Conservatives & Republicans

The November 3 Time magazine featured historian Richard Norton Smith's predictable take on the modern Republican Party. The author of a new biography on Nelson Rockefeller sneered that, as a result of the nomination of Barry Goldwater, "The party of Lincoln morphed into the party of Strom Thurmond." 

A blogger tells DKos readers that even if they’re disappointed that Democrats aren’t farther to the left, it’s vital for them to vote in the midterms against racist ultra-right-wing GOPers.

Apparently Ann Romney believed that no one was going to call Democrats and the press onto the carpet over their disgraceful conduct and non-reaction, respectively, after South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen called incumbent Palmetto State Governor Nikki Haley a "whore" — and failed to "apologize" for it for four days. Mrs. Romney, sadly, is presumptively correct.…

Today co-host Matt Lauer spent most of a Tuesday interview with Chris Christie attacking the New Jersey governor's response to the Ebola crisis: "I want to read to you what Dr. Anthony Fauci from NIH said yesterday. He called the mandatory quarantine of all health care workers who come in contact with Ebola patients in West Africa and then return, 'draconian'....Is it possible, Governor you're on…

On Monday's Morning Joe, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough prompted hippie icon Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, and Nash fame to promote his new song about the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Nash wildly contended that "what happened with...almost, the execution of Michael Brown, we had to say something." He also took a shot at a regular boogeyman for MSNBC: the Koch brothers.

After failing to mention the upcoming midterm election a single time since he took over the anchor desk of ABC's World News Tonight on September 1, on Monday, David Muir finally informed viewers that a political contest with "enormous" stakes was just days away: "The countdown is on, this evening, to the midterm elections tonight. Your voice, your vote. Just eight days to go before this election…

The most recent CNN/Opinion Research poll covering October 24-26 shows that 68 percent of those surveyed said that they are "very angry ... or somewhat angry ... about the way things are going in the country today," and that 60 percent are "very scared" or "somewhat scared." CNN's web coverage and the poll report presented on Jake Tapper's show today relayed that info. But, predictably, the poll…

Josh Marshall writes that back in the day, right-wingers distorted the extent of media bias against them, and created FNC to balance the scales.

In late September, Charlie Baker, the Republican who is the party's gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts, told female reporter Sharman Sacchetti, who had already asked him a series of questions: "OK, this is going to be the last one, sweetheart." That was enough to send the press into a tizzy. Jack Coleman at NewsBusters noted how Rachel Maddow at MSNBC turned Baker's statement into proof…

Earlier today, South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen "apologized" for telling supporters last Thursday that if he defeats incumbent Republican Nikki Haley, "we’re gonna escort whore out the door." Sheheen's "apology" is far from satisfactory, especially given the point NewsBusters commenter "Rio5" made at last night's post, namely that "As my father always said, 'If…

On Monday, all three network morning shows covered George P. Bush – the son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and current candidate for Texas land commissioner – telling ABC's Jonathan Karl that his father would likely make a 2016 presidential run. In addition, all three shows made sure to remind viewers of former First Lady Barbara Bush's objection to another one of her sons running for…

Brian Beutler says it’s likely that Republicans “understand that voting restrictions suppress the Democratic vote,” but they probably view that “as a feature rather than a bug.”

On Tuesday, Michelle Kosinski and Gabe LaMonica at CNN provided those who believe that the nation's establishment press has permanently crossed the line into the kind of behavior we used to see at the old Soviet Union's Pravda and Izvestia with plenty of corroborating evidence. They did so by calling a White House transcript of a speech by President Barack Obama containing an obvious cover-up "…

During his MSNBC show on Thursday night, Chris Matthews discussed a soundbite of Iowa Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst stating her stance on the Second Amendment from two years ago and interpreted it as “pretty radical” to the point that “[s]he has talked about killing politicians she doesn't agree with.” First, here is what Ernst actually said (which was uncovered in a Huffington Post…