On Tuesday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann used his latest "Special Comment" to call on President Bush and Vice President Cheney to resign because of the commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence, contending that President Bush is only president of a "rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party." Olbermann further accused Cheney of being "without conscience" and compared the two to a "ventriloquist" and "dummy." After calling on Congress to "pressure, negotiate, impeach," Olbermann concluded: "Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9, 1974. Resign. And give us someone, anyone, about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, 'I didn't vote for him, but he's my President, and I hope he does a good job.' Good night and good luck." (Transcript follows)

August 17, 1999, Los Angeles Times: Although Newt Gingrich no longer serves in Congress, Times opinion writer Robert Scheer rips into the national media for not digging the knife deep enough into Newt over his two messy divorces. "Now it's his turn to be judged bad fruit," wrote Scheer. Scheer's tone is certainly angry and vindictive. (Note: Scheer no longer works for the Times as of November 2005.)

July 3, 2007: The Los Angeles Daily News, L.A.'s #2 paper behind the bigger Times, becomes the first major news outlet to report that Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has admitted to currently having a "relationship" with "Telemundo 52" anchor Mirthala Salinas.  About a month ago, the mayor announced that he and his wife of 20 years, Corina, were separating (LA Times article). (As an anchor, Salinas herself reported the news of the mayor's separation on Telemundo. (Video at latimes.com) Yikes.) A few days later, Corina announced she was filing for divorce (LA Times article). (On June 20, the Times published a letter from Calif. State Senator Sheila Kuehl, a far-left Democrat, telling everyone to "leave the guy alone.")

Broadcast network anchors and reporters on Tuesday night seemed to be in a near panic over the possibility President Bush might yet pardon Lewis “Scooter” Libby, while ABC's Martha Raddatz illustrated special treatment for Libby by highlighting a man sentenced to 20 years for selling cocaine, whose commutation request Bush rejected, and Martha Stewart who served five months for violations similar to Libby's. With “Libby PARDON?” on screen, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams warned that Bush is “not ruling out the possibility of a full pardon.” Bush remarked on Tuesday that “as to the future, I'm, you know, rule nothing in and nothing out.” CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric made that her hook, citing “a lot more fireworks today...sparked by what the President said he may or may not do in the future.” Bill Plante began: “A day after he commuted Lewis Libby's prison sentence, President Bush raised the ante by leaving the door open to an eventual pardon.”

ABC anchor Charles Gibson teased World News: “Angry reaction to President Bush sparing Scooter Libby jail time while the President doesn't rule out granting Libby a full pardon.” Martha Raddatz reported: “Mr. Bush took it one step further today, saying a full pardon for Libby is not off the table.” After running a clip of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow maintaining “you do not engage in these acts for symbolic or political reasons,” Raddatz charged: “But that is going to be a hard accusation to shake. At the very least, Libby went to the front of the line. There are currently close to 2,000 commutation requests pending. More than 4,000 have already been denied. During his nearly seven years in office, President Bush has granted only four commutations, including Libby.” She proceeded to highlight how “former Kansas City Royals slugger Willie Mays Aikens, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1994 for selling two ounces of crack,” but “Aikens' request to have his sentence commuted was turned down by President Bush.”

Back in 2001, the broadcast network evening shows weren't quite so fast to jump on President Bill Clinton's Inauguration Day morning pardon of Marc Rich, a fugitive from justice over fraud and tax evasion, who was hiding overseas and whose ex-wife was a big Democratic contributor. ABC's World News got to it a day later, but it took the NBC Nightly News another day. The CBS Evening News didn't bother reporting it until the Thursday after Clinton's Saturday morning action -- and then Dan Rather framed it as another instance of Clinton being victimized by unrelenting critics who wouldn't let go even after he left office: “Critics of former President Clinton are going beyond the very end. They're raising new questions about one of the end of term pardons President Clinton granted.”

The Tuesday broadcast network morning shows all led with President Bush's commutation of the 30-month prison sentence for Lewis "Scooter" Libby, but CBS displayed "Libby Pardon" on screen throughout a report from Bill Plante; over video of Bush and then Libby ABC put "Above the Law?" on screen to frame its coverage; and both CBS and NBC featured Hillary Clinton's slam at Bush's "cronyism" -- yet failed to bring up the name Marc Rich. NBC's Meredith Vieira scolded Bill Kristol for daring to describe Joe Wilson's claims, that President Bush "subverted the rule of law" and could be "a suspect in an ongoing obstruction of justice case," as "ridiculous." Referring to the commutation, not the prosecution, Vieira lectured: "There are many people who feel that this was a travesty of justice."

[This item was e-mailed and posted a few minutes ago as an MRC CyberAlert Extra and while it has fresh material it overlaps, in part, with two earlier NewsBusters postings. Mark Finkelstein's take on Vieira/Kristol. Scott Whitlock's look at ABC's Good Morning America.]

If there were a prosecution they would have to arrest several state Judges so they allow federal crimes too go unpunished. Using someone else's social security numbers is not a crime if Judges help cover up the crimes. Search southdakotagov.info on how buy now pay never is flourishing because so much of it goes on. Newspapers are not allowed to print anything regarding the subject.

The New York Times let go of the media’s “How dare you make that much money,” attitude on July 3 to support a new kind of executive. The green kind.

“The new environmental chiefs are helping companies profit from the push to go green,” wrote Claudia H. Deutsch.

Deutsch’s article supported the concept talking about how it will make money for companies, without mentioning any drawbacks. She also left out the radical left-wing nature of some of the groups mentioned in the story. The only criticism of the new positions came from the left.

Meredith Vieira invited on singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini to perform on this morning’s Today show but didn’t let the artist get away without using his spot on the upcoming Live Earth concert, as an excuse to plug NBC Universal’s sweeping coverage of the Al Gore musical marathon for the planet. Before Nutini sang he and Vieira discussed the importance of saving the Earth in the following segment of the July 3rd Today show:

Meredith Vieira: "They are calling it a worldwide event to save the planet and this Saturday more than 100 musical acts will perform in eight cities across seven continents. The Live Earth concert series will bring attention to the issue of global warming. And among the performers, Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini."

The Los Angeles Times has slammed Robin Williams' new film, License To Wed, in a review in today's paper (Wed. 7/3/07). However, the review made no mention of Williams' offensive and bigoted anti-Catholic remarks on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno two weeks ago, as reported by NB's Michael Chapman. (See also this and this.) Neither has the paper published anything about Williams' words, although the episode took place in the Times' backyard. Yet the Times gave tons o' ink to Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic tirade last year during a DUI arrest. (Read about that here.)

So there was Elizabeth Edwards, wife of the Blow-Dried One, berating Ann Coulter on the art of civil discourse last week. After her phone-in appearance on the Chris Matthews show, St. Elizabeth was the toast of the media town, making the rounds from one network to the next, with rose pedals strewn in her path to guide her to her seat, denouncing the “hatefulness” and “ugliness” of conservative commentators. “We can't have a debate about issues if you're using this kind of language,” she lectured.

It’s a good thing none of her interviewers pretended to be objective. It’s a good thing she wasn’t asked about hatefulness and ugliness on the left. It would have been painful.

For instance, what if she’d been asked to denounce a quote from a leading liberal who favors rage as a necessary ingredient in fighting for a rapid timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, and who attacked congressional Democrats as weaklings: “We needed uncompromising rage, and we got silence. We needed courage, and we got silence. And that silence was, have no doubt about it, a betrayal: of the soldiers, of the voters in 2006, of humanity and morality.”

BusinessWeek says the U.S. should learn a lesson from France about how to run health care. According to the July 9 issue:

“France also demonstrates that you can deliver stellar results with this mix of public and private financing,” wrote correspondent Kerry Capell.

Capell also called the French universal system “generous” and stated that it “offers valuable lessons for would-be health-care reformers in the U.S.”

Specifically referencing Michael Moore’s propaganda-mentary, Capell said the French system is not “quite as superb as Sicko maintains, but it’s pretty good.”

New York Times reporters Alan Cowell and Raymond Bonner reported on the twin terrorist attempts this weekend in London's Piccadilly area and at Glasgow Airport and came up with this puzzler:

"In July 2005, four suicide bombers killed 52 people on London's transit system, and another set of attacks failed two weeks later, bringing home to Britain fears of homegrown terrorist attacks among its disenfranchised South Asian population. Witnesses said the two men in the Glasgow attack were South Asian."

Disenfranchised? Mark Steyn mocked the Times' formulation at National Review Online:

The following was submitted by Jason Aslinger, a private practice attorney in Greenville, Ohio. Portions in bold below are the added emphasized of NB managing editor Ken Shepherd. It's a long post but it's worth the read:

In the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision regarding racial integration in public schools, the media have gone out of their way to obscure the facts for the purpose of advancing its familiar political agenda, not to mention skipped over giving readers a glimpse of the concurring opinions of Justices Thomas and Kennedy, both of which shed light on the case's significance to the average American.

In a prior NewsBusters post, I called out MSNBC's Keith Olbermann for his false and race-baiting claim that the Supreme Court had “overturned” the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education. The subsequent commentary by the media has at least been more clever, but no less false. Undoubtedly, the press and “expert commentators” have calculated that the general public would not check their factual (and political) conclusions by reading the Court’s 185-page opinion. Without knowing the specific facts, the media distortions can not be fully appreciated. Below we'll take a look at the facts of the case as well as the reasoning from the justices, reasoning that all too often is glossed over if not outright ignored in the media.

There are two Americas. One fans the flames of class warfare while running for office and the other knows that there is something disingenuous about a class-warfare spokesman posing on the cover of high-end fashion magazine. Yes, that's John Edwards on the cover of “Men's Vogue.” The same John Edwards who decried the "Two Americas" in 2004 (emphasis mine throughout):

Today, under George W. Bush, there are two Americas, not one: One America that does the work, another that reaps the reward...One America that is struggling to get by, another America that can buy anything it wants, even a Congress and a president.

For a magazine that seemed determined to pump up the Edwards campaign, describing Edwards as “the person who may shape our immediate future more than anyone in these pages is North Carolina's John Edwards...who just might be the boldest—and most refreshing—choice for 2008” and “a passionate advocate for rural America,” it strangely kicked off with a description that only reinforced Edwards' preening, very non-rural, metrosexual, hair-obsessed “Breck Girl” image:

Flash: It seems even renewable energy sources aren't immune to overuse by humans. Australia's Sydney Morning Herald reports on a study done by Austrian and German scientists that

...analysed data on land use, agriculture and forestry from 161 countries, representing 97 per cent of the world's land mass.

This showed humans used 24 per cent of the energy that was captured by plants. More than half of this was due to the harvesting of crops or other plants.

The report also finds that human use of solar energy in plants reduces the amount available to other species by 10 percent.

[Update at bottom of post] On Tuesday’s "Good Morning America," the ABC program featured two segments on President Bush’s commutation of Dick Cheney aide Lewis Libby. Substitute co-host David Muir opened the program by wondering, "This morning, above the law?" and GMA glossed over Bill Clinton's infamous pardon of Marc Rich. Instead, various anchors found time to twice highlight Senator Dick Durbin’s comment that "even Paris Hilton had to go to jail."

Although reporter David Kerley's segment did feature a quote from Republican strategist Rich Galen, both pieces seemed more interested in Democratic outrage. Kerley and Muir seemed taken with Senator Dick Durbin’s comparison to Paris Hilton:

Kerley: "But one of the most stinging statements came from Senator Dick Durbin, who said, quote, ‘Even Paris Hilton had to go to jail. No one in this administration should be above the law.’"

...

David Muir: "Not surprisingly, the Democrats are jumping on this. We heard from the Democratic candidates there. Senator Durbin saying even Paris Hilton went to jail. Some real red meat for the other party."

Can we talk?

So, the debate’s over?

Well, not so fast, ‘cause I got your consensus right here!

According to a new poll done in England, a majority of British citizens aren’t buying the science is settled nonsense that folks like soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore and his band of not so merry global warming alarmists are peddling from sea to shining sea.

For those with climate change derangement syndrome, that means in England, you’d be in the minority.

As deliciously reported Tuesday by BBC.com (h/t NB member Par for the Course):

(WARNING: Link contains graphic and unsettling pictures) Michael Yon reported a massacre committed by Al Qaeda that wiped out a village on the outskirts of Baqubah, Iraq just after midnight on July 1.

Matt Hurley at Weapons of Mass Discussion had this to say yesterday in reaction:

If American media fails to cover this with the same amount of gusto that they have pursued Haditha and Abu Ghraib, they will be demonstrating their preference for whom they wish to win this conflict. The press has to tell the story that evil really does exist in this world. Imagine if the story of the Holocaust was never told because the media was only interested in reporting Allied atrocities. Yes, by failing to treat this war objectively, the media does indeed enable massacres such as this one and history will judge the coverage of this war very harshly.

Robin Boyd noticed the lack of Old Media interest in a NewsBusters post yesterday. Almost 18 hours later, the fact is that Old Media is still ignoring Yon's dispatch:

Writing about Lester Holt, I've more than once praised the NBC host for his level-headed professionalism. I may have to re-evaluate after his performance on this morning's "Today." Interviewing Joe Wilson about the Libby commutation, Holt seemed to seek to throw gasoline on the fire with leading questions, while obfuscating an important fact. Later, Meredith Vieira interrupted Bill Kristol to offer a heartelt defense of Wilson.

Holt began by reminding Wilson of his recent statement that the Libby sentence demonstrates that "this remains a nation of laws, not men."

Holt then lobbed in this question.

NBC HOST LESTER HOLT: Do you still believe that this morning?

Wilson knew just what to do with the hanging curveball:

Elizabeth Edwards is even more of a hypocrite than NewsBusters readers already think. Everyone knows that during the infamous “Hardball” phone-call confrontation, Mrs. Edwards criticized Ann Coulter's “hate speech” and her “personal attacks" that “lower our political dialog.” But regular readers know that NewsBusters pointed out the hypocrisy of Elizabeth Edwards' comments, considering that until liberal bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan resigned, they worked for the Edwards' campaign and were known for anti-Christian “hate speech” and "personal attacks" toward Republicans.

Now it's even worse than Mrs. Edwards condemning Coulter because "(w)e can't have a debate about issues [while] using this kind of language” after employing Marcotte and McEwan. Guess who hired them in the first place? Yep, Elizabeth Edwards herself.

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