MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Praises John Kasich's ObamaCare Stance

During Thursday night's MSNBC coverage of the Republican presidential debate, Andrea Mitchell praised Ohio Governor John Kasich’s defense of expanding Medicaid in his state: "Kasich's defense of taking the Medicaid money was absolutely a great defense. It could sell with Republican primary voters and it is terrific for a general election candidate."
Spencer Raley

NYT's Dargis Offers Summer Movie Bummer: 'Wide Diversity Gap' in Films

Thursday's New York Times delivered yet another summer-movie bummer from Manohla Dargis, the paper's most doctrinaire liberal movie critic. Dargis, previously stuck on counting the number of women in movies, is expanding her film interests to include counting old people, gays, and minorities. Yes, it's a non-stop thrill ride in "Report Finds Wide Diversity Gap Among 2014’s Top-Grossing Films."
Clay Waters

First GOP Debate Open Thread

At our moderators' request, here is a First GOP Debate Open Thread. Online votes show Carly Fiorina was the winner in a landslide in the first "junior varsity" debate. Share your views on the candidates and the moderators  with us.
NB Staff

ABC Ignores 5 p.m. GOP Debate; CBS Omits Carly’s Line on Trump/Clinton

On Thursday’s network evening programs, ABC’s World News Tonight was the only newscast to make no mention of the 5:00 p.m. EDT debate between the bottom seven Republican presidential contenders ahead of the 9:00 p.m. EDT event featuring the top ten candidates. In addition, the CBS Evening News skipped Carly Fiorina’s attack on fellow candidate Donald Trump for his phone call with Bill Clinton. 
Curtis Houck

Carly Fiorina Shows How to Push Back Against Matthews on 'Hardball'

Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina has to be Chris Matthews's worst nightmare: a conservative who punches back hard and doesn't let Chris control the narrative during his interview. Watch this exchange from the August 6 edition of Hardball.
Ken Shepherd

Liberals, Newseum Honor Jon Stewart as 'Walter Cronkite of His Time'

Even before Jon Stewart hosted his final edition of The Daily Show on the Comedy Central cable television channel, liberal journalists announced on Thursday that they "are thrilled" to celebrate his 16 years as host, when he “often blurred the lines between news, satire and comedy,” according to a press release from the Newseum in Washington, D.C. “Today, the Newseum announced it will acquire…
Randy Hall

Silent No More: Univision Carries Planned Parenthood’s Water

And behold, the Center for Medical Progress opened the fifth seal, and thus came forth the most horrific revelations to date in the ongoing Planned Parenthood scandal, with talk of “intact fetal cadavers”, “just another line item” and the most damning admissions of apparent illegality to date. And lo, Univision News has at long last seen fit to come off the sidelines, albeit with entirely…
Jorge Bonilla

Chris Matthews Hopes Fox Asks GOP Candidates About Evolution

During MSNBC’s 4 p.m. ET hour pre-debate coverage on Thursday, Hardball host Chris Matthews called on Fox News moderators to grill the Republican presidential candidates on evolution: “So I would like to think that Fox is just brazen enough to ask some – what they call bizarre questions....If a person doesn’t believe in science or evolution or the evidence of our life on this earth, that’s a bad…
Kyle Drennen

O'Malley Flack Zings WashPost's Sargent For Opposing Primary Debates

"Just stop this, @MartinOMalley," sneered Greg Sargent on Twitter earlier today, reacting to an O'Malley aide's complaint about the DNC rigging the primary debate process in favor of frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Lis Smith of the O'Malley camp quickly shot back that it was "not a good look" for a "journalist" like Sargent to oppose "more debates and dialogue."
Ken Shepherd

CBS Sneers: U.S. Worse Than Micronesia on Maternity Leave

On Wednesday, the CBS Evening News complained about the U.S. maternity polices and unfavorably compared America to Micronesia and Tonga. Anchor Scott Pelley noted Netflix's decision allow a year of leave. Reporter Jim Axelrod then chided: "The U.S. is the only western developed country not requiring companies to offer paid maternity leave, joining countries like Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, and…
Scott Whitlock

Lois Lerner Considered Targeting Bristol Palin, Nets Skip

Bristol Palin was once in Lois Lerner’s sights, according to a newly released Senate report on the IRS executive’s e-mails. The daughter of liberal media hate object Sarah Palin got on Lerner's radar due to her work with Candie’s Foundation - a group that works to reduce teen pregnancy. In a newly released e-mail Lerner wrote: “Thoughts on the Bristol Palin issue? I’m asking because I don’t know…
Geoffrey Dickens

Name That Party: Daily Beast Omits Kathleen Kane's Dem Affiliation

The top law-enforcement officer in the Keystone State, Democrat Kathleen Kane, is in trouble for allegedly abusing the powers of her office. Yet in briefly noting the story in their Cheat Sheet digest on Thursday, the Daily Beast omitted any reference to her party affiliation.

Ken Shepherd

Andrea Mitchell: Planned Parenthood Debate ‘Not Very Fact-Based’

On her Thursday MSNBC show, host Andrea Mitchell fretted that Republican candidates would be not be properly “fact-checked” during the upcoming presidential debate, especially on the Planned Parenthood scandal: “...one of the issues is going to be whether there's going to be any fact checking by the moderators. Certainly we can all do it later after the fact. But the Planned Parenthood debate has…
Kyle Drennen

CNN Touts Anti-GOP Twitter Mockery, Suggestions GOPers are Clowns

On Thursday's CNN Newsroom, after showing several clips allegedly showing GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush to be "gaffe prone," anchor Carol Costello somehow thought it newsworthy to read and display on air some of the Twitter mockery of Bush and the other Republican candidates, including a suggestion that they are a group of clowns.
Brad Wilmouth