On Wednesday, ABC’s Good Morning America had a segment that promoted how, due to budget cuts, the IRS will be forced to “delay those refund checks,” “increase the risk of identity theft,” conduct “46,000 fewer audits,” and maintain an “IRS help line” that “is going to become much less helpful.” Co-host George Stephanopoulos lamented about “fewer audits means less revenue to the Treasury” to run the federal government and then asked ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl if there was “any chance that this can get fixed this year or is it a lost cause for this year.”... continue reading
MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday highlighted "the rise of the right-wing" as one of the most serious threats facing Europe in the wake of France's terror attack. She also lectured viewers about why MSNBC wouldn't be showing the cover of the new Charlie Hebdo issue featuring Muhammad: "All of the networks of the NBC News group have made the decision, editorial decision, not to show it [the Charlie Hebdo cover] because we don't publish things that are as provocative as Charlie Hebdo is." Mitchell then opined that one of the biggest threats facing the continent is "anti-Muslim sentiment throughout... continue reading
Reporting on the release of Charlie Hebdo's first issue since the January 7 terrorist attack, NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday refused to show the cover of the satirical magazine that depicted a cartoon image of Mohamed. Despite such censorship, both networks touted the publication as "a triumph for free speech" and "a kind of declaration of defiance against terror." On Today , co-host Matt Lauer proclaimed: "...a defiant Charlie Hebdo releases its very first issue since that terror attack on its Paris offices, with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed on the cover." Correspondent Bill Neely... continue reading
MSNBC's Chris Matthews doesn't like it when people compare American politicians to Hitler and the Nazis. Unless, of course, he's doing it himself. On Tuesday, the liberal Hardball anchor assailed Republican Congressman Randy Weber for referencing Hitler in a tweet about Barack Obama. Matthews fumed, "Wouldn't it be good for the country if politicians drop the whole Hitler thing and returned to saying, 'Well, we Republicans and those Democrats just have an honest disagreement on some big stuff?'" He railed at Weber: "Is this something in your brain that has you comparing our twice elected American leader with Der Fuhrer,... continue reading
On Tuesday, Joseph Morrissey, Democrat turned Independent, was elected to the Virginia legislature despite currently serving a jail sentence connected to his relationship with a 17-year-old girl who worked in his law office. In the Washington Post ’s coverage of the scandal-plagued politician on Wednesday , reporters Laura Vozzella and Jenna Portnoy insisted that Morrissey’s current prison status won’t be a headache for Democrats but rather is “an embarrassment in the state capitol, which is still absorbing the news that a popular former governor, Robert F. McDonnell (R-VA), appears headed to federal prison.” From the Post article: Legislators from across... continue reading
On Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News , NBC News national correspondent Peter Alexander reported on the current makeup of the Republican presidential field in 2016 on the heels of news that the Republican nominee in 2012, Mitt Romney, has begun reassembling his campaign staff to make a third bid for the White House. In the course of mentioning former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as one of those possible candidates, Alexander declared that Huckabee was already out “preaching to the party's right-wing in his new book” and “skewering the First Family's parenting skills.” Alexander’s comments on Huckabee came in reference to the... continue reading
Ed Schultz clearly doesn't listen to Ed Schultz. The MSNBC anchor, who once compared Rush Limbaugh to Hitler, on Tuesday decried a Hitler comparison for Barack Obama. Schultz railed against a tweet by Republican Congressman Randy Weber about the White House not sending a representative to Paris for the anti-terror rally. Weber joked, "Even Adolf Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris." The anchor snarled, "This congressman should have better judgment than to associate any president of the United States in the same sentence or same vein or in any comparison whatsoever with Adolf Hitler." He... continue reading
In the Tuesday print edition of The New York Times , an article appeared on A11 about the “anti-Islam” and “anti-immigration rally in Germany” that took place in Dresden on Monday and, in addition to trashing their position, reporter Melissa Eddy failed to interview or quote any of the over 20,000 demonstrators. Over course of the 650 word plus article, Eddy instead included quotes from Germany’s justice minister, a spokesman for the city of Leipzig, Chancellor Angela Merkel, a European Parliament member from “the rightist Alternative for Germany party” and an excerpt of “a declaration” from the group organizing the... continue reading
On Monday's Today , while discussing celebrities at Sunday's Golden Globes expressing solidarity with the French following a series of terrorist attacks, Variety magazine senior editor Ramin Setoodeh made an odd assertion: "It was a very political night and Hollywood usually likes to avoid politics, but last night they went all in and they were very political." "Hollywood usually likes to avoid politics" – since when? Quite the contrary, left-wing stars have routinely used Hollywood award shows to spout off on any number of political issues. In fact, Girls actress Lena Dunham used the red carpet at the Globes to... continue reading
NBC's Today on Tuesday offered a scant ten seconds to the White House's backpedaling on skipping the massive anti-terror rally in France. In contrast, ABC's Good Morning America heralded the admission as "rapid" and "remarkable." CBS This Morning offered the most balanced coverage, featuring Ted Cruz complaining, "Where was the secretary of state? Where was the attorney general...?" White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Monday admitted, "I think it's fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile to [the Paris rally]." On GMA , George Stephanopoulos trumpeted this as an "unusually rapid concession for... continue reading