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“Exposing & Combating Liberal Media Bias”
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George StephanopoulosStephanopoulos and Krugman: Democrats Punish Adulterers More Harshly
So said -- with a straight face no less! -- the New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on Sunday's "This Week." Even more laughable, for at least the third time in so many days, former Clinton advisor, and current "This Week" host, George Stephanopoulos agreed. Make sure there isn't any food or drink in your mouth before you proceed (video available here, relevant section at 18:10): Former Clinton Aide Stephanopoulos: Dems Have a Harder Time Surviving Sex Scandals
GMA co-host Diane Sawyer informed viewers that Stephanopoulos had been "looking back at this roll call of apologies for indiscretions, Republicans and Democrats." The "This Week" host spun, "Democrats have had a harder time holding on to office after scandals, recently, than Republicans." Stephanopoulos also appeared on Wednesday night's "World News" and told anchor Charlie Gibson virtually the same thing. And, once again, he failed to cite Bill Clinton, certainly one of the most famous examples of a Democrat retaining office after a sex scandal. Brit Hume Warns Obama: The Honeymoon Won’t Last Forever
On Monday's The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly asked FNC senior political analyst Brit Hume if "Obama is handling the dissent that he finds at Fox any differently than other presidents handle dissent?" Hume responded by acknowledging that: Stephanopoulos: Obama 'Obsessed' with FNC; NYT's Keller Denies Pro-Obama Bias
Sam Donaldson cracked up the panel with a back-handed slap at the White House press corps. Asked how they are doing, Donaldson proposed before being drowned out by guffaws led by Stephanopoulos: “I think it's doing okay. I mean, they're going to come to life as the public gets more skeptical-” Stephanopoulos 'Struck By' Obama's Obsession With Fox News
So said ABC's George Stephanopoulos during the Roundtable segment of Sunday's "This Week." I kid you not. With an on-screen chyron shockingly asking, "Free Media Ride For Obama?" the former member of the administration exceedingly paranoid of what it declared was a vast right-wing conspiracy actually discussed with his guests the fawning coverage the current White House resident is getting from the press. Marvelously, George Will, for the second week in a row, did not disappoint (video available here, partial transcript follows): ABC's Dr. Tim Johnson Glows Over Obama's 'Very Tender Moment' with AMA
Johnson is a long-time advocate for a major expansion of the government's role in health care. On the March 1 World News, Johnson complained: “We spend more than twice as much per person on health care in this country as the average of all other industrialized countries, yet we’re the only one that doesn’t have universal coverage. That’s a national shame.” A few days later, Johnson participated in Obama’s health care forum, then expressed awe: “I was blown away by President Obama’s grasp of the subject, how he connected the dots, how he answered the questions without any script.” More in the MRC BiasAlert by Rich Noyes, “ABC Picks Universal Health Care Fan for Obama Health Care Special.” George Will Tells Dirty Little Secrets of Universal Healthcare
On Sunday, George Will during the panel discussion on ABC's "This Week," exposed some inconvenient truths about this controverial subject that would likely change much of the public's view if they were regularly made aware of them. After host George Stephanopoulos opened the roundtable segment, Will marvelously cut to the chase (video available here): Stephanopoulos Doesn't Ask Hillary If Obama Has Marginalized Her
However, as he tossed the softest of softballs at his guest, the "This Week" host mysteriously avoided asking any questions about Clinton's future political ambitions or the possibility that Obama, by involving Hillary and Bill in his administration, has effectively marginalized them. As former Clinton advisor Dick Morris wrote two weeks ago in a piece entitled "The Incredible Shrinking Clintons": ABC Minimizes 'Liberal' Label For Sotomayor; Used 'Conservative' For Alito Frequently
During the first segment of the 7 am hour of Good Morning America, before Sotomayor’s name emerged, This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos summarized who was on President Obama’s short list for the court nomination, including Sotomayor, describing the former or current occupations they have, but no ideological descriptions. When anchor Diane Sawyer asked about “what kind of fight is the White House anticipating” from Republicans in the Senate and “how do they plan to deal with it,” Stephanopoulos further explained that “Republicans and conservatives have already prepared dossiers on all three of the top candidates....I’ve talked to several Republicans in the Senate about this -- that the chances they’re going to defeat President Obama’s nominee are very, very low. The bar they’re trying to set -- they’re trying to have a debate over the future of the court, over the ideological direction of the court.” But he never mentioned Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy or political leaning. NBC's 'Today': Not Fair to Pit Deeply Disliked Cheney Against Popular Obama
In a follow-up interview with Republican strategist Nicolle Wallace and Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, host Matt Lauer asserted that with regards to issues like closing Guantanamo Bay and the use of enhanced interrogation, "this debate has been settled." He added, "It was settled back in November during the last election, when Americans chose to elect Barack Obama and move away from the legacy of the Bush administration." He mused, "So what does Dick Cheney have to gain or lose today?" CBS Anchor on Pelosi: 'Is This Over?'; ABC Hails Obama's 'Masterstroke' on Huntsman
Though the whole topic is apparently already over for CBS News, Dickerson maintained “it's not over for the Speaker” as he proceeded to empathize with her plight by suggesting she's “got to hope another issue...blows her off the front pages” and that “when Congress goes home for their recesses that somehow she gets out of the news cycle because she's still in a fix.” But not one that interests CBS News. Nor NBC, which like ABC on Saturday night, didn't utter Pelosi's name – possibly because all three evening newscasts were so exited about what they made their lead stories: President Obama naming Utah's Republican Governor, Jon Huntsman, ambassador to China. “A political masterstroke” declared ABC's George Stephanopoulos on World News in repeating the same phrase applied moments earlier by reporter Jonathan Karl. Stephanopoulos even managed to get in a dig at conservatives as he hailed the pick as “one more sign that this is a party [Republican] where the reformers -- the moderates -- are looking for an exit.” CBS and NBC Spike Panetta's Rejection of Pelosi's Smear of the CIA
That was enough of a news hook for ABC's World News to make it the Friday night lead, as fill-in anchor George Stephanopoulos teased his top story: “Tonight, firing back: The CIA Director toe-to-toe with the Speaker. He says Congress was told the truth about interrogations.” Reporter Jonathan Karl recounted how Panetta is “pushing back hard against the Speaker of the House” and that Republicans are raising her hypocrisy in advocating punishment for those who authorized a technique of which she was aware. He concluded by undermining her latest spin of claiming she was misled by Bush administration political operatives. ABC's Diane Sawyer Frets: Obama 'Caved In' to Cheney and 'Political Right'
Later in the show, former Democratic aide-turned journalist George Stephanopoulos appeared on the program to put the best possible spin on the Obama administration's decision to appeal a court decision ordering pictures of alleged abuse released. Talking to co-host Robin Roberts, he offered talking points that could have come straight from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Stephanopoulos generously theorized, "So, by appealing this case right now, even if the White House doesn't win down the line, they bought themselves some time. And the President has shown he's on the side of the troops." At no point did Sawyer, who teased the segment, Roberts or Stephanopoulos talk about the pressure the political left put on Obama to release the photos. Speaking of Dick Cheney, the "This Week" anchor did allow that the former Vice President's opposition against releasing the pictures "is starting to get some traction." ABC's Diane Sawyer Waves 'Mission Accomplished' Sign for Obama on Banks"Good Morning America" co-host Diane Sawyer and ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos lauded Barack Obama for his handling of the banking crisis on Thursday. Sawyer even saw the government administered stress tests as a "mission accomplished" moment. On the news that many of the banks given billions in bailout money won't need more, the morning show anchor cooed, "So, George, is this the day that this administration can say, on the banking front, they've sailed through the eye of the needle? They've landed a Hail Mary pass?" [audio available for download here] At this point, Sawyer engaged in some belated bashing of George W. Bush. In an allusion to the banner above President Bush during his 2003 visit to an aircraft carrier, the host held up a sign that read "mission accomplished." She joked, "And dare I say- I had this sign made just for you. Dare they say it?" Joining in, Stephanopoulos, the "This Week" host and former Clinton aide, quipped, "You're the last person who is ever going to hold up one of those signs. I think President Bush ruined it for everybody." Possible Obama Court Pick: Judges Make Policy; Called 'Centrist' by ABC
This is the same person that ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos touted on last Friday's "Good Morning America." The "This Week" host spun, "She would be not only a woman, but the first Hispanic on the court. She's built up a strong centrist record on the court." Noting that Sotomayor was nominated by President George H.W. Bush (who, it should be pointed out, also picked the liberal Souter), Stephanopoulos asserted, "So, she has got some bipartisan credentials." ABC Paints Obama as Victim, Stephanopoulos Echoes Emanuel on Greatest Success
Turning to George Stephanopoulos for an assessment of Obama’s first 100 days, Stephanopoulos trumpeted how “his number one accomplishment has been to inspire a sense of confidence in the country,” as evidenced by how the “right direction” polling number as now at “the highest level in six years,” and so that confidence “not only gives President Obama a political cushion, but it could have a real world economic impact.” That spin nearly exactly matched what Emanuel told CBS’s Katie Couric, as both forwarded the “sense of confidence” phrase, when she asked him to name the administration’s “greatest accomplishment?” Emanuel answered: A renewed sense of hope in America and a sense that we can actually meet these challenges. They weren't so big that we couldn't do 'em. And we've helped give America that sense of confidence again, that we can meet these challenges and this country is headed, finally, in the right direction. So, did Emanuel channel Stephanopoulos’ advice on how best to tout Obama’s achievements or did Stephanopoulos just repeat Emanuel’s talking point he heard in one of their regular phone conversations? Or is it just a coincidence the press corps and the Obama White House think alike? Donaldson on ABC's This Week on JFK Assassination: I'd Like to Ask Castro 'Did You Do It?'ABC's Sam Donaldson let a little of his inner-conspiracy theorist out this morning on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. In a discussion of President Barack Obama's lessening the sanctions on Fidel Castro's Cuba, Donaldson began his analysis with one of a number a Kennedy-Truther notions that have been knocking around ever since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Ever since Lee Harvey Oswald first squeezed the trigger, there have been numerous others for whom he was the alleged fall guy. The Grassy Knoll, the Zapruder films, etc. Then-Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson has been mentioned, as has the Mafia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, Howard Hunt and the Eastern Bloc of Soviet States, or some cabal of some or all of the above. Another wild card in this crazy deck was Cuba's El Presidente, Castro. The theory being that Castro was upset with JFK's woefully planned and executed Bay of Pigs attempt at ending his nascent dictatorship, and therefore exacted his revenge by executing the 35th President. Donaldson's buy-in for this house-of-cards game is apparently the Castro connection. To wit: ABC Upset 'Chilling' Memos Reveal Zubaydah 'Tortured with an Insect'ABC's Charles Gibson, Jan Crawford Greenburg and George Stephanopoulos all stressed Thursday night how, Bush administration Justice Department memos clarifying what techniques interrogators could use with suspected terrorists, included what Stephanopoulos described as “torture with an insect” -- a method ABC failed to note was not ever employed. “Tonight, secret memos,” anchor Charles Gibson teased World News, “new documents reveal in vivid detail just how far the Bush administration went in interrogating terror suspects, using insects, confinement boxes, water-boards and more.” Stephanopoulos: Obama's Trip a Test He 'Passed Pretty Easily'
Asked by anchor Charles Gibson to list some minuses, Stephanopoulos acknowledged “good feelings with your allies don't guarantee agreement,” citing Obama's inability to secure help in Afghanistan and with North Korea, but the host of ABC's This Week wrapped up with how the White House is pleased with the trip -- as if it were possible they wouldn't be: “They feel this trip went exactly as they planned. They couldn't be happier. Now they're going to come back home and focus again on the economy.” Hard to imagine how they could be any happier with the media's reverential coverage. Huffington Calls Suspension of Mark-to-Market Accounting 'Absolutely Tragic'She's been popping up in a lot of places lately to chime in on the economy. This time Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington appeared on ABC's April 5 "This Week," where she voiced her disapproval of the March 30 decision by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) relaxing mark-to-market accounting rules. "This week, we saw so many concessions to the banks," Huffington said. "We saw the suspension of mark-to-market, which is absolutely tragic. Japan, by not having mark-to-market, made it much harder for them to recover." But as Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein of First Trust Portfolios recently wrote for Forbes magazine, mark-to-market accounting reinstitution was reinstated only in recent years. The last time it was in effect - during the Great Depression - it caused many bank failures. Obama's Week Through ABC's Prism: 'Cool Kid in the Class'
Muir cued up Stephanopoulos: “Have you seen much of this in recent history?” Stephanopoulos put style over substance as he declared “the President's stagecraft on this trip and his star power have really held up all through his trip to Europe.” Though he acknowledged that “on the substance the President hasn't gotten all he wanted either at the G-20 or at this NATO summit,” the host of ABC's This Week decided “he's done a good job of managing expectations.” As Stephanopoulos demonstrated, Obama has certainly met and exceeded media expectations. ABC's George Stephanopoulos Lauds 'Star' Michelle Obama
Comparing the First Lady to another family much-loved by the liberal media, he continued, "Again, much like Jackie Kennedy on her first trips overseas with President Kennedy, she is doing so well for the President, for the country right here." Speaking of how the President did at the summit, he opined, "But the President did a good job of managing expectations going into the summit. So, that what they came out with seemed like a victory." Isn't that essentially saying that journalists allowed themselves to be spun by the President and his team? MRC’s Notable Quotables: Drooling Over Obama’s European Vacation[UPDATE, 6:45PM ET: For those who only lightly skimmed or otherwise did not notice earlier, this is an April Fools Day edition of Notable Quotables. All of the quotes were made up by various MRC staffers. I hope you enjoyed the parody.] For those of you who enjoy reading MRC’s Notable Quotables newsletter, featuring the most outrageous (and sometimes humorous) quotes in the liberal media, our latest edition has just been put online. The full text, with five matching videos, can be found at www.MRC.org; here are a few of the highlights from this issue: An ‘A’ for America's Passenger-in-Chief
ABC's George Stephanopoulos Fawns Over Obama's 'Law Seminar'
On Wednesday's GMA, he spoke to co-host Robin Roberts and praised, "Well, I thought the President was confident as he always is, Robin, and very straight. You didn't see a lot of laughter that we saw on Jay Leno." The former Democratic aide-turned journalist has developed a pattern of giving Obama top marks. Appearing on the February 9 "Nightline" to offer a "report card" for the President's first prime time press conference, he awarded Obama "an A for overall performance at the event and a B for Obama's bipartisan efforts." During the presidential campaign, Stephanopoulos declared the then-candidate the winner over John McCain in every debate between the two. Stephanopoulos: Obama and Press Corps 'Hit Their Marks Tonight'
President Barack Obama didn't have to do much to earn the A-minus grade: “He had a very clear strategy and that was to tell the country that he has a strategy. He has an economic strategy, that it's starting to work -- though we're not out of the woods yet by any means, but that with persistence it's going to pay off and we're going to make progress on those four big issues he kept talking about: health care, education, energy and reducing the deficit.” And the reporters just had to pose questions about the economy: “The press also did do their job tonight, pressing the President on issues that people back home really care about and most of the questions about the economy, about the economic crisis we're facing right now.” ABC's Stephanopoulos Declares Cap and Trade Dead for 2009
For those unfamiliar, this is a scheme backed by global warming alarmists such as Nobel Laureate Al Gore designed to place prohibitive taxes on emitters of that dastardly carbon dioxide. Most rational economists not under Gore's influence believe such a plan would have a devastating effect on our economy, and would likely force companies to continue exporting manufacturing jobs to countries like China and India which don't have such business unfriendly practices. Fortunately, according to Stephanopoulos, this idea has been scrapped for the time being (h/t Hot Air): Did Stephanopoulos Help Democrats Create GOP Bashing Ad?In January, Politico's John F. Harris exposed a liberal cabal involving telephone calls between White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, ABC's George Stephanopoulos, and CNN's Paul Begala and James Carville. Since then, Americans on both sides of the aisle have wondered just how far-reaching the political influence of these four is on the mainstream media. More importantly, just how much is the Obama administration, via its press contacts that worked in the White House before, involved in controlling the message being disseminated? Consider the following sequence of events involving Stephanopoulos that began with a March 13 press release by the Democratic National Committee: ABC's Stephanopoulos, Sen. McCain Conduct 'Twitterview'; Blogger Malkin Calls BS on McCain AIG AnswerGoing on right now: the first-ever "Twitterview" between Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and a mainstream journalist. McCain is being interviewed by ABC's George Stephanopoulos. You can follow the debate by checking out the @SenJohnMcCain and @GStephanopoulos feeds on Twitter. Update (12:53 EDT): Below is a transcript of the interview, courtesy of MRC intern Mike Sargent. Sargent also noticed that at least one conservative observing the interview shot a message to Stephanopoulos objecting that Sen. McCain was misrepresenting his votes on the AIG bailout.
Stephanopoulos Empathizes with Obama's 'Tough Dilemma'
Stephanopoulos lamented: They feel caught in a bind. When they respond to this populist anger, they feel they get a very negative reaction from the business community and the stock market. When they try to appease the business community and the stock market, the public rises up. It's a tough dilemma. Stephanopoulos Uses Liberal Ad to Bash GOP and Sen. McConnellCRITICAL UPDATE at end of post: AUC's founder and former president is now the communications director of the DNC. On Sunday's "This Week," ABC's George Stephanopoulus played an advertisment created by a far-left political organization to bash the Republican Party and his guest Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Maybe even worse, the group responsible for this recent attack, Americans United for Change, targeted the Kentucky Senator for his position on the Iraq war back in March 2007. As ABC's Chief Washington Correspondent, it seems hard to believe Stephanopoulos was ignorant of the political leanings of this group or its past opposition to his guest. Regardless, after introducing McConnell, and allowing the Senate minority leader to offer his views concerning the 2010 budget recently proposed by President Obama, Stephanopoulos went on the attack himself: |
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