Three weeks ago when a Newsweek poll put Democrat Barack Obama 15 points ahead of Republican John McCain, the ABC and CBS evening newscasts highlighted the out of sync finding. But when a new Newsweek survey released Friday placed Obama a mere three points in front of McCain, neither ABC's World News nor the CBS Evening News mentioned it on Friday or Saturday night.

“A startling new poll,” fill-in CBS Evening News anchor Russ Mitchell announced during the Friday, June 20 newscast, “Barack Obama now leads John McCain nationwide by 15 points, 51 to 36 percent. This according to Newsweek.” The next night, Saturday, June 21, ABC World News anchor David Muir pointed to “a new poll from Newsweek magazine that shows Barack Obama opening a 15-point lead over John McCain.”

Newsweek's Jonathan Darman failed to consider the inaccuracy of the earlier poll as he expressed his befuddlement on Friday with the slim 44 to 41 lead for Obama: “Perhaps most puzzling is how McCain could have gained traction in the past month.”

Erick Erickson and our friends at RedState are marking their fourth birthday today. We wish them all the best.  They're celebrating by unwrapping a great new web site design so check it out when you get a chance.

The news of Tony Snow’s death wasn’t wholly unexpected, but it’s still devastating. Tony was a man brimming with optimism and you just felt that if anyone could beat this cancer, he could do it. He was an absolute professional in his craft and always, always a gentleman.

The conservative movement is diminished today and anyone who knew him is heartbroken for his wife, Jill, and his three children Kendall, Robbie, and Kristi.

“Rest in peace, gentle warrior.”

Our friends at Minnesotans for Global Warming -- the folks who brought us the fabulous video "If We Had Some Global Warming" -- have just released a new number deliciously set to John Lennon's "Imagine."

Update: Lyrics at end of post.

Does the Washington Post agree with former Sen. Phil Gramm's recent assessment that "We have sort of become a nation of whiners" when it comes to the economy?

After all, the Post published an op-ed Saturday by economic historian Amity Shlaes entitled "Phil Gramm is Right."

Although readers are strongly encouraged to review the entire marvelous piece, the following are some of the highlights (emphasis added throughout, photo courtesy NYT):

In 2006, I was invited to attend the annual Television and Radio Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC.  Before and after the big shindig, all the major news organizations throw parties in the same hotel.  I attended the Fox News event, and Tony Snow was there.  

I had never met Tony and he didn't know me from Adam. I was just a neophyte blogger from this new site, NewsBusters.  Nevertheless, Tony greeted and spoke with me warmly, and I had a very powerful sense of someone who, in a manner rooted in his religious faith, truly cared about others.  As I stood on the fringe of the crowd as many others spoke with him, I witnessed the same outpouring of caring and concern coming from Tony toward all that he met.  There was an palpable aura of loving-kindness that emanated from him.

It appears the good folks at the Huffington Post have a firm grasp on the hatefulness of their members, for the article published there on Saturday concerning the passing of Tony Snow is not accepting comments.

I guess Huffington's employees anticipated disgusting remarks about the former White House press secretary, and rather than deal with them on an individual basis chose to prevent them completely.

This seems a good decision considering the disgraceful behavior of HuffPosters in February 2007 when a homicide bomber struck outside a military compound in Afghanistan where Vice President Dick Cheney was staying.

Update at end of post: Netroots on the offensive concerning Snow's demise.

Days after former Sen. Phil Gramm told the Washington Times that "We have sort of become a nation of whiners" when it comes to the economy, Ben Stein claimed, "It's the media that is whipping us into this frenzy."

Deliciously, this came just minutes after a Democrat strategist actually said, "We are in the toughest economic time we have ever been in this country."

As such, I would make the case that it is media AND Democrats doing the whipping.

But before we get there, here's what Stein said Saturday on Fox News's "Cavuto on Business" (photo courtesy BenStein.com)

For general sports-related discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Is Brett Favre coming out of retirement to play for somebody other than the Packers?

Three days after a conference call with Packers team officials in which quarterback Brett Favre emphatically expressed his desire to play in 2008, Favre on Friday formally asked by letter for his unconditional contractual release, sources close to Favre and the team said.

What do you think is behind his decision to return? Would this be good for him and the game? Do you think other teams will take him, and, if so, who?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: as we all mourn the death of Tony Snow, we should also say a prayer for the father of modern cardiovascular surgery:

Surgeon Michael DeBakey, whose ground-breaking heart transplants and coronary bypass operations made him one of the giants of 20th century medicine, has died at age 99...In a career that spanned more than seven decades, DeBakey developed a number of new surgical procedures that now are standard in treating heart ailments and led many to consider him the father of modern cardiovascular surgery. His best known innovation was the now-common coronary bypass operation for clogged arteries, which he first performed in 1964, using leg veins to bypass blocked or damaged areas between the aorta and coronary arteries.

Do yourself a favor and read the whole article. This was an EXTRAORDINARY man whose work has saved the lives of literally millions of people. Rest in Peace, Doctor, and thank you.

Gee, how can that be? Just last month, the Newsweek poll showed Barack Obama with a large 15 point lead over John McCain which Newsweek announced as "Barack's Bounce." However, there is now trouble in River City as you can tell by the headline of the latest Newsweek poll story, "Glow Fading?" Yes, poor Obama has taken a big tumble in the latest Newsweek poll:

A month after emerging victorious from the bruising Democratic nominating contest, some of Barack Obama's glow may be fading. In the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, the Illinois senator leads Republican nominee John McCain by just 3 percentage points, 44 percent to 41 percent. The statistical dead heat is a marked change from last month's NEWSWEEK Poll, where Obama led McCain by 15 points, 51 percent to 36 percent.

Newsweek seems to find this dramatic poll drop for Obama very puzzling (emphasis mine):

At long last, has the Associated Press lost all sense of decency?

The AP's story (saved here for future reference in case the wire service is embarrassed into revising it; you might consider saving it too as Exhibit A on how far over the cliff the dinosaur media has driven itself) by Douglass K. Daniel, with Jennifer Loven contributing (I might have known), gets in at least three cheap, fundamentally untrue, and totally uncalled-for shots at Tony Snow, who died earlier this morning.

I won't sully NB's front page with any of them. They follow the jump:

One of my fond memories of Tony Snow was his moving speech from this year's MRC Gala. In this video, Tony is accepting the 2nd annual William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence.

He was a great man and will be greatly missed.

We’ve lost another giant today. I was prepared to go straight to bed after having stayed up all night watching movies, but as I tuned to the TV, I saw that one of my favorite people, Tony Snow, had passed. I could not be sadder. He was only 53 years old, and colon cancer took his life. The world is missing a great friend today. Godspeed, Tony.