"In a matter of minutes, relief replaced dread, hope replaced fear," ABC's Barbara Pinto trumpeted in framing a Wednesday night look, at reaction to a federal judge's ruling barring implementation of key provisions of Arizona's immigration enforcement laws, around those pleased by it. NBC's Lee Cowan relayed how the ruling "certainly came as welcome news" for illegals, "but while some were relieved, others fear the crackdown may come anyway." An unidentified woman despaired: "I'm worried for my family. I'm worried for my friends. I worry for my people." Cowan then warned of danger posed by the majority: "And there are... continue reading
On Thursday July 29th, President Barack Obama will appear on "The View." This appearance will mark the first time in history that a sitting president will be on a daytime talk show. However this is great for the President, according to "Morning Joe" co-host Mike Barnicle who pronounced, "You know, I would be willing to bet you, I would be willing to bet you that he might get tougher questions asked of him on The View than he would at a White House press conference." Barnicle and fellow co-host Mika Brzezinski enthused that "The View" will probe President Obama with... continue reading
The MRC reported earlier on the double standard of MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer on reporters appearing at fundraisers. During the same news hour, Brewer simply couldn't understand the Republican position on extending the Bush tax cuts for all taxpayers, and jokingly wondered if the Republicans are even human. "What I don't get is a lot of the people who are shouting about letting these tax cuts expire...are the same people who are shouting about the deficit, and how troubling it is that the national debt is skyrocketing," Brewer pouted. "And you can't have it both ways." Russert then pretty much... continue reading
During MSNBC's live news coverage on Tuesday afternoon, anchor Chris Jansing demonstrated her apparent ignorance of the statistical maxim "correlation does not imply causation." Interviewing the authors of Red Families v. Blue Families, the daytime anchor gleefully reported the finding that states that voted Republican in the 2008 presidential election have higher rates of divorce, teen pregnancy, and unwed parenthood than states that voted for Barack Obama. "You've heard the term a lot - 'family values' - but are they actually breaking up families?" the daytime anchor inquired enthusiastically. "According to one book, the so-called liberal blue states actually have... continue reading
ABC on Wednesday continued to attack Arizona's tough new immigration law. Good Morning America devoted three segments to the subject, even misstating what the legislation does. News anchor Juju Chang incorrectly asserted, "The law would allow police to question anyone suspected of being in the country illegally . " In fact, the law would allow police to check immigration status only if an individual has already been stopped for a legitimate police reason. An on-screen graphic derided, " Target: Immigrants: Arizona Law Set to Take Effect. " Notice that, according to ABC, Arizona is simply focusing on immigrants, not illegal... continue reading
Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appeared on Wednesday's Today show and deftly handled all of Matt Lauer's pointed questions from whether or not he was worried about "taking on" the "sacred cows" of unions and teachers, if he will support Barack Obama's small business legislation, and even if the governor's criticism of Snooki and The Situation was good for Jersey Shore tourism. On taking on the "sacred cows" Christie told the Today co-anchor "We're treating the people of New Jersey like adults." And when pressed by Lauer if he'll support the President's legislation that, as Lauer put it, "would... continue reading
Less than two days before Arizona's immigration enforcement law is scheduled to go into effect, ABC delivered another installment in the national media's efforts to discredit it and paint the law as doing more harm than good as anchor Diane Sawyer warned that "undocumented immigrants - many working in this country for decades - are fleeing the state, or hiding in fear." With the on-screen heading "PREPARING FOR WORST" over video of an abandoned house, reporter Bill Weir intoned: "There is a fear-driven exodus going on in Arizona tonight. More vacant apartments, more empty shops, more kids disappearing from school."... continue reading
The Daily Beast's John Avlon tried to sever the Tea Party movement from the conservative legacy of Ronald Reagan in a Tuesday column on CNN.com. Avlon, a Tea Party hater , opined that a " key difference between Reagan's rhetoric and [the tea party] is the comparative civility ," and suggested that "Reagan... would have a hard time getting the GOP nomination today " for apparently not being conservative enough. Avlon began his column, " 2010 Tea Party echoes 1964 Reagan ," by tying the Tea Party movement to the former president's famous speech at the 1964 Republican convention, "... continue reading
Chris Matthews, on Tuesday's Hardball, accused Fox News of "whipping up white hysteria" over allegations of the New Black Panther Party intimidating voters in Philadelphia as he wondered, at the top of his show, if there was "a rightist strategy to stir up racial resentment among whites by portraying whites as victims of black rule?" The Hardball host, during a discussion about the New Black Panther Party case with Philadelphia radio talk show hosts Michael Smerconish and E. Steven Collins, claimed that "Fox News and its friends" were pushing the story to motivate voters in the midterms because "I think... continue reading
On Sunday, the New York Times issued a surprise half-correction to the unverified claim, made in Matt Bai's July 18 story , that racial epithets were hurled at Democratic congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis during protests at the U.S. Capitol on March 20 against Obama-care. Bai wrote: The question of racism in the amorphous Tea Party movement is, of course, a serious one, since so much of the Republican Party seems to be in the thrall of its activists. There have been scattered reports around the country of racially charged rhetoric within the movement, m ost notably just... continue reading