On Tuesday's Hardball, while praising President Obama's handling of the killing of Osama bin Laden, MSNBC's Chris Matthews excoriated Dick Cheney as a "sadist." Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman contrasted the Bush/Cheney administration's dropping of bombs in Iraq with Obama's actions. Matthews responded by mocking, " There's a difference between being cold blooded - I think presidents have to be cold blooded - and being a sadist." [ MP3 audio here .] As if his point wasn't clear, the liberal anchor interrupted Fineman to add, "I was referring to Cheney, of course." Earlier, Matthews mocked Republicans, proclaiming that if Bush... continue reading
During the 11AM ET hour on MSNBC on Tuesday, anchor Thomas Roberts decried Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels voicing support for legislation to de-fund the state chapter of Planned Parenthood as "a move that has many questioning if politics is playing too much of a role in women's health." Turning to Planned Parenthood of Indiana President Betty Cockrum, Roberts declared: "...here's the national reality for everyone out there that may not understand what it is that Planned Parenthood does, and this was checked by Politifact, only 3% of services at national clinics are abortion-related." What he failed to mention was that... continue reading
The death of arch-villain Osama bin Laden was not celebrated as good news everywhere. On the far-left Pacifica Radio (which takes in about $1.5 million per year in federal tax money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), one so-called journalist appearing on the Democracy Now program fretted over how celebrations of bin Laden's demise were "disgusting" and "idiotic," while a second guest sneered that this was "not justice" but a case of "one killer [the United States] killing another." The sour attitude from the far left was similar to some of the "blame America" comments made in the immediate aftermath... continue reading
In the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden, ABC has shown very little interest in whether enhanced interrogation, such as waterboarding, led to the terrorist's ultimate demise. NBC, however, dealt with the subject in an in-depth manner and CBS at least mentioned it. While interviewing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday never broached waterboarding. In contrast, Matt Lauer on NBC's Today talked to Rice and wondered, " These enhanced interrogation techniques. Some former administration officials are now connecting the dots between those techniques and the information that led to the killing... continue reading
On NBC's Nightly News on Monday, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel used a report on the history of the war on terror to attack the Bush administration for going to war in Iraq: "...when civil war in Iraq broke out, American troops were stuck....it was a distraction from the United States' original mission to find Bin Laden, stop Al Qaeda, and prevent another 9/11." [ Audio available here ] Engel began his report by describing the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11th attacks, but soon shifted into commentary as he mockingly proclaimed: "...regime change in Afghanistan, done with... continue reading
Chris Matthews' obsession with birthers didn't take a break on the day after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Only 43 seconds into Monday's show on the terrorist, the Hardball anchor connected, "Barack Obama. The cool hand directs the operation step by step. All this time, the crazies were talking birth certificates, he was working." Politicizing the death of the man who murdered 3000 people, Matthews berated, "Will this make the Republicans look for someone who can do what Obama can do? Or will they keep on celebrating the clown show?" The liberal cable host jeered, "Will they stop enjoying... continue reading
The day after terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. military action, Good Morning America brought on consultant Richard Clarke to downplay the death as a "propaganda victory" that will "make us feel good," but won't "mean much" for U.S. security." GMA co-anchor George Stephanopoulos on Monday interviewed Clarke, who worked for both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. After Stephanopoulos prompted him to talk about how "personally gratifying" the terrorist's death must be, Clarke cautioned, "But, I think we have to put the emotion aside and think about what it actually means for American security. And it... continue reading
In an interview with Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, host David Gregory worried: "There's a purist streak to the Tea Party, right? Don't compromise....As you think about yourself, are you here to legislate? Are you here to compromise?" Rubio countered: "...we are dealing with major issues in our country, big issues that deserve big solutions....if we don't stand up and say that, who is going to stand up and say that?" Gregory continued to grill the Senator: "But you still have to compromise....you send a statement or you actually compromise and get things... continue reading
View co-hosts Joy Behar and Barbara Walters on Monday immediately politicized the killing of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. After giving credit to Barack Obama for the successful strike, supposedly straight journalist Walters giddily announced, " I would hate now to be a Republican candidate thinking of running." [MP3 audio here . ] Liberal comedienne Joy Behar played off a months-old comment by token conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Behar crowed, "As Elisabeth always says, they should just skip the next election." As the crew sat next to guest Brian Ross, Hasselbeck refused to join in: "Wait a minute. I think it... continue reading
For the Washington Post's Petula Dvorak the sight of American college kids celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden outside of the White House gates, on Sunday night, was "almost vulgar." In a May 2 column Dvorak described the scenes of joy as "one part Mardi Gras and two parts Bon Jovi concert" but then went on to say "It felt a little crazy, a bit much. Almost vulgar" and admitted: "my first reaction was a cringe." Dvorak, a "Metro" section columnist, then doubled-down on her hand-wringing, saying the U.S. students reminded her of "those al Qaeda-guys dancing on Sept... continue reading