Jay Leno

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday blamed the media and "especially" cable television for the nasty tone in politics today.

Such occurred during a discussion with Jay Leno on NBC's Tonight Show (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Is absolutely nothing sacred to liberal media members anymore?

On NBC's Tonight Show Tuesday, comedienne Wanda Sykes said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is such a pandering politician that if he were speaking to the National Organization for Women, he would say, "I like women. You know, my wife has a vagina. I like that" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Appearing as a guest on Monday's The Tonight Show on NBC, advertising executive and former CNBC host Donny Deutsch praised President Obama for voicing support for same-sex marriage, and predicted that voters will prefer Obama as a person, in contrast with Mitt Romney, as Deutsch raised the story of Romney allegedly "bullying" a fellow classmate in high school.

When host Jay Leno showed Deutsch the latest cover of Newsweek devoted to Obama's stand in favor of gay marriage, Deutsch effused:

On NBC’s Tonight Show Tuesday, host Jay Leno battled former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) about the value of ObamaCare.

By the end of the debate, the former Republican presidential candidate marvelously got Leno to admit that he wouldn’t want the government running his television program (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

On Wednesday's NBC Tonight Show, host Jay Leno asked Meet the Press host David Gregory if Mitt Romney's religion would be fair game in the general election: "...with Obama....you know, 'Oh, he's a Muslim. He's not a Christian.' Do you think that Romney will get the same thing about his faith that Obama got?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

While Gregory acknowledged Romney potentially becoming the Republican nominee would be "a huge moment for religious tolerance in the country," he then argued: "But I think it's an issue, I mean, I think a lot of people have questions about the Mormon faith. There's a lot of ignorance about the Mormon faith. And let's be honest, this is the core of who Mitt Romney is....And yet, he doesn't talk about it."

A week from tonight (Saturday, March 11) HBO will debut Game Change, which promos
strongly suggest will present a disparaging portrait of Sarah Palin, but Thursday night on the Tonight Show, during a segment with actress Julianne Moore who plays Palin, Jay Leno contended the movie “humanizes” Palin and is not “some kind of slash and burn job.”

“Whether a Republican or a Democrat,” Leno urged, “don’t watch it for the politics. It’s just a human piece. I think it kind of humanizes Sarah Palin. I thought it was really, really good.” He soon added: “I highly recommend it. If you’re an ardent Republican and you think this is some kind of slash and burn job, it’s not. It’s really what a campaign does to a person.”

It's been three and a half years since John McCain asked Sarah Palin to be his running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, but liberal media members still can't accept it.

On Wednesday's Tonight Show, host Jay Leno - for what must be approaching the millionth time - challenged the Arizona Senator for his decision (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Appearing as a guest on Wednesday's Tonight Show on NBC, HBO's Real Time host Bill Maher mocked GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum's pro-life views, inspiring laughter from host Jay Leno.

After Leno brought up presidential politics, Maher cracked that the former Pennsylvania Senator "thinks life begins at erection":

The idea that marriage is a sacred institution is apparently a joke to Jay Leno and CBS.

Leno declared that those who wish to defend the sanctity of marriage should "ban Kardashian weddings." CBS apparently thought that Leno's crack was too good to pass up, highlighting Leno's quote on at the start of its February 8 "CBS This Morning" show.

Comedienne Wanda Sykes speculated Thursday that Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry had to drop out of the race because "he was one more debate away from saying the N-word." 

Appearing on NBC’s Tonight Show to bash all the GOP candidates, she also told the host that Newt Gingrich might have wanted an open marriage with his ex-wife because she said he had a "tiny penis" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Last month as NewsBusters reported, Jay Leno did a disgustingly sycophantic interview with President Obama.

On Monday's program, comedian Dennis Miller told the Tonight Show host, "You guys have quite a bromance there, don't you? I've come up with one of those celebrity nicknames for you two -- J-Lobama" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

A week after HBO's Bill Maher called Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich "a fat womanizing blowhard," NBC's Jay Leno referred to the former House Speaker as a "hot air balloon."

Tonight Show guest Meghan McCain actually thought that was funny (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Appearing on Thursday's Tonight Show, MSNBC's Chris Matthews went after the Republican presidential candidates one by one, asserting Herman Cain's "bad, bad behavior" with women, Rick Perry being "not even competent to be in this – on that stage," and a "hypnotized" Michele Bachmann being a "strange person."

Even host Jay Leno got in on the GOP bashing, claiming the Republican Party had become so conservative that "even Reagan could not get elected" in a primary race. Matthews touted Reagan as a liberal: "He was pro-choice in California....He raised taxes. He did a lot of things that these people won't do anymore."

All three network morning shows on Wednesday cheered President Obama's Tuesday appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. At the top of ABC's Good Morning America, co-host Robin Roberts declared: "Comedian in chief. The President hits late-night TV talking about all the people taking swings at him right now. And why what he's really worried about is what the First Lady's giving out for Halloween."

Later, fellow co-host George Stephanopoulos noted how Obama was "trying to warm up his image with a few laughs on Jay Leno's couch." White House correspondent Jake Tapper described how the President "made certain to have a few laughs" at the expense of the Republican presidential candidates. A clip followed of Leno asking if the commander in chief had been watching the GOP debates, with Obama replying: "I'm going to wait until everybody's voted off the island."

A tremendously unlikely source came out Wednesday with a scathing review of Jay Leno's interview with President Obama on NBC's Tonight Show.

Lloyd Grove, editor at large for the perilously liberal Daily Beast, wrote, "Obama couldn’t have found a more willing accomplice. Leno—who wears his American flag pin on the right lapel, in contrast to the president’s flag-on-left—might just as well been scripted by David Axelrod" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Within seconds of his introduction on Friday's "Tonight Show," Bill Maher attacked leading Republicans.

In a truly delicious example of instant karma, moments after calling Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann idiots, the pompous, more arrogant than most Maher spoke of how important the "Iowa primary" is (video follows with commentary):

(Check the update at the bottom of this story. Bristol may have accidentally tipped us off as to the intentions of her mother.)

You know what a true insult from comedian Don Rickles would be? It would be if you appeared on a stage with Rickles and did NOT receive an "insult" from the "Merchant of Venom."

However, many media websites seem to be unaware of Rickles' stock in trade. They are crowing over the fact that they believe Don Rickles delivered serious insults to Bristol and Sarah Palin during a visit of the former to the Tonight Show last Thursday where the comedian was one of the guests. As you can see in this video (and below the fold), Rickles "insults" were relatively mild compared to the zingers he directed towards President Ronald Reagan on stage during his second inauguration in 1985. And the reaction from The Gipper was sheer delight at the "insults."

Yet here we have such sites as Raw Story and andPOP taking the Rickles insults as if they were some sort of serious political commentary.  Raw Story leads off with a headline that could also describe a Rickles encounter with anybody on a stage: "Don Rickles makes fun of Bristol Palin to her face."

Just days after demagoguing the war on terror as a "war of fear," NBC's Richard Engel told Jay Leno "it's probably time to end the global war on terrorism."

The NBC News chief foreign correspondent, discussing Mideast policy on the June 22 "Tonight Show," also pushed for withdrawal from Afghanistan and an end to "this chapter in our history."

Video follows break