CNN's John Avlon Spins 'Birther' Issue Into 'Very Concerning' Problem
CNN contributor John Avlon, labeled an "independent," was all but sounding the death knell for 2012 Republican presidential hopes on CNN Thursday. Avlon took Republican criticism of notable figures such as Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, and Michele Bachmann and spun it to tout that the GOP is in trouble.
"This is the sound of Republicans getting nervous," Avlon ominously sounded. "It really…
'On Faith' Contributor Calls Paul Ryan Budget Supporters to Repentance
Are you a Christian who also is supportive of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan? Then you'd best repent of your sin and be renew your mind with the social gospel.
That's the pronouncement of liberal theologian Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite in an April 18 post at the Washington Post/Newsweek "On Faith" website.
Brooks Thistlethwaite -- who previously hit Tea Party conservatives as tribalistic --…
CNN Anchor 'Shocked' Congress Working to Open Up Offshore Drilling Wit
They may not be officially celebrating "Green Week," but CNN was fully in the spirit of the week Wednesday morning. Anchor Carol Costello expressed her dismay that Congress has not acted in the last year to prevent another disaster like the BP oil spill, and seemed to want more safety regulations and laws for oil companies to follow in a disaster.
"Congress doesn't seem to be in charge,"…
Obama Treasury Officials Unable to Deter S&P From Revising Credit Outl
Imagine it's April 2007 and President Bush's Treasury department lobbied unsuccessfully to deter credit analysts at Standard & Poor's from revising the credit outlook of the United States government from "stable" to "negative."
No doubt it would be front-page news as the election season was heating up and there's yet another piece of bad news to lay at the feet of Bush and the Republican…
Joy Behar: Bill O'Reilly Needs to Be Smacked Around
In an interview with liberal actress Shirley MacLaine, HLN's Joy Behar admitted that Bill O'Reilly "bullies you around a little bit" and suggested he needs to a figure to "smack him around" as the two women teed off on the popular Fox News host.
"Well, he is little bit intimidating as you say," Behar remarked to MacLaine confirming her . He bullies you a little bit, I think. I felt that." At…
AP's Kravitz the Creative Morphs Increase in Housing Starts Into 'New
The Associated Press's Derek Kravitz seems to have a difficult time quoting government statistics without rewording them. This is a far from harmless habit.
Tuesday, Kravitz the Creative reported on the Census Bureau's information release on March homebuilding industry activity. His first two paragraphs and the story's headline (y'know, the parts that are more likely to be read over the…
SF Chronicle's Lochhead Hits Republicans Over Pay Rate for Lawyer Defe
As part of its effort to "shore up" the backing of social conservatives, House Republicans today "issued a contract today to pay former Solicitor General Paul Clement $575 an hour, up to $500,000 to defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act," San Francisco Chronicle's Carolyn Lochhead insisted in the paper's Politics Blog.
"Republicans claim they will take the money out of the Justice…
'Morning Joe' Skips Over Potential Democrat Senate Candidate's Ties to
Former Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez is expected to be a Democratic contender in the Texas 2012 Senate race. However, when Politico's Mike Allen brought news of his probable candidacy to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Monday, he omitted the fact that Sanchez commanded the U.S. ground forces in Iraq while the infamous abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison took place.
Sanchez, when he retired from the Army…
AP's Condon Rips S&P's Record, Ignores Fannie Mae's, Freddie Mac's Sys
As night follows day, the press is beginning to go after a business entity which had the nerve to do its job and call attention to Uncle Sam's dire fiscal situation.
Standard and Poor's is presumably not 100% populated with angels, but it didn't deserve the gratuitous and ignorant shots fired at it this evening by the Associated Press's Bernard Condon and an "expert" he quoted. In attempting…
Popular Media Description of Coffee Party and Similar Tiny Lefty Group
Whoever is compiling a list of what journalists really believe when they put forth certain vague but commonly used phrases (e.g., using "some people believe" instead of truthfully saying "in my opinion") should consider adding the following: "small but vocal group" really means "a tiny bunch of people I agree with."
That's my assessment as I look at two uses of the term this past weekend,…
AP's Feller Asks Obama About Thursday 'Third World' Comment the Wire S
The Associated Press's Ben Feller interviewed President Obama on Friday. In the transcript, Feller interrupts Obama's long-winded response to his previous softball question ("Are the Republican leaders lacking compassion and they're pessimistic?") by beginning another question, which is shown as having been stopped before completion:
Q. You said they might lead us to third world -
It's…
AFP Pic Caption, Video Description: 'Tea Party Radicals Rally on Tax D
A photo taken at a Tea Party demonstration in Boston carried at Yahoo News carries the following caption (HT Powerline):
VIDEO: April 15 was tax day in the United States, and Tea Party radicals used it to stage demonstrations across the country, including near the site of the original Boston Tea Party revolt of the colonial era.
The photo was grabbed from an Agency France-Presse video with…
MRC's Bozell Hits Media's 'Sky Is Falling' Budget-Cut Bias on April
What the media like about President Obama's budget proposal over Rep. Paul Ryan's are the former's insistence on tax hikes, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell told the audience of Friday's "Fox & Friends."
"That's the part of deficit reduction they like" but "anytime anybody proposes any cut of any wasteful spending, the media are the first ones there to talk about the sky falling and…
Bozell, Hannity Tackle How Media Have Been Carrying Water for Obama on
Aside from ABC's Jake Tapper, where were the denunciations from the media of President Obama's uncivil, hyper-partisan speech on the budget the other day at George Washington University (GWU)?
That's a question that NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell asked on last night's "Media Mash" segment on Fox News Channel's "Hannity."
It was a speech that the president invited Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis…
