1. First Runners-Up Quotes in MRC's Awards for the Worst Reporting The first runners-up quotes in the MRC's "Best Notable Quotables of 2006: The Nineteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting." 2. Olbermann Won't Support MRC, So We're Counting on Your Donation Support CyberAlert and the work of the MRC with a tax-deductible year-end donation. We can provide CyberAlerts -- as well as all of the MRC's publications and sites -- as free services only because of the thousands of concerned conservatives who support the MRC financially each year and make possible the unique research operation behind the MRC's... continue reading
1. Newsweek's Eleanor Clift on Al Gore: 'Hooray That He is Back' On the McLaughlin Group's "2006 Year-End Awards" aired over the Christmas weekend, Newsweek's Eleanor Clift hailed Al Gore for the "Best Comeback," trumpeting him: "Al Gore, who is now in contention as a possible presidential candidate and who is leading a campaign to recognize the potential danger of global warming. Hooray that he is back." After giving her "Enough Already!" distinction to "Bush and Cheney," Clift championed Democrat James Webb as her "Person of the Year" at the end of the show: "Virginia Senator-elect James Webb, the former... continue reading
1. Nets Spike Revelations About Berger's Pilfering of Secret Papers The AP obtained the November 4, 2005 report from the Inspector General of the National Archives and in a dispatch late Wednesday led with how "President Clinton's national security adviser removed classified documents from the National Archives, hid them under a construction trailer and later tried to find the trash collector to retrieve them, the agency's internal watchdog said Wednesday." But despite the colorful details about how Sandy Berger cut the documents, about the Clinton administration's reaction to terrorist threats in 1999, into small pieces, the broadcast networks weren't interested... continue reading
1. Matthews Rebukes Bush for Being Out of Touch with Matt Damon On Wednesday's Hardball, MSNBC's Chris Matthews and David Shuster derided President for not being in touch with the views of a left-wing Hollywood actor -- Matt Damon, whom Matthews hailed as "prophetic." At his Wednesday morning news conference, Bush noted how "a recent report on retail sales shows a strong beginning to the holiday shopping season across the country" and added: "I encourage you all to go shopping more." Matthews scolded: "I wonder if he's in touch with the critics out there, like Matt Damon, the actor, who... continue reading
1. Media Whine About Not Being Alerted to First Lady's Skin Cancer Reminiscent of the high dudgeon Washington press corps reaction after a few hours passed before they were notified of Vice President Cheney's hunting accident, on Tuesday some reporters denounced the White House for failing to publicly announce how last month First Lady Laura Bush had a skin cancer growth removed from one of her legs. On FNC, Brit Hume played a montage from the daily briefing showing how journalists "demanded to know why they hadn't been told earlier." NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, for instance, asked "how was the decision... continue reading
1. Vieira: HRC's Book 'Imperative,' Should Admit War Vote 'Mistake' Interviewing Senator Hillary Clinton on Monday's Today, Meredith Vieira gushed over the relevance of her ten-year old It Takes a Village book and pressed her about running for President and why she won't admit her vote for the war was "a mistake?" Vieira began: "I want to start with It Takes a Village '07. Because this book came out ten years ago and a lot has happened in the past ten years that makes it I think even more imperative. That we will need a village to raise healthy secure... continue reading
1. Brian Williams Corrects Laura Bush on Media Coverage of Iraq On Thursday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams highlighted how, earlier in the day, First Lady Laura Bush "placed the blame squarely on the news media" for why so few support the President on Iraq. But instead of addressing her contention about how "there are a lot of good things that are happening that aren't covered and I think the drumbeat in the country from the media...is discouraging" as she hoped for "more balanced coverage" in the future, Williams applied a non sequitur to dismiss her assessment of the... continue reading
1. Walters Honors Pelosi as 'Most Fascinating' Person of 2006 Barbara Walters ended her Tuesday night ABC News countdown special, "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2006," by touting, near the end of the 10pm EST/9pm CST hour, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the "most fascinating person of 2006." The Web page promoting the special listed the first nine profiled (list below), but not Pelosi, as its text ended with a plug: "Who is the Most Fascinating Person of 2006? Tune in Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET to find out." Walters celebrated Pelosi's victory: "We picked our most fascinating... continue reading
1. CBS Leads with 'Devastating' Poll Showing 'No Confidence' in Bush "Tonight a vote of no confidence in President Bush," anchor Katie Couric trumpeted at the top of Monday's CBS Evening News over "Sinking Support" on screen under video of Bush. She explained: "A devastating new poll finds a record number of Americans [75%] now disapprove of the way he's handling the war." Couric used the "devastating" description a second time before Bob Schieffer came aboard to assert that opposition to the Iraq war "is taking on historic proportions" since in 1973 a Gallup survey determined 60 percent thought going... continue reading
1. Olbermann: 'Authoritarian' 'Criminal' Bush 'Worst Ever' President On Friday's Countdown show, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann again discussed whether President Bush is the "worst ever" President, inspired by comments from Republican Senator Gordon Smith that leaving American troops in Iraq could be "criminal." Coining the phrase "Mr. Smith goes to his conscience," Olbermann introduced an interview with Newsweek's Richard Wolffe comparing Smith's comments to the "watershed" moment when Republican Senators Hugh Scott and Barry Goldwater convinced President Nixon to resign. After bringing aboard former Nixon counsel John Dean, Olbermann referred to their past discussion of the Bush White House being a... continue reading