After Repeatedly Hyping John Edwards' Marriage, ABC Now Highlights Sor
Good Morning America's Brian Ross on Friday highlighted the sordid details of John Edwards' affair during the 2008 presidential election campaign. Yet, GMA was the same program that repeatedly hyped the marriage of the former senator and Elizabeth Edwards.
Ross intoned, "When Edwards announced he was running for president, his mistress, campaign filmmaker Rielle Hunter, was there, just a few…
CBS Sees Too Much 'Personal Baggage' for Gingrich; Other GOP 2012 Cand
Discussing the possibility of Newt Gingrich running for president in 2012, on Thursday's CBS Early Show, co-host Chris Wragge touted "big negatives" for the former House speaker: "...baggage that he brings with him...the government shutdowns back in the '90s, to being forced out as speaker, to the fact that he's on his third marriage, which is probably going to alienate some social…
Dear AP: Haley Barbour Is Right About Obama's Gas-Price Wishes
Philip Elliott at the Obama White House's state-compliant wire service reports, and distorts (bolds are mine):
Barbour says Obama cheers for higher gas prices
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a potential presidential contender, accused the Obama administration Wednesday of favoring a run-up in gas prices to prod consumers to buy more fuel-efficient cars.
Barbour cited…
NYT's Lipton Teed Up, Hit Out of Park by Powerline over Cooked AFP-Koc
The Left has been making quite a bit of conspiratorial hay over the following paragraph Eric Lipton wrote at the New York Times on February 21 ("Billionaire Brothers’ Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute") about the alleged degree of involvement Koch family members have allegedly had in the Wisconsin public-sector union showdown:
Even before the new governor was sworn in last month,…
Name That Party: AP Stops Tagging Troubled 'Centrist' Wu As a Dem
Oregon residents and news followers nationwide can be forgiven for shaking their heads over the Associated Press's latest item on the misadventures of Congressman David Wu. All of a sudden he's apparently not a Democrat -- well, at least he's not identified as such by the wire service's Jonathan J. Cooper.
Wu has gained a degree of infamy over his erratic behavior (to be described shortly for…
Maddow Digs Herself Deeper With More Election Spending Semantics
For Rachel Maddow, corrections never come easy. But while the MSNBC host has at least offered corrections where she has previously gotten it wrong - granted, with the immense level of sarcasm and snark that is her hallmark - a recent flap with online watchdogs has the indignant Maddow splitting hairs in near-comedic fashion in an effort to avoid admitting she was mistaken.
But the numbers…
The Rand Paul 'Chainsaw' Massacre: ABC's Apocalyptic Take on 'Radical
According to Nightline anchors Terry Moran and Bill Weir, new Republican Senator Rand Paul is "radical," "controversial" and longs to take a chainsaw to the Department of Education. Using hyperbolic language, Weir profiled Paul for Wednesday's program.
Co-anchor Moran previewed the segment by attempting to isolate the Kentucky politician: "Up next, even the most conservative Republicans…
CNN's Carol Costello Warns 'Corporate America is About to Win' in Wisc
On the February 22 edition of "American Morning," CNN's Carol Costello framed the ongoing budget debate in Wisconsin as a struggle between embattled middle class workers and corporatist Republicans with ulterior motives, parroting SEIU President Mary Kay Henry to warn viewers that "corporate America is about to win big time."
"Henry says corporate America save themselves money in wages by…
Joe Scarborough Compares 'Cursed' GOP at CPAC to Cairo Chaos
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough thinks the GOP's house is already on fire in his latest Politico column, where he thrashes the party's leadership for a poor showing at CPAC. He ridiculed the gathering as "a conference cursed with dull speechmaking and intraparty battles."
"Like most Egyptians, the conservative movement still has no idea who will lead it through the next election," Scarborough writes…
MSNBC's Jansing: Donald Trump 'Not About the Little Guy,' Wants 'Tax B
Interviewing Donald Trump this morning, MSNBC's Chris Jansing put on her Democratic strategist hat to press the Republican real estate mogul with liberal talking points.
After Trump, responding to Jansing's question about what he would do to fix the economy, suggested cutting taxes to spur economic growth, the host of Jansing & Co. groused: "A lot of people sitting out there, with all due…
George Stephanopoulos Badgers Michele Bachmann to Denounce Birthers, D
George Stephanopoulos on Thursday followed in the footsteps of other journalists who are lecturing Republicans on the need denounce birthers and declare Barack Obama a Christian. The co-anchor quizzed Michele Bachmann four times on the President's faith and citizenship.
He pestered, "You know, a sizable number of GOP primary voters are questioning President Obama's faith and citizenship. Can…
Eager MSNBC Wonders If 2012 Election Is 'in the Bag' for Barack Obama
Despite the fact that the 2012 presidential election is still 20 months away, MSNBC apparently has an idea who might win. On Monday's News Nation, a network graphic featured a picture of Barack Obama and these words: "2012: In the Bag?"
Anchor Tamron Hall even cited as inspiration for the day's segment, last week's edition of the liberal Real Time With Bill Maher: "I was watching Bill Maher…
White House's Use of Technology Has Old Media 'Filters' Worried
There are very few Americans who believe that the maintenance of the American republic literally depends on their continued relevance. Journalists comprise a large portion of that relatively small group.
So as technology has enabled public figures to circumvent traditional media, those journalists have raised the alarm that without the proper "filters" (them, of course) constitutional…
CBS Follows NBC's Lead, Claims a 'Tough Week for House Republicans
Discussing the state of the Republican Party with political analyst John Dickerson on Saturday's CBS Evening News, anchor Russ Mitchell concluded: "...it has been a tough week for House Republicans." On Friday's NBC Today, co-host Meredith Vieira made an identical observation, declaring : "It has been a rough, rough week for the Republicans, to say the very least."
Mitchell explained his…
