Latest Blogs

The Sunday New York Times devoted a 2,300-word front-page story by Trip Gabriel helpfully reminding everyone that the Romneys are really really rich. The ostensible subject of the pointless piece, "In Rarefied Sport, a View of the Romneys’ World," was Ann Romney's participation in "dressage," "in which horses costing up to seven figures execute pirouettes and other dancelike moves for riders…

Comparing conservatives to Hitler is old-and-busted. The new hotness, if you ask Martin Bashir, is comparing them to Stalin. A few months ago, you may recall, Bashir compared Rick Santorum to the long-dead Soviet dictator. Now it's the state of Florida, more specifically, the conservative Republican Rick Scott, who is getting the honors. "Why is the Sunshine State in the midst of a purge that…

Prompted by an article on NewsBusters, Jon Stewart on Tuesday felt compelled to defend his 2000 concession that he is a "socialist." The Daily Show host recounted the stir created by Roger Ailes after the Fox News president mentioned the comic's socialism. On May 24th, NewsBusters posted video of Stewart on CNN in 2000. In the clip, the comedian admitted, "I'm more of a socialist or an…

After the jump is a graphic from Investor's Business Daily comparing post-recession consumer confidence readings from the Conference Board during the Reagan and Obama administrations. See it there or see it below, because you probably won't see it at any establishment press web site or in any of their publications. What's remarkable about the graphic is how confidence was able to stay at or…

The latest Times Sunday Magazine featured a 5,000-word story keyed to the Wisconsin recall election pitting Republican Gov. Scott Walker against Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, who Walker beat in the actual election in 2010. Contributor Dan Kaufman proposed to explain how Wisconsin politics got so rancorous: "Land of Cheese and Rancor – How did Wisconsin get to be the most politically divisive…

Rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West have once again expressed their love of gratuitous violence. The pair has released a new music video, “No Church in the Wild,” depicting a violent riot, with police and rioters engaging in full-scale mayhem.   “No Church in the Wild” opens with a protestor throwing a Molotov cocktail at police. The violence only escalates from there; the video is a patchwork…

According to Thomas Roberts, Vice President Biden is a political god who deserves no criticism.  That’s the message the host sent to former Rick Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley on MSNBC Live Tuesday.  The two men were discussing the political implications for Mitt Romney attending a fundraiser with Donald Trump when Gidley compared the bombastic Trump to gaffe-prone Vice President Biden. "…

In a related development, the Republican National Committee is extending heartfelt thanks to Ed Schultz for his help with their get-out-the-vote efforts. Further confirmation that the June 5 recall election in Wisconsin has liberals more spooked than usual was provided yesterday courtesy of radio host and MSNBC flamethrower Ed Schultz. (audio clip after page break)

Michelle Obama is out with a new book about the White House vegetable garden and Krissah Thompson of the Washington Post is doing her level best playing book publicist. "One of Michelle Obama's early worries about life in the White House had to do with a plot of land," Thompson gushed in the lead paragraph of today's page A4 story. "[T]he first lady found herself fretting over whether her…

Birtherism really makes Jake Tapper mad. The Good Morning America journalist on Wednesday angrily attacked the untrue conspiracy theory as "bizarre," "fact-free" "nonsense." Tapper highlighted Donald Trump's support of Mitt Romney and warned that Republicans think the real estate mogul "undercuts his seriousness and suggests [Romney is] not willing to stand up to even the most offensive and…

At the top of Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer worked to tarnish Mitt Romney officially becoming the GOP Nominee: "Mitt Romney secures the Republican presidential nomination....But will his ongoing relationship with Donald Trump overshadow his big moment? As Trump plays the birther card once again." Moments later, Lauer continued to rain on Romney's achievement: "...even as he basks…

CNN was on the "birther" beat Tuesday night after Romney surrogate Donald Trump kept espousing the conspiracy, and the former GOP governor of New Hampshire excoriated the network on Wednesday morning's Starting Point for its "fixation" with a non-story. "Aren't you embarrassed to be speaking directly from the Obama speaking points that they distributed yesterday?" John Sununu challenged…

The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss -- who sends her daughters to private schools -- lashed out recently in her The Answer Sheet blog against Mitt Romney's ideas for education reform, in which school vouchers are a central piece. Romney's ideas are predicated on "an ideology that demonizes unions." Strauss complained in her May 24 post -- which was also printed in the May 28 Washington Post…

In a generally even-handed report on yesterday's drop in consumer confidence as reported by the Conference Board (from a revised 68.7 to 64.9, vs. expectations of a rise to 69.6, according to Bloomberg), the Associated Press's Mae Anderson, with assistance from Christopher Rugaber, engaged in a bit of excuse-making in and downplaying in their later paragraphs. The AP pegged its water-down to…