Lara Logan, CBS's chief foreign affairs correspondent, took to CNN's Reliable Sources on Sunday to accuse Michael Hastings, who was interviewed by Howard Kurtz in the preceding segment, of using subterfuge and Rolling Stone of pushing an agenda in their hit piece on General Stanley McChrystal, both of which unfairly tarnished McCrystal and will lead to more military wariness toward the journalists. Logan castigated Hastings: The question is, really, is what General McChrystal and his aides are doing so egregious, that they deserved to end a career like McChrystal's? Michael Hastings has never served his country the way McChrystal has... continue reading
Stephen Holden, the New York Times' most left-wing movie critic (and that's saying something) admires Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez almost as much as left-wing conspiracist/movie director Oliver Stone does. Stone's new documentary, " South of the Border ," features informal interview sessions with several left-wing Latin American leaders, but the screen-time is dominated by Chavez, who Holden holds up as a humorous, " good-hearted man of the people ." Political documentaries shadowed by paranoia and apocalyptic foreboding are so commonplace nowadays that "South of the Border," Oliver Stone's celebration of the leftward tilt of South American politics, comes as a... continue reading
On NBC's Today on Friday, White House correspondent Chuck Todd preemptively dismissed any criticism of President Obama referring to "Twitters" during a joint press conference with Russian President Dimitri Medvedev on Thursday: "It turns out he didn't misstate it. It was written incorrectly in his prepared remarks." During Todd's report, a clip was played of Obama noting how in a visit to California's Silicon Valley, Medvedev went to "visit the headquarter of Twitters." Obama simply placed an 's' after the wrong word. Rather than let the minor gaffe stand, at the conclusion of the report, Todd made to sure to... continue reading
Demonstrating that no setback for Sarah Palin which can be portrayed as a rebuke is too insignificant or relevant for Katie Couric, she made time on Thursday's CBS Evening News to inform her viewers about a disputable technical violation of arcane law: One little word will cost Sarah Palin a small fortune. Today, state investigators in Alaska said a legal defense fund she set up while she was Governor was illegal. They said the use of the word "official" on the fund's Web site implied it was endorsed by the office of the Governor. Palin's lawyer says she will return... continue reading
News that "the venerated Politics and Prose bookstore" in Washington, D.C. was up for sale inspired a story by Yeganeh June Torbati Wednesday that resembled a scroll of the D.C. social register, so stuffed it was with names of liberal personalities and pundits: " Bookstore in Capital Seeks Its Next Chapter ." But the only clues Torbati gave of the bookstore's dark-blue hue had to be inferred from the names on the bookstore's fan list. First came shock - the venerated Politics and Prose bookstore here was up for sale. Then, almost immediately, the fantasies started - what would it... continue reading
Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Thursday hyped Barack Obama's handling of the decision to fire General Stanley McChrystal and replace him with David Petraeus, lauding the action as a " political masterstroke ." His comments built on extensive media praise on Wednesday, including many reporters who called the move "brilliant." Stephanopoulos seemed particularly pleased. The former Democratic aide turned journalist extolled, "...That pick really seems to have been the political masterstroke that got President Obama out of the tight box he was in. It's being welcomed both by Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill." Reporter Martha Raddatz agreed with... continue reading
On Wednesday's Today show, NBC's Chuck Todd touted President Obama's "swiftness" in dealing with the controversy surrounding General Stanley McChrystal comments in Rolling Stone magazine as a " commander-in-chief moment ," and hinted that it was a blessing in disguise, given the executive's tanking approval ratings. Todd led the 7 am Eastern hour with his report on the President appointing General David Petraeus to replace General McChrystal, who was relieved of command following the Rolling Stone interview. The NBC White House correspondent remarked that with the Petraeus appointment, "the President signaled to his team, no more firestorms like this one... continue reading
All three morning shows on Thursday ignored allegations of "unwanted sexual contact" by Al Gore against a woman in 2006. This is despite the fact that the claim was reported by the AP, the New York Times and the Washington Post . CBS's Early Show, NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America failed to mention the charges made by an Oregon massage therapist that Gore tried to have sex with her. Yet, on June 2, after Al and Tipper Gore announced their divorce, ABC reporter Claire Shipman wondered if the separation meant that "storybook endings" aren't possible. Logically, wouldn't the... continue reading
Unlike Katie Couric on Monday night , on Wednesday evening NBC's Brian Williams didn't hide the bad news for President Obama in the network's latest poll, but Williams and Savannah Guthrie sure seemed to lament the public mood's swing against Obama as Williams attributed it to how Obama "had to touch" the gulf oil leak, "he had to own it and now he's getting tagged with how he's reacting to it." As if Obama had nothing to do with it, Guthrie agreed he's "had a barrage of bad headlines on some of these very issues of leadership, handling a crisis..."... continue reading
NBC's Today show on Wednesday refreshingly brought on a conservative guest who ripped the Obama administration's management of the war in Afghanistan. Daniel Goure of the Lexington Institute blasted the " dysfunctional organization " at the White House overseeing the war: "It's not a team of rivals. It's a team of nine-year-olds , and something needs to be done about that" [audio available here ]. Anchor Matt Lauer brought on Goure and retired General Barry McCaffrey for a panel discussion on the controversy surrounding Rolling Stone's recent article on General Stanley McChrystal, the now-former commander of American forces in Afghanistan... continue reading