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In a teaser for a CNN interview airing next Tuesday, liberal comedian David Letterman denied a partisan bias and said he is a "registered independent." He also pitied former President Bill Clinton for getting "hammered" by the press during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, in an interview that will air on Piers Morgan Tonight with guest host Regis Philbin.

"Poor Bill Clinton. No president that I'm aware of got hammered harder than Bill – President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky situation," mused Letterman. "We beat up on him. We still use him as a reference."

CNN's Dana Bash reported Friday on the irony of President Obama hitting Mitt Romney's connections to Bain Capital when he himself has received donations from Bain employees. CNN has highlighted Obama's hypocrisy on this matter before, but this specific story has certainly not received much air-time – if any at all – in the last two weeks.

"But isn't it hypocritical for the Obama campaign to keep money from employees of a company it goes after as job-killers?" correspondent Dana Bash asked during the segment. Yet this story of Obama's clear hypocrisy has certainly not received the attention it merits on CNN. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

In February of 2008, NewsBusters first highlighted MSNBC’s Chris Matthews oozing “I felt this thrill going up my leg” while listening to a speech by Barack Obama. Conservatives reminding him of it has certainly annoyed Chris Matthews ever since, so much so that he lashed out at C-SPAN’s Steve Scully, sinking to including the non-profit cable network’s senior executive producer as amongst the “jackasses” who dare to ask him about his infamous Obamagasm moment.

The confirmation of Matthews’ incredibly thin skin came Tuesday at a panel session during the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s convention in Boston. “I hope you feel satisfied that you raised the most obvious question that is raised by every horse’s ass right-winger I ever bump into,” Matthews snarled.

As NewsBusters’s own Brent Baker pointed out, Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News Wednesday night called Mitt Romney’s pledge to reduce unemployment to 6 percent "unrealistic."  But apparently Brian didn't get the MSNBC spin memo, as three of his colleagues agreed that 6% unemployment is actually inevitable, and scolded Romney for making such a wimpy prediction.  

During his 6:00 show PoliticsNation on Wednesday May 23, Al Sharpton said that, “according to the Congressional Budget Office, we’re on our way to a 6.3% unemployment economy anyway whether Romney gets us there or not.”  [Video embedded below page break;  MP3 audio here.] 

CNN contributor Maria Cardona may have forgotten some history as she tried to spin away President Obama's troubles in the Arkansas and Kentucky Democratic primaries. Cardona, speaking during the 10 a.m. hour of Wednesday's Newsroom, argued that "Arkansas and Kentucky have never been hotbeds of the Democratic Party."

President Obama only picked up 58 percent of the vote in the Kentucky Democratic primary, and 60 percent in Arkansas. "Look, Arkansas and Kentucky have never been hotbeds of the Democratic Party. There's no real infrastructure there. There's no organization by the Obama campaign there," Cardona insisted. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

CNN devoted over twice the air-time to a "stroller moms" protest against toxic chemicals than it did to the biggest religious lawsuit in U.S. history filed Monday.

A dozen lawsuits filed by 43 Catholic institutions against the Obama administration merited only news briefs on Monday with one full segment on Tuesday morning. The coverage totaled under seven minutes. In contrast, CNN gave almost 18 minutes to a march of about 100 people pushing for a Democratic-sponsored bill.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien has carried water for President Obama before, and her "nothing to see here" attitude on Tuesday's Starting Point in regards to the Obama's blatant hypocrisy made that all the more clear.

The night before, O'Brien's colleague Anderson Cooper grilled the Obama campaign over the President's personal attacks on Mitt Romney. Cooper maintained that Obama is hitting Romney's record at Bain Capital while fund raising from another head of a private equity firm that did business with Bain, thus committing a blatant act of hypocrisy. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

The Sunday interview show hosts all reacted with disbelief toward House Speaker John Boehner’s pledge to demand spending cuts equal to the debt ceiling increase, with CBS’s Bob Schieffer the most derisive as he declared “it was a week when you couldn’t believe your ears” because, when Boehner said the same thing last year, “Congress tied itself in such a knot that America’s credit rating was downgraded, not to mention Congress’ approval rating which hit a new low. And now he wants to fight the same battle? Was he kidding?”

Schieffer rued: “Does this mean we’re headed towards another of those nasty ‘stop everything’ political standoffs in an election year?”

Even after Mitt Romney condemned a proposed controversial super PAC ad attacking President Obama, CNN's Piers Morgan couldn't help but speculate on whether the candidate was still playing dirty. On Thursday's Piers Morgan Tonight he wondered aloud if the Romney campaign leaked the failed proposal to the press to keep the Reverend Wright controversy in the news.

"And I guess I think the really sinister aspect is, was it part of their intention to just have it leaked to the front page of the New York Times?" the ratings-starved Morgan asked about the Romney campaign. "Then you get all the publicity anyway without actually spending any money." [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Zach Wahls is an activist lobbying Congress on behalf of gay rights issues, and yet CNN's Suzanne Malveaux rolled out the red carpet for him with nary a critical question on Thursday's 12 p.m. hour of Newsroom.

When Wahls, the author of a book titled "My Two Moms," made light of the "big gay scourge" that some say America faces, Malveaux laughed and flattered him "That was really funny, Zach." Sensing an opportunity, she added "Do you think that we need to use more humor to get – to further this discussion?" [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Appearing on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports on Thursday to discuss the passing of disco singer Donna Summer, contributor Toure unleashed a viscous rant against those who didn't care for the music genre: "...there was a homophobic, and to a certain extent racist, response against disco....from large group of fans who wanted to proclaim the resurgence of white male power, of rock 'n roll and punk..." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Toure began launching his absurd attack by cheering disco as "all about gay exuberance and joy." He then condemned those who criticized it: "I have never seen a movement in America to crush a musical genre in the way that the sort of almost organized anti-disco movement rose up....it reminds me of the discussion around marriage equality, that, 'You can't have this for yourself, you can't have equality, you can't be out and normalized in the public. You must be in the closest and quiet about what you love.'"

CNN continued its ridiculous narrative of tying gay rights to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, on Tuesday's Starting Point. Anchor Brooke Baldwin and her panel battered Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall for blocking the nomination of a gay prosecutor to the state's bench, even though Marshall argued that he was unfit for the position because of his activism and not his orientation.

Baldwin went so far as to connect the nomination with desegregation and women's suffrage. "Obviously, you know, blacks used to have to sit in the back of the bus. They don't have to anymore. There was discriminate – women couldn't vote. They can vote now. Times have changed. Do you not – do you not agree that he could be given a chance?" she offered Marshall. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

In a particularly sleazy allegation, David Letterman on Tuesday night alleged former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney “went soft” on finding Osama bin Laden “because they were worried about upsetting their Saudi Arabian royalty buddies.” Talk about a lack of civility and respect for elected officials.

Letterman’s impugning of the former administration came during a sit-down with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, just after Letterman charged “we invaded Iraq because Cheney wanted to help out his buddies at Brown and Root and Halliburton.”

News networks should remain objective, especially when approaching a hot-button issue of the present day, but CNN is clearly supporting the cause of same-sex marriage as evidenced by Sunday night's slander and its heavily slanted coverage of President Obama's "historic" gay marriage announcement last week -- and now its newest story that aired Tuesday afternoon.

When a man pushing for same-sex marriage made a viral video of himself and his deceased partner, CNN went above and beyond journalistic standards to boost his "very, very powerful message." Anchor Suzanne Malveaux showed over two minutes of the video and followed that up with a soft interview while more clips of the video played in the background. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

CNN's Carol Costello wondered why the U.S. Catholic Bishops are investigating the Girl Scouts over possible ties to Planned Parenthood and the distribution of anti-Catholic material. "Not all of those Girl Scouts are Catholic," Costello mused on Tuesday. "So why impose Catholic beliefs on the Girl Scouts and threaten to pull out of the organization?"

Costello hosted the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, who argued that the Girl Scouts might be the one's "imposing" on others' beliefs. "I think it's going backwards. If, in fact, everything that the critics of the Girl Scouts are saying were true, then it's the Girl Scouts imposing on Catholics," he insisted. [Video coming soon.]

On the May 15 The View, President Barack Obama visited the ladies of the ABC daytime talk show to chat about his support for gay marriage, Wall Street reform, the 2012 election, and pop culture. Rather than receive a hard-hitting news interview from members of the panel, he was given fluff questions, such as “Are you going to win?” [Audio here. Video below the jump.]

MSNBC's Chris Matthews is featured in a new "Lean Forward" promo spot [embedded below page break; MP3 audio here] quoting his "hero" Winston Churchill as having asked "Then what are we fighting for?" when his finance minister suggested that the government's budget for the arts would have to cut to aid Britain's war effort.  Matthews used that story as a warning to conservatives that the nation's dire financial straits are no excuse for cutting federal spending on the arts.

But alas, it seems the story is poppycock, as Churchill historian Richard Langworth noted in a March 2009 blog post.

CNN's Don Lemon said last year that he hoped to "change minds" when he declared that he was gay. And on Sunday evening he showed exactly where he lies on same-sex marriage and in no small words challenged the fundamental beliefs of its opponents, comparing them to those who opposed interracial marriage and integration.

He later compared Mitt Romney to segregationist Governor George Wallace, but during the 6 p.m. hour Lemon hosted activist Rev. Joseph Lowery – who also gave the benediction at President Obama's inauguration – and both of them criticized opponents of same-sex marriage. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Even though CNN's Suzanne Malveaux admitted she had no clue what Mitt Romney actually did in high school, she and a guest psychologist tried to speculate away on Friday afternoon's Newsroom. The conclusion: Romney may not recall the incident he has been accused of, but his apology for it reveals the probability of guilt for a "very violent" act of forcibly cutting someone's hair.

"I have no idea what Romney did or didn't do," Malveaux admitted ignorance, before intoning that Romney was probably still in the wrong. "[T]he bullies never recall what they did. I mean it's absolutely astonishing the kids who tormented and taunted others seem to have no idea as adults how their behavior actually impacted others," she noted. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Contrary to the media's lack of coverage of President Obama's high school escapades, CNN's Soledad O'Brien promptly jumped on a Washington Post story featuring accusations of Mitt Romney being a high school bully – even though the story may already have a hole. O'Brien discussed the "harrowing" story on Friday's Starting Point.

O'Brien wondered if Romney "actually owes a bigger apology" for an incident that allegedly happened almost 50 years ago. "Do you think Governor Romney actually owes a bigger apology or needs to say something more about this or is 'I don't remember and if I did something bad, I'm sorry' enough?" O'Brien pressed Romney campaign adviser Kerry Healy. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Obama booster Gayle King attacked conservative Dennis Prager on Thursday's CBS This Morning for his opposition to same-sex "marriage." King channeled the left by equating such opposition to opposing desegregation: "You recently wrote...that you can be against same-sex marriage and not be anti-gay...it's sort of like saying to a black person...I want you to sit at the back of the bus, but I'm not anti-black." [audio available here; video clip below the jump]

The morning show slanted in general towards the cultural left by bringing on three supporters of same-sex "marriage" or civil unions: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Chris Hughes, the publisher of The New Republic; and Max Mutchnick, co-creator of the TV show "Will and Grace," which was recently cited by Vice President Joe Biden as he announced his support of the redefinition of marriage on Sunday's Meet The Press. Hughes and Mutchnick are both open homosexuals.

After President Obama publicly supported gay marriage on Wednesday, CNN continued its cheerleading well into Wednesday evening, including a happy interview of openly-gay congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) where he proudly showed the audience his engagement ring.

During CNN's 6-9 p.m. coverage, 9 of the guests voiced their support of President Obama's position on-air, while only two objected. Another guest, Mike Signorile, did not give verbal support but writes for the Huffington Post "Gay Voices" blog and has called for President Obama to "kick down the closet door" and publicly support same-sex marriage. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

It seems as though the only time Lawrence O’Donnell has something nice to say about Fox News, it comes at the expense of nearly half the country.  Following the incendiary comments Fox News’ Smith made following Obama’s public support for gay marriage, MSNBC’s O’Donnell rushed to his defense and praised him for violating FNC's central value of remaining "fair and balanced."   

O’Donnell claimed that Smith is the lone voice of reason at Fox News and his comments caused the Fox News website Fox Nation to alter a headline reading "Obama flip-flops, declares war on marriage," to "Obama flip-flops."  [Video coming soon.  MP3 audio here.]

Following Richard Mourdock’s commanding victory in the Indiana Republican primary, CNN’s John King felt it appropriate to criticize Mourdock for of all things his campaign pledge of legislating as a conservative.  King began the interview with a loaded question, asking the GOP candidate, "are you so rigid in your ideology that you will refuse compromise and therefore keep the country from solving its problems?" The presumption, of course, that the country's problems can only be solved through compromise away from conservative solutions.  King like many in the media have been mourning the loss of Dick Lugar who many viewed as a moderate, and now consider his Republican successor as an extreme Tea Party-backed candidate.

Mourdock held his own throughout the interview and consistently maintained that he will not compromise on his principles, explaining that when the term compromise is usually invoked these days, "it’s about having Republicans join Democrats to get something done.  One of the things we’ve spoken of a great deal over the last 15 minutes is my desire to help build the Republican Party into the majority so that the word bipartisanship means maybe some Democrats will come our way instead."  [Video follows page break;  MP3 audio here.] 

In a rather blatant show of a double standard, CNN's Soledad O'Brien interrupted and grilled the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins over his opposition to same-sex marriage, but she gave an exceedingly soft interview to a guest who was "elated" at President Obama's open support of same-sex marriage. The interviews kicked off Thursday's 7 a.m. hour of Starting Point.

CNN was quite one-sided in its Wednesday afternoon coverage of Obama's announcement in favor of gay marriage, and O'Brien simply carried that bias into Thursday morning. She sought the "reaction" of guest Mitchell Gold to the President's remarks, and Gold told her he was "still elated" and lauded the President's "courageous" action. [Video below the break. Audio here]

Following President Obama’s confirmation that he does indeed support same-sex marriage, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin confirmed the media’s overwhelming support for the president on the issue.  On Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Halperin said despite the potential political risks Obama now faces in battleground states, the one advantage President Obama clearly has is media support on this among other issues.

“[T]he media is as divided on this issue as the Obama family. Which is to say not at all. And so he's never going to get negative coverage for this," Halperin argued. Sure, "The Republicans will say this is a flip-flop and it's wrong public policy. But when you have almost the entire media establishment on your side on an issue in a presidential campaign, it's very hard to lose politically," the veteran political journalist observed. Indeed, even some anchors on the generally conservative Fox News Channel have Obama's back on the issue, as we noted yesterday.  [Video follows page break;  MP3 audio here.] 

On Wednesday’s edition of Studio B w/ Shepard Smith, anchor Smith let slip his personal political views on same-sex marriage with some condescending remarks about how being pro-traditional marriage is an outdated notion.  Following the "official" announcement that Barack Obama now supports same-sex marriage, Smith opined that the President of the United States is "now in the 21st century," suggesting of course that the near half of Americans who support traditional marriage are somehow retrograde.

Smith’s true colors became more apparent in the hour during the first of two interviews he conducted with the host of Special Report, Bret Baier:  [Video follows page break.  MP3 audio here.]

After CNN's Erin Burnett lamented the defeat of "moderate" Dick Lugar in Indiana's GOP Senate primary, Wednesday's Starting Point panel had a cold welcome for the victorious Tea Party candidate Richard Mourdock.

Anchor Soledad O'Brien asked Mourdock if his "confrontational" attitude wouldn't help "undermine" the cause of uniting Americans. It's doubtful whether Soledad thought the same of President Obama as he shoved liberal legislation down the throats of Republicans in the first two years of his term. [Video below the break. Audio here.]