John Berman

Perhaps previewing the winking and nodding that will follow in the general election campaign, ABC's John Berman on Monday uncritically parroted the White House line on gay marriage: "What the President seems to want is space."

The Good Morning America correspondent added that the President is looking for "space to say that perhaps in a second term he might change the policy. But for it not the become major campaign issue in the next few months." Considering that Barack Obama's position on position on same sex marriage has been "evolving" for 17 months, shouldn't the White House be pressed by journalists to offer an actual opinion?

According to the reporters at Good Morning America, May Day is a "traditional day of protest," one in which members of the Occupy movement can get "fired up about." Reporter John Berman ignored the communist influence that has held sway over May Day.

Instead, he blandly announced, "Well, May Day is International Workers Day, a traditional day of protest. And the Occupy movement is expected to use this to stage some of their biggest protests in months." In a follow-up brief, news reader Josh Elliott similarly insisted, "It's all a part of civil disobedience for May Day, also known as International Workers Day."

Good Morning America analyst Matt Dowd on Wednesday lectured Rick Santorum to "get out" and stop wasting "any little bit of political capital he has left." Depending on which count one looks at, Mitt Romney is currently 489 delegates short of the nomination.

That fact didn't stop Dowd from making his point clear. Over four sentences, he used the phrase "get out" four times, pronouncing, "I think he has to get out because he wants to preserve any little bit of political capital he has left and a voice in the Republican Party." The same man who, on March 26 slammed conservative states as hypocrites, instructed Santorum, "I think it would be good to get out right now before he loses Pennsylvania. But he has got to try to keep a voice in the party by getting out."

Good Morning America's John Berman on Tuesday again proved his ability to be crude, adding a zipper sound effect to a quote by Ann Romney. Sounding like a fifth grade boy, Berman derided the wife of the presidential candidate, insisting that "unexpected comments from Ann Romney...just begged to be taken out of context."

Berman played a clip of Mrs. Romney on a radio show in which she rebutted claims that her husband is "stiff," replying, "I guess we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out." Immediately following this, ABC played a zipper sound. Now, while GMA and Berman found time for juvenile humor, there was no mention of President Obama's attack on the Supreme Court. [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

The journalists at Good Morning America on Tuesday appeared shocked that a "sour" Rick Santorum dared to aggressively oppose a New York Times reporter, hyperventilating that the Republican presidential candidate has gone to "war against the media."

Former Democratic operative turned journalist George Stephanopoulos insisted that the "wear and tear of a long, tough campaign" is beginning to show on Santorum. He piled on, "His Cinderella story has gone a bit sour." Reporter Berman, who often can't refuse using over-the-top language for his stories, began, "Well, cover your ears and hide the children. Dirty words have hit the presidential race." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

The apology wasn't good enough. Journalists on Monday's Good Morning America chided the Republican presidential candidates for "equivocating" and not strongly condemning Rush Limbaugh's comments about Sandra Fluke. Analyst Matt Dowd appeared to deride Mitt Romney for "missing a huge opportunity" to slam Limbaugh.

John Berman focused on the fact that the conservative radio host called his own words "insulting" and that his apology went "much further than the words used by the Republican presidential candidates, whose condemnations all came with equivocations or deflections." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

ABC's John Berman on Friday chided the Republican presidential candidates for not talking about jobs enough, lecturing the GOP field that social issues could harm their chances of winning the White House. Berman whined, "...The shift to the right in rhetoric could be hurting in the middle."

Regarding Romney's planned speech on tax cuts, Friday, Good Morning America's Berman condescended, " [Romney says [his plan] will help create jobs. Jobs. Remember that word? The candidates uttered the word jobs just four times in two hours in this week's debate." Of course, as Berman proved with video clips, it was the candidates– and not debate moderator John King– who brought up jobs.

ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who makes $8 million a year, pounced on the release of Mitt Romney's tax returns, sneering on Tuesday, "So, just how rich is Mitt Romney and is he paying his fair share of taxes?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

The Good Morning America co-host excitedly told viewers, "Breaking overnight, the long-awaited tax returns from Mitt Romney finally revealed. Our team [is] poring over the numbers."

"Good Morning America" reporter John Berman on Thursday hyperbolically warned that Mitt Romney is taking his "ever more scathing, anti-Obama message" to South Carolina. The correspondent then proceeded to play up every new attack on the Republican front-runner.

Speaking of South Carolina, Berman fretted, "It's not just the warm weather, but the warm welcome to his ever more scathing, anti-Obama message." The reporter highlighted a video from Gingrich supporters that lambastes Romney's "big house, big money and the big cuts to some companies."

Previewing Saturday's Republican presidential debate, "Good Morning America's" John Berman on Friday offered up "key questions" for how each candidate would do. At one point, he sneered, "How mean for Mitt Romney? Will Romney go after his new chief rival, Rick Santorum, or leave that to his new friend John McCain?"    

A huge graphic showcased a picture of Romney next to bold lettering: "How mean will he get?" ABC doesn't often ask how nasty Barack Obama will be in 2012?

The cover story of Tuesday's USA Today blared "Resurgent Republicans close gap in key states." Susan Page reported a new USA Today/Gallup poll of 12 battleground states found "the number of voters who identify themselves as Democratic or Democratic-leaning in these key states has eroded, down 4 percentage points, while the ranks of Republicans have climbed by five points." GOP voters were also found to be more attentive to the campaign, more enthusiastic about the election, and more convinced the outcome matters. ABC, CBS, NBC coverage? None.

Gallup also found "Americans' concerns about the threat of big government continue to dwarf those about big business and big labor, and by an even larger margin now than in March 2009. The 64% of Americans who say big government will be the biggest threat to the country is just one percentage point shy of the record high, while the 26% who say big business is down from the 32% recorded during the recession." Network coverage? None. On Wednesday morning's Early Show CBS reporter Jan Crawford found only the Gallup result that would discourage Republicans:

All three morning shows on Tuesday hyped the fight between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, but it was snarky John Berman who offered the most hyperbolic take, exclaiming on "Good Morning America," "Boom! Boom!"

The opinionated journalist offered inflamed rhetoric to describe the nomination battle, saying that the attacks follow "24 hours of political shivs and sharp elbows." Berman narrated the fight between Romney and Gingrich with glee: "Boom! Gingrich responded...Boom! The Romney camp responded...Boom! Boom!" Was this really necessary?"

All three morning shows on Monday hyped Mitt Romney's $10,000 wager from Saturday's Republican debate. "Good Morning America's" George Stephanopoulos wondered just how "damaging" Romney's "bad bet" would be.

Stephanopoulos, who previously gloated over whether his interview would "spell the end" of Herman Cain, offered a similar take, Monday. He teased, "How damaging was Mitt Romney's $10,000 bet at our ABC News debate. He's shrugging off all the critics calling him out of touch. But, will this memorable moment shake up the race one more time?"

ABC's Good Morning America and CBS's the The Early Show on Saturday, as well as Friday's World News on ABC, seized on GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry forgetting the name of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as the Texas governor criticized President Obama's tendency to appoint activist judges. As he teased Saturday's The Early Show, CBS anchor Russ Mitchell even asked, "How long can his presidential candidacy survive?"

As CBS correspondent Jan Crawford appeared on the show, Mitchell posed to her:

ABC's John Berman on Thursday continued his habit of trying to force stale, anti-conservative jokes into his reporting, mocking the pronunciation habits of former President George W. Bush. In a segment on subliminal ads that "mess with your brain," the correspondent rehashed Bush's 2000 "rats" ad.

While playing the 11-year-old spot, which featured the word fragment "rats" on-screen for 1/30th of a second, Berman narrated, "You may have missed it, but this Republican ad for George W Bush in 2000 seemed to label Al Gore a rat. Now, that's subliminal, even if George Bush wouldn't admit it." Offering a not-at-all fresh joke, the ABC reporter added that Bush "couldn't pronounce [subliminal]."

All three morning shows on Tuesday and the evening newscasts on Monday pounced on an "awkward" Herman Cain interview that questioned the Republican's "readiness to be commander in chief." Combined, the programs offered 11 segments on the subject. The same networks have yet to investigate Barack Obama's arrogant assertion that America has gotten "lazy" in regard to foreign investments.

Good Morning America's John Berman on Tuesday played a clip of Cain struggling to answer a question about Libya and how he would have handled the uprising there. Berman gloated, "You know, just when you thought you've seen the last epic video moment of this campaign. Herman Cain is taking his turn on the highlight or lowlight reels."

Good Morning America's John Berman on Friday made no effort to hide his derision of Rick Perry, noting that former FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh is running his campaign. Berman openly mocked, "...[Allbaugh] ran FEMA. So, he knows how to recover from disasters, Robin."

Earlier in the segment, the reporter made another comparison, joking, "You know, there's no question that Rick Perry is in full-scale political rehab. It's like a 12-step plan." Supposedly objective journalists on Thursday's evening newscasts and Friday's morning shows pounced on Perry's debate flub from Wednesday. [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Good Morning America's John Berman on Tuesday offered a condescending, dismissive take on how the money "obsessed" presidential candidates spent their Fourth of July. Yet, four years ago, the same program offered a fawning look at what Barack Obama did on Independence Day.

After mentioning Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich, Berman suggested that the Fourth of July could be "a chance to take a break from their recent big obsession, cash."

The journalist quickly followed this up by noting that the President has raised $60 million. Berman pointedly explained, "...Though he spent the day with men and women whose value is beyond priceless." (This was a reference to Obama's speech to U.S. troops at a barbeque.)

The ABC and NBC evening newscasts have focused stories on Billy Bulger, the long-time Massachusetts Democratic political hack who is the younger brother of just-captured reputed mass-murdering Mobster Whitey Bulger, but both refused to identify Billy Bulger’s party affiliation. (The CBS Evening News has, so far, not even mentioned Billy.)

“While Whitey Bulger was running a gang, his brother was a celebrated star of Massachusetts politics,” ABC anchor Diane Sawyer trumpeted on Thursday night. On Friday night, NBC forwarded MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to vouch that Billy had no information about the whereabouts of his fugitive brother while Jeff Rossen marveled: “Just as investigators say Whitey was ordering hits, his brother, Billy Bulger, was rising in state government, President of the Massachusetts state senate and later President of U Mass.”

The morning shows on Tuesday used loaded terms to describe Monday's Republican presidential debate. According to Good Morning America's John Berman, it was a "two-hour race to out-bash the President." On the Today show, Chuck Todd sniffed that "much of the affair was an anti-Obama sound bite contest."

CBS's Early Show proved to be more mild. Co-host Erica Hill recounted, "Attacking Obama. The top Republican candidates for President face off in their first debate, but instead of going after each other, they took dead aim at the President."

Much of the media made fools of themselves with their excited obsession over the release of Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial e-mails, but NBC News went the furthest, sending, as did CNN, reporters to Juneau as the network uniquely led its Friday night newscast by hyping the non-news as a major event. “On the broadcast tonight,” anchor Lester Holt heralded, “mail call. Thousands of pages of e-mail from Sarah Palin's time as Governor. What we're learning about her tonight.”

Following a story from “national investigative correspondent” Michael Isikoff in which “MSNBC.com investigative reporter” Bill Dedman had the gall to complain “we waited longer for these records than Sarah Palin was Governor, almost a thousand days,” NBC’s David Gregory recognized, in an understatement: “As Mike and his team are finding, not a lot of bombshells here.”

Looking at government as the best job creator, on Sunday’s This Week ABC’s Christiane Amanpour pushed her guests to agree the stagnant economy and growing unemployment argue for less concern about controlling federal spending and demonstrate the need for “another stimulus” big spending effort. Amanpour was undeterred by the failure of the ongoing “stimulus” spending pushed by President Obama.

“With the political wars over the debt, there is no chance for another stimulus,” reporter John Berman regretted in a set-up piece before Amanpour pleaded with Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers:

Good Morning America correspondent John Berman on Thursday offered a sarcastic take on Sarah Palin's tour, dismissing it as a "magical mystery bus." He also spun a possible 2012 run by Palin as making fellow Republican Mitt Romney appear "more safe, a more secure, a more reasonable candidate."

The evening newscasts on Thursday night eagerly devoted time to fresh speculation, prompted by Sarah Palin’s upcoming bus trip from Washington, DC to New Hampshire, that she may jump into the presidential race, but they all made sure to point out her high negatives amongst non-Republicans, characterizing her as “divisive” and “polarizing” while raising concern she couldn’t beat President Obama.

“She's a divisive figure,” CBS’s Jan Crawford declared,” citing how “our latest polls show that a majority of Republican voters do view her positively, but, among all voters, only 26 percent do. So that gives Republicans some pause. They want someone that they think can beat President Obama.”

A winking John Berman on Monday used only a little subtlety as he mocked Donald Trump for his "enormous" "size." The Good Morning America reporter turned financial comments by the businessman into something more suggestive: "We know he has a big ego, but he swears he has big ideas and also an enormous, well, see for yourself."

 He then played a clip of Trump boasting about himself: "Much bigger and much more powerful, much stronger than anyone really knows." Berman jokingly questioned, "Really? Compared to, say, Mitt Romney..."

An ABC graphic hinted, "Size Matters."

(See video below. MP3 audio here.)

Even though there's still a year and eight months to go until the 2012 presidential election, Good Morning America's John Berman on Monday derided the GOP field for not joining the race yet. As a mocking trombone sound played, Berman joked that Newt Gingrich "had us on the edge of our seats" last week by establishing only an exploratory website.

Highlighting Mitt Romney's failure to officially enter the race, Berman offered this insulting aside: "But will it be him? What other possible explanation could there be for the  fact that Romney, who was trying to shake the reputation that he was born in a business suit, has apparently has lost all of his neck ties?"

Highlighting a conservative for dismissing other conservatives, the ABC reporter quoted, "Some Republicans feel timing isn't the problem, but the field. Columnist George Will writes, 'If pessimism is not creeping into Republicans' thinking about their 2012 prospects, that is another reason for pessimism.'"

[See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Ronald Reagan endured harsh, vitriolic rhetoric from journalists throughout his career, but that hasn't stopped some in the media from lecturing present-day conservatives on who best represents the legacy of the 40th President. This occurred even as the country celebrated Reagan's 100th birthday.

On Saturday's World News, John Berman filed a sarcastic report where he knocked 2012 hopefuls for trying to align themselves with the former President: "There is Reagan Airport, the Reagan Building, the Reagan Library. Then there is the church of Reagan, where candidates worship."

He critiqued, "In fact, you might say there is a Republican primary and a Reagan primary. Who can be the most Reagan-y?" Andrea Mitchell appeared on Meet the Press and fretted, "People are trying- Republicans in particular, obviously- trying to appropriate Ronald Reagan for their own political purposes now."

On Monday, all three network morning show's eagerly highlighted former First Lady Barbara Bush voicing opposition to a Sarah Palin presidential run while suggesting the former Alaska governor has spent too much time in the public eye. As Harry Smith proclaimed at the top of CBS's Early Show: "It's all Palin all the time. But could the most famous family from Alaska be on the verge of overexposure?"

Later on the Early Show, senior White House correspondent Bill Plante noted: "But there are critics. In an interview with Larry King, former First Lady Barbara Bush weighed in on the possibility of a President Palin." A clip was played of Bush: "I think she's very happy in Alaska and I hope she'll stay there." On NBC's Today, correspondent Norah O'Donnell declared: "Nothing like some controversy to help sell a book, right? Just as Palin gears up for her national book tour and a possible presidential run, Barbara Bush says she likes Palin, but hopes she stays home." Finally, on ABC's Good Morning America, correspondent John Berman announced: "Sarah Palin seems to be everywhere. But, not everyone approves. Why Barbara Bush and other Republicans are saying enough."

Saturday’s Good Morning America on ABC devoted a full report to former Vice President Dan Quayle’s son Ben’s run for Congress in Arizona, focusing primarily on perceived gaffes by both him and his father. As anchor John Berman set up the report, he gave the impression that he views the former Vice President primarily as a joke: "It's time to dust off the jokes and hold on to your potatoes. Who can forget the vice presidency of Dan Quayle? His mortal feud with TV's Murphy Brown. His battles with the dictionary. Well, now, one of his children wants to follow in his footsteps and is making some headlines of his own, not all intentional."

During the piece which recounted a number of activities and statements by Ben Quayle that have come under criticism, or have come across to some as gaffes, correspondent T.J. Winick played a clip of the time that Dan Quayle infamously told a school boy that the word "potato" should have an "e" added to the end during a spelling lesson at a school. Winick did not inform viewers that it was the teacher who led Quayle astray as she had misspelled the word on the word list she had given to the then-Vice President to check the children’s spelling.

Winick also described what he called a "shocking ad" in which Ben Quayle labeled President Obama "the worst President in history," and promised to go to Washington and "knock the hell out of the place." The ABC correspondent also informed viewers that Quayle had been criticized for using a photograph of himself with his nieces in campaign literature because he has no children of his own.

It’s one thing to acknowledge that the Muslim world has had a negative reaction to America's war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq, but, when one starts referring to "the previous eight years" before the Obama administration, it starts to sound like partisan Democratic talking points. As ABC’s Christiane Amanpour appeared on Sunday’s Good Morning America to discuss President Obama’s predicament regarding his speech on the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, Amanpour at one point recounted that relations with the Muslim world had suffered during the "previous eight years" before Obama became President.

After host John Berman queried as to "how is this playing in the Muslim world," Amanpour in her response asserted: "But clearly President Obama from the very beginning went out of his way to try to repair relations with the Islamic world which had been so devastatingly damaged over the previous eight years."

The war in Afghanistan was only seven years old when Obama took office, so her "previous eight years" crack could only be interpreted as a direct reference to the Bush presidency rather than just the war.