Daily Kos Week in Review: Into the Wild at CPAC

This year, Daily Kos seems to be paying more attention than usual to CPAC, to the extent that the site has sent one of its principal writers, Hunter, to cover the event. His posts so far have combined politics, sociology, and a bit of anthropology, as if he were saying to himself, "Who are these strange creatures called 'conservatives'? To find out, I observed them in their natural habitat…
Tom Johnson
March 16th, 2013 6:28 AM

ABC Touts 'Staunch Traditionalist' Pope Francis; CBS Highlights Persec

On Thursday's World News, ABC News correspondent Terry Moran acted like it was a big surprise that newly-elected Pope Francis stands by the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality: "Now, as the world comes to know him, it turns out, on many issues, Pope Francis is a staunch traditionalist. He compared abortion to a death sentence; called gay marriage 'destructive of God's plan.'" By…
Matthew Balan
March 15th, 2013 6:24 PM

Scarborough Rips Ted Cruz as ‘Ignorant’ for Arguing Feinstein Gun

[UPDATE BELOW: Cruz's office responds.] MSNBC's Joe Scarborough unleashed a vitriolic tirade against the left-wing media’s new favorite punching bag, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), on Friday’s Morning Joe. Incensed at Cruz’s questioning of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Scarborough attacked the freshman senator as “ignorant” five times. MSNBC’s resident RINO…
Paul Bremmer
March 15th, 2013 5:51 PM

Sloppy: CNN's Lemon Ignores Ted Cruz's Own Words and Hits Him as 'Inac

[UPDATE BELOW: Cruz's office responds] CNN's Don Lemon smacked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) on Friday for being "inaccurate" and "misleading" in grilling Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the Second Amendment. Lemon didn't provide any transcript or video of what Cruz actually said, and it turns out he was the one being "inaccurate" and "misleading." First, Lemon falsely claimed that Cruz argued…
Matt Hadro
March 15th, 2013 5:22 PM

WaPo: Man Behind '47 Percent' Video a Partisan Democrat, Contrary to C

Scott Prouty is the man behind the now infamous “47 percent” video that the media hyped to bring down Mitt Romney’s presidential bid.  It’s unbearably stale news at this point, but MSNBC’s Ed Schultz found a fresh hook for resurrecting it recently on his soon-to-be-defunct weeknight program. Prouty insisted that Romney’s invitation to speak at CPAC prompted him to come out of hiding and in the…
Matt Vespa
March 15th, 2013 5:19 PM

'Liberal Intellectual' Chris Hayes's 'Well-Regarded...Thoughtful' MSNB

New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter's Friday story -- adapted from a longer post on his "Media Decoder" blog -- relayed the changing of the prime time guard at the nation's most liberal news channel: "Weekend Host Chris Hayes to Take Over 8 P.M. Slot on MSNBC." Stelter praised Hayes for his "well-regarded morning program," crediting it for "long, thoughtful conversations about politics…
Clay Waters
March 15th, 2013 2:49 PM

NYT's Kim Severson Chides 'Fat' Mississippians for Rejecting Food Regu

New York Times Atlanta bureau chief (and foodie) Kim Severson got rather insulting while writing about a new Mississippi law forbidding any locality from making rules on food size or content, passed in the wake of NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg's thwarted attempt to limit the size of sugary drinks New Yorkers could order: "'Anti-Bloomberg Bill' in Mississippi Bars Local Restrictions on Food and Drink…
Clay Waters
March 15th, 2013 2:15 PM

Ed Schultz: ‘I Don’t Think MSNBC Has Slighted Me

Golly, what an upbeat guy MSNBC’s Ed Schultz is! If anyone else in broadcast “journalism” had just been handed a one-way ticket from primetime to Siberia, he’d probably be distraught. But not the roly-poly Schultz. He used the waning seconds of his last weekday-at-8:00 appearance not to wax nostalgic and thank loyal viewers but to say this:
Howard Portnoy
March 15th, 2013 12:39 PM

NBC: Portman Joins 'Growing List' of Republicans for Gay Marriage as G

On Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer touted "breaking news" that Ohio Senator Rob Portman, "a leading figure in the Republican Party," was now in favor of gay marriage after learning that his son was gay. Leading off the report that followed, White House correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed that Portman "...is now joining a growing list of Republicans to come out in support of gay…
Kyle Drennen
March 15th, 2013 11:40 AM

Conservative Cartoonist Ramirez Faults Biased Media, Timid Romney for

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- President Obama won reelection in part because the liberal media insulated the chief executive from his horrible first-term record, conservative cartoonist Michael Ramirez told attendees at CPAC 2013. Ramirez narrated instances of the media's bias by omission over images of editorial cartoons from the 2012 election season, eliciting chuckles from the crowd.
Ken Shepherd
March 15th, 2013 11:32 AM

CNN's Costello Pesters CPAC Chair About Inclusion of Gay Republicans

CNN's Carol Costello spent her entire interview with the CPAC chairman badgering him about the inclusion of gay Republicans in the conference. A few minutes before, Costello had led off the 9 a.m. hour of Newsroom touting GOP Senator Rob Portman (Ohio) and his newfound support for gay marriage. "Will CPAC ever change its position and allow gay Republicans to sit at the table?" she pressed…
Matt Hadro
March 15th, 2013 11:30 AM

MSNBC’s Richard Lui to GOP Rep on Gay Marriage: ‘What If One of Yo

MSNBC’s gay marriage advocacy continued unabated on Friday. Speaking with Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Ut.) on March 15, host Richard Lui asked the congressman if his support for traditional marriage would change if “one of your children were to be gay.” Lui’s question came following the Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announcement that his son is gay and that he now supports same-sex marriage…
Jeffrey Meyer
March 15th, 2013 11:23 AM

Bozell and Hannity Mock Media's Embrace of Obama's 'Charm Offensive

Media Research Center President Brent Bozell and Sean Hannity mocked journalists for cynically embracing the idea that Barack Obama is leading a "charm offensive" to win over congressional Republicans. Appearing on the March 14 Hannity, Bozell incredulously pointed out, "So he invites Republicans over for lunch a couple of times or dinner, and somebody uses the magic word, charm offensive, and…
NB Staff
March 15th, 2013 10:28 AM

MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski and NYT’s Frank Bruni Decry Catholic Church

Now that the new pope has been chosen, the life of the Catholic Church continues– and so does the liberal media’s effort to persuade the Church to change its traditions. On Thursday’s Morning Joe, co-host Mika Brzezinski complained, “Secrecy that surrounds the traditions of the Catholic Church -- it’s a recipe for disaster.... There is a lot of work ahead and some serious changes that need to…
Paul Bremmer
March 15th, 2013 10:23 AM