It's liberal media habit to see the softer side of former Communist regimes. In his Friday report from Erfurt, a town in the former East Germany, New York Times reporter Michael Slackman wrote with nostalgia on the disillusionment felt by some after German reunification and of the "values - forged in a socialist state" that many East Germans felt were being "delegitimized." (" For Some Germans, Unity Is Still a Work in Progress .") Yet no one here is whitewashing the disappointment, the sense even now, two decades later, of feeling treated as immigrants in their own country, of the... continue reading
"What's the answer to the Tea Party racist question?" Galloping into the 10 p.m. Eastern timeslot as the white knight of truth, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, host of The Last Word, challenged left-wing writer Matt Taibbi on September 29 to answer this incisive question. Eager to discuss the subject of his latest conservative hit-piece, Taibbi imparted the sort of thoughtful analysis viewers should expect from a Rolling Stone political reporter: "My answer is it's not so much about hating black people for these people, I think it's more about believing in this preposterous fantasy that white people are some kind of... continue reading
Apparently everyone needs to take the President at his word when he says he is a committed Christian, according to MSNBC. The network's Morning Joe crew thinks that those who still question the sincerity of President Obama's faith are "haters" and "knuckleheads." During a townhall meeting at a New Mexico residence, President Obama proclaimed that he was a "Christian by choice." He said that he came to the faith recently, believing that the Christian precepts of "being my brother's and sister's keeper" and "treating others as they would treat me" defined the kind of life he wanted to live. In... continue reading
On Friday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez talked to gay rights activist Judy Shepard, mother of murdered gay student Matthew Shepard, about the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, asking: "Do you think that our young people, that we, as a society, have learned anything since Matthew's death?" In reply, Shepard ranted: "...we have such vicious rhetoric still floating around the country ....All you have to do is go to the floor of the Congress, or media, the newspapers, about the discontent with 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and the marriage issue and it still seems like we're trying... continue reading
Good Morning America on Friday continued to hype the allegations that gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman knowingly employed an illegal alien, airing the fourth segment on the topic in just two days. As though ABC hadn't played a role, reporter David Wright labeled the controversy " the story that won't seem to go away for Meg Whitman ." He added that it was a "major distraction for her campaign as this race heads into the final month." Wright explained how attorney Gloria Allred is representing Nikki Diaz, the illegal alien who was fired by the California Republican. What Wright failed to... continue reading
Advancing the Democratic-liberal effort to discredit Tea Party-favored candidates as unhinged cads, Thursday's NBC Nightly News elevated a heated exchange, between New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino and a reporter, into an excuse to denounce "mean" and "angry" candidates. "The mean season in politics gets nastier with charges of infidelity, something close to a fistfight and they're just getting started," Brian Williams teased. "Tonight," he soon relayed, "opponents of the GOP nominee for Governor of New York are saying he behaved like a thug in a piece of videotape that rocketed across the Internet today." Reporter Kelly O'Donnell asserted: "Carl... continue reading
CNN's Rick Sanchez positioned himself above the fray between "right wing" Fox News and "liberal" MSNBC on Thursday's Rick's List. Sanchez named Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and their network to his "List U Don't Want 2 Be On," after the Obama administration supposedly exposed his competitor's left wing bias, and claimed that he "wasn't necessarily liked" by the current or previous administrations. Before putting his colleagues at MSNBC on his "list," the CNN anchor invoked his longtime vendetta against his other competitor and took a swipe at the last vice president: "Much was made of Vice President Cheney's insistence- remember... continue reading
On Wednesday's Rick's List, CNN's Rick Sanchez implied that Fox News played some kind of part in James O'Keefe's attempted "punk" of correspondent Abbie Boudreau: "The same right-wing videographer , who entrapped and embarrassed innocent people in the past, tries it again- this time on a CNN correspondent....How could he try something so stupid, and what was Fox News's role? " [audio clip available here ] Sanchez made this parting shot at his longstanding nemesis on the last prime time edition of his show, as the 8 pm time slot on CNN is being taken over on October 4 by... continue reading
Appearing on Thursday's 'Andrea Mitchell Reports' on MSNBC, 'The Last Word' host Lawrence O'Donnell touted his Tuesday interview with Levi Johnston: "I love that kid. He's honest, he's straightforward, he's not embarrassed." The questions O'Donnell put to Johnston were identical to the ones CBS Evening anchor Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin in a 2008 interview. Introducing O'Donnell, host Andrea Mitchell played a video mash-up that placed his interview with Johnston alongside Couric's interview with Palin. O'Donnell remarked to Mitchell: "I re-scored his answers last night when I stacked them up against Sarah Palin's and I think he really actually did... continue reading
Good Morning America on Thursday devoted nine minutes and three segments to the "bombshell" accusations that are "rocking" the California governor's race. After relating the allegations that Republican Meg Whitman knowingly hired an illegal housekeeper, reporter David Wright proclaimed, " The political risk for Whitman? That she comes off as heartless or hypocritical. " [MP3 audio here .] "Either way, not a good day for her campaign," he added. Wright even framed the issue as a "she said/she said" controversy. After noting that when Nikki Diaz, the housekeeper, "applied for the job, Diaz had provided proof of Social Security and... continue reading