E.J. Dionne: 'Reform Conservatism Is Better Than the Conservatism We H
So-called reform conservatives such as David Frum, Michael Gerson, and Ramesh Ponnuru often get relatively favorable attention from liberal journalists -- relative, that is, to Tea Party types, which in turn reinforces the Tea Party's belief that the reformers aren't really conservatives.
Two lefty pundits recently examined the state of reform conservatism. Washington Post columnist E.J.…
In Covering Shinseki's Sacking, AP's Pace Cites VA's Rising Caseload
Julie Pace at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, is used to carrying water for the Obama administration. Last year, she proudly reveled in how she and her wire service sat on information it had about secret U.S.-Iran negotiations for eight months. My immediate take was that "They didn't report it until the Obama administration said it would be okay to report it." The AP…
Agenda-Driven Much? CNBC's Dan Mangan, on Kaiser Poll: 'Shut Up About
In a report at CNBC on Thursday, Dan Mangan covered a "Kaiser Health Tracking Poll" which appears to have been pre-cooked for an administration which would love to have the press give Obamacare even less than the disproportionately low coverage that it has received since a few weeks after HealthCare.gov's diastrous initial rollout.
Mangan eagerly took the bait. His opening sentence: "And the…
Josh Marshall: 'Crazy Guy' Ben Carson May Belong on List of Bigoted Ri
Talking Points Memo editor and publisher Josh Marshall contended Thursday that there's been a "relatively consistent pattern" of conservatives lionizing those who "hat[e] or insult...some historically or currently discriminated against group." Some of these newly minted right-wing heroes, Marshall argued, lead with their bigotry; others gain fame for "being kind of nuts" and their bigotry…
NBC and CBS Tout 'Defiant' Hillary Clinton 'On Offense' Over Benghazi
On Friday, both NBC's Today and CBS This Morning dutifully promoted quotes from Hillary Clinton's new memoir leaked to Politico of the former Secretary of State blasting critics of her mishandling of the Benghazi terrorist attack. Today co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: "If there was any doubt Hillary Clinton's clearly ready to go on offense on this." Political director Chuck Todd agreed: "…
MSNBC's Sharpton Sees GOP 'War Against Healthy Children
On Thursday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, host Al Sharpton led his show bellowing about a "war" against First Lady Michelle Obama's school lunch nutrition efforts as he mocked Republicans for wanting to allow financially struggling school districts to delay implementing nutrition standards. With the words "GOP's War Against Healthy Children" on screen in the background, Sharpton began:
NBC's Today Promotes Michelle Obama's NYT Op-Ed
In an apparent effort to help bolster Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign and her advocacy for revamping the menu of the nation's public school cafeterias, NBC's Today show plugged the first lady's May 29 New York Times op-ed on the subject.
The peacock network hailed Mrs. Obama as one who typically avoids playing politics, but who has courageously decided to step in and make her voice heard…
NBC's Williams: Shouldn't NSA Be 'On Guard for A Perversion' of Survei
During a live webcast on NBCNews.com immediately following Wednesday's 10 p.m. ET airing of his interview with Edward Snowden, Nightly News anchor Brian Williams wondered why the National Security Agency was not more receptive to Snowden's claims of unconstitutional spying: "Knowing that in war powers times...the Bush administration use of war powers with Bush and Cheney, isn't the general…
LAT Reports (Now Corrected) That Plame Was Exposed by Libby, But Still
Monday afternoon, in an error which made it into the paper's Tuesday print edition, reporter Paul Richter at the Los Angeles Times, in a story on the Obama administration's inadvertent leak of a CIA director's name in Afghanistan, was apparently so bound and determined to include a "Bush did it too" comparison that he went with leftist folklore instead of actual history.
Specifically, Richter…
Michael Tomasky: More Fat, Dumb Kids Means More Republican Voters
Republicans want America's kids to be fat so they’ll grow up to be Republican voters! At least that's the fatuous argument from the Daily Beast's Michael Tomasky in a May 28 column, "Republicans for More Fat Kids."
Tomasky went on a blistering rant blasting an amendment offered by congressional Republicans which would simply delay the requirements for Michelle Obama’s school lunch program…
Chris Matthews: Hillary Clinton Should Be Above GOP 'Spit-balling
Now playing on MSNBC: “Hillary vs. the Haters!”
Opening his Tuesday evening episode of Hardball, host Chris Matthews kicked off by essentially whining about new comments from Karl Rove about potential 2016 candidate, Hillary Clinton. In the process he decried those ol' meanies in the GOP, seemingly forgetful that he himself has spewed all kinds of bile against conservative and Republicans…
CNN Touts Michelle Obama 'Taking on House' GOPers Who 'Could Make Your
Wednesday's New Day on CNN played up First Lady Michelle Obama "taking on House Republicans" because of a proposal to allow school districts to delay potentially expensive efforts to improve school lunch nutrition.
Two plugs forwarded the Obama anti-Republican spin, with the first suggesting that the GOP plan "could make your kids sick," and the second plug asking if Republicans are "playing…
Networks Cheer 'Gladiator' Michelle Obama Combating GOP 'Playing Polit
NBC, ABC, and CBS all hailed First Lady Michelle Obama attacking Republicans for trying to make her draconian school lunch mandate more flexible. At the top of Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed: "Food fight. Michelle Obama as we've rarely heard her before, returning to her campaign by accusing Republicans in Congress of playing politics with children's health." […
MSNBC Panel Uses Santa Barbara Shooting to Bash NRA, Push 'War on Wome
Elliot Rodger's spree shooting this weekend has given MSNBC an opening to flog two of its favorite pet causes – restricting gun rights and waging combat against the so-called war on women. Weekend anchors Alex Witt and Melissa Harris-Perry, to their credit, downplayed those two issues while discussing the tragedy on their respective Sunday shows.
But it was former DNC spokeswoman Karen…
