Good Morning America's Kate Snow on Thursday highlighted a clip of Joe Biden for a piece on Sarah Palin and her "out there" comments. The Vice President, who has made several verbal gaffes of his own, derided, "Some of the comments made are just so far, sort of, out there, I just don't know where they come from." Snow apparently didn't see much irony in featuring Biden, who once exhorted a paraplegic man to "stand up," for a segment on a new poll showing 71 percent of Amerians don't think Palin is qualified for the presidency. Instead, she included a... continue reading
"Until the economy starts to create jobs, the President's political fortunes are not going to improve," ABC's George Stephanopoulos conceded Wednesday night in reporting how President Obama's approval level has fallen to 46 percent amongst independents. But though 53 percent disapprove of his handling of health care and more are opposed to than in favor of the congressional Democrats/Obama plan, Stephanopoulos asserted a health care bill would help Obama rebound since "people still want that" passed: What the White House can do - what they're trying to do - is to achieve a health care bill. People still want that... continue reading
Hardball host Chris Matthews on Wednesday ranted that "clowns" and "hyenas" like Sean Hannity "don't care" about the awful things global warming will do to the planet. The Fox News host on Monday highlighted the winter storms that the D.C. area has been suffering and then mocked Al Gore. After quoting similar remarks by Republicans Jim DeMint and Mitch McConnell, Matthews frothed, " It isn't something to laugh about, gentlemen, unless you don't care about what happens to this planet down the road. And I suspect that some of you folks, sadly, don't." Previewing the segment a few minutes earlier,... continue reading
On Tuesday's CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric and White House reporter Chip Reid cast President Obama's push for "bipartisanship" in a favorable light, with Obama "working hard," "following through on a promise" and "open to ideas from Republicans." But in an item posted on CBSNews.com, Reid's fellow CBS White House correspondent, Mark Knoller - who has covered every President since Gerald Ford in the mid-1970s - was far more skeptical: " When a sitting President calls for bipartisanship by the opposition - he really means surrender ." Knoller's blog, with the jaundiced headline: " Obama Says Bipartisanshp, But What... continue reading
On Tuesday's Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann highlighted suggestions by former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo that there should be civics literacy testing for registered voters made by Tancredo at the weekend's Tea Party convention, which Olbermann referred to as the "Tea Klux Klan," and painted Tea Party activists as wanting to deny minorities the right to vote using the tactics of the Jim Crow South. As if Tancredo wanted to discriminate against African-American voters, Olbermann referred to "Tancredo harking back fondly to the electoral strategies once used to keep poor people - specifically, explicitly, black people - from voting."... continue reading
On Tuesday's Morning Joe on MSNBC, on the same show in which host Joe Scarborough had earlier complained about FNC's Bill Sammon claiming that the media "hate" Sarah Palin, guest David Remnick of the New Yorker magazine - formerly of the Washington Post - declared that "Sarah Palin's entire career would be eliminated" if Americans were influenced by seeing "preposterousness" on public display. Remnick's comment came during a discussion of the Senate's adherence to the filibuster rule that makes it easier for the minority party to block the passage of legislation. At about 8:09 a.m., Scarborough contended that he would... continue reading
NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd, who also co-hosts the 9am ET hour of MSNBC on weekdays, bristled at Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon's statement on the February 7 Fox News Sunday that "the mainstream media hates the tea party movement almost as much as it hates Sarah Palin." Todd called that "crazy" and suggested it was part of a cynical strategy by FNC to "undermine the 'mainstream media' because it's good for their business." A study by the MRC's Culture and Media Institute in 2008 documented how ABC, CBS and NBC portrayed Palin as "a dunce or... continue reading
In a story on American charitable giving on CBS's Sunday Morning, correspondent Mark Strassmann cited liberal Princeton University bio-ethics professor Peter Singer on how much people should give: "[He's] worked up a giving guide. The more you make, the more he believes you should give....He believes it's within our power to virtually end world poverty." A clip was played of Singer arguing: "Well I think we should be giving something quite substantial....the right thing to do in this situation, where there are millions of children and adults, of course, dying from avoidable poverty related causes is to give something pretty... continue reading
Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday became emotional over the passing of John Murtha, named by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington as one of Congress' most corrupt politicians. He lauded the Democrat as " one of those guys who make the [House of Representatives] work." [Audio available here .] Neither Stephanopoulos, nor Juju Chang, who filed a news brief on Murtha, mentioned his 2006 smear that U.S. Marines killed Iraqi civilians "in cold blood." Stephanopoulos, a former Democratic operative, reminisced as he tried to maintain control: " I'm going to get a little choked up. I miss... continue reading
From Monday's broadcast network evening newscasts: CBS and NBC found hypocrisy in Sarah Palin scolding President Obama's incessant use of a Teleprompter while she had "crib notes" written on her hand during her Saturday Tea Party convention appearance, CBS followed by giving Obama two-straight minutes to explain why the public will come around to "connect" with him again and, meanwhile, ABC devoted a full story to "whether Republicans want action or are just the 'Party of No'?" CBS's Nancy Cordes reported, over a helpful graphic showing the words written on Palin's hand, that while Palin "dismissed the President Saturday night... continue reading