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NBC Declines to Label Retiring California Sen. Barbara Boxer a Liberal
In a news brief on Thursday, NBC Nightly News reported that one of Californi’s two Democratic Senators, Barbara Boxer, would not seek reelection in 2016 and instead retire following “a decade in the House” and her first election to the Senate in 1992. When it came to labeling where she stood politically, however, NBC shied away from labeling her a liberal or progressive.
Instead, anchor Brian…
Lefty Blogger Charles Pierce: New GOP Congress = ‘Reign Of Morons’
The Esquire pundit urged Democrats to “screw with [the Republicans] every way you can… Monkeywrench the whole business and explain in simple terms to the country why you're doing it. This has to start in the White House. The rest of the country needs to be protected from the hazardous material for which a third of it voted.”
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MSNBC Guest Equates Jerry Falwell Suing Hustler to Paris Attack
On Wednesday's Now With Alex Wagner on MSNBC, Eric Bates raised the specter of censorship by Christian conservatives during a panel discussion on the past Muslim backlash against Charlie Hebdo magazine – the target of an Islamic terrorist attack in Paris earlier in the day. Bates, a former executive editor for Rolling Stone magazine, cited Jerry Falwell's lawsuit against porn magazine Hustler in…
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Michael Keaton Bizarrely Starts 'Today' Interview By Mocking GOP
Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today to promote his new film Birdman, actor Michael Keaton oddly started the interview by taking a jab at the new Republican Senate Majority Leader: "...let me just read something. This is just too good. Mitch McConnell – this is from our boy, Mitch...Here's what he says, 'We all know that one of the things the Senate is best at doing is not doing much,' he said. '…
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Nets Fret Conservatives Posed ‘a Thorny Obstacle’ to Boehner
On Tuesday night, each of the major broadcast networks devoted time to covering the swearing in of the 114th Congress and the race for House Speaker that saw John Boehner retain his post, but not without 25 conservatives voting in dissent against the incumbent Republican.
Overall, the networks lamented how the group presented “a thorny obstacle to Boehner's leadership” and, in turn, will force…
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Rangel Says Dead Soldiers Didn't Move Him Unless They 'Looked Like Me'
Let's imagine a white Congressman saying that when he served in Vietnam, he was never moved at the sight of a dead U.S. soldier unless he was white. His career would be over, and deservedly so, within about five minutes of his statement. If he was a conservative or a Republican, even if he resigned instantly and was roundly and unanimously condemned by his colleagues, the press would remind us of…
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As GOP Takes Over Congress, Nets Hype Party Problems & Division
While Republicans officially took control of both the House and the Senate on Tuesday, NBC, ABC, and CBS all touted GOP setbacks. NBC's Today led the way, with correspondent Peter Alexander seizing on comments from the top Senate Republican: "Among incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's main goals for his party: don't be scary."
Luke Russert: Boehner Survived GOP's 'Barking' 'Kamikaze Caucus'
Longtime journalist Tim Russert, who among many other things hosted NBC's Meet the Press for over 17 years, passed away suddenly in June 2008.
His son Luke now works for NBC, and among other things is a Meet the Press panelist. Based on some of his more recent output, Luke is perhaps better described not a journalist, but as the network's desginated childish, mean-spirited namecaller. After…
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NBC's Guthrie Frets Palin Took 'Cheap Shot' at Obama in PETA Feud
In a live interview with Sarah Palin on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie accused the former Alaska governor of taking a "cheap shot" at President Obama while defending herself against nasty attacks from animal rights group PETA: "You also talk about President Obama, saying that he tried dog meat when he was under ten years old in Indonesia. I have to ask you about that one, though,…
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Matthews: Hillary Would Have 'Cakewalk' Against Huckabee
Hillary Clinton must be giddy at the thought of facing off against former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R), a social conservative and former Baptist preacher, MSNBC host Chris Matthews argued on the January 5 edition of his Hardball program.
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ABC, NBC Seize on Palin 'Sparking New Controversy' in 'Feud' With PETA
On Monday, both ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today hyped a supposed "controversy" between Sarah Palin and radical animal rights group PETA, after Palin shared a touching photo of her Down Syndrome son using his service dog as a step stool to reach the kitchen sink.
During a news brief on GMA, anchor Amy Robach announced: "Sarah Palin sparking new controversy, this time among animal…
Lefty Professor: GOP Now ‘Out of the Closet as Openly Racist’
Ed Kilgore (at Talking Points Memo) and Mark Kleiman (at the Washington Monthly) agree that the Republican party has a serious racism problem but differ on what the GOP could or will do about it.
Film Critic: ‘American Sniper’ a ‘Republican Platform Movie’
Edelstein gripes in New York magazine that “the native population are portrayed as invaders of our sacred space instead of vice versa,” and that “the people [Chris] Kyle shoots always represent a ‘savage, despicable evil,’ and the physical and mental cost to other Americans just comes with the territory.”
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CBS Frets Conservatives Will Pose Challenge to Jeb Bush in '16 Primary
On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Jan Crawford reported on former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s resignation from a number of corporate and nonprofit boards ahead of a possible campaign for president in 2016 but also found time to lament about the challenge the GOP primary could present for Bush.
“Now, the challenge of Bush is going to be running a center right campaign for the…
