Anita Dunn Praises Jon Stewart's 'Investigative Journalism', Contests

UPDATE AT END OF POST: Video of this interview now available.Outgoing White House communications director Anita Dunn on Friday praised the "fact-checking investigative journalism" skills of Comedy Central's Jon Stewart while she pushed back against any suggestion MSNBC was at all biased.For those that have forgotten, this is the same Administration official who a month ago said Fox "is not a news…
Noel Sheppard
November 13th, 2009 8:17 PM

Maddow Guest Jeff Sharlet Falsely Claims 'Majority' of Catholics in US

This sort of thing an actual journalist would have flagged as dubious, but not Rachel Maddow.On her MSNBC show this past Monday, Maddow and guest Jeff Sharlet, an author and contributing editor at Harper's Magazine, were talking about the so-called Stupak amendment in the House health bill to prevent weakening of the ban on federal funding of abortion.Here's how the revelant portion of the…
Jack Coleman
November 13th, 2009 7:08 PM

Newsweek's Clift Laments Impact of Pro-life Democrats on Health Care B

The pesky thing about abortion for pro-choice stalwarts is that when it comes to the will of the people through their legislatures, they often lose more battles than when the voters in question are black-robed judges in a courtroom.Just ask Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, who is bummed about the Stupak-Pitts Amendment and its effect on the Democrats' hopes for a health care reform bill that puts in…
Ken Shepherd
November 13th, 2009 6:22 PM

CBS’s Smith: Is Ft. Hood Shooter ‘Competent To Stand Trial

Speaking to the defense attorney for Ft. Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan on Friday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith asked: “Do you think – and this is not from a scientific or even legal standpoint, but just as you’ve been able to speak with him, do you think he’s competent to stand trial?”In his first question to Hasan’s attorney, retired Army Colonel John Galligan, Smith wondered: “First…
Kyle Drennen
November 13th, 2009 5:31 PM

Report: Liberal Dem George Stephanopoulos Edging Out Liberal Dem Chris

The Daily Beast on Friday reported that former Democratic aide turned journalist George Stephanopoulos has now pulled ahead of ex-Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo’s son, Chris Cuomo, in the race to become the new co-host of Good Morning America. Correspondent Rebecca Dana quoted an ABC source as saying, "It’s George’s now to lose." Dana added, "That both contenders are associated with prominent…
Scott Whitlock
November 13th, 2009 5:11 PM

NYT Columnists Who Blamed Conservatives for 'Right-Wing' Killings Igno

Back in June, liberal columnists at the New York Times lined up to link conservative talkers Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh to James von Brunn, the 88-year-old man who killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum, and the murder by Scott Roeder of abortionist George Tiller.Columnists Paul Krugman and Judith Warner both weighed in on June 12.Krugman’s “The Big Hate” blamed Fox…
Clay Waters
November 13th, 2009 4:12 PM

Did Lou Dobbs's Conservative Views Cause Him to Leave CNN

Lou Dobbs left CNN after years of tensions between him and the network's brass, who consistently objected to his outspoken, often controversial reports. But the issues that seem to have annoyed CNN execs most were ones on which Dobbs took a conservative stance.The New York Times reported Wednesday that CNN President Jonathan Klein offered Dobbs an ultimatum a few months ago: "Mr. Dobbs could vent…
Lachlan Markay
November 13th, 2009 3:34 PM

Larry King Questions Al Gore About 'Right Wing,' Palin; Hails Gore Boo

Just over a week after using the term “far right” three times in a row in one night, CNN’s Larry King used the term “right wing” three times during an interview of Al Gore on his program on Thursday. King first questioned Gore about “the rise of the right wing” and “right wing radio” in the context of the health care debate, and later asked the former vice president, “ Is the right wing bigger…
Matthew Balan
November 13th, 2009 3:30 PM

Jon Stewart Trashes Sean Hannity For Apologizing To Him

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart absolutely trashed Sean Hannity on Thursday's "The Daily Show."What was Hannity's crime this time?Well, the Fox News personality actually apologized to Stewart for a mistake that was made in a "Hannity" segment aired last week and "reported" by "The Daily Show" host on his program Tuesday. Rather than graciously accepting Hannity's apology, Stewart attacked him with a…
Noel Sheppard
November 13th, 2009 3:20 PM

ABC's Barbara Walters on Time's Person of the Year: Nancy Pelosi, Mich

Tim Graham
November 13th, 2009 3:19 PM

Bonnie Erbe: Palin 'Loony' But Levi Johnston 'Believable

Veteran Sarah Palin hater Bonnie Erbe is at it again, today proclaiming the former Alaska governor is "loony" for saying that she would open her dinner table at Thanksgiving to the father of her grandson:Say what, Sarah? This is the guy who refused to marry her daughter, Bristol, pregnant. This is the guy who has made a career (or tried to) by telling the Palin family secrets. And they are not…
Ken Shepherd
November 13th, 2009 3:11 PM

Stephen King's New Thriller Scares Readers with Environmental Doom

If you thought that you were going to escape being greenwashed by simply changing the channel for NBC's "Green Week," think again. Now you can't even wile away your time reading a good ol' fashioned thriller. Stephen King's new book, "Under the Dome," depicts a small city on the brink of an environmental disaster (that is, if it can survive the murders, arson, and corruption, of course). Set in…
Carolyn Plocher
November 13th, 2009 3:10 PM

Cheap Shot: Playboy Disparages Cultural Conservatism to Trash Glenn Be

How much do lefties dislike Glenn Beck? So much that the vitriol has bled over into low-rent, soon-to-be-obsolete publications like Playboy magazine. In the December 2009 issue of Playboy, Thomas Frank "takes down" the Fox News Channel host by analyzing the conservative movement and how Beck rose to prominence. Frank, with an obvious need to meet a high-word count in mind, attempts to dismantles…
Jeff Poor
November 13th, 2009 3:07 PM

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Condemns 'Too Big to Fail,' Advocate

J.P. Morgan Chase is the second-largest U.S. bank, but its CEO spoke out on Nov. 13 to condemn the policy of bailing out banks which are "too big to fail." Jamie Dimon wrote in the Washington Post that even his bank should accept the risk of failure. "[I]f some unforeseen circumstance should put this firm at risk of collapse, I believe we should be allowed to fail," Dimon said. He argued that…
Julia A. Seymour
November 13th, 2009 2:43 PM