Terry Ann Rendon's blog

Just when I thought Obama lovin' was regulated to the political commentators and reporters at MSNBC, I was sadly mistaken. Even entertainment reporters need to show their support! June Sarpong, took some time on her appearance on "Morning Joe" today to gush about Obama's upcoming stops in Europe and talk about America losing its standing with the international community.

Sarpong was on the show to talk about the movie "Dark Night" setting box office records but who cares about movie records when we have Sen. Obama running for office! Since she's British, interviewer Willie Geist couldn't help but ask her how Obama's perceived in the U.K. Her response was a glowing endorsement of the Illinois senator. (Video below page break)

According to Variety, Chris Wallace, anchor of "Fox News Sunday," differentiated Fox News's coverage of the '08 election and MSNBC's while speaking to reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour. From the article:

"I think MSNBC's coverage went so far over the line that it lost all credibility," Wallace told reporters Monday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour.

Wallace accused MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann of inappropriately mixing anchor and opinion-making duties, and said Fox News drew a distinction between its reporters and opinion-minded hosts.

"There's a reason why Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity won't be anchoring the election night or the conventions," he said during the sesh at the BevHilton hotel.

A New York Times article reveals that late night comics are having a hard time making jokes about Sen. Barack Obama. From the article:

What’s so funny about Barack Obama? Apparently not very much, at least not yet.

On Monday, The New Yorker magazine tried dipping its toe into broad satire involving Senator Obama with a cover image depicting the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and his wife, Michelle, as fist-bumping, flag-burning, bin Laden-loving terrorists in the Oval Office. The response from both Democrats and Republicans was explosive.

Comedy has been no easier for the phalanx of late-night television hosts who depend on skewering political leaders for a healthy quotient of their nightly monologues. Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and others have delivered a nightly stream of joke about the Republican running for president — each one a variant on the same theme: John McCain is old.

Mr. Carter explains why so little jokes about Obama:

The picture alone of a weak little girl was enough to cause the heart of anyone who viewed the CNN.com home page earlier today to ache. What proof do they have that the drought in West Timor is due to climate change? Some unnamed aid officials:

Maria is fighting to live, wasting away in her remote village where aid officials say climate change has brought on a severe drought in recent years. It's nearly impossible for residents to live off the land like they have for generations.

Sounding like an impeachment obsessed left-wing blogger Jack Cafferty asked
on CNN.com "Why won’t Congress consider impeaching Pres. Bush?" In his June 12th blog posting he writes, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi long ago made it known that impeachment is “off the table.” This is a joke. We have a president who has abused the power of his office over and over again. It’s what got the Democrats elected to the majority in Congress in 2006." It's funny how he never mentions exactly how George W. Bush has abused his power. It should somehow be evident to all of us. If a contributor to a news organization and their professional Web site is going to claim the president of the United States has abused his power and therefore should be impeached then shouldn't Cafferty back it up with some tangible proof. That's what a person with journalistic integrity would do. Impeachment talk by liberals is designed to rile up anger in people and if the comments attached his post are any indication that is exactly what Cafferty did.

Cafferty is not the only cable news personality talking about impeachment. On
Tuesday's episode of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann, " the host theorized that perhaps the impeachment trials of Bill Clinton were in some way done to immunize George W. Bush. Here's a partial transcript:

Did you know that we are reliving 1968 again? George W. Bush is like Lyndon B. Johnson, unpopular. Iraq is like Vietnam, unpopular. The civil rights movement is represented in Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton's historic candidacy parallels the women's movement. The energized youth voting in this primary is comparable to the college students protesting Vietnam in 1968. Well, that's what a program titled, "Something's Happening Here: Over the Last 40 Years, How Has the Presidential Election Changed?" on CNN told me.

It fascinates me that this news program so brazenly wants to suggest what is happening today is comparable to the turbulent times of 1960s. Also, they eagerly want to associate Iraq with Vietnam. It's almost if they want us to be more anxious about our current times. In fact Campbell Brown, the host, tells us in the beginning that we're an anxious nation just like in 1968. She says, "Now fast-forward 40 years. It is June 2008, another unpopular president, another unpopular war, anxiety and impatience, a new generation energized, all around the sense that we have reached a turning point. It's an election that could change the world." Really, we are anxious and impatient? What proof does she have of that?

Brown also takes a cue from Barack Obama's campaign motto when she describes this election as one that "could change the world. " We are living through the 1960s all over again so we need Barack Obama to come in and change things seems to be the basic theme of the show.

Edward Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Winston Churchill’s “Second World War.” “What Happened” by Scott McClellan. One of these things is not like the other.

Unless you’re Keith Olbermann, who prophesied yesterday on his show that the former Bush press secretary’s tell-all book would end up being a textbook in college history courses some day.

McClellan was busy making the media rounds yesterday. He first appeared on "The Today Show" and then it was on to the nightly news shows, ABC's "World News" and CBS's "Evening News." His last interview of the day was on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." In his last remarks to McClellan, Olbermann continued his flare for hyperbole. Here's what he said:

On tonight's broadcast of ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" reporter Ron Clairborne reiterated a popular term that liberal blogs often use to refer to Sen. John McCain (R- Ariz). The news story was on the fundraiser President Bush held for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee tonight. Clairborne stated in his report, "At every opportunity the Democrats label McCain "McSame," a virtual clone of George Bush. The strategy makes sense. Bush's approval ratings are at an all time low."

The only Democrats known for constantly calling Sen. McCain "McSame" are those who write in the progressive blogosphere. View video here.

The media has been unfair to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D- N.Y.) is the new argument former President Bill Clinton made for his wife to continue on for the Democratic nomination. He's also hitting hard on the issue of seating Florida and Michigan: "I thought it was the Republican Party that disenfranchised voters in Florida, not the Democrats." View CNN video here.

The former president is also sounding conspiratorial these days. According to this ABC News report, he told a crowd in South Dakota he has, "never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running," and that, "she will win the general election if you nominate her. They're just trying to make sure you don't."

Everyone is out to get THEM!

Perhaps, Americans aren't the only ones who have an irrational view of the person who holds the highest political office in their country. After reading this New York Times article, it looks like the French might be suffering with Sarkozy Derangement Syndrome. Here's a quote from the article:

The passion has soured, said Eric Empatz, editor in chief of Le Canard Enchaîné, a weekly newspaper that combines satire and investigative reporting. “This obsession of the French with Sarkozy has turned, and turned negative,” Mr. Empatz said. “The obsession continues, just as passionately, but now it’s negative. In that, too, it’s like a bad love affair.”

Last night on the MSNBC program "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," the host gave the runner up position to his daily segment "World's Worst Persons in the World" to General David Petraeus. View video here. After the negative reaction the smear ad from MoveOn.org received last year it should be well-known by now that name calling Gen. Petraeus is not the way to go. Apparently Mr. Olbermann didn't get the memo. Hat tip: Greg Pollowitz.

Here's the partial transcript:

Over the years I've noticed ABCNews.com likes to have fun with Photoshop. They seem to have very lenient rules when it comes to the photos that accompany their stories. Today I spotted a picture of Laura Bush's head placed on the body of Godzilla on their front page. Here's the blog posting the picture links to over at ABCNews.com. On my blog I've previously discussed my frustration with ABCNews.com.

Update: The picture is no longer featured on the ABCNews.com Web site as of 2:25 p.m. CST.

It's not just President George W. Bush and Congress with low approval ratings these days. An online Zogby survey commissioned by The Poynter Institute should be a wake up call for the American news media. They found a "majority of readers, viewers and listeners say they are still far from satisfied with the coverage."

So what's missing from the war coverage? More information about the Iraqi government, stories about the Iraqi people, and chronicling soldiers returning home topped the list of the type of news the respondents said they would like to receive.

Today Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made an appearance on the daytime program "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," and the topic quickly turned to the issue of same-sex marriage. The issue arose after Ms. DeGeneres revealed on her show last Friday that she will be marrying her parter, Portia de Rossi. The marriage announcement came a day after the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on gay marriage. View video here.

Here's a partial transcript of the conversation: