At the top of Thursday's CBS Early Show, co-host Chris Wragge declared: "War in Wisconsin. Democrats cry foul as Republicans break a three-week deadlock over the budget battle with a surprise late-night vote." Minutes later, he remarked that the "long standoff over a plan to roll back union rights for state workers is suddenly just about over." In the report that followed, correspondent Cynthia Bowers described the Republican legislative move as drastic: "In an audacious tactic that will likely be debated for years in Wisconsin, Republican senators yesterday, in a matter of 30 minutes, managed to ram through controversial legislation."... continue reading
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell on Thursday brought the specter of bigotry into Representative Peter King's hearings on the threat of radical Islam in America. While interviewing Congressman Dan Lungren of California she awkwardly hinted, " Well, you know, you and I are both white ." [MP3 audio here .] The irritated Republican wondered, "What does that mean?" Mitchell lectured, "I'm just asking, get in their heads for a second and try to think about how it is to be a Muslim-American facing these kinds- this kind of testimony today. That's all I want to know." In an earlier segment, the... continue reading
Former CNBC anchor Donny Deutsch went ballistic Thursday on Morning Joe over the situation in Wisconsin. Deutsch called the Republican majority in the state capital "a fascist regime" after they rushed a vote Wednesday night to curb most collective bargaining for public sector workers. "This is a governor that would not sit down at the table with these people, the Democrats, they walked away," Deutsch ranted. "Now he's doing whatever sleazy, end-run - this is not what this country is built on. This is a fascist regime." Both Deutsch and MSNBC political analyst Harold Ford were audibly dismayed at the... continue reading
CNN seemed to fear the worst before Thursday's hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims, pressing committee chair Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) on his stance toward radical Islam with the shadow of Joseph McCarthy looming in the background. CNN correspondent Dana Bash asked King, the chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, if he was "obsessed" with radical Islam, and what he thought about being compared to Joseph McCarthy. Her exclusive video interview with the congressman was aired multiple times Wednesday on the network. In a voice-over, Bash reported that the hearing appears "to some, akin to Joseph McCarthy's... continue reading
Twice within the span of a few minutes on Wednesday's Morning Joe, journalist Carl Bernstein pressed for a gas tax to be implemented to help deal with the nation's budget crisis. The panel was covering the debate over the deficit taking place in Washington when Bernstein voiced his sentiments. When the question was if the country is truly serious about fixing the deficit, Bernstein replied in the negative. "I'm not sure we are [serious] as a country either, because again, you'd have a gas tax if we were," he quipped. Liberal co-host Mika Brzezinski immediately chimed in with her approval... continue reading
Since an undercover sting video was released on Tuesday showing National Public Radio executive Ron Schiller calling conservatives "seriously racist people" - for which he resigned - CBS News has failed to utter a single word about the controversy on its broadcasts. That despite NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ron) also being forced out on Wednesday. In contrast, ABC had a full story on Wednesday's Good Morning America and it led World News that night. On NBC Wednesday, Today only featured a news brief on the scandal, but a full story was featured on the Nightly... continue reading
NBC's Meredith Vieira opened Thursday's Today show alerting viewers that Republicans in Wisconsin had caused a "capitol chaos" with a "surprise maneuver" to pass a "controversial budget proposal without Democrats" and her colleague Ann Curry, in teasing a John Yang story, did her one better calling the vote an "outrage." In the ensuing Yang piece, headlined: "Outrage In Wisconsin, Senate Republicans Cut Union Rights, Bypass Democrats" Yang never bothered to mention the reason Republicans passed the bill "without Democrats" was because they were hiding out, but he did make sure to include footage of protesters repeatedly chanting "Shame!" The following... continue reading
Demonstrating how the mainstream media are an obstacle to any efforts to make any cuts to any federal spending, NBC and ABC on Wednesday night resorted to citing Sesame Street characters as potential "casualties in a war over culture and spending cuts," without any regard for how the Children's Television Workshop is a huge generator of revenue from corporate donations and product sales, as NBC's Lisa Myers went so far as to exploit the kids of the nation: With American children already falling behind, public broadcasting supporters fear Bert and Ernie could become a casualty of the political wars. With... continue reading
Bowing to reality, President Obama has officially reneged on a campaign promise to his base, reversing a previous decision on detainees at Guantanamo Bay that will keep the prison camp for terrorists open indefinitely. It made the front page of Tuesday's Washington Post but was buried near the back of the New York Times, on page 19: " Obama, in Reversal, Clears Way for Guantanamo Trials to Resume ." Reporters Scott Shane and Mark Landler rounded up some suspiciously sympathetic quotes from left-wing figures, or as the Times calls them, "civil rights advocates," cutting Obama some slack or finding bright... continue reading
Andrea Mitchell joined Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer in sticking up for NPR as the NBC correspondent, on her MSNBC show, declared: "Nobody is suggesting that their journalism has been at all biased." On Wednesday's Andrea Mitchell Reports she regretted that outgoing NPR executive Ron Schiller's controversial comments about its own funding and the Tea Party were going to make it harder for Hoyer and his ilk to keep funneling tax dollars its way. Mitchell whined: " We're talking about pennies on the budget, so this isn't really a cost-saving move, but now it's become so politically fired up " and... continue reading