Washington Post reporter Scott Wilson topped Wednesday's paper with a "news analysis" headlined "On world stage, Obama at ease as seminar leader." The word that came to mind wasn't "analysis." It was "unanimous." Everyone in Wilson's supine story praised Obama's command and personality. It's like Wilson was Obama's news butler at this summit: "He's in charge, he's chairing the meetings, and this is where his personality plays a big part," said Pierre Vimont, the French ambassador to the United States, who compared Obama's role during the summit to the way he led the bipartisan health-care meeting at Blair House in... continue reading
Stuart Elliott of the New York Times's Media Decoder blog reported on Tuesday that CNN, a network known for its consistent liberal bias, is now incredibly touting itself as " the only credible, nonpartisan voice left " on cable television. Elliott noted that this spin was being pitched by the network at a Tuesday morning event for advertisers at the Time Warner Center in New York City. The New York Times writer highlighted the meeting hosted by CNN executives, and their overall strategy: "In a presentation to advertisers and agencies on Tuesday morning, executives of CNN indicated how they plan... continue reading
In his Wednesday Business Day column, David Leonhardt, the New York Times' conscience on economic matters, defended the current skewed tax system, in which almost half of U.S. households paid no income taxes last year, and even argued that those now paying the highest rates should be paying more: " Behind The 47% Talking Point ." Leonhardt never addressed the underlying point of conservative opposition: The free-rider problem, as half of households pay nothing for services that (theoretically) benefit them all, like public education and national defense. Citizens with no "skin in the game," safe in the assumption they will... continue reading
Liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow appeared on the Daily Show, Tuesday, to promote her new Timothy McVeigh special and to compare, "The dark side of it is that [McVeigh] really did see himself as part of an anti-government movement in the United States... And, right now, I think we are experiencing an upswing again in sort of anti-government extremism." Maddow didn't go into detail about who, exactly, is encouraging this upswing. Ads for her April 19 special, The McVeigh Tapes , have touted that it will put "into perspective the threat posed by anti-government extremism." In a commercial for the... continue reading
On Wednesday's CBS Early Show, fill-in news reader Betty Nguyen reported on President Obama's new plan to cut back America's space program, but failed to mention sharp criticism by astronauts Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Eugene Cernan in a signed letter sent to the White House. Nguyen noted: "President Obama unveils a revamped plan for America's manned space program....reviving part of a plan he canceled earlier this year. NASA will begin development of a crew capsule called Orion....[it] won't go to the moon, but will be used as an emergency vehicle on the space station." In contrast, on ABC's Good... continue reading
ABC, CBS and NBC all provided full stories Tuesday night on how, at the Nuclear Security Summit in DC, President Barack Obama succeeded in getting an agreement to try to secure all loose nuclear material within four years, but CBS's Katie Couric, who made it her lead story, was on a whole other sycophantic level in assigning credit to Obama for discussions which began years ago. The CBS Evening News anchor hailed Obama's "call to action," r ecited how he had quoted Albert Einstein on the need for "a new manner of thinking is man is to survive" and, reformulating... continue reading
On Monday evening and Tuesday, ABC, CBS, and CNN all highlighted a Catholic priest's call for Pope Benedict XVI's resignation due to his alleged mishandling of the Church sex abuse scandal, labeling him "outspoken," and even going so far to compliment him as "brave" and "gutsy." All three networks, however, ignored the priest's affiliation with a liberal group and his dissension from Church teaching. During a report on the wider abuse scandal on Monday's World News With Diane Sawyer, ABC's Dan Harris mentioned Father James Scahill's public call for the Pope to step down during a recent sermon at his... continue reading
Chris Matthews is becoming a master of the odd analogy. In the past Matthews has compared favorites of the left like Bill Clinton to Jesus and Barack Obama to God and those on the right like Rush Limbaugh to a walrus and Dick Cheney to the Hussein brothers. Well on Tuesday's Hardball, Matthews added another strange comparison to his collection as he claimed former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin reminded him of the extravagant pianist Liberace. During his "Sideshow" segment Matthews cited $12 million as his "Big Number" of the night, claiming that is what the former Alaskan governor... continue reading
Former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel appeared on Monday's edition of BBC World News America and longed for the "good old days" when the big three networks didn't have to compete with cable. Speaking to host Katty Kay, Koppel also lamented opinion journalism: " And we now feel entitled, not to have the news that we need, but the news that we want." He chided, "We want to listen to news that comes from those who already sympathize with our particular point of view. We don't want the facts any more." After being asked who was responsible for this, Koppel wistfully... continue reading
While attending the Radio Television Digital News Association conference in Las Vegas on Monday, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft spoke to a crowd of young journalists and claimed that his dream interview would be with Dick Cheney, but complained how the former vice president and Bush adviser Karl Rove simply "make hay" in criticizing 60 Minutes coverage, but would not go on the show. If one looks at a recent history of 60 Minutes reporting, it's easy to see why Cheney and Rove would not be eager to appear on the CBS program. On the May 11, 2008 broadcast ,... continue reading