"This week - budget blowback," Christiane Amanpour trumpeted in framing her Sunday look, at reaction to Republican Congressman Paul Ryan's proposed budget plan, through those hostile to it, asserting: "As town halls across America erupt in anger over a plan to slash spending, Republicans find themselves under fire." Amanpour maintained: "Congressman Ryan is at the center of the storm. It's his plan, of course, that has sparked the outcry. Across the country, the anger is palpable." Instead of adding some light, however, Amanpour fueled the fire by legitimizing left-wing talking points, confronting Ryan: "People who have been studying your numbers... continue reading
Saturday's World News on ABC highlighted complaints from Democrats about the Medicare reform plan proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan as the Wisconsin Republican seeks to restrain the growth of Medicare spending by having private insurers compete for seniors as customers. Without delving into the Republican argument in favor of using private insurance, correspondent David Kerley recounted the complaints of angry constituents, showing clips audience members shouting at Republican members of Congress during town hall meetings. Kerley concluded by passing on Democratic hopes of the Medicare plan being a political "gift" that would hurt Republicans: "Democrats believe that Republicans have really... continue reading
Apparently, the Left will never get over John Kerry's loss in the 2004 presidential election. On Thursday's Joy Behar Show, Joy Behar used a discussion of the "birther" claims against Barack Obama to slam what she called the "lies" of the Swift Boat veterans, who challenged Kerry's account of his service in Vietnam. "Does this treatment remind you of the swift-boating that went on when John Kerry was running? ...These people make up a lie, they continue the lie, they perpetuate the lie, and then people start to believe it. They destroyed Kerry," Behar ranted to a liberal guest, Colunbia... continue reading
Reporter Jennifer Steinhauer piled on the ideological labels in her Friday profile of Florida's freshman Republican Rep. Allen West, a black conservative and Tea party activist: " Conservative Congressman's Star Power Extends Beyond Florida District ." Steinhauer's profile, while not overtly hostile, contained no less than eight ideological labels to describe the "conservative" West, not including the first word of the headline, while his comments on feminism and support for Israel were labeled "incendiary." This from a newspaper that constantly refers to the (literally) incendiary Al Sharpton as a "civil rights activist." A sampling: But the most compelling part of... continue reading
MSNBC's Chuck Todd rattled off a list of reasons to explain the sharp rise in the price of oil - none of which included Barack Obama's offshore drilling moratorium - and was "confused" about why anyone would blame the president for the prospect of $4 per gallon gasoline. On the April 28 "Daily Rundown," Todd suggested the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing measures and increases in global demand account for the dramatic spike in oil, but he absolved the president of any blame. "I guess what I'm confused about, how is this an administration - what is it that the president... continue reading
Like clockwork, an unusual weather event occurs and some shallow journalists immediately leap to speculating about global warming - even accusing humankind of causing the event. On Thursday night, looking at the tornadoes across the South, ABC's Sam Champion ridiculously claimed "everybody is asking if climate change played a role here." Brian Williams blamed humans: "What's going on here? Is this something we have done?" On the NBC Nightly News, Williams prompted Greg Forbes of the Weather Channel: Let's be candid here. When you and I go home, you see friends and family, you get e-mail from people you know... continue reading
MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Thursday continued to obsess over his favorite issue, the birthers. He excoriated the Republican Party, smearing that the "haters" now "have a party to call all their own, the GOP." Painting with a broad brush, Matthews mocked, "How did the right-wing fringe manage to take over the Republican Party?" He later repeated the talking point, wondering, "Coming up, the party with the fringe on top? How did the right-wing fringe get control of a major political party?" [ MP3 audio here .] Of course, a 2006 Scripps Howard poll found that 50.8 percent of Democrats... continue reading
Both CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell incorrectly asserted that President Obama is the only President in U.S. history who has had his citizenship doubted. In reality, both CBSNews.com and MSNBC.com posted a 2009 Associated Press article that detailed 21st President Chester A. Arthur having to deal with a similar controversy in the 1880 presidential campaign. On Wednesday's CBS Evening News, outgoing anchor Katie Couric began the broadcast by declaring: "It was an extraordinary moment, President Obama went on national television today and did what no other president has ever even been asked to do... continue reading
In an interview with FishbowlNY Wednesday, CNN's Eliot Spitzer dismissed any claim to objectivity in his reporting and wouldn't say whether he regarded himself as a commentator or a journalist. This came after he recently told the Media Research Center's Brent Bozell "I don't have a bias" on his CNN show "In the Arena." When asked by FishbowlNY if he regards himself as a commentator or a journalist, Spitzer replied "I don't know. I don't mean to be vague. When the issue of objectivity comes up, I don't think there is any such thing as objectivity." "I don't mean to... continue reading
In a report designed to separate fact from fiction on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie decided to blur fantasy and reality as she compared President Obama's press conference announcing the release of his birth certificate to a moment from the 1995 movie, "The American President." [ Audio available here ] After a clip was played of Obama declaring: "We live in a serious time right now, and we do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do," Guthrie proclaimed: "At that moment, the real president sounding a lot like that... continue reading