1. Mitchell Scolds Bush on Israel, Hints Iraq Distraction Led to War As if the incursions into Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah, and subsequent counter-attacks by Israel and now escalating efforts by Israel to fight back with bombings inside Lebanon, are somehow the fault of the Bush administration, on Thursday's NBC Nightly News reporter Andrea Mitchell asserted: "Critics in both parties say the administration has been so focused on Iraq and Afghanistan, it has failed to pay enough attention to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians." Mitchell had asked: "What role has the U.S. played? Today, U.S. diplomat David... continue reading
1. Rather 'Absolutely' Stands by Bush Story 'Truth,' Slams Critics Declaring he "absolutely" believes "the truth" of his discredited story based on forged memos, about President Bush's National Guard record, on Wednesday's Larry King Live on CNN Dan Rather contended that "we had a lot, a lot of corroboration, of what we broadcast about President Bush's military record. It wasn't just the documents." Rather then attacked those who dared to expose his misdeeds: "It's a very old technique used, that when those who don't like what you're reporting believe it can be hurtful, then they look for the weakest spot... continue reading
1. Spins on Lower Deficit: Projections Inflated and Show Inequality The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts on Tuesday delivered short items on how this year's budget deficit will be $296 billion, down substantially from the administration's predication of $423 billion, but while ABC anchor Kate Snow and CBS anchor Bob Schieffer stuck to how economic growth fueled increased tax revenue, NBC anchor Brian Williams decided to relay, without naming any names, a conspiracy theory: "Many economists and administration critics say the White House has deliberately inflated its own deficit projections in the past few years to score political points... continue reading
1. Olbermann Plugs Dean's Attack on 'Authoritarian' Conservatives On Monday's Countdown, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann hosted former Nixon White House counsel and frequent Bush administration critic John Dean to promote his latest book attacking conservatives, titled Conservatives Without Conscience, which the Countdown host labeled "an extraordinary document." Olbermann, who has a long history of bashing President Bush's tactics in the war on terrorism, provided Dean with a sympathetic, non-challenging forum to argue that modern conservatives are moving the Republican party toward "authoritarianism" as Dean tagged some conservatives, specifically George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, as having an "authoritarian personality," and labeled... continue reading
1. Stephanopoulos Backtracks from Charge Iraq Blocked Korea Nuke Fix On Sunday's This Week, during the roundtable discussion, host George Stephanopoulos embarrassed himself and had to backtrack after he raised Clinton Defense Secretary William Perry's recommendation -- that President Bush bomb the nuclear missiles on the launchpad in North Korea -- but then went a step further and combined Perry's proposal with blaming the Iraq war for preventing that type of action in 2003, only to be thoroughly refuted by George Will. "I don't even believe what I said," Stephanopoulos sheepishly conceded, "So I take it back, you're right." Stephanopoulos... continue reading
1. Washington Post's Priest Mocks Bill Bennett's Gambling Problems Hardened NBC watchers know to expect a shift toward the left when Andrea Mitchell is sitting in for Tim Russert on Meet the Press. On Sunday's big media roundtable, the topic was the administration's "war" on the press. When guest panelist Bill Bennett expressed outrage at Washington Post reporter Dana Priest's story last fall on the CIA's secret prisons for terror suspects in Europe, Priest went all personal on Bennett by saying her story did not break the law: "I mean, some people would like to make casino gambling a crime,... continue reading
1. Olbermann Lashes Out at MRC: 'Inventing Liberal Bias Since 1987' On Wednesday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann set a new standard for spin that would even make the famous Black Knight character from Monty Python's Holy Grail blush. Reacting to the MRC's recently released study documenting Olbermann's overwhelming 8 to 1 bias toward attacking many conservatives but very few liberals during his show's regular "Worst Person in the World" segment, Olbermann tagged the Media Research Center as a "rabid right-wing spin group," as he mocked the study and concluded that since most of his targets were not political, "I'd... continue reading
1. MSM Ignore or Cite Political Motives for Criticism of NY Times The disgust of conservatives directed at the New York Times after the newspaper on Friday again undermined national security, this time by taking the lead in exposing a program to monitor international financial transactions by terrorist operatives, hasn't much disturbed the broadcast networks. While the cable news channels have been filled with coverage, especially after President Bush on Monday called the disclosure "disgraceful," the CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer hasn't touched the controversy -- though it has made time for stories on how at Wimbledon women are... continue reading
1. NYT Bank Story Condemned as 'Disgrace,' Why Times Losing Trust Panelists on Fox News Sunday and on Friday's Special Report with Brit Hume on FNC denounced the New York Times for its Friday article, quickly picked up by other newspapers and published over the objection of the Bush administration and 9/11 commissioners, about how the CIA and Treasury Department are tracking international banking transactions by terrorist operatives. On Sunday, Brit Hume mocked New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller's "matter of public interest" reasoning: "Well, that can apply to almost anything," such as "ball scores." Hume contended the Times... continue reading
1. NBC Picks Up WMD in Iraq, Olbermann Likens Santorum to McCarthy Of the three broadcast network evening shows Thursday night, only the NBC Nightly News reported the late Wednesday afternoon revelation by Senator Rick Santorum and Congressman Peter Hoekstra, Chair of the House intelligence committee, that an unclassified portion of a National Ground Intelligence Center report had revealed that 500 munition shells of mustard and sarin gas -- weapons of mass destruction -- had been found in Iraq. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann ridiculed the finding of "WMD: weapons of minor discomfort," snidely suggesting "you might get a burn if you... continue reading