The roundtable panel for Tuesday's Morning Joe took a stab at President Obama's frustration with the media for being critical of his BP oil spill response. The segment began with a clip of President Obama's testy, self-defensive comment to NBC's Matt Lauer, wherein the commander-in-chief blustered that he was determined to learn "whose ass to kick" for the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Time magazine political analyst Mark Halperin found the President's anger at the media "ironic" because, "no one in the modern era has ever gotten into the Oval office with the press as glowing as Barack Obama... continue reading
Discussing the Gulf oil spill on Saturday's CBS Evening News, liberal historian Douglas Brinkley fretted over President Obama's left-wing agenda being in jeopardy: "...he was on a roll with the health care legislation. There was a great hope that before the election he was going to get some things done in Washington. This hit, and I think for President Obama, the spill was an inconvenience." At the top of the segment, anchor Jeff Glor cited the latest CBS News poll showing that only 38% of Americans approve of Obama's handling of the spill and wondered if "the oil spill defines... continue reading
On Sunday's Face the Nation, CBS legal correspondent Jan Crawford revealed how the Obama White House is "strongly" pushing back against her unsurprising report last week that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan "stood shoulder to shoulder with the liberal left" when she clerked for liberal Justice Thurgood Marshall. Crawford says the White House reaction to her report "has been astonishing.... Their reaction has been to push back so strongly on allegations, as they would put it, that she's a liberal. Like there's something wrong with that, like it's a smear to say their nominee is a liberal. " To Crawford,... continue reading
Insular liberal-media cycle: Liberal columnists demand that President Obama show "anger" over BP's oil leak, Obama promises NBC's Matt Lauer that he's determining "whose ass to kick" and so Brian Williams - trumpeting "this is just into us" - leads the NBC Nightly News with how "the President showed some anger on the topic of his handling of this spill so far." Williams announced Monday night: "Before we get to our correspondents, some late news tonight. Late today, Matt Lauer sat down with President Obama in Michigan for an interview to air tomorrow morning on Today. This is just into... continue reading
Promoting his latest HBO special on Monday's CBS Early Show, comedian Robert Klein turned his attention to the Gulf oil spill and who's to blame: "...we're all to blame. We're pigs. It's a parable for us. American pre-eminence is not guaranteed and unless we learn that this stuff has dangers - where are all those 'drill, baby, drills' now?" [Audio available here ] Those comments were prompted by co-host Harry Smith remarking: "BP would be such a spectacular target for your lampooning." Klein went on to add: "...all that oil that's fouling everything, it probably wouldn't run the automobiles in... continue reading
On her self-titled MSNBC show on Monday, Andrea Mitchell Reports, NBC's Andrea Mitchell mourned Helen Thomas' resignation as a long time White House correspondent, over recent inflammatory remarks about Israelis, as "a sad way" for her career to end. Talking with NBC's political director Chuck Todd, Mitchell spoke about the loss "in the family" of the White House press corps and bemoaned the end of "a legendary career" of "a friend." For his part Todd noted Thomas' outburst reignited a debate within the White House Correspondents Association about the presence of "very opinionated" columnists and talk radio types in the... continue reading
CNN anchor Don Lemon repeatedly defended rabidly anti-Israel columnist Helen Thomas as he interviewed Ari Fleischer late in the 7 pm Eastern hour of Sunday's Newsroom. After playing Thomas's remarks, Lemon lauded her in his first question to Fleischer: " Helen Thomas has broken down many barriers for women .... She has a lifelong achievement ... in journalism . Should that count for anything?" [audio clips available here ] The former press secretary strongly condemned Thomas's comments and proposed that "if somebody said that all blacks need to leave America and go home to Africa, they would have already lost... continue reading
Ex-Clinton operative tuned journalist George Stephanopoulos on Monday touted allegations about a supposed affair between South Carolina's Nikki Haley and a lobbyist. Recounting the details of the charges leveled against the Republican politician, the Good Morning America host marveled, " And down in South Carolina, they can't just seem to get enough of it, in the gubernatorial primary , the leading candidate embroiled in a bit of a sex scandal." Stephanopoulos and reporter Steve Osunsami engaged in gossip over the accusations. Osunsami warned that one of Haley's accusers is "sharing phone records that he says details conversations he had with... continue reading
Full list of 17 below, updated 8/10/2010 . NEW UPDATE 9/14/2010 with new revolvers who don't have direct Obama ties (list at bottom of page). The number of major media journalists who have joined the Obama administration (or now an aligned union) - plus one who traveled through the revolving door from helping the Obama campaign into a news media slot -- is up to 15 with the news late last week that Teddy Davis, Deputy Political Director for ABC News, will be joining the left-wing Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which endorsed Barack Obama and has since worked to... continue reading
ABC News found a picture they couldn't resist showcasing, no matter how much it exaggerates the dangers from the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. To say nothing of how this is just the kind of fear-mongering media coverage which infuriates businesses along the coast trying to allay tourist fears. Both Good Morning America and World News on Sunday showed and zoomed in on this photo. World News anchor Dan Harris treated donning a gas mask as a reasonable thing to do: On the beaches along the gulf, it has come to this this weekend. Check out this picture... continue reading