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Today's Gaggle: June 2, 2006

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Does Hill Fit the Bill? Matthews Seems to Say 'No'

By Mark Finkelstein | June 1, 2006 - 18:49

For the second day running, Chris Matthews has run a Hardball segment entitled "Does Hill Fit the Bill?" It's his way of asking whether Hillary Clinton would make a good presidential candidate, and, presumably, by play-on-words, whether she's up to the political standard set by Bill.

While Matthews hasn't squarely answered his own question, he clearly seems skeptical about Hillary's personal and political qualities.

His first guest on the topic this evening was the urbane Roger Altman, Hillary adviser and a Deputy Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration. Matthews grilled Altman on Hillary's hawkishness.

Matthews: "A lot of people in her party, maybe four out of five Democrats, especially New York Democrats, are against this war. Think we never should have gone into Iraq. Hillary on the other hand OK'd the president's authority to go to Iraq and has subsequently stuck to that position, that that was a decision that she still honors, believes in, is by most standards a hawk. How can she lead a doveish party as a hawk?"

CNN's Schneider: 'Bill Clinton Felt Your Pain, George Bush Flew Over It'

By Megan McCormack | June 1, 2006 - 17:42

CNN’s Bill Schneider sounded more like a spokesman for the Democratic Party than a seasoned political analyst during the 4pm EDT hour of today’s The Situation Room. In his report on the Bush administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina and the impact it will have on the 2006 mid-term elections, Schneider opined over a picture of Bush looking out the window of Air Force One:

"The President’s image of compassion was shaky to begin with, even though he calls himself a compassionate conservative. Bill Clinton felt your pain. George Bush flew over it."

That zinger met with strong approval, not surprisingly, from Schneider’s colleague, Jack Cafferty during his Cafferty File segment minutes after Schneider’s report: "Great line from Bill Schneider. ‘Bill Clinton felt your pain. George Bush flew over it.’"

Video clip of Schneider's shot at Bush (11 seconds): Real (440 KB) or Windows Media (500 KB), plus MP3 audio (71 KB)

Is The Only Goal Of War Death? Andy Rooney Says It Is

By Michael Rule | June 1, 2006 - 16:39

Yes this is a few days old, from this past Sunday’s "60 Minutes" on CBS, but Andy Rooney’s commentary on the show was so far out, it had to be shared with the Newsbusters community. Although he began by making valid points about Americans needing to remember the true meaning of Memorial Day, and not just viewing it as a day off, and solemnly remembered friends he lost in World War II, some of his statements called into question whether the sacrifices made by those killed in battle were worth it.

"There's only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us. They died."

Dixie Chick Maines Says She Was 'Defending America' With 'Genius' Remark

By Megan McCormack | June 1, 2006 - 16:24

Continuing their endless media blitz to promote their latest album, the Dixie Chicks were Larry King’s guests May 31. When asked by King about her 2003 remarks at a London concert where she said she was ashamed that President Bush was a fellow Texan, lead singer Natalie Maines maintained that her "genius" comment was spontaneous and that she believed she was "defending" America.

Natalie Maines: They [the comments] were not planned. That genius comes to me off-the-cuff...I felt like I was defending America by saying that we don’t all think the same and you can’t just call us Americans like we have one voice and one opinion.

Whatever her intentions may have been, her swipe at the President was read by many fans of the group as an easy way to score some applause from a friendly audience overseas.

NYT's Tom Friedman Attacks GM As 'Dangerous' to America, Demands Gas Tax Hike

By Tim Graham | June 1, 2006 - 16:22

New York Times columnist and best-selling foreign-policy author/guru Thomas Friedman appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" Thursday, mostly to address the administration's Iran initiative. But MRC's Brian Boyd also noticed Diane Sawyer turned to Friedman's harsh but very green Wednesday column beginning with the sentence: "Is there a company more dangerous to America's future than General Motors?"

Sawyer: "[B]oy, did you cause a stir yesterday with your column saying that it's time for Toyota to take over General Motors because General Motors has offered what to subsidize gas for people who in effect buy gas-guzzlers?"

Cheap Shot of the Day, Courtesy of AP

By Tom Blumer | June 1, 2006 - 13:25

This is the first paragraph of the AP's unattributed report on the good month for retail sales:
NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers apparently shook off their worries about higher gas prices during May, shopping with enthusiasm at apparel stores and malls and giving many retailers better-than-expected results. A big exception was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., whose low-income consumers are feeling the biggest financial squeeze from $3-a-gallon gas.
Yeah, only the poor shop at Wal-Mart. Everyone else shops somewhere else. You didn't know? (/sarcasm)

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.

Thomas Sowell Says Media Still Wield Enormous Power

By Greg Sheffield | June 1, 2006 - 12:57

Economist Thomas Sowell says it's too soon to cheer on the destruction of the mainstream media, who still wield enormous clout.
Conservatives who point out the declining audience for the big television network newscasts, and declining public trust of the media in general, often underestimate how much clout the liberal media still have.

For example, while the economy has had near-record highs in growth rates and in the stock market, with near-record lows in unemployment and inflation, polls show that the public thinks the economy is in big trouble. A steady diet of gloom-and-doom spin in the liberal media has worked. The death of media influence has been greatly exaggerated.

More is involved than partisan attempts to undermine the Bush administration. For decades, the liberal media and the intelligentsia have had to struggle mightily against good economic news. Their whole vision of the world -- and of themselves -- is at stake.

The Strange Sound of Commercialism on Air America Radio

By Tim Graham | June 1, 2006 - 12:23

Because it’s been so heavily subsidized, you forget that Air America Radio hosts do shameless commercial plugs like any other talk-radio star. I’ve heard Al Franken chat about his Craft-Matic adjustable mattress, for example. Today checking out the Stephanie Miller show on DC's Progressive Talk 1260, the hopeless Bush-hater turned into a commercial pitch-woman by hosting Roger Schlesinger of Manhattan West real estate, the “Mortgage Minute Guy,”  as he discussed the hot new trend toward second homes, and how they can set you up smartly in the Las Vegas area or the Coachella Valley in California. Liberal Air America fans shouldn't be buying second homes, when there's so many charitable causes to support, like say, paying back Air America's robbing the kids of  the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club?

Reuters Runs Derogatory Picture of President Bush

By Greg Sheffield | June 1, 2006 - 11:59

It's not quite clear what Reuters hoped to accomplish with this picture. Their photographers take thousands of pictures, most of them useless, and surely this one should have remained in the archives.

If the goal is to provide pictures for liberal blogs, then this fits into that objective.

Read the actual caption.

FCC Refuses CBS Appeal for 'Nipplegate' Fine

By Greg Sheffield | June 1, 2006 - 11:50

The FCC has refused an appeal by CBS to reconsider its fine of $500,000 for Janet Jackson's Superbowl skin show. A lawsuit is pending.

Reports Reuters:

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission refused to reconsider on Wednesday its decision to fine 20 CBS Corp. (CBSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) television stations a total of $550,000 for airing pop singer Janet Jackson's breast flash in 2004.

The decision sets up a likely court battle over the FCC's attempt to crack down on indecent content broadcast on television and radio.

Jackson briefly exposed her breast during the Super Bowl football halftime show, sparking an outrage among some lawmakers and parents groups and provoking regulators to impose the fine on CBS for violating U.S. decency standards.

NY Times Forwards NBC Exec's Blast Against Laura Ingraham's "Spewing"

By Clay Waters | June 1, 2006 - 11:32

TV writer Bill Carter reports on the deaths of two CBS news crewmen while following a U.S. patrol in Iraq -- "Deaths of 2 in CBS Crew Lead to Painful Reassessments." CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier remains in intensive care.

"The roadside blast in Baghdad on Monday that killed two CBS News crew members and seriously wounded a third has deepened concerns among television network executives about the risks their crews face trying to cover the Iraq war, some arguing that television reporters may be even more exposed than those in print journalism."

Near the end, Carter lets two news executives take some timely blasts at conservatives, and radio host Laura Ingraham in particular:

Misty, Watercolor Memories Of The Way Katie Twisted the News

By Tim Graham | June 1, 2006 - 10:34

As Katie Couric departed the Today show after 15 years Wednesday with hours of "misty, watercolor memories" -- for you in the under-40 crowd, that's Streisand singing "The Way We Were," in, ouch, 1973 -- it’s quite obvious that CBS knew it was not only getting one of America’s most famous journalists, but also one of America’s most liberal ones. In the weeks since Couric announced her CBS move on April 5, she has seemed especially outspoken.

She told Ted Kennedy his goal of government-mandated health coverage was a “noble goal”; swooned over Helen Reddy’s feminist anthem “I Am Woman” and oozed over how it shaped her; insisted that teaching tolerance of homosexuality should be done at an early age; and promoted Al Gore’s direst ice-cap-melting predictions: “Even Manhattan would be in deep water, right?” To mark Couric’s NBC career, here’s a very brief listing of some of Katie’s dramatic liberal bias, going all the way back to 1991. (See more from our main page here.)

Katie Couric Goodbye Seen As 'Ridiculously Over the Top'

By Tim Graham | June 1, 2006 - 07:28

On the "Couric Watch" over at TVNewser, Brian Stelter noticed the early reviews for the looong Katie Couric goodbye on Wednesday were negative. Take B&C Beat at Broadcasting and Cable magazine:

But today’s Today orgy of tribute was ridiculously over the top, so long by so far that even Couric seemed to know it. Shortly after 8 a.m., when Matt Lauer promised even more tributes to come, Couric chimed in, “Sorreee!" Almost exactly an hour later, as the tributes kept coming, Couric acknowledged, “It’s a lot of Katie.”

Today's Gaggle: June 1, 2006

Click here for instructions on running Gaggle daily on your own site. There's also an archive of previous toons available here.

Latest USA Today Global Warming Scare Tactic

By Mithridate Ombud | June 1, 2006 - 01:14

The higher CO2 levels that inherently come with global warming are actually a good thing if you're starving in a third world country. Plants breathe CO2, and higher levels means faster plant growth and higher crop yields.

But that isn't the story you want to paint if you're a big media operation like USA Today. Instead, you want to frame it like this:

Study: Global warming boosts poison ivy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Another reason to worry about global warming: more and itchier poison ivy. The noxious vine grows faster and bigger as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise, researchers report Monday... Compared to poison ivy grown in usual atmospheric conditions, those exposed to the extra-high carbon dioxide grew about three times larger — and produced more allergenic form of urushiol, scientists from Duke and Harvard University reported. "...the shift toward a more allergenic form of urushiol have important implications for the future health of both humans and forests," the study concludes.

There you have it. That means I can expect to get stricken with poison ivy three times more than I have in the past, which is currently a consistent zero times. This coupled with inch higher water must be part of the end of civilization that Al Gore anticipates. Remember, folks, all of this global warming nonsense you're reading about is just part of the 2008 Democratic platform as delivered by big media.

CBS Touts Anti-Exxon Shareholder Publicity Gimmick by Democratic Politician

By Brent Baker | June 1, 2006 - 00:51

On Wednesday’s CBS Evening News, Anthony Mason trumpeted how North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore, who got four soundbites, withheld that state’s pension fund votes from the ExxonMobil directors who he thinks gave too great a compensation package to the retired CEO, but Mason failed to identify his Democratic affiliation (not even on-screen) or let viewers in how CBS was delivering publicity benefitting a likely 2008 Democratic candidate for Governor of the Tar Heel state. The North Carolina Democratic Party was so excited by Moore’s move that they sent out a press release: “NC State Treasurer Richard Moore Takes on Oil Company.”

"Outside its annual shareholders meeting, ExxonMobil was under fire today from protesters frustrated with soaring gas prices and the company's former CEO," Mason touted before a woman protester outside the Dallas meeting charged: "He's one of the worst examples of corporate greed." After reciting ex-CEO Lee Raymond’s large compensation package, Mason noted that “ExxonMobil is the most profitable company in the country,” but “it's even starting to feel the heat here on Wall Street." For his evidence from “Wall Street,” Mason turned to Democrat Moore of Raleigh who declared: "I think the sentiment of disgust and outrage is very wide." Mason explained Moore’s power: “Richard Moore is North Carolina's state treasurer. The state's pension fund owns 11 million shares of ExxonMobil, worth more than $660 million. Today Moore, on behalf of the state, withheld all those share votes from the Exxon directors who backed Raymond's pay." Moore called the compensation package “un-American.” (Transcript follows)

Title Problems At The Los Angeles Times? Haditha Is "The Iraqi My Lai"

By Dave Pierre | June 1, 2006 - 00:26

Forget the forthcoming report. Forget any trials. It appears that the Los Angeles Times has already reached its verdict on Haditha. The title of an editorial today (Wed. May 31, 2006) in the "print edition" at latimes.com is entitled, "What happened at the Iraqi My Lai?"

However, the exact same editorial appears under a different title in the actual print copy of the paper. Paper readers saw a more tame headline: "Duty, honor, investigation." (Yawn.)

Which title came first? Hmmm.

(The same thing happened today also with Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's op-ed. At latimes.com, viewers see , "The Holocaust wasn't Christian." In the actual hard copy of the paper, the title is, "Benedict's sin of omission.")

Have Media Made Hillary Clinton a Dead Candidate Walking?

By Noel Sheppard | June 1, 2006 - 00:00

As published at The American Thinker and read on air Wednesday by Rush Limbaugh:

For Hillary Clinton and her terminally unfaithful husband, last week must have seemed like a Wes Craven version of an old musical comedy reworked and entitled “A Ghastly Thing Happened on the Way Back to the White House.”

With Hillary leading in most polls as the prohibitive favorite to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008, many party loyalists and typically favorable media members appear to be jumping off her bandwagon. At the same time, these very folks are falling over themselves to assist in the makeover and revitalization of former vice president Al Gore.

Coincidence? Unlikely. In fact, this is starting to resemble what these same folks did to Howard Dean during his 2004 presidential run.

For those that have forgotten, Dean was riding high in the polls in the winter of 2004. However, few top-ranking Democrats believed that he could beat President Bush in November. As a result, Time and Newsweek both ran cover stories on January 12, 2004 questioning his “electability” beyond the primaries. As Eric Boehlert wrote in Salon on January 13: