Name That Party: He's a Mayor Accused of Soliciting Sex From Child
Mayor Gary Becker of Racine, Wisconsin, received some unwanted attention from the Old Media and the local police today because of his arrest for using a computer to solicit sex from a child. According to the Associated Press, Becker is "tentatively charged with attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, child enticement, possession of child pornography, exposing a child to harmful…
AP Slammed Bush’s ‘Extravagant’ Inaugural in ’05, But Now It
Four years ago, the Associated Press and others in the press suggested it was in poor taste for Republicans to spend $40 million on President Bush’s inauguration. AP writer Will Lester calculated the impact that kind of money would have on armoring Humvees in Iraq, helping victims of the tsunami, or paying down the deficit. Lester thought the party should be cancelled: “The questions have come…
Geithner Update: AP's Early-AM Revision Flushes Many Details, Calls Hi
In a post last night, I criticized the Associated Press for glossing over the 15 years of personal and domestic self-employment tax filing and payment problems of Timothy Geithner, Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary (pictured at right in an AP photo). It turns out that Brett Blackledge's Tuesday evening report was relatively hard-hitting in comparison to Julie Hirschfeld Davis's…
Treasury Nominee Geithner's Tax Problems Getting the Glossover Treatme
Jan. 14 Update: "AP's Early-AM Revision Flushes Many Details, Calls His Tax Problems 'Goofs'" Timothy Geithner, pictured at right in an AP photo, is Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary. Mr. Geithner will, among many other duties, oversee the Internal Revenue Service.How odd, to say the least, that Mr. Geithner has had persistent tax filing and payment problems going back over 15 years…
Matthews: Media Shouldn't Cover RNC Criticism of Hillary
Now that Barack Obama is assuming the presidency, partisan criticism is suddenly so passé. Just ask Chris Matthews. In the course of cheerleading anchoring the MSNBC coverage of Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearing today, Matthews suggested that the media shouldn't cover the Republican National Committee's criticism of Clinton. The comments came during the Hardball host's chat with Newsweek's…
Morning Joe Mocks Olbermann's Special Comment Rants
Far be it from me to sow discord in MSNBC ranks, to stir up old animosities between colleagues there. But if Joe Scarborough is going to do a mocking imitation of Keith Olbermann in full Special Comment rant, well then, blogging ethics compel me to report it.The jumping-off point on Morning Joe today was Eugene Robinson's current WaPo column. After claiming that he didn't want to kick the…
Barney-Bashing: GMA Kicks W's Dog
On a day when GMA ran two warm-'n-fuzzy items about Barack Obama, the ABC show found yet another way to hit President Bush—literally and figuratively stooping to bash Barney, the presidential pooch. Relying on some ambiguous remarks by an aide to Pres. Bush, weekend co-anchor Bill Weir declared that "Barney's a jerk" and "everyone hates him."View video here.Weir teased the segment in the show's…
Smith Wants Israel Stopped
We all know that for months, Harry Smith has been demanding that the international community force Hamas to stop shooting thousands of rockets into civilian areas of Israel. So Smith speaks with unique moral authority now in calling for Israel to be stopped.Oh, wait. As far as I know, Smith never uttered a peep of protest over the Hamas bombardment of Israel. But that didn't prevent the Early…
NYT on Medicare: Obama's Benign 'Overhaul' vs. GOP's Scary 'Big Cuts
With a liberal Democrat coming to power, the New York Times has evidently gotten over the false fear of "big cuts" in Medicare it displayed when Republicans tried to trim the program back in 1995. Thursday's lead story by Jeff Zeleny and John Harwood, "Obama Promises Bid To Overhaul Retiree Spending," characterized the president-elect's stated willingness to tackle huge entitlement programs…
Black Congressman Accuses Senate of Racism, Media Mostly Mum
If the Senate was currently controlled by Republicans, and a black Congressman, in response to Roland Burris not being seated as president-elect Barack Obama's replacement Tuesday, accused that body of racism, do you think media would have reported it?Probably every hour on the hour, right?Well, on Tuesday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) said: "I believe sincerely that if Roland Burris had not been an…
MRC's/NB's Motley on Fox & Friends to Ponder the Media's 'Culture(s) o
Media Research Center Director of Communications and NewsBusters.org Contributing Editor Seton Motley appeared on this morning's Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel to discuss the egregious media double standard when it comes to Republicans and Democrats misbehaving. Motley pointed to the media's incessant chant in 2006, the "Republican Culture of Corruption," and noted that no such…
Suddenly Puritanical Shuster: Bristol & Levi 'Unwed Parents
He stopped short of demanding they be branded with a scarlet 'U.' But the suddenly puritanical David Shuster insists that the proper term for Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston is "unwed parents."Shuster rendered his verdict on this evening's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the MSNBC show he's been hosting since David Gregory parted for Meet The Press. Shuster teased the issue at the top of the program,…
'Today' Replaces Banned/Bumped Ann Coulter with Rachel Maddow
Presumably a last minute replacement for the possibly NBC banned Ann Coulter, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow appeared on Tuesday's "Today" show to drop invective about the Bush administration's "torture" policies. Instead of the rousing bit of Barack Obama bashing and criticism of the fawning coverage of him by the liberal media that would've surely been delivered by Coulter, "Today" viewers were…
'My Job Is To Watch The White House Like A Hawk
Liberal journalism professor Jay Rosen was puzzled when Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin wondered aloud whether he and other journalists should be skeptical of Barack Obama. Conservative blogger Jon Henke was downright flabbergasted: I'm not sure I understand why this is even a question. Indeed, it would seem to me that it would be grounds for immediate dismissal. "Immediate dismissal"…
