Government shutdown

 ABC on Thursday night took a victory lap in its effort to blame congressional Republicans for the government shutdown. World News reporter Jeff Zeleny and other journalists at the network phoned all the House and Senate GOP members who opposed the deal to reopen the federal government. These reporters demanded to know if the lawmakers would give back the salary they earned during the 16-day…

Well, the federal government has been reopened and the debt ceiling has been raised, but to hear CBS’s Bob Schieffer tell it, you would think the United States just made it through another civil war. On Friday’s CBS This Morning, Schieffer compared the recent shutdown haggle to America’s bloodiest war. The chief Washington correspondent was on the program to discuss the aftermath of the…

As the government shutdown was nearing it's end Wednesday evening, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams conducted a live interview with John McCain, urging the Arizona Senator to slam fellow Republicans over the budget showdown: "Senator, let's talk about the damage in order, to the country, to your party, your profession, and how much of this do you lay at the feet of Senator Cruz from Texas…

Liberal historian Douglas Brinkley said President Obama has a "steel backbone" and hailed him as a "firewall president" in a Thursday afternoon segment on CNN. "And you saw that in this crisis, the steel backbone of Barack Obama, that's what history's seeing him as, the firewall progressive," Brinkley fawned over the President. He also offered this pathetic excuse for Obama's "forceful" tone…

The Washington Post was in Gloating Mode on Thursday against Republicans. The front page of the free Express tabloid showed an elephant’s trunk waving a white flag. The headline: "IT'S OVER. FOR NOW." (Somehow, they failed to show Obama waving a white flag when he “solved” Syria’s chemical-weapons problem.) On page 3 was a nasty Associated Press article by Donna Cassata on how a selfish Ted Cruz…

Norah "we shouldn't editorialize" O'Donnell boosted President Obama mere seconds after the liberal politician finished his Thursday presser about the end of the partial government shutdown. The CBS anchor claimed that Obama was trying to "be, sort of, the grown-up in the room, and to look forward and say, here are the three ways we can now work together. " O'Donnell later asserted that the…

Teasing an upcoming softball interview with Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell wondered: "Does she now hold all the cards after President Obama says the Speaker has lost control?" Mitchell later introduced Pelosi by proclaiming: "John Boehner is gonna have to turn to the Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to save the country from default, to put up…

For millions of Americans, big political contests such as presidential elections and pivotal congressional hearings are still largely witnessed through the lens of ABC’s, CBS’s and NBC’s evening newscasts. According to Nielsen Research, more than 20 million viewers tuned in over the past two weeks for the Big Three’s take on the shutdown drama. What those viewers heard, according to a just-…

Like many dim-witted but well-dressed people, MSNBC host Martin Bashir fancies himself a rather intelligent chap. He’s also got a penchant for making outrageous comparisons of people that he hates to historical figures that everyone else abhors. The low-rated British import displayed his talent for extreme analogies on his program Wednesday evening as he seriously compared Republican senator Ted…

Viewers of Fox News Channel's popular weeknight Hannity program got an unwelcome surprise during the Tuesday edition of the show, when liberal contributor Jehmu Greene tried to be funny by asking: “If [GOP Texas senator] Ted Cruz and [House majority leader] John Boehner were both on a sinking ship, who would be saved?” Her shocking answer: “America.” As you might expect, it didn't take long…

 After spending days trashing the Republican Party as guilty of "treason" and "economic terrorism," left-wing MSNBC anchor Ed Schultz on Wednesday spotlighted the Taliban's criticism of the shutdown. The host lectured that "no matter what the final outcome of the showdown is...damage to our global reputation has already been done." He then proceeded to showcase international attacks on America.…

Ever eager to dutifully further White House spin, veteran Obama apologist Lynn Sweet hacked out a blog post this afternoon lamenting that "Michelle Obama’s White House garden [is] a weed-filled wreck, victim of shutdown." Sweet set out to convince readers that while the White House veggie garden was the first lady's "signature project," she was powerless to thwart the ravages of Mother Nature as…

It’s no secret that the liberal media sympathize with the Democrats’ position on the current government shutdown (and on most policy matters, really). Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown underscored that point on Tuesday’s PBS NewsHour when she spun the failure of a House bill as a net positive because it was what Democrats were hoping for. Brown was making a guest appearance on the NewsHour to…

  As the government shutdown neared its end, ABC's Jon Karl put the blame totally on House Republicans and allowed Barack Obama to escape responsibility. According to Karl on Tuesday night's World News, "...After bringing the economy to the brink, the Republicans, the conservatives who drove this, will have nothing to show for it." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] On Wednesday's Good Morning…