On both Good Morning America and World News, two different ABC correspondents filed separate reports recounting that some Christians oppose Texas Governor Rick Perry’s prayer rally from the weekend, but, in both reports, clips of left-wing figures like the Reverend Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and Drew Courtney of People for the American Way were shown, instead of showing any more mainstream Christians as examples of dissent.
The ABC and NBC morning and evening newscasts on Sunday gave attention to President Obama's attack on the Republican presidential candidates for not scolding a couple of audience members who booed a gay solder who asked a question about gays in the military at a recent debate. Monday's Special Report with Bret Baier on FNC noted that Obama has his own history of standing by without condemning inappropriate comments at public events.ABC correspondent David Kerley filed full reports devoted to the story on both Good Morning America and World News Sunday, while NBC's Mike Viqueira mentioned Obama's line of attack within reports that dealt with other political issues on Today and the NBC Nightly News.
On Good Morning America, co-host Dan Harris set up Kerley's report:
Now, though, politics and an unusually combative President Obama last night. For the most part, Mr. Obama has tried to stay above the fray when it comes to the Republican presidential candidates. But overnight, he took a hard shot at the Republicans for failing to stand up for a gay soldier who was booed during a recent debate.
Kerley recounted the boos from the audience:
Who said the election is more than a year away? A full-throated attack against all the Republican candidates who are trying to become President, and this all had to do with, as you said, that debate last week, when a video appeared of an Army soldier who said he was gay. There were boos from the audience.
And on World News, anchor David Muir introduced the piece:
And we do move on to the presidential race this evening, and the sharpest attacks yet by President Obama against the Republicans who want his job. The President pointedly asking why none of them spoke out at that recent debate when a gay soldier asking a question was booed.
After playing a clip of the soldier being booed, Kerley added:
Not one of the candidates on the stage said anything about the booing, leaving them open to the combative chiding from the President at last night's Human Rights Campaign dinner.
It was not until this report on World News that Kerley eventually noted that there were only a couple of audience members who booed at the Republican debate, and that the candidates may have had trouble hearing the booing from the stage:
Some of the Republican candidates said after the debate, they didn't hear the boos. Others said they weren't given time to comment.
During the "Fox All Stars" segment on Monday's "Special Report with Bret Baier," panel member Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard argued that the audience members who booed were not representative of the audience, and noted Obama's history of not jumping in to controversial speech at events:
But really, by all accounts, the people immediately after the debate in the vicinity said there were two people who booed at the event, and that they were, in fact, shouted down and shushed by everyone around them.
He continued:
So do you really want to get in a pattern where a presidential candidate has to respond to every every heckler in every crowd? This President didn't respond to some of the hateful rhetoric that we've seen from people either working for him or campaigning for him, Richard Trumka being a recent example.
Host Baier soon added:
Here is what Rush Limbaugh has said in the blogosphere and radio show today, is that then-Senator Obama didn't respond to Reverend Wright for 20 years in that church. That's what he said. Then he said he didn't respond to James Hoffa after he spoke intro-ing him at that event.
#From the October 2 Sunday Today on NBC:
LESTER HOLT, IN OPENING TEASER: And fighting words: President Obama lashes out at the Republican White House candidates for not standing up for gays serving in the military. What his tough talk means for the issue and the campaign today, Sunday, October 2, 2011.
...
MIKE VIQUEIRA: And, Jenna, last night the President and First Lady Michelle Obama were celebrating their 19th anniversary here locally across the river, out for dinner in Alexandria, Virginia. It came after the President gave another fiery speech to a core constituency, a large gay rights organization known as the Human Rights Campaign. Their annual gathering was here in Washington last night. The President took those Republican candidates to task for staying silent. You remember when a gay soldier serving overseas was booed by some members of the audience at the last debate. And the President stopped short again of backing gay marriage. You know, he's opposed to gay marriage. That has been his policy, though he says his views are evolving.
#From the Sunday, October 2, NBC Nightly News :
MIKE VIQUEIRA: And last night, President Obama gave an impassioned address to a major gay rights group.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Don't Ask, Don't Tell is history.
VIQUEIRA: Mr. Obama was critical of GOP candidates after they failed to defend a gay soldier booed during a recent debate.
OBAMA: You want to be Commander in Chief, you can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient.
#From the Sunday, October 2, Good Morning America on ABC:
DAN HARRIS, IN OPENING TEASER: Heating up: In some of his toughest words yet, the President comes out swinging at his Republican rivals, calling them out for not standing up for gay troops when one of them was booed at a recent debate.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You wanna be Commander-in-Chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States.
...
DAN HARRIS: Now, though, politics and an unusually combative President Obama last night. For the most part, Mr. Obama has tried to stay above the fray when it comes to the Republican presidential candidates. But overnight, he took a hard shot at the Republicans for failing to stand up for a gay soldier who was booed during a recent debate. ABC's David Kerley is at the White House this morning. And, David, this was a fired up Mr. Obama.
DAVID KERLEY: It certainly was, Dan. Who said the election is more than a year away? A full-throated attack against all the Republican candidates who are trying to become President, and this all had to do with, as you said, that debate last week, when a video appeared of an Army soldier who said he was gay. There were boos from the audience. Here's what President Obama had to say about that last night.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We don't believe in the kind of smallness that says it's okay for a stage full of political leaders, one of whom could end up being the President of the United States, being silent when an American soldier is booed. You wanna be Commander-in-Chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States even when it's not politically convenient.
KERLEY: That speech was at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, and it sounded like a campaign speech, the President going through a litany of things he's done as far as rights and civil rights and at the end of it. As he talked about this soldier and other cases, it really did sound like a campaign.
#From the October 2 World News Sunday on ABC:
DAVID MUIR: And we do move on to the presidential race this evening, and the sharpest attacks yet by President Obama against the Republicans who want his job. The President pointedly asking why none of them spoke out at that recent debate when a gay soldier asking a question was booed. Here's ABC's David Kerley.
DAVID KERLEY: The election may be a year away, but candidate Obama went after every Republican running for President.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We don't believe in the kind of smallness that says it's okay for a stage full of political leaders, one of whom could end up being the President of the United States, being silent when an American soldier is booed. We don't believe in that.
KERLEY: That American soldier appeared on videotape at the most recent Republican debate, an openly gay soldier, who was booed by some in the audience when he asked a question.
STEPHEN HILL, U.S. ARMY: Do you intend to circumvent the progress that's been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?
KERLEY: Not one of the candidates on the stage said anything about the booing, leaving them open to the combative chiding from the President at last night's Human Rights Campaign dinner.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You want to be Commander-in-Chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient.
KERLEY: Some of the Republican candidates said after the debate, they didn't hear the boos. Others said they weren't given time to comment. Today on ABC's "This Week," candidate Herman Cain was asked directly if he now regrets not rebuking the boos during the debate.
HERMAN CAIN, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did not have that luxury because I was not in control. I was not moderated.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST OF THIS WEEK: In retrospect, would you have done something, given the controversy it's touched up?
CAIN: In retrospect, because of the controversy it has created and because of the different interpretations that it could have had, yes, that would have been appropriate.
KERLEY: We reached out to the other Republican campaigns looking for reaction to the strong comments by the President. None of them responded directly to what the President had to say.
#From the Monday, October 3, Special Report with Bret Baier on FNC:
BRET BAIER: I should say that is a soldier. He is not a Marine. He is wearing an Army t-shirt. But you heard boos there. Steve, what about the President mentioning this numerous times?
STEVE HAYES, WEEKLY STANDARD: Well, I think it suggests that he is likely to focus on issues that don't have to do with the economy in this upcoming election because it's a lot easier. I think it's a cheap shot. I think that it would have been great if the President, the candidates on the stage that night would have said you shouldn't boo. But really, by all accounts, the people immediately after the debate in the vicinity said there were two people who booed at the event, and that they were, in fact, shouted down and shushed by everyone around them. So do you really want to get in a pattern where a presidential candidate has to respond to every every heckler in every crowd? This President didn't respond to some of the hateful rhetoric that we've seen from people either working for him or campaigning for him, Richard Trumka being a recent example.
BAIER: Juan, you're shaking your head. What about that?
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS ANALYST: I think that's a rationalization by Steve. I think that is reprehensible. I don'' think you should be booing gay soldiers or any soldiers.
HAYES: Wait. I didn't say that and I didn't suggest that. I said I would like to have seen them condemn that, the fact that even though it was only two people. But you really start a bad precedent if you think everybody should respond to boorish behavior of a couple of people.
BAIER: Here is what Rush Limbaugh has said in the blogosphere and radio show today, is that then-Senator Obama didn't respond to Reverend Wright for 20 years in that church. That's what he said. Then he said he didn't respond to James Hoffa after he spoke intro-ing him at that event.
CBS Paints Palestinians as Victims of 'Extreme' and 'Militant' Israelis
As the morning and evening newscasts on CBS have reported on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's upcoming plan to seek statehood recognition from the United Nations on Friday, correspondent Mark Phillips has appeared three times filing reports which have portrayed Palestinians as victims of Israeli extremism and "militant" Jewish settlers, while ignoring Palestinian extremism and refusal to meet for talks in recent years despite overtures from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Tuesday's CBS Evening News, Phillips recounted clashes between Palestinians and Jewish settlers, and seemed to suggest that the Israeli military had fired tear gas at the wrong group as he noted that Arabs were subjected to the tear gas. Phillips:
Rocks and tear gas were already in the air again in the West Bank as hardline Israeli settlers - who reject any suggestion of Palestinian statehood - attacked the village of Asira al-Qibliyah. Israeli troops moved in to keep the antogonists apart, they said, which seemed to mean firing tear gas cannisters at the Arabs. One Palestinian youth was hit in the head and had to be taken to the hospital.
The CBS correspondent went on to paint "militant" Israeli settlers as a perpetual danger for Palestinians without noting any examples of ongoing Palestinian violence, and included a soundbite of one Palestinian man who brought up the possibility they might be killed by Jewish settlers:
MARK PHILLIPS: The villagers who live near the more militant Israeli settlements are often the first ones to get hit when feelings are inflamed. Are you going to stay here or are you going to leave? What will you do?
ABDUL QADER MACHLOUF, RESIDENT OF ASIRA AL-QIBLIYAH: We will stay here. If they kill us, will stay here.
Without noting the Palestinian Authority's role in blocking negotiations or the fact that the Israeli government agreed to plans for a two-state solution three times in the past decade which offered up East Jerusalem and nearly all of the West Bank for a Palestinian state only to be rejected by Palestinian leaders - Phillips went on to recount Palestinian complaints about negotiations that "go nowehere.": "The Palestinians have had enough, they say, of endless demonstrations and negotiatins with Israel that go nowhere. The statehood gambit is their attempt to change the political landscape."
On Monday's The Early Show, Phillips referred to the "frustration" of Palestinians who have been unsuccessfully using demonstrations and "other means" for decades to obtain a Palestinian state, as the CBS correspondent managed to avoid mentioning that those "other means" have included terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, such as suicide bombings in restaurants.
For decades here, they've been demonstrating and using other means to try to create their own state on the West Bank lands, the Palestinian lands, but that has ended up - at least until now - in frustration.
He also referred to the "extreme" opposition of Israelis: "There has been extreme opposition to it on the Israeli side - including, of course, from the settlers movement - several hundred thousand of which live on the Palestinian side of the line."
And on Sunday's CBS Evening News, which was preempted in some markets, Phillips had again referred to failed negoations without noting the Palestinians' recent refusal to agree to talks unless the Israeli government halted construction within the borders of already existing Jewish settlements:
PHILLIPS: But for the Palestinians, who have seen negotiations stall time and again while Israeli settlement in the West Bank increases, the statehood gambit is a way to try to break the log jam.
WALID NIJEM, RAMALLAH CAFE OWNER: This makes a big difference for Palestinians. It's just a, the last resort. There is nothing else they could do.
The CBS correspondent also seemed to forget that it was Jordan that used to control the West Bank - after seizing it in 1948 - before Israel took control in 1967, as Phillips referred to what "used to be the Palestinian side." Phillips: "It's a proposed border rejected as indefensible by the Israelis, half a million of whom live in what used to be the Palestinian side of the line."
He concluded the report by relaying Palestinian assertions suggesting a similarity between Palestinian actions against Israel and the Arab Spring demonstrations and revolts that brought down authoritarian regimes in several Arab countries this year. Phillips:
The Palestinians have looked around the Middle East this summer, and they said they've learned something - that decisive action in Libya and Egypt, in Tunisia, can produce dramatic results. And so they've decided on a bold move of their own. They want to negotiate, they say, but state to state. Mark Phillips, CBS News, Ramallah.
During its coverage of the Gaza War in late 2008 and early 2009, CBS had been especially biased against Israel compared to the other networks, as the network ran a misleading piece suggesting that the Israeli military had used a "banned weapon" against Gaza civilians, while another report fretted that Palestinian students would have to delay graduation from Islamic University without noting Hamas's use of the school for producing some of the rockets it was firing into Israel.
Additionally, the network gave significant attention to a Norwegian doctor who had a history of expressing agreement with the 9/11 attacks, treating him as if he were an unbiased neutral observer as he worked in a hospital in Gaza.
Below are complete transcripts of the relevant reports from the Sunday, September 18, CBS Evening News, the Monday, September 19, The Early Show, and the Tuesday, September 20, CBS Evening News, with critical portions in bold:
#From the Sunday, September 18, CBS Evening News :
RUSS MITCHELL: American diplomats are running out of time in their effort to dissuade Palestinian leaders from seeking a U.N. vote on their bid for statehood. A Security Council vote could come within days. Mark Phillips is in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
MARK PHILLIPS: The regular demonstrations may look familiar, but this is a fateful week in the Palestinians try to change the rules of the game. The new banner being waved in Palestinian towns does not just call for an end to the Israeli occuption, it calls for the recognition by the U.N. of a Palestinian state now, even before the details that have stymied negotiations for years are worked out. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has resisted intense diplomatic arm-twisting from the United States, and insists he will go ahead and make the statehood application at the U.N. this week, an application that U.S. has described as a distraction from real negotiations, in which it has promised to use its Security Council veto to stop. But for the Palestinians, who have seen negotiations stall time and again while Israeli settlement in the West Bank increases, the statehood gambit is a way to try to break the log jam.
WALID NIJEM, RAMALLAH CAFE OWNER: This makes a big difference for Palestinians. It's just a, the last resort. There is nothing else they could do.
PHILLIPS: The statehood claim is based on the 1967 lines, drawn before the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in the Six Day War. It's a proposed border rejected as indefensible by the Israelis, half a million of whom live in what used to be the Palestinian side of the line. And now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also rejected American advice and will go to the U.N. as well to put the Israeli case.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Now I know that the General Assembly is not where Israel gets a fair hearing, I know that the automatic majorities there always rush to condemn Israel and twist truth beyond recognation, but I've decided to go there anyway.
PHILLPS: The Palestinians have looked around the Middle East this summer, and they said they've learned something - that decisive action in Libya and Egypt, in Tunisia, can produce dramatic results. And so they've decided on a bold move of their own. They want to negotiate, they say, but state to state. Mark Phillips, CBS News, Ramallah.
#From the Monday, September 19, The Early Show on CBS:
JEFF GLOR: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is in New York this morning. This week, he will ask the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state, something both Israeli's prime minister and the White House oppose. CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips is in Ramallah this morning on the West Bank. Mark, good morning to you.
MARK PHILLIPS: Good morning, Jeff. Well, it might look like business as usual on the streets of Ramallah this morning, but it's anything but business as usual in the ongoing conflict - at least diplomatically - between the Palestinians and Israelis. For decades here, they've been demonstrating and using other means to try to create their own state on the West Bank lands, the Palestinian lands, but that has ended up - at least until now - in frustration. Now Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided - against very strict arm-twisting from the United States and from Israel - that he is going to go to the U.N. to demand statehood for Palestine now, even before such incidentals as the territory and the borders and other modalities of any potential country might be worked out. Now, that is a very risky proposition that he's taking. There has been extreme opposition to it on the Israeli side - including, of course, from the settlers movement - several hundred thousand of which live on the Palestinian side of the line. And now, israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu - says that he, too, is going to New York to put the Israeli case. His promises - at least diplomatically - to open a whole new front in this conflict, and, Jeff, to be a fateful week.
#From the Tuesday, September 20, CBS Evening News :
SCOTT PELLEY: The issue dominating the session of the U.N. General Assembly is the Middle East. On Friday, Palestnian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to ask the Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state. The U.S. has threatened a veto. On the West Bank, Israeli and Palestinian protesters went at each other today, and Mark Phillips is there.
MARK PHILLIPS: The chair the Palestinians unveiled in Ramallah today, symbolic of the full statehood seat they want at the U.N., was a big one, and so was the touble it's already causing. Rocks and tear gas were already in the air again in the West Bank as hardline Israeli settlers - who reject any suggestion of Palestinian statehood - attacked the village of Asira al-Qibliyah. Israeli troops moved in to keep the antogonists apart, they said, which seemed to mean firing tear gas cannisters at the Arabs. One Palestinian youth was hit in the head and had to be taken to the hospital. The villagers who live near the more militant Israeli settlements are often the first ones to get hit when feelings are inflamed. Are you going to stay here or are you going to leave? What will you do?
ABDUL QADER MACHLOUF, RESIDENT OF ASIRA AL-QIBLIYAH: We will stay here. If they kill us, will stay here.
PHILLIPS: Across the West Bank, settlers were on the march, strutting their warning that whatever the demands that Palestinians might make at the U.N. for them to leave, they aren't going anywhere. The statehood bid hasn't even happened yet, and already tensions on the West Bank are rising. And the fear is that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinian authorities can keep incidents like today's from escalating out of control. The Palestinians have had enough, they say, of endless demonstrations and negotiations with Israel that go nowhere. The statehood gambit is their attempt to change the political landscape. How does statehood change the Israeli attitude (INAUDIBLE)?-
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN NATIONAL INITIATIVE: Because we will not play their game. We will stop playing their game.
PHILLIPS: But the new game may be a dangerous one. Mark Phillips, CBS News, Asira al-Qibliyah, on the West Bank.
NBC Relays 'Palestinian Deam' of State to Be 'Free,' Ignores Calls for Removing Jews from Palestine
Andrea Mitchell on Friday and Martin Fletcher filed reports on the NBC Nightly News filling in viewers on the Palestinian Authority upcoming plan to go to the United Nations and seek recognition of statehood or at least U.N. membership as the U.N. convenes this week. Both reports ignored last week's prediction by the Palestinian Authority's envoy to the U.N. that Jews would be removed from a Palestinian state.
While Mitchell conveyed Palestinian complaints that " they've had negotiations before, decades of them, and they have nothing to show for it," and Fletcher similarly relayed that "Their leaders say they have no alternative but to try something new - the 20 years of peace talks have gotten them nowhere," neither report informed viewers that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been the major obstacle in the resumption of negotiations as he has refused to engage in talks unless the Israeli government halts constructions within the borders of already existing Jewish settlements.
Although Fletcher's report did at least include a clip of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu calling for talks with the Palestinian Authority, the NBC corresondent still seemed to suggest both sides were resisting talks as he recounted that "American negotiators are still trying very hard to get Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table."
And, in spite of the authoritarian nature of the Fatah-run West Bank and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, Fletcher began his report by relaying the spin that a Palestinian state would be a place for Palestinians to be free:
MARTIN FLETCHER: Palestinians call this their moment of truth. Bethlehem today kicked off a week of West Bank rallies in support of their bid to join the United Nations as a full member state, the Palestinian dream. Flag makers are working around the clock. Fawad
Anid wants the Palestinian flag to hang from every car and house.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I'm so happy and excited at the same time because I want to have a Palestinian country to live in and to be free.
Notably, in recent months, polls have shown that many Arabs living in East Jerusalem would be willing to leave their homes to remain within the borders of Israel if East Jerusalem were to be handed over to the control of a Palestinian state.
Below are complete transcripts of the reports from the Friday, September 16, and Sunday, September 18, NBC Nightly News:
#From Friday, September 16:
KATE SNOW: Now to a threat that could put the United States in a difficult position on the world stage when the U.N. meets here in New York next week. The biggest issue on the table, Palestinian statehood. Today Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to bring the issue to the Security Council for a vote, which sets the stage for a potential showdown the U.S. and Israel are eager to avoid. Our chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell is at the State Department tonight. Andrea, what is the U.S. trying to do to stop this proposal?
ANDREA MITCHELL: Well, Kate, the U.S. is working frantically in the next couple of days to try to persuade the Palestinians not to go to the Security Council. They're telling President Abbas that the way to statehood is through negotiations, through overcoming all of the
remaining obstacles with Israel - like what will the borders of a new state be and who will control what parts of Jerusalem - but not by just declaring a state. That said, the Palestinians say that they've had negotiations before, decades of them, and they have nothing to show for it. The U.S. is promising this time to get those talks restarted and to fast track them. If it does go to the Security Council, the U.S. says it will veto it, but it doesn't want to be put in that isolated position, siding with Israel against the rest of the world. The fallback position for the Palestinians would be to go to the General Assembly, the much larger group. That said, it would be largely symbolic, and the U.S. doesn't want that to happen either. So
this is, as you say, shaping up as quite a showdown next week.
#From Sunday, September 18:
LESTER HOLT: There will be high drama here in New York this week as world leaders converge for a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. Tonight, U.S. and European diplomats are scrambling to avoid a showdown after the Palestinians announced plans to ask for statehood and U.N. membership. More now from NBC's Martin Fletcher.
MARTIN FLETCHER: Palestinians call this their moment of truth. Bethlehem today kicked off a week of West Bank rallies in support of their bid to join the United Nations as a full member state, the Palestinian dream. Flag makers are working around the clock. Fawad
Anid wants the Palestinian flag to hang from every car and house.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I'm so happy and excited at the same time because I want to have a Palestinian country to live in and to be free.
FLETCHER: But many Israelis think no good can come of this.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: They don't want peace.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: I think it will be war.
FLETCHER: Israel and America warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to call for a Palestinian state in the Security Council.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I call on President Abbas to resume peace negotiations, direct negotiations, right now without any preconditions.
FLETCHER: Inspired by people's revolts in Arab neighbors - Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Yemen - Palestinians also want change. Their leaders say they have no alternative but to try something new - the 20 years of peace talks have gotten them nowhere.
MOHAMED SHTAYEH, SENIOR PALESTINIAN OFFICIAL: We will take all measures to assembly, channel it in a way that does not lead into bloodshed.
FLETCHER: This puts Palestinians into a direct confrontation with the United States. Washington has said it wants more peace talks and will veto a call for a Palestinian state.
JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: Our commitment to Israel should be no less strong today, and, if anything, it should be stronger than ever.
FLETCHER: American negotiators are still trying very hard to get Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. President Obama is aware that any American veto will certainly satisfy Israel but would also pit America against most of the rest of the world. Martin Fletcher, NBC News, Tel Aviv.
CBS's Nancy Giles Decries 'Bloodlust' of GOP Debate Crowd
During a prerecorded commentary on CBS Sunday Morning, left-wing CBS commentator Nancy Giles complained about the "bloodlust" of GOP audience members who applauded Texas's use of capital punishment at the recent MSNBC debate and a small number of audience members who applauded at Monday's CNN debate after moderator Wolf Blitzer asked if someone who chose not to purchase insurance should be allowed to die.
CBS played a clip of the exchanges but notably left out Rep. Ron Paul's answer to Blitzer's question as he argued that organizations like churches used to help provide health care before Medicaid existed, leaving Giles to give the impression that Rep. Paul had been unconcerned about the uninsured dying. Giles:
And between the let-the-uninsured-die crowd and presidential wannabe and physician Ron Paul. yeah, excuse me, Doctor, I'm not feeling a lot of that "first do no harm" jazz. Oh, I can picture their comforting bedside manner: Cancer? Tough luck. Get out of bed and come back when you can afford it.
During Giles's commentary, CBS showed the following exchange between Rep. Paul and Blitzer:
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), WHILE AUDIENCE APPLAUDS: This whole idea that you have to prepare and take care of everybody.
WOLF BLITZER, MODERATOR FOR CNN DEBATE: But, Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #1 IN AUDIENCE AS ONE OR TWO PEOPLE APPLAUD: Yeah!
PAUL: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #2 IN AUDIENCE: Yeah!
Giles then jumped in:
And how about these guys? Applauding before Ron Paul answered the question. Now, I haven't been to church in years, but I seem to remember the question of, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and something about "Thou shall not kill." So how is it that not one single candidate - some who claim their spirtuality has been a guiding force in their politics - how could they not challenge the applause and maybe suggest that their invited audience take a step back from the bloodlust?
But the clip did not include Rep. Paul's answer, which began:
I practiced medicine before we had Medicaid in the early 1960s after I got out of medical school. I practiced at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, and the churches took care of them. We never turned anybody away [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE BEGINS] from the hospital, and we've given up on this whole concept of we might take care of ourselves or assume responsibility for ourselves. Our friends, our neighbors, our churches would do it.
Below is a complete transcript of Nancy Giles's commentary from the September 18 CBS Sunday Morning, following by a clip of the relevant portion of the Monday, September 12, GOP debate from CNN:
#From the September 18 CBS Sunday Morning:
NANCY GILES: I've watched the two Republican Party debates, and something weird is going on in this audience.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, MODERATOR FOR MSNBC DEBATE: Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times. [AUDIENCE BEGINS APPLAUSE]
GILES: Applause at the number of people executed in Texas?
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), WHILE AUDIENCE APPLAUDS: This whole idea that you have to prepare and take care of everybody.
WOLF BLITZER, MODERATOR FOR CNN DEBATE: But, Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #1 IN AUDIENCE AS ONE OR TWO PEOPLE APPLAUD: Yeah!
PAUL: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #2 IN AUDIENCE: Yeah!
GILES: And how about these guys? Applauding before Ron Paul answered the question. Now, I haven't been to church in years, but I seem to remember the question of, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and something about "Thou shall not kill." So how is it that not one single candidate - some who claim their spirtuality has been a guiding force in their politics - how could they not challenge the applause and maybe suggest that their invited audience take a step back from the bloodlust?
I take it for granted that one of the founding principles of the United States is freedom to express an opinion. But, having said that, regardless of party affiliation, I can't imagine applauding at the idea of death, either mandated by lethal injection or from lack of medical insurance.
GILES: As we've all heard, there have been numerous instances of inmates that were on death row that have been ultimately proven innocent. In Governor Perry's home state, 12 death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973. Could they have missed more?
And you've probably heard that, just this past week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review the case of a Texas death row inmate because, during a sentencing hearing, a psychologist testified that blacks are more likely to commit violence.
And between the let-the-uninsured-die crowd and presidential wannabe and physician Ron Paul. yeah, excuse me, Doctor, I'm not feeling a lot of that "first do no harm" jazz. Oh, I can picture their comforting bedside manner: Cancer? Tough luck. Get out of bed and come back when you can afford it.
In any case, we're gearing up for another presidential campaign, and I guess the ideological lines have been drawn. Yes, there are red states and blue states, but there are a lot of other colors to this country. And, frankly, I'm still wondering what the clearance process was for the audience in these debates. I just can't believe they represent the entire Republican Party. I sure hope some of those other folks can get seats at the next debate and at the GOP's table and let their voices be heard.
#From the September 12 GOP debate on CNN:
WOLF BLITZER: You're a physician, Ron Paul. so you're a doctor. You know something about this subject, so let me ask you this hypothetical question: A healthy, young 30-year-old man has a good job, makes a good living, but decides, you know what, I'm not going to spend $200 or $300 a month in health insurance because I'm healthy, I don't need it. But something terrible happens. All of a sudden, he needs it. Who's going to pay for if he goes into a coma, for example. Who pays for that?
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX): In a society that you accept welfare-ism and socialism, he expects the government to take care of it.
BLITZER: Well, what do you want?
PAUL: But what he should do is whatever he wants to do and assume responsibility for himself. But my advice to him would have a major medical policy, but not-
BLITZER: But he doesn't have it, and he needs intensive care for six months. Who pays?
PAUL: That's what freedom is all about, taking your own risk. This whole idea [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE BEGINS] that you have to prepare and take care of everybody.
BLITZER: But, Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #1 IN AUDIENCE AS ONE OR TWO PEOPLE APPLAUD: Yeah!
PAUL: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #2 IN AUDIENCE: Yeah!
PAUL: I practiced medicine before we had Medicaid in the early 1960s after I got out of medical school. I practiced at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, and the churches took care of them. We never turned anybody away [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE BEGINS] from the hospital, and we've given up on this whole concept of we might take care of ourselves or assume responsibility for ourselves. Our friends, our neighbors, our churches would do it. This whole idea - that's the reason the cost is so high. The cost is so high because we dump it on the government, it becomes a bureaucracy, it becomes special interest. It cowtows to the insurance companies, then the drug companies. Then, on top of that, you have the inflation. The inflatoin devalues the dollar. We have lack of competition. There's no competition in medicine. Everybody's protected by licensing. We should actually legalize alternative health care and allow people to practice what they want.
Michael Moore Describes Himself as 'Bigot' Against Wall Street
Appearing as a guest on Wednesday's Colbert Report on Comedy Central to plug his memoir, Here Comes Trouble, left-wing film maker Michael Moore used a provocative choice of words to describe his feelings toward Wall Street and conservatives who oppose regulations against businesses as he declared that "I'm a bigot against people like you that support Wall Street and corporations..."
On Thursday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, Kristen Schaal played the part of "senior women's issues correspondent" to inject humor into the clash between Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry over the Texas governor's support for mandating HPV vaccinations to prevent girls from contracting cervical cancer.
As she weighed which candidate would be best for women, citing Bachmann's opposition to forcing girls to get the vaccine, Schaal cracked that Bachmann only supports a "woman's right to choose" if the choice is to get cancer.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Thursday, September 15, Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
KRISTEN SCHAAL, SENIOR WOMEN'S ISSUES CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jon, now I'm torn. On one hand, Governor Perry is taking care of Texas vaginas, but he did it with a government mandate to force it on young girls. It's like he's trying to turn Texas into some kind of poo nanny state. Michele Bachmann, on the other hand, is arguing for a woman's right to choose, but only if that chioce is getting cancer. The truth is, neither is the strong pro-"vag" candidate women are looking for. But you know who I feel the worst for? The children.
JON STEWART: Because they'll be more likely to get cervical cancer?
SCHAAL: Well, that, but also because they'll never get to play with my Michele Bachmann Big Mouth Billie Vagina.
CLIP OF VAGINA SINGING: Take me to the clinic, take me to the clinic.
Moore, who was presumably playing along with host Stephen Colbert's regular shtick as an exaggerated conservative commentator - since the liberal activist smiled and laughed during much of his interaction with Colbert - sparred with the faux-conservative over corporations.
Below is a transcript of the relevant exchange when Moore chose to describe himself as a "bigot":
STEPHEN COLBERT: What excites me about this is that parents can read this book, stories from your childhood, and use it as a cautionary tale to make sure our children don't turn into you because, Michael, you've got to know at this point it is over. Liberalism has lost, and you stand as a walking, living, breathing, cautionary tale. A decaying Don Quixote still tilting at his windmills. With every turn of the spar, you are driven down into the mud. Send yourself a letter while the post office is still here, Michael. It's over. It's over, Mickey. Your response.
MICHAEL MOORE: I'm afraid it's your side that's over. You have - your, not you personally, but your people -
COLBERT: Oh, "your people." That's racist. Go ahead, go ahead, yeah, yeah, you can't tell any Irish people apart. Go ahead.
MOORE: I'm a bigot against people like you that support Wall Street and corporations and (INAUDIBLE)
COLBERT: The job creators. You hate job creators. Go ahead.
MOORE: The job elimators, which iswhat your people are, and, yes, I am a bigot against all of you.
MSNBC's Alter Plugs Obama Plan, GOP 'Standing in the Way of You Getting a Job'
Appearing on Tuesday's The Ed Show, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter urged both liberals - euphemistically calling them "progressives" - and non-liberals to support President Obama's economic plan and advised Obama to "fight, fight, fight," and argue that Republican opposition would mean they are "standing in the way of you getting a job."
After host Ed Schultz asked Alter about the GOP response to Obama's plan, the MSNBC analyst soon appealed to Americans to support the bill:
And that's why it's so important that people respond in support of this bill. Obama has thrown down the gauntlet. Now, it's up, not just to progressives but to anybody who doesn't want to see the New Deal repealed - as Katrina (Vanden Heuvel) so eloquently put it - it's up to all of them to now get behind this. And I think we could use a little Lyndon Johnson muscle, too.
He soon advised the President to appeal to voters in the states and districts of congressional Republicans:
John Boehner, your Republican Senator, your Republican Congressman, he's taking money out of your pocket by opposing this bill. And that's the connection that hasn't quite been made, that by standing in the way of this legislation, they're standing in the way of you getting a job.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, September 13, The Ed Show on MSNBC:
ED SCHULTZ: What's the up side for Republicans to say no to this jobs bill?
JONATHAN ALTER: Well, because they maintain the same sense of discipline that has served them very well - just no, no, no. It's been working for them, so why would they do anything different? The only reason, Ed, they would do anything different - and often the only reason anyone does anything different in politics is when the people force them to, when the people speak. And that's why it's so important that people respond in support of this bill.
Obama has thrown down the gauntlet. Now, it's up, not just to progressives but to anybody who doesn't want to see the New Deal repealed - as Katrina (Vanden Heuvel) so eloquently put it - it's up to all of them to now get behind this. And I think we could use a little Lyndon Johnson muscle, too. This is a situation where you have labor supports it obviously, the Chamber of Commerce, business, supports this infrastructure. The only folks who aren't supporting it are the politicians in the Republican Party
So when he goes into their districts and states, I think what he needs to say to folks there is, look, if you don't want it, you won't get it. And if the bill passes and, you know, there's not buy-in from your local politicians, it'll be very hard to bring these projects to Ohio, so, in other words, John Boehner, your Republican Senator, your Republican Congressman, he's taking money out of your pocket by opposing this bill. And that's the connection that hasn't quite been made, that by standing in the way of this legislation, they're standing in the way of you getting a job. And this is why it's so important, Ed, it's so important that Obama not do what you just suggested and say the Republicans will never support this, I'm giving up, you know, they're just going to stop me. He needs to keep fighting, fighting, fighting.
CNBC's Caruso-Cabrera Blames Govt Spending for Europe's Economic Problems
Appearing on Monday's NBC Nightly News, CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera blamed decades of overspending by European governments and borrowing to help provide promised benefits for the continent's current economic problems. Caruso-Cabrera:
Caruso-Cabrera - known for her libertarian economic views - went on blame the days stock market drop in Europe on Italy's refusal to cut its own government spending in spite of promise to do so in exchange for receiving outside assistance:
Below is a complete transcript of the segment from the Monday, September 5, NBC Nightly News :
CARUSO-CABRERA: Well, if there were to be bank failures in Europe and a banking crisis, you can be sure that the European economy would go into a recession. Think about this: When you put all the countries in Europe together collectively, their economy is bigger than the United States. An economy that big going into recession is problematic overall. and then, remember, they buy our products, they are one of our biggest trading products. They buy Ipods, they buy cars from General Motors. It would hurt us in our economy as well, plus we can expect our stock market to fall pretty sharply in the morning.
SNOW: Something we'll continue to watch, especially tomorrow morning. Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, thanks so much.
CBS Frets Over 'Dark Stain' of Bush CIA's 'Troubling' Activities in Libya
On Saturday's CBS Evening News, correspondent Barry Petersen filed a report which highlighted Human Rights Watch's analysis of government records in Libya which document that, during the Bush administration, the CIA had sent prisoners to Libya as part of its renditioning program. Anchor Russ Mitchell saw the papers as potentially "troubling" as he introduced the report:
Overseas now, newly discovered documents in Libya suggest the regime of ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi had a working relationship with the CIA. Barry Petersen in Tripoli tells us the once-secret papers could prove troubling.
Correspondent Petersen showed a clip of Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch tying in former President Bush and former Defense Secretary Doanld Rumsfeld, calling the program a "dark stain on American history." Bouckaert:
Below is a complete transcript of the report from the Saturday, September 3, CBS Evening News :
RUSS MITCHELL: Overseas now, newly discovered documents in Libya suggest the regime of ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi had a working relationship with the CIA. Barry Petersen in Tripoli tells us the once-secret papers could prove troubling.
BARRY PETERSEN: Strewn all over the place, the secrets of Libya's spy masters and torturers and how the CIA and British intelligence apparently worked hand in hand from 2003 and 2004 with the man then in charge - Musa Kusik - then head of Libyan intelligence. And later as foreign minister, he was the first high-profile defection from Qaddafi's regime. The documents, discovered and analyzed by Human Rights Watch.
PETER BOUCKAERT, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: This is at the height of Bush and Rumsfeld's rendition campaign. It's a dark stain on American history.
PETERSEN: Rendition means that U.S. prisoners captured in Iraq or Afghanistan were sent to third countries where sometimes prisoners being interrogated were subjected to torture. In one case, the Americans arranged for this man - Abdel Hakim Bel-Haj - to be captured in Bangkok and then transferred to Libya as a suspected terrorist. One document apparently from the CIA says, quote, "We must have assurances from your government that he will be treated humanely and that his human rights will be respected."
BOUCKAERT: It's just words on paper.
PETERSEN: And that did not happen?
PETERSEN: Bel-Haj is now a commander of rebel forces in Libya and told reporters he bears no ill will towards the CIA. Both British intelligence and the CIA refused to confirm or deny their authenticity. Amid the documents, a silly moment, British agents arranging that then-Prime Minister Tony Blair would meet Qaddafi in a tent while visiting Tripoli. As the document says:
BOUCKAERT: The plain fact is that the journalists will love it.
MSNBC's Schultz Slams 'Damn Political Phony' Marco Rubio as 'Not a True American'
On Thursday's The Ed Show, MSNBC host Ed Schultz excoriated Senator Marco Rubio and other "damn Republicans" because Rubio recently attacked Schultz and fellow MSNBC host Rachel Maddow for comments they made about the Florida Republican.
Schultz suggested the Rubio's father might be "ashamed" of him for not accepting the MSNBC host's invitation to come on his show and debate him, claimed that he was "not a true American" for his refusal to debate, and charged that "You're a Tea Partier, and you don't give a damn about" Americans.
Schultz ended up calling Rubio a "damn political phony" and labeled him as "the problem" as he declared that he wishes he could get Rubio defeated:
Hell, you're nothing but a damn political phony, Senator. I don't know how in the hell you got in office. And if I could, I would work like hell to defeat you because I think you are the problem. You are the problem. You attack without facts. You attack without the human connection that your party has helped us lose in this country.
After asserting that he does not "know how in the hell" Rubio got elected, Schultz ironically brought aboard former Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson, who is infamous for his habit of making unusually over-the-top personal attacks on Republicans that no doubt incite opposition against the Florida Democrat rather than assist his cause.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Thursday, September 1, The Ed Show on MSNBC:
ED SCHULTZ: You see, Rubio is a political coward. He doesn't have to guts or the character to debate his reckless statements on this show. He can hide elsewhere. He wants to hide behind a political action committee this time and basically play the victim.
...
This man is suggesting that there is a generation of Americans that care less about their parents because of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This may be one of the most offensive things I have ever heard a United States Senator say about the people of this country. He's attacking the character of Americans because of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which has helped this country. It's helped millions of Americans.
...
My parents lived in the unselfish generation, and for you to say that they were lesser Americans because they were involved in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, you owe my family an apology or at least be brave enough to give an explanation on this program in front of the camera as to what the hell you're really talking about.
...
I remember our Aunt Margaret moved in with us when she was failing. Senator Rubio, you mean to tell me that there are no families in America today that do that, that that institution and loyalty and love of country and family is gone because you damn Republicans just can't get rid of the big three?
...
I'm offended by Marco Rubio. and I think we are seeing he is not a true American because he runs from debate. Senator, come to me, or I will go to you. You name the time and the place, and let's sit down and have a professional conversation about what you really mean when you say that we as Americans have been weakend by something that has clearly benefitted our society and allowed people to live in their later years in dignity.
But the tape that we just played of you was kind of contradictory of the speech that you gave at the Reagan Library. No wonder you're dodging the interview. Hell, you can go across the street, and they'll throw you softballs all day long, but you know what, Senator, one thing that my dad taught me - maybe your dad taught you this, but it doesn't seem like it - don't ever run from a debate and don't ever be afraid to speak your peace if in your heart you believe what you're saying is the truth. Senator, I am offering you the opportunity to broadcast in front of a liberal audience. I'll give you the hour to talk about it.
Convince people. Get in the arena if you really believe this, Senator. Get in the arena and tell the audience on MSNBC that we are a weaker nation and this is why we are a weaker nation, and explain to me what institutions you're talking about that have taken down our people. You're a Tea Partier, and you don't give a damn about any of the Americans because, you see, it's kind of in your makeup, Senator.
No, unless your bio is wrong, I don't think you got any private sector experience in your background. Hell, you've been a government guy. You're one of these typical government guys that says everybody else has got to serve it up because you've got your own. My father taught me to debate and to get into the arena, and I think your dad might be ashamed of the fact that you run from the cameras after you get away from the podium because I don't think you can explain yourself. I don't think you can explain to the American people just how weak we are.
How about the boys in Afghanistan? Their parents are on Social Security. Do they come from weak parents? How about the men and women who have lost their lives fighting terrorism in this country? Are they weak because they've paid into Social Security? Hell, you're nothing but a damn political phony, Senator. I don't know how in the hell you got in office. And if I could, I would work like hell to defeat you because I think you are the problem. You are the problem. You attack without facts. You attack without the human connection that your party has helped us lose in this country.
MSNBC Host & Guest Blame Conservative Israelis & Christian Right for No Peace with Palestinians
CHRIS HAYES: Oh, Last Word viewers, hear the words of my mouth. We're thinking of naming my show on the weekends, "Hear the Words of My Mouth." Ex-Fox News host and the king of conspiracy theory radio was in Israel today, all party of a four-day event to, in his words, "Restore Courage." During today's production meeting, we had a blessed conversation asking: Is Glenn Beck now just a side show. Cast aside from his Fox News perch, he's sort of fallen by the wayside.
There's something about this rally we decided we had to talk about. Partly because, to be honest, there's tape.
GLENN BECK: Somebody said this week that we were going to bring chaos and mayhem, and I thought, it's the Middle East, how would you know?
Ha, ha, ha, ha. That was the beginning of Beck's speech today, that speech that this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) event has been leading to, and one that, in Beck's mind, people all over the world have been waiting for. Take this passage when he quotes from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah.
BECK: In synagogues all over the world just last week, the words the words of the prophet Isaiah.: "Comfort, oh, comfort your people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and to declare to her, her term of hard service is over."
Look. Look at us. Look at where we are. Look at what we say. We declare words of comfort to Israel and to Jerusalem.
HAYES: Call me crazy, but is almost sounds like Beck is saying that the prophet Isaiah foretold of Glenn Beck giving a speech in Jerusalem, even though only 1,700 people showed up to hear him speak today. The reason that there is something both important and dangerous here is the alliance between the Christian right and the most reactionary forces in Israeli life that create political obstacles to peace in the most tumultuous region in the world. This week, there's Glenn Beck right there in the middle of all of it.
Joining me now is Jeremey Ben-Ami, the author if the new book, A Voice for Israel. He is the president and founder of J-Street, D.C.-based pro-Israel peace lobbying organization. Jeremy, what did you make of the Glenn Beck spectacle today?
JEREMY BEN-AMI, FOUNDER OF J-STREET: Well, I think you're right, and you don't know whether to laugh or to cry because, on the one hand, the tape is too good, you've got to run it because you've got to laugh at the idea of this guy pretending to be a modern-day messiah, a modern-day prophet at the gates of Jerusalem. But, on the other hand, it is tragic that there are those in Israeli politics and, frankly, in American Jewish life and Jewish politics in this country who thinks that this is what it means to be a friend of Israel, and they're ready to embrace him on his terms as he's defining a new holy war that's going to engulf the Middle East.
HAYES: The reception in Israel has been quite polarized to Beck since he's a polarizing figure. How has it seemed to break down?
BEN-AMI: Well, you do have people on the right and o the left who've criticized him and said we should have nothing to do with him, but there are very, very strong elements among Israeli settlers on the West Bank, there are people within Prime Minister Netanyahu's own party who really seem determined to cement an alliance with the farthest right of the Christian Zionist movement in this country, and Glenn Beck is clearly aligned with them as well as a way of shoring up support in this country politically for Israel.
HAYES: For a long time, this kind of alliance between the Christian right - Christian Zionists - and Israeli settler movement and the right wing of israeli politics have sort of happened at a time when the center of Israeli debate has seemed to move to the right, and positions have gotten more dug in, and we've seen Netanyahu saying things that - and people in his cabinet saying things that really would have been outside the mainstream 10 years earlier. Att he same time, very recently, it does seem like that has been a real kind of uprising in Israeli against the Netanyahu government. There's hundreds of thousands of people in the street. Where is Israeli public opinion right now on the issue of the settlements and on the issue of peace?
BEN-AMI: Well, the settlements have never been popular, and the Israelis have always believed that, at the end of the day, there would be a two-state solution with the Palestinian people. The problem is that they've never thought that it could actually happen. So when Glenn Beck shows up in Jerusalem and says I'm here to save Israel from the two-state solution, that this is a greater threat than bombs and bullets to Israel is that we may actually have a two-state solution, or that you have members of Congress here and candidates frankly running for the presidency of the United States on the Republican line who are saying that they don't believe a two-state solution is in Israel's interests, they are way out of line with the majority not only of Israelis but also of Jewish-Americans who do believe we've got to have peace, we've got to have a two-state solution.
HAYES: Finally question, and this is slightly off topic, but I want to get your thoughts on: Do you think Americans know enough about nonviolent resistance and nonviolent political action that happens in the Palestinian occupied territories against the occupation?
BEN-AMI: I don't think so. I think that there's an image of Palestinian and Arab and Muslim terrorism, and it is the face of the resistance movements in place that the far right in this country and in Israel wants to promote. But, at the same time, you have a massive movement on the West Bank now that has been nonviolently protesting for years the exact route of the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank and is asking now peacefully for their statehood and fof freedom and independence. It's in line with the Arab Spring and the Arab Awakening, and it's unlikely that all of the movement towards freedom and independence that's happening in the rest of the Arab world is going to stop at the gates of Israel.
HAYES: Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and president of J Street, thanks for joining me tonight.
And at one point on World News, ABC’s Aaron Katersky asserted that the American Family Association opposes "women’s rights," presumably referring to "abortion rights," as he noted:
The sponsor of Perry's rally, the American Family Association, opposes homosexuality, women's rights and religious diversity.
On GMA, correspondent David Kerley warned that "even some mainstream Christians are concerned" that the views of the American Family Association, which hosted the event, are "anti-gay," and that the group is a "cultural warrior," before showing a soundbite from a liberal group:
DAVID KERLEY: Even some mainstream Christians are concerned about the event, which is being paid for by the American Family Association, which has been called anti-gay, a cultural warrior.
KERLEY: So it is who he's associating with himself, who is associated with the event that you're troubled by?
DREW COURTNEY, PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: That, I think, is the most disturbing thing. These are the kind of people who have called the Catholic Church the "great whore."
On World News, correspondent Katersky asserted that Perry "risks alienating even some Christian voters," before showing a clip of the left-wing Reverend Lynn, and then claimed that the American Family Association opposes "women’s rights," instead of using the word "abortion":
AARON KATERSKY: But Perry's open mix of faith and politics risks alienating even some Christian voters.
REVEREND BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: My simple message to him is: Don't mess with the Constitution.
KATERSKY: The sponsor of Perry's rally, the American Family Association, opposes homosexuality, women's rights and religious diversity.
Then came a clip of Politico’s Molly Ball warning that "Rick Perry is going to have to answer some questions about the people that he's on stage with at this event." After a clip of Governor Perry at the rally, Katersky concluded: "But it's Perry's affiliation with today's event that could hurt his broader appeal."
Below are complete transcripts of the relevant reports from ABC’s Good Morning America and World News:
#From the August 6 Good Morning America on ABC:
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Well, politics and religion are mixing in Texas today at a day of fasting and Christian prayer, led by Governor Rick Perry. And Perry - who’s seriously considering running for President - is coming under fire for his role in the event. ABC’s David Kerley is back with that story.
DAVID KERLEY: Just hours before Perry's prayer event-
REVEREND BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: Don’t mess with the Constitution.
KERLEY: -a separate rally called on the Texas governor to be more inclusive.
GOVERNOR RICK PERRY (R-TX): I'm inviting you to join your fellow Americans in a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of our nation.
KERLEY: Critics are complaining. In fact, atheists went to court to stop Perry’s involvement in his own event.
ANNIE LAURIE GAYLOR, FREEDOM FROM RELIGION FOUNDATION: What Governor Perry is doing is unprecedented. This goes way beyond a nominal proclamation.
KERLEY: They lost. Perry says this is not a political event. But, for a potential presidential candidate in a campaign expected to focus on the economy, he was asked by the Christian Broadcasting Network what he would be praying for.
PERRY: I'm going to be praying for our country's economic prosperity. There's just so many people that can't take care of their family because government's overtaxed, over-regulated, over-litigated.
KERLEY: Even some mainstream Christians are concerned about the event, which is being paid for by the American Family Association, which has been called anti-gay, a cultural warrior.
KERLEY: So it is who he’s associating with himself, who is associated with the event that you're troubled by?
DREW COURTNEY, PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: That, I think, is the most disturbing thing. These are the kind of people who have called the Catholic Church the "great whore."
KERLEY: From a political standpoint, Perry's prayer vigil could be a double-edged sword, appealing to his base, but possibly diminishing his appeal.
MOLLY BALL, POLITICO: A lot of people who have never heard of him that could find it appealing, but then could hurt him down the road when questions get raised about his appeal to a broader segment of the electorate.
KERLEY: There was some question whether Perry will be speaking and praying at his own rally We hear that he will. The stadium holds more than 70,000. So far, they have reservations for about 8,000. Back to you.
#From the August 6 World News on ABC:
DAVID MUIR: We do move next to a remarkable scene in Texas today, a giant prayer for this country with many asking: Was this gathering of thousands an unofficial campaign kickoff? Texas Governor Rick Perry led the prayer, and many believe it could very well lead someplace else, the campaign trail. Here's Aaron Katersky.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN ON STAGE: And glory to Jesus.
AARON KATERSKY: It had the look and feel of an old-fashioned revival.
GOVERNOR RICK PERRY (R-TX): Spare your people, Lord.
KATERSKY: Texas Governor Rick Perry quoted scripture and led 30,000 Christians in prayer.
PERRY: As a nation, we have forgotten who made us.
KATERSKY: The likely presidential candidate appealed to a higher power-
PERRY: His agenda is not a political agenda. His agenda is a salvation agenda.
KATERSKY: -to address the politics of the day.
PERRY: We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government.
KATERSKY: Perry commanded this stage as he ponders the national one.
JANET LANTRIP, RALLY ATTENDEE: Governor Rick Perry is like a king over this land.
KATERSKY: But Perry's open mix of faith and politics risks alienating even some Christian voters.
REVEREND BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: My simple message to him is: Don't mess with the Constitution.
KATERSKY: The sponsor of Perry's rally, the American Family Association, opposes homosexuality, women's rights and religious diversity.
MOLLY BALL, POLITICO: Rick Perry is going to have to answer some questions about the people that he's on stage with at this event.
KATERSKY: Perry claims his tent is open to all.
PERRY: He is a wise, wise God, and he's wise enough to not be affiliated with any political party.
KATERSKY: But it's Perry's affiliation with today's event that could hurt his broader appeal. Aaron Katersky, ABC News, New York.
