurtz used the killing of Osama bin Laden to revisit how the media were too deferential to the Bush administration. Kurtz questioned the validity of the terror alerts in the years following 9/11 and wondered if they were used for political gain. Kurtz, comparing the press coverage of the bin Laden assassination and the War on Terror, pondered if there was a "climate of fear" post-9/11 and asked "did the media contribute to that?" "Is it possible that the Bush administration, for political reasons, chose to play up the War on Terror in... continue reading
MSNBC's Ed Schultz is so pro-Barack Obama that he wasn't the most liberal person on his Monday program. The Ed Show host hyperbolically praised the President as " on the footsteps of greatness " and tangled with a guest who refused to agree that Osama bin Laden was guilty. Grit TV anchor Laura Flanders appeared on the program to out-liberal Shultz, arguing, "...You can say a lot of things about what happened Sunday night [with the killing of bin Laden]. You can say it was justified. But justice is not the word. It wasn't what we stand up for around... continue reading
In an interview with Speaker of the House John Boehner on Tuesday's Today on NBC, co-host Matt Lauer fretted over the upcoming debate on raising the nation's debt limit: "...after the news surfaced that Osama bin Laden had been killed there was this - a good feeling in this country.... Are we going to see that unity shattered in the coming weeks when we start to debate things like the debt ceiling?" Boehner explained the importance of addressing the issue: "45 of the last 50 years we spent more money than what we brought in. We cannot continue to do... continue reading
House Speaker John Boehner took the outrageous step - to liberals, anyway - of insisting that any increase in the federal debt limit be accompanied by spending cuts and budget reforms. Within hours of Boehner's Monday night speech, Carl Bernstein on the Tuesday edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe was exhorting his fellow journalists to push the line that Boehner's approach would be "a disaster." " The press has got to start reporting on the economy and the debate in a different way ," Bernstein, a veteran of the Washington Post, ABC News and Time magazine insisted. Correspondents, he urged, need... continue reading
Monday's Washington Times and Washington Examiner wrote up short items on the MRC's Saturday night gala. "The Media Research Center's 2011 'Dishonors Awards' for the most liberally biased news reporting drew so many guests on Saturday evening that it was staged in the mammoth National Building Museum," Jennifer Harper wrote in the lead item in her Washington Times "Inside the Beltway" column. "It was exactly what you would expect at a gala with some of the nation's most high-profile conservatives in media and politics - a lot of Keith Olbermann jokes," observed the Washington Examiner 's "Yeas and Nays" page... continue reading
On Sunday's 60 Minutes, CBS's Steve Kroft failed to bring up key issues related to the killing of Osama bin Laden during an interview of President Obama, such as the enhanced interrogation of captured al Qaeda leaders which provided the first intelligence that ultimately lead to the Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan. The journalist set the overall tone of his interview, which he conducted on Wednesday , by tossing a softball in his lead question to Obama: " Mr. President, was this the most satisfying week of your presidency? " After the chief executive gave his initial answer, Kroft followed... continue reading
MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Monday continued to obsess over Dick Cheney, deriding the former Vice President as a "torture advocate" who should waterboard Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby. The Hardball anchor attacked Cheney for complaining that Barack Obama has ended Bush-era war on terror polices. Matthews offered this aside: "...But Cheney being Cheney- d oesn't that sound like a good torture advocate name , by the way- he couldn't help but stick it to the President on this very issue." He then played a clip of Cheney and, rather than address the ex-VP's statements, mocked, " Why don't we have... continue reading