Tony Perkins

The media elites have never been less interested in objectivity than they are right now on “gay marriage.” They don’t wear rainbow flags on their lapels when they appear on television, but the coverage speaks for itself.

Even liberals are admitting the obvious. The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) studied a sample of almost 500 news stories from March to May and admitted “statements of support dominate” the daily narrative.

Compared to other MSNBC personalities, Luke Russert is usually rather restrained when it comes to his biases. But on Wednesday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, the son of the late Tim Russert could not hold back the condescension in his interview with Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council. [Video below. MP3 audio here.]

Perkins gave an eloquent defense of traditional marriage, but Russert wasn’t having any of it. In his mind, as in many liberal minds, opposition to same-sex marriage must surely stem from fear. So Russert prodded Perkins:

Predictably, left-wing radio talker Mike Malloy blames the Family Research Council for being targeted by a pro-gay rights activist who allegedly opened fire at their headquarters and wounded a security guard.

What is surprising about Malloy's rant, even to those of us familiar with this most vampiric of radio hosts, is its jaw-dropped toxicity -- an American version of Radio Rwanda, circa 1994. (Audio clip after page break) --

CNN already understands why the Family Research Council (FRC) was labeled a "hate group" by the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). On Saturday, CNN gave more credibility to the SPLC as anchor Randi Kaye cited the group as a credible source on "hate groups" in the U.S. right after quoting their explanation for the FRC's "hate group" label.

"Statistics show hate groups are on the rise in this country. The Southern Poverty Law Center counted more than 1,000 known hate groups operating in the U.S. last year, and the FBI reported nearly 7,000 hate crimes," reported Kaye during the 10 a.m. hour of CNN Newsroom. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Unsatisfied with Tony Perkins' explanation of his opposition to same-sex marriage, CNN's Brooke Baldwin flat-out asked him why homosexuals "bother" him "so much," on Thursday afternoon. Apparently for CNN, opposing same-sex marriage is the same bigotry.

"[Y]ou've never been to a home of a same-sex couple. Why do homosexuals bother you so much?" she asked her "personal" question. Perkins brushed off the loaded question saying "They don't bother me," but Baldwin looked surprised and followed up on it. [Video below the break. 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 the overwhelming passage of Amendment 1 in North Carolina on Tuesday night, Piers Morgan brought on the president of the Family Research Council to attack him over his stance on same-sex marriage.  In typical Morgan fashion, Piers chose not to conduct a fair interview but instead attack Perkins.

The interview started out with Morgan asking Tony why he is, "so implacably opposed to two loving people getting married?"  Throughout the interview, Perkins provided consistent and fact-based arguments for his opposition to gay marriage, something Morgan would have none of.  [Video fiollows page break.  MP3 audio here.] 

Blogger Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute reports on suspended CNN pundit Roland Martin meeting in Los Angeles with a representive of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. As part of the GLAAD "rehab" routine, Martin then dutifully marched on to the set of his TV One show "Washington Watch" to repent for the Super Bowl tweets that got him suspended.

But wait -- why didn't GLAAD get Martin suspended from his TV One program? (Here's a guess: TV One is owned by Comcast, a big supporter of GLAAD and "gay rights" advocates.) Martin explained how he repeated his apologies over breakfast with GLAAD's Herndon Graddick (a former producer at CNN):

In his Thursday interview of the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, CNN host Don Lemon questioned Perkins if his group had come out strongly enough against the beating of a homosexual man in Atlanta.

The conservative organization opposes the lifestyle of homosexuality, and Lemon is an openly-gay anchor who has said before that he aims to "change minds" through his reporting. Lemon has continually promoted gay rights on the air while largely ignoring those supporting the other side of the issue. [Video below the break.]

It was an obvious contrast in demeanor last week, Eliot Spitzer's lapdog interview of the president of Planned Parenthood and his aggressive sparring with social conservative Tony Perkins. Spitzer simply let Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards air her spin on the organization, but went after the Family Research Council's (FRC) Perkins from the get-go on CNN Thursday night.

Consider the statements Richards made last Wednesday night that Spitzer was content not to scrutinize: Planned Parenthood has received "enormous support" from both Democrats and Republicans, the organization is "very transparent" about its services, Planned Parenthood reduces need for abortions through family planning, and the recent efforts by Congress and state legislatures to cut its funding "were to eliminate access for women to get access to life-saving breast cancer screenings, pap smears, and birth control."

[Video below the break.]

During a discussion of California's Proposition 8 being overturned on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday, fill-in host John Dickerson questioned Family Research Council President Tony Perkins's assertion that the federal judge who made the ruling was openly gay: "You mention this claim that he's openly homosexual. I'm not sure if that's, in fact, the case."

Perkins replied by citing his source on Judge Vaughn Walker's sexual orientation: "Well, that, according to The San Francisco Chronicle, that he is openly homosexual, one of two federal judges." Thursday's Good Morning America on ABC reported that fact as well, even while NBC's Today and the CBS Early Show failed to mention it.

Dickerson followed his doubt of Perkins by arguing: "...whether [Walker] is or isn't, what basis – what bearing does that have on the case?" Perkins responded: "...had this guy been a – say, an evangelical preacher in his past, there would have been cries for him to step down from this case. So I do think it has a bearing on the case." Dickerson countered: "You think it's made his ruling skewed?"  

On Wednesday, CNN's daytime coverage of a federal judge's decision on California's Proposition 8 leaned mostly towards those who opposed the voter-approved amendment to the state's constitution, which banned same-sex marriage. When the judge's ruling was released, which found Prop 8 to be unconstitutional, the network went so far to get immediate reaction to the ruling at a "gay" bar in West Hollywood.

Don Lemon was the first CNN anchor to bring on guests on the issue 15 minutes into the 12 noon Eastern hour, none other than Gary Spino and Tony Brown, the two subjects of their pro-homosexual parenting documentary "Gary and Tony Have a Baby." Minutes before the two appeared, the network replayed a glowing report by senior political analyst Gloria Borger, which originally aired on June 16, profiling Ted Olson and David Boies who are fighting to overturn Prop 8.

Lemon began his interview of the same-sex couple with a softball question: "So listen, Gary, I want to get you in here. Are you- how are you guys feeling? Are you anxiously awaiting this judge's decision, or what- is it just something that's in the back of your minds now?" He asked a similar question of Brown: "Are you feeling anxiety about this?"

In light of the challenges facing the country and the need for clarity in the age of Obama, The Mount Vernon Statement, modeled on the Sharon Statement issued on Sept. 11, 1960, is a defining statement of conservative beliefs, values and principles penned by a broad coalition of conservative leaders representing a wide spectrum of the movement including fiscal, social, cultural and national security conservatives.

Major newspapers and networks have been ignoring the question of abortion coverage in the new health care bill sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. The only newspapers to even mention abortion coverage since the bill was released on September 16 were The Boston Globe, The Oregonian, and The Orlando Sentinel - all of which were editorials.

The Boston Globe only mentioned in passing that the funding of abortion was scratched in order to please the Republicans, who refuse to be pleased anyway. The Oregonian admitted that abortion was funded in the bill but concluded that "being a citizen means paying taxes, and being one of hundreds of millions of citizens means that some tax revenues will fund something you don't like." And The Orlando Sentinel stated that the "truth" behind Republicans "right-wing anti-Obama rhetoric" against abortion is simply "cowardly coded smoke screens intended to mask fear and racism."

What would Jesus do? Well, Ed Schultz thinks he knows - that is on health care reform at least.

Schultz, on his Sept. 2 MSNBC program, "The ED Show" told viewers he believed Jesus would vote for a government public option. That, he said, was to the dismay of some on religious right, or what he used the pejorative "Bible thumpers" to describe.

"Now, I have been referring to the health care reform deal as the real moral issue of our time," Schultz said. "I believe Jesus would vote yes for a public option, but some Bible thumpers don't see me eye to eye on this one."

Schultz later elaborated on his statement, likening "fixing health care" to a moral obligation.

Media outlets preyed upon people's emotions this week in its reporting of President Barack Obama's decision to overturn the Bush Administration ban on federally-funded embryonic stem cell research.

Embryonic stem cell research is a hot topic among pro-life advocates because it involves the destruction of human embryos in order to obtain the stem cells needed.

CBS' Chip Reid said of embryonic stem-cells during the March 6 Evening News "Scientists believe that by turning them into cells damaged by injury or disease, they can treat or even cure everything from spine cord injuries to Alzheimer's disease to diabetes."

Typical of ABC's Lisa Stark's weekend reporting on the issue was her explanation during the March 6 World News with Charles Gibson: "The president's move will free up federal dollars for more widespread research on embryonic stem cells, the so-called master cells of the body. Supporters say it may lead to cures for diseases, such as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimers."

What these reports ignore is that embryonic stem cell research has not produced any positive results Daniel S. McConchie, vice-president of government affairs for Americans United for Life, wrote, "Ten years after the first isolation of embryonic stem cells, there is not a single disease that these cells can cure." He adds, "Scientists have been conducting research on mouse embryonic stem cells for over 25 years and are yet unable to cure mice."

Over the course of two programs on Tuesday evening, CNN political analyst Roland Martin unhesitatingly ran to the defense of Barack Obama against the recent criticism of Dr. James Dobson, who characterized the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate of "distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology" in a 2006 speech. On the "Election Center" program, Martin tried to deny Dobson’s influence in the American evangelical community: " I think we're doing the nation a disservice by calling James Dobson an evangelical leader." Then on "Anderson Cooper 360," he accused Dobson and other evangelicals of wanting to "tear down Obama, the person who is talking about faith..."