Open Thread: You Thought the Bailouts Were Over

NB Staff
August 9th, 2010 8:59 AM

Spain Trip: Todd Senses 'Something More' Happening Behind Scenes With

"Uncomfortable" was the word of the day at Morning Joe when it came to discussing Michelle Obama's decision to go on a luxurious Spanish vacation in the midst of a recession—and to miss celebrating her husband's birthday with him to boot.Chuck Todd didn't go into details, but NBC's clearly ill-at-ease political director suggested: that this was a "private decision" by the First Lady; that…
Mark Finkelstein
August 9th, 2010 8:21 AM

After MSNBC Mocks Angle for Expecting Fox Info Plugs, Ed Schultz Boast

Last Wednesday, Chris Matthews wildly attacked Fox for acting like "stooges" for Republican candidates like Sharron Angle to come on and promote their candidacies. It turns out that on the very same day on his national radio show, Ed Schultz was talking up how excited he was for "stooge" work for the Democrats on MSNBC:   I'm excited about the fact that now that I've been at MSNBC for over a year…
Tim Graham
August 9th, 2010 7:03 AM

Juan Williams: Missouri's Anti-ObamaCare Ballot Irrelevant - Only Old

Juan Williams on Sunday said the passage of Missouri's anti-ObamaCare ballot initiative last week is irrelevant because only older white people voted for it.Discussing the issue on "Fox News Sunday," the liberal FNC contributor said, "As far as the Missouri vote, you get 70 percent inside an echo chamber of older white people, no not in St. Louis not in Kansas City, saying, 'Oh yeah, we don't…
Noel Sheppard
August 8th, 2010 11:50 PM

Establishment Press Ignores Counterpunch Accusations That Sherrods Mis

What follows was eminently predictable, but noting it is nonetheless necessary. Shirley Sherrod, and to a lesser extent her husband Charles, were media celebrities for a while in late July. Readers might have noticed their near absence from establishment media news reports during the past seven days. It would be easy to think that this has occurred because the story played itself out, with…
Tom Blumer
August 8th, 2010 7:53 PM

Rosie O'Donnell's Staffer: Ground Zero Mosque Opponents Like Nazis

On Wednesday's edition of Rosie Radio on Sirius/XM satellite radio, Rosie O'Donnell's staffers sounded more radical than Rosie on the topic of the Ground Zero mosque proposal: "GOOGLE PETE" MELE (staffer): I get very angry at [opposition to the mosque]...It is beyond un-American.  BOBBY PEARCE (staffer): Right. I agree.MELE: ...This sort of persecution, blindly, of one group is what was going on…
Tim Graham
August 8th, 2010 7:11 PM

'Face the Nation': Supreme Court Upholding Same-sex Marriage 'Enormous

Analysts that spend their time critiquing the media normally don't have very good things to say about what they observe these days, but the final segment of Sunday's "Face the Nation" on CBS was a marvelous exception.Substitute host John Dickerson invited on the network's chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford and the Washington Post's Dan Balz for a refreshingly open and honest discussion of two…
Noel Sheppard
August 8th, 2010 7:06 PM

Sarah Palin Signs On to RNC Fundraising Letter

So Allah has a couple of theories about why Sarah Palin would sign a fundraising letter for the RNC:Fast-forward to today and suddenly she's signing letters on their behalf. What gives? Two theories. One: She's turned out to be such a good soldier and is so favorably disposed to Michael Steele that she's willing to do a fundraising favor for an organization that desperately needs one right now to…
Melissa Clouthier
August 8th, 2010 3:50 PM

Harris on 'This Week': Giving Bush Credit for Iraq Too Much for Obama

Christiane Amanpour on Sunday asked a rather surprising question of her "This Week" panel concerning President Obama's speech earlier in the week about the troop draw down in Iraq: Do you think everybody is taking a lot of credit but not giving credit where credit is due?Obviously, "everybody" in this instance meant the current White House resident who chose not to give credit to former President…
Noel Sheppard
August 8th, 2010 3:07 PM

Arizona Must Be Wondering: 'Why Have Laws

Anytime La Raza or any of the other Latino immigration groups start to define our illegal problem, they inform us that the aliens streaming across our southern border are just hardworking folks looking for a better life for them and their families.Well I'll submit to you that it isn't mom, dad and grandma climbing those high border fences with the razor wire at the top. It takes an able-bodied,…
Charlie Daniels
August 8th, 2010 2:40 PM

Maddow Guest Harris-Lacewell Describes Abortion Providers as 'Terminat

That's odd, those describing themselves as pro-choice usually aren't this candid when it comes to abortion.On her MSNBC show Thursday night, Rachel Maddow spoke with Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell about Republican Senate candidates Rand Paul, Sharron Angle and Ken Buck opposing abortion, including for pregnancies conceived through rape or incest.Harris-Lacewell said this in response…
Jack Coleman
August 8th, 2010 1:50 PM

Amanpour Elevates British Journalist Who Sees ‘Culture of Hate’ in

Christiane Amanpour elevated a liberal British journalist, with little U.S. television experience, to the This Week roundtable where she presumed the government must run the economy and distribute the economic pie while she took pot shots at how the efforts to control illegal immigration proves America’s descent into a “culture of hate.” Gillian Tett, U.S. Managing Editor of the London-based…
Brent Baker
August 8th, 2010 1:39 PM

National Guard Troops Deployed to Border Will Not Be Used to Stop, Det

The 1,200 National Guard troops that are being deployed incrementally to the southwest border "will not be doing direct law enforcement," said U.S. National Guard Bureau Director of Communications Jack Harrison when asked if the forces would be interdicting drugs and undocumented immigrants. "The two mission sets are criminal analysts and enter-identification team," Harrison told CNSNews.com. "I…
Edwin Mora
August 8th, 2010 1:21 PM

Chris Matthews Show: Hillary Should Replace Biden to Help Obama's Re-e

The panel of the syndicated "Chris Matthews Show" this weekend campaigned for Hillary Clinton to replace Joe Biden as Vice President in order to assist Barack Obama's re-election in 2012 and set her up for a successful presidential bid in 2016. As NewsBusters reported Wednesday, Chris Matthews on that evening's "Hardball" had former Virginia governor Doug Wilder and New York magazine's John…
Noel Sheppard
August 8th, 2010 12:46 PM