On Monday's Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann delivered a "Special Comment" aimed at Tea Party activists in which, rather than rhetorically bludgeoning them with his usual name calling, he came across as trying to reason with Tea Partiers, appealing to them to admit to having racist motivations against President Obama as the Countdown host suggested that he felt sorry for them. Before a commercial break, he plugged the segment, relaying that he would ask questions to Tea Party activists "sincerely and with sympathy." At one point, Olbermann even seemed as if he were on the verge of expressing remorse... continue reading
Since the announcement of his resignation from the Senate the common label (from CNN to MSNBC) of Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh seems to be that of a "centrist." On Monday's Hardball both Chris Matthews and his guest panelist NBC News' Chuck Todd called Bayh a "centrist," which is an inaccurate label for someone who, as the MRC's Matthew Balan pointed out, has a lifetime ACU rating of 20 and ADA of 70. During the 5pm Olympics-shortened edition of Hardball, Matthews and Todd spinned that Bayh is leaving the Senate because "there's no room for centrists." CHRIS MATTHEWS: Okay let's... continue reading
On Monday's Rick's List, CNN's Rick Sanchez and Jessica Yellin both tried to portray liberal Indiana Democrat Evan Bayh as a centrist. Yellin insisted, "Republicans should be sad to see Evan Bayh go because he is one of the centrists who worked very hard to work with Republicans." Sanchez replied, "Evan Bayh is no liberal!" Before the CNN anchor raised Bayh's retirement with his colleague 18 minutes into the 3 pm Eastern hour, he brought up Congressman Joe Wilson's response on Twitter to his Democratic colleague's decision. Wilson wrote, "Great news of Senator Bayh's retirement, good prospects of change in... continue reading
On Monday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez reported on a 7-year-old boy who tried to hand deliver a get well card to former President Bill Clinton: "When Bill Clinton returned home from the hospital after a heart procedure on Friday, there were lots of reporters waiting, and one second grader named C.J. Williams, who just wanted to get a get well card to him and some candy." Throughout the fawning segment, a headline on-screen read: "Get Well Soon, Mr. President; 2nd Grader Attempts To Deliver Message to Clinton." However, while the story suggested that C.J. came up with the... continue reading
Geraldo Rivera, on Fox News' Geraldo At Large on Sunday, essentially accused Dick Cheney of treason for criticizing the Obama administration over the weekend, as he asked panelist Ann Coulter if the former VP was "giving aid and comfort to the enemy." For her part the conservative author slammed back: "To be hearing that from liberals after eight years of relentless attacks on George Bush, when he was waging the war on terror, is comical." The following back and forth between Rivera and Coulter was aired during the February 14 edition of Geraldo At Large: GERALDO RIVERA: It may be... continue reading
Good Morning America on Monday touted an adulterous affair John F. Kennedy had in the early 1950s as a "love story" and a "torrid and fleeting romance." Co-host George Stephanopoulos lauded the Kennedys as " American royalty " and the show offered no hint of criticism over the infidelity. [Audio available here .] "Love letters" revealing the relationship between an engaged and then just-married Kennedy and a Swedish woman are being put on auction this week. The correspondence between the two show that JFK was cheating on his wife from the very start. Yet, Stephanopoulos delicately spun, " They've been... continue reading
On Monday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith wondered if there was any credibility to Dick Cheney's criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the Christmas Day bomber: "...the point that he seems to be trying to make...that this administration, the Obama administration, is not taking terrorism seriously enough. Is this theater or is there a real point to be made?" Smith directed that question to former Bush advisor Dan Bartlett, who observed: "...it's very salient going into this midterm election and I think the Republicans like the fact that the former Vice President's out there slugging away." Smith also... continue reading
Words never spoken before by a CBS News journalist: "Do you think also that George Bush would also need a little thanks for that? I mean, does he share in the credit or not?" That very unusual quest to credit former President Bush came from Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation, since even for him Vice President Joe Biden's claim - "Iraq, I think, is going to be one of the great achievements of this administration" - was too much. Cuing up a retort from former VP Dick Cheney on ABC's This Week aired just over an hour earlier, Schieffer... continue reading
On the eve of the Winter Olympics four years ago, Bryant Gumbel couldn't resist taking a racial shot at the Republican Party in a commentary at the end of his Real Sports magazine show on HBO. The former NBC and CBS morning news host concluded by telling viewers that as for the Winter Olympic games, "count me among those who don't like 'em and won't watch 'em." He condescendingly suggested viewers "try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention." Gumbel's... continue reading
Sarah Palin "doesn't have any substance there behind her" and her remarks at the Tea Party convention were "embarrassing at points" since she delivered "simple, simple thoughts, very simple-mindedly expressed," Washington Post columnist Colby King charged on Inside Washington. Jumbling the famous "most of the American people are mediocre. And they have a right to be represented" quote and its source, King, the Post's deputy editorial page editor from 2000 to 2007, applied the "mediocre" label to Palin: "Just as the Supreme Court nominee who was defeated said, you know, 'everybody needs to have a little mediocre representation and that's... continue reading