On Tuesday's Anderson Cooper 360, CNN contributor Roland Martin strongly pushed for the Democrats to " stand up and protect the Constitution " by defending the planned New York City mosque near Ground Zero: " Democrats should get some spine and say, 'You know what? I am sworn to uphold and protect the Constitution .'... Stay strong- say it's about the Constitution ." Substitute anchor John Roberts brought on Martin, along with Republican strategist Ed Rollins and CNN senior political analyst David Gergen, to discuss the continuing controversy surrounding the mosque project. The anchor first turned to the black talk... continue reading
Not only did MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell hail President Obama's support of the Ground Zero mosque as "politically courageous," but she seemed disappointed when, the next day, he walked back his comments a bit. On both her Monday and Tuesday MSNBC news hours, Mitchell seemed to emphasize that Obama once again kowtowed to the conservative media on an issue he was originally on the right side of. Mitchell told Chuck Todd that Obama's remarks at the iftar dinner in support of the mosque were "politically courageous, in terms of domestic politics." She then asked why Obama changed his tone the... continue reading
George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday again focused on GOP reaction to the Ground Zero mosque, challenging Karl Rove as to whether Republicans such as Newt Gingrich will "undercut the work" President Obama has been doing to reach out to moderate Muslims. Stephanopoulos highlighted Republican officials " who worry that the kind of rhetoric we've been hearing from people like Newt Gingrich is going to undercut the work that President Bush did and President Obama has tried to do to reach out to the moderate Muslim world. " [MP3 audio here .] He quizzed Rove, " Are you worried about that? "... continue reading
On Monday's Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann used a clip of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Tim Osborn, stationed in Iraq, commenting on how he had previously felt that the war in Iraq "wasn't ever going to stop," to fit into the Countdown host's suggestion that American troops had remained in Iraq too long. But what Olbermann did not show his viewers is that Staff Sergeant Osborn had also expressed strong support for the war effort in a clip which was shown earlier that evening on the NBC Nightly News during a piece which correspondent Richard Engel filed from Iraq:... continue reading
CNN's Jessica Yellin, a one-time " prominent feminist activist ," helped forward the talking points of the pro-abortion lobby by devoting part of a segment on Tuesday's Rick's List to EMILY List's new anti-Sarah Palin ad. Yellin aired their left-wing accusations against the Republican and her endorsed candidates without providing the other side and/or fact-checking them [audio clips available here ]. Anchor Rick Sanchez introduced the issue by bringing up the Republican's recent "mamma grizzly" ad: "It seemed like a very effective ad that Sarah Palin had put out . I mean, professionally speaking, it was very clean, very well... continue reading
At the top of CBS's Sunday Morning, host Charles Osgood proclaimed: "From sky-high air-conditioning bills to gasoline-fueled vacations in the car, there's nothing like summer to remind us that we Americans are power hungry." In the story that followed later, correspondent Seth Doane declared: "In the wake of the Gulf oil disaster, calls for cleaner, greener energy, are growing louder." Doane lamented: "America is still powered by the energy of yesterday. 95% of our electricity comes from an aging network of coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric plants. Despite decades of promise, today less than 5% of our electricity comes... continue reading
Saturday's Good Morning America on ABC devoted a full report to former Vice President Dan Quayle's son Ben's run for Congress in Arizona, focusing primarily on perceived gaffes by both him and his father. As anchor John Berman set up the report, he gave the impression that he views the former Vice President primarily as a joke: "It's time to dust off the jokes and hold on to your potatoes. Who can forget the vice presidency of Dan Quayle? His mortal feud with TV's Murphy Brown. His battles with the dictionary. Well, now, one of his children wants to follow... continue reading
It's one thing to acknowledge that the Muslim world has had a negative reaction to America's war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq, but, when one starts referring to "the previous eight years" before the Obama administration, it starts to sound like partisan Democratic talking points. As ABC's Christiane Amanpour appeared on Sunday's Good Morning America to discuss President Obama's predicament regarding his speech on the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, Amanpour at one point recounted that relations with the Muslim world had suffered during the "previous eight years" before Obama became President. After host John Berman queried as to "how... continue reading
Rather than focus on the rightness of building a mosque near Ground Zero, or investigating the potential funding of the construction, Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday spent an entire interview with Harold Ford Jr. focusing on how it could damage the Democratic Party. Stephanopoulos began the segment by asserting, "They really hope this goes away at the White House. " Talking to the former Democratic Congressman, the GMA co-host highlighted Barack Obama's comments on the issue and speculated, "But, is this something that's going to linger through November or go away with- once everyone's back from Labor Day... continue reading
Opposition to building a mosque near Ground Zero really sent Time's Joe Klein into a tirade. In a Monday night post on the magazine's " Swampland" blog , Klein began: "Shame on all those Republicans salivating over President Obama's support for the Cordoba Islamic Center..." Then he got personal, condemning "slimeball politics" has he slimed Newt Gingrich: "This is slimeball politics, pure and simple, except for when it descends into outright religious bigotry - which seems to be what happens every time Newt Gingrich opens his mouth." Klein disparaged Gingrich as a "demented, anger-infused doofus" - all before proving, as... continue reading