CNN's Legal Analyst Says Trayvon 'Got the Death Penalty for Buying Ski

CNN's senior legal analyst reacted to George Zimmerman's acquittal on Saturday by tweeting that Trayvon Martin "got the death penalty for buying Skittles in a hoodie." "I understand it, but still..." CNN's Jeffrey Toobin enigmatically added. He was joined by CNN host Piers Morgan in outrage. "I find it very hard to accept that it's 'lawful' to shoot an unarmed 17yr-old boy dead as he walks…
Matt Hadro
July 15th, 2013 11:16 AM

Greta Van Susteren Smacks Down Atlanta Falcons Star: 'Do You Think He

Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Roddy White made some disgraceful tweets Saturday in response to the George Zimmerman verdict. On Sunday, Fox News's Greta Van Susteren smacked White down writing, "Do You Think He Watched the Entire Trial? Or Did He Just Take Sides?":
Noel Sheppard
July 15th, 2013 10:38 AM

Politico's Haberman Lets Bloomberg Rant About 'Shoot First' Laws Which

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was predictably unhappy with Saturday's verdict in the George Zimmerman case. He used it as an opportunity to go after what he calls "shoot first" laws, which people in the real world refer to as "stand your ground" laws. It was an irrelevant rant, as Politico's Maggie Haberman pointed out: "In the Zimmerman case, neither the defense nor the prosecution…
Tom Blumer
July 15th, 2013 10:12 AM

Krugman: GOP 'Takes Positive Glee in Inflicting Further Suffering on t

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman takes positive glee in attacking Republicans on almost a daily basis. In a piece published Monday entitled "Hunger Games, USA," Krugman disgracefully said the GOP "takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable":
Noel Sheppard
July 15th, 2013 9:56 AM

Scarborough Condemns 'Hyperbolic' Reaction To Zimmerman Verdict—Igno

Joe Scarborough might want to reflect on people in glass houses, casting the first stone, beam in your eye—all the adages counseling against hypocrisy, against condemning others for sins without considering one's own wrongs. In a Politico piece brimming with self-righteousness, Scarborough bemoans the "vulgar state" of American politics and condemns "hyperbolic political pronouncements"…
Mark Finkelstein
July 15th, 2013 8:05 AM

WashPost Critic Hails Boy Scout-Bashing Monologue Titled 'How To Be a

Washington Post drama critic Peter Marks is always a sucker for gay leftist expression about oppression at the theater, so he was intrigued by a one-man show at the Capital Fringe Festival about the Boy Scouts. It was called “How To Be a Terrorist.” The Post’s headline on Monday was simply “‘Terrorist’: A winning, offbeat monologue. Scout’s honor.” Jimmy Grzelak, who calls himself a “mad…
Tim Graham
July 15th, 2013 7:29 AM

Celebrity Reactions to Zimmerman Verdict Range From 'Hallelujah!' to J

In the hours after George Zimmerman was found not guilty on Saturday evening of any crimes in his shooting of the black 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, many famous people quickly expressed their views on the Twitter social website regarding the trial and the verdict. The celebrities ranged from a conservative columnist who cried “Hallelujah!” to a football star who posted that the members of the…
Randy Hall
July 15th, 2013 12:50 AM

Not News at AP or Politico: DOJ's Involvement in Ginning Up Anti-Zimme

Imagine if -- and you'd have to imagine it, because it never happened -- the George W. Bush administration had sent members of its Justice Department to a city where a black man charged with murder was claiming self-defense in the killing of a non-African-American for the purposes of ginning up protests against the accused. Establishment press coverage and would have been justifiably intense…
Tom Blumer
July 14th, 2013 11:54 PM

Candy Crowley to Democrat Guest: 'Do You Think the American Justice Sy

As NewsBusters has been reporting the past 24 hours, the media have been having a hard time hiding their disappointment about the George Zimmerman verdict. Showing what side she's on in this debate, CNN's Candy Crowley on Sunday's State of the Union asked Governor Pat Quinn (D-Ill.), "Do you think that the American justice system is innately racist?" (video follows with transcript and…
Noel Sheppard
July 14th, 2013 8:03 PM

Flashback: HBO Newsroom’s Sanctimonious Tea Party as the Taliban Ran

HBO’s The Newsroom debuts its second season tonight (Sunday) at 10 PM EDT/PDT. The preachy and sanctimonious left-wing dialogue from creator/writer Aaron Sorkin often came across as unintentional near-parody of MSNBC’s old Countdown with Keith Olbermann, none more so than in the self-righteous commentary delivered by anchor “Will McAvoy,” played by Jeff Daniels, in the first season finale. “…
Brent Baker
July 14th, 2013 7:55 PM

Zimmerman Will Move ‘ASAP’ on Lawsuit Against NBC for Fraudulent A

Now that he has successfully defended himself from criminal charges brought against him by the state of Florida for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman is going to resume a lawsuit he filed several months earlier against NBC News. Launched in the midst of the state prosecution against him by a separate civil team, the lawsuit is a defamation claim alleging that NBC…
Matthew Sheffield
July 14th, 2013 6:47 PM

WashPost TV Critic Punches Hard: 'Honey Boo Boo' Is Far Better than HB

Washington Post TV critic Hank Stuever sure knows how to puncture the arrogance of HBO. On Sunday, he compared “The Newsrooom” to TLC’s “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” and likes the redneck reality show much better. Ouch. Stuever reported “Both shows are back again this week, but only one seems unscathed and completely sure of itself.” It’s not the Jeff Daniels-plays-Olbermann show:
Tim Graham
July 14th, 2013 6:00 PM

Mark O’Mara: Before I Knew Him, I Thought George Zimmerman Was Racis

Thanks to the media’s habit of showing beatific, outdated photos of Trayvon Martin, many Americans who only casually followed the trial of George Zimmerman incorrectly believed Martin to have been younger than he actually was at the time of his death. In a Friday interview, Zimmerman’s lead defense attorney, Mark O’Mara admitted that he was one of them. Speaking with CNN correspondent Martin…

Matthew Sheffield
July 14th, 2013 5:02 PM

Zimmerman Convinced the Jury But Not the Media

Last night, just before the stroke of 10, a jury of his peers found George Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter. He is a free man — sort of. If you’re wondering about the qualification, the Associated Press sheds some light on it:
Howard Portnoy
July 14th, 2013 2:32 PM