Time's Klein Sees 'Sedition' in Coburn Comments

When it comes to freedom of speech, liberal journalists are the staunchest of defenders, right? Not so much when it comes to blasting Republican senators opposed to ObamaCare for "borderline sedition" that "comes dangerously close to inciting violence."That was the complaint of Time's Joe Klein, who griped today on the magazine's Swampland blog about Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) saying:"The crisis…
Ken Shepherd
December 21st, 2009 12:31 PM

Climate Alarmist Blames This Weekend's Blizzard On Global Warming

Climate Progress's Joe Romm says this weekend's blizzard that rocked the Eastern seaboard was caused by global warming.That's right, folks: you can add winter storms to the neverending list of things Nobel Laureate Al Gore's bogeyman is now responsible for.Of course this isn't at all surprising, for Romm blamed the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse on global warming.   Potentially just as…
Noel Sheppard
December 21st, 2009 12:28 PM

'Morning Joe' Furthers Durbin Complaint, Ignores Another Dem Senator's

There was something very important that I did not see on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning.The very first bump-in on the show was a montage of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.):COBURN: What the American people ought to pray, is that somebody can’t make the vote tonight. That’s what they ought to pray.[...]DURBIN: I don’t think it’s appropriate to be invoking prayer to wish…
Mike Sargent
December 21st, 2009 12:08 PM

Stunning: Gergen Compares Senate ObamaCare Vote to Brown v. Board of E

CNN senior political analyst David Gergen went so far to compare the Senate’s cloture vote early Monday morning on ObamaCare to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. Seconds after the Senate concluded its vote, Gergen lamented the party line vote, and contrasted it with the unanimous finding of the Supreme Court which ended the segregation of schools [audio clips from segment available…
Matthew Balan
December 21st, 2009 11:59 AM

MSNBC’s Ratigan Apologizes For Yelling At Congresswoman In Friday In

As NewsBusters’ Noel Sheppard reported on Saturday, on Friday’s Morning Meeting program on MSNBC, host Dylan Ratigan got into a shouting match with Democratic Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz over health care legislation. On Monday, he apologized for the outburst: “...the way I went about that on Friday was a disservice to our viewers....I have some work to do.” Ratigan’s heated…
Kyle Drennen
December 21st, 2009 11:58 AM

Even Boston Globe Unable to Spin Coakley Health Care Flip-Flop Hypocri

It seems that the flat out health care flip-flop performed recently by Massachusetts Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate, Martha Coakley, was too hypocritically self serving for even the very liberal Boston Globe to spin in a way to make her look good. Either it was that or the fact that that they aren't worried about how such a story would affect Coakley's chances in the special election on…
P.J. Gladnick
December 21st, 2009 10:22 AM

Media Claim Coburn Hoped For Byrd's Death To Block ObamaCare

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) told people on Sunday they should pray someone misses Monday morning's crucial healthcare vote, and media members predictably gasped as if he was hoping a Senator would take ill or worse.Somehow all those hyperventilating missed that there was a major snowstorm over the weekend closing airports and snarling traffic, and that travel impediments might have acted to prevent…
Noel Sheppard
December 21st, 2009 10:21 AM

Stephanopoulos to McCain: Is There Any Issue You'll be 'Joined at the

In an interview in which he hit the 2008 Republican presidential nominee repeatedly from the left, George Stephanopoulos pleaded with Sen. John McCain to "name an issue next year where you are going to be joined at the hip with President Obama." [audio available here]The live interview via satellite occurred six hours after McCain joined the other 39 Senate Republicans in voting against cloture…
Ken Shepherd
December 21st, 2009 10:13 AM

Open Thread: Moving Toward Obamacare

Last night, on a party-line vote, the Senate moved toward passage of Democrats' latest version of a health insurance overhaul. Question: Will their reckless defiance of public opinion help or harm them in the longer term? Yes, argues Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson:[T]he finished product will fall far short of Obama's extravagant promises. It will not cover everyone. It will not…
NB Staff
December 21st, 2009 9:44 AM

MRC Announces Awards for the Worst Media Performance of

The Media Research Center today announced its Best Notable Quotables of 2009: The 22nd Annual Awards for the Year’s Worst Reporting, and Discover magazine’s Melissa Lafsky has won the dis-honor of “Quote of the Year.” On August 27, a few days after Senator Edward Kennedy's death, Lafsky posted the following on the Huffington Post blog:Mary Jo wasn’t a right-wing talking point or a negative…
NB Staff
December 21st, 2009 9:22 AM

Scarborough: Rahm Fired as White House Chief of Staff 'Over the Next Y

What politicians say to get elected can come back to haunt them and vilifying the lobbyist profession to score campaign points is going to do that to President Barack Obama, according to MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-anchor Joe Scarborough. Scarborough appeared on BBC Radio 4's Dec. 20 broadcast of "Americana" with host Matt Frei and explained how Obama's 2007 pledge to not hire lobbyists isn't…
Jeff Poor
December 21st, 2009 8:26 AM

PBS Ombudsman Agrees NewsHour Slighted 'Fascinating' Climategate E-Mai

Tim Graham
December 21st, 2009 8:11 AM

BREAKING: Key Healthcare Vote Scheduled For 1:00 AM Monday

In less than two hours, the Senate will vote on healthcare reform cloture.What this means is that if the Democrats get 60 votes, debate will end, and the current iteration of healthcare reform will be voted on some time next week.With Saturday's sellout of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) -- or buyout, depending on how you look at it -- the Democrat leadership feels it has the 60 votes necessary to send…
Noel Sheppard
December 20th, 2009 11:45 PM

Ed Schultz Admits MSNBC Serves as Mouthpiece for White House

Never let it be said that radio libtalker and MSNBC action hero Ed Schultz isn't capable of occasional candor.Here's Schultz on his radio show Dec. 15 talking about Vice President Joe Biden appearing on "Morning Joe" earlier that day in anticipation of disclosure that the public option and Medicare buy-in were stripped from the Senate health bill (click here for audio) -- SCHULTZ: And I find it…
Jack Coleman
December 20th, 2009 11:12 PM