1. CBS Twists Starr Rebuke of Democrats Into Blast at GOP on Judges Monday's CBS Evening News, Ken Starr has charged, distorted soundbites from him in order to clearly imply that he had denounced the GOP plan to block Democratic filibusters of judicial nominees as "a radical departure from our history and from our traditions, and it amounts to an assault on the judicial branch of government." Gloria Borger had set up that bite: "Many conservatives consider the fight over judges their political Armageddon. But conservative icon and former federal Judge Ken Starr says it's gotten out of control." In... continue reading
1. NBC's Today Treats Sen. Clinton as Victim in Fundraising Trial NBC's Today on Tuesday focused on the start of the federal trial of David Rosen, the chief fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's 2000 New York Senate campaign, who is charged with falsifying the cost of a fundraising event so that Mrs. Clinton's campaign could pocket an additional $800,000. But instead of scrutinizing the Democratic presidential frontrunner's integrity, NBC treated her as the victim of attacks. Their on-screen tag: "Campaign Against Hillary." Reporter Campbell Brown fretted that despite how "the Justice Department says Senator Clinton was never a target of the... continue reading
1. Wallace Touts How, Unlike Bush, Putin Reads Papers -- Yet... Asked Monday night by Bob Schieffer if he found Russian President Vladimir Putin "informed on what's going on in the West?", Mike Wallace, who had interviewed Putin for 60 Minutes, touted how "unlike President Bush" who says "'I don't read newspapers'" and gets the news through his aides, Putin said "'Not me, I read newspapers all day long. I don't want to hear the biases of my aides....I want to find out for myself. And that's why I read papers.'" But during the interview aired on Sunday night, Putin... continue reading
1. Contention USSR the "Oppressor" of Baltic States Disturbs ABC ABC's Terry Moran treated Latvia President Vaira Vike-Freiberga as the "instigator" of controversy, during President Bush's trip to mark VE Day, for maintaining that the Soviet Union was not a "liberator" of the Baltic states, but an "occupier" for 45 years after World War II. After noting on Friday night how the "Russians are furious," Moran asked Vike-Freiberga: "So is the Russian government today, then, lying about that history?" When she replied "yes," Moran painted her as the one out of line: "That's an extraordinary thing for the head of... continue reading
1. BBC Election Coverage Features Derisive George Bush Impersonator The BBC's idea of humor during its live election coverage on Thursday night: Bring aboard an impersonator of President George W. Bush to mispronounce names, confuse titles and terms and advocate Florida-style vote fraud. At about 7:10pm EDT during the live coverage carried on C-SPAN2, BBC went to a party at "Television Centre" where "George W. Bush" proceeded to tell a BBC host: "You're in Londonchester, Ohio, while you're having your general electrician while you try and find your new Prime Sinister, and I just wanted to pitch in with my... continue reading
1. In Profiling Abramoff, CBS Skips How He Paid for Democrats Too On the very day the Washington Post reported that "lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid at least a portion of the expenses for two Democratic members of Congress...during a pair of trips in the mid-1990s to the Northern Mariana Islands," CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer set up a Wednesday "Inside Story" look at Abramoff by explaining that "many of the allegations against [House Majority Leader Tom] DeLay revolve around foreign trips he took that were paid for by" Abramoff, as indeed they do, but he and Gloria Borger ignored... continue reading
1. CNN/USA Today/Gallup Delivers Another Distorted Filibuster Poll Another distorted poll on the use of the filibuster by Senate Democrats to block judicial nominees. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday afternoon described how the filibuster tactic can be "used to prevent the Senate from passing controversial legislation or confirming controversial appointments by the President, even if a majority of Senators support that action." But then instead of posing the question at hand, whether the public agrees with the unprecedented Democratic use of the filibuster to deny votes to appeals court nominees, the poll posed a broader question not at hand:... continue reading
1. O'Donnell: Bush "a War Criminal...Should Be Tried at The Hague" Rosie O'Donnell: President George W. Bush is a "war criminal." In a taped interview with FNC's Geraldo Rivera aired on Saturday night to promote O'Donnell's role in the CBS Sunday night Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Riding the Bus with My Sister, O'Donnell charged that since Bush "invaded a sovereign nation in defiance of the UN, he is basically a war criminal. Honestly. He should be tried at The Hague." In her rant, O'Donnell also insisted it's "scary" how "Dan Rather gets taken off CBS News for writing, for... continue reading
1. Obnoxious Questions to Bush: Terrorism on Rise, Renditioning... The most obnoxious questions at President Bush's Thursday night news conference: In asking about how Bush's energy bill would lower energy prices, CBS's John Roberts falsely cited "the current record price of oil," when the current $51 a barrel price would need to rise substantially to $90 to set an inflation-adjusted record high; ABC's Terry Moran demanded to know: "If we're winning the war on terrorism, as you say, how do you explain that more people are dying in terrorist attacks on your watch than ever before?"; Ed Chen of the... continue reading
1. CBS & NBC Trumpet "Setback" for DeLay, Things "Worse" for Hammer CBS and NBC seemed to delight Wednesday night in Tom DeLay's troubles, treating the House GOP's decision to change House ethics committee rules back to what they were before House Democrats protested, as a setback for DeLay, when it will allow a probe of him to go forward which may well clear him and/or show how his practices were common amongst House members. Indeed, the night before, ABC's Brian Ross reported that members of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's "staff took 41 free trips over the last three... continue reading