NBC's Lauer Cites CIA 'Torture' Scenes in Bin Laden Movie, Asks Whethe

December 6th, 2012 4:45 PM
During a segment on Thursday's NBC Today on the upcoming film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty, co-host Matt Lauer wondered if scenes depicting "brutal interrogations" of terror suspects would make movie-goers feel guilty: "It's inevitable people are going to sit in the movie theater...and when they see the scenes of torture, they're going to ask themselves if they think it…

Liberal Pundits More Skeptical of Possible Wintour Ambassadorship Than

December 5th, 2012 4:24 PM
After the cast of NBC's Today gushed on Tuesday over President Obama's "very fashionable decision" to possibly appoint Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour as an ambassador, on Wednesday, regular panelists Donny Deutsch and Star Jones scoffed at the idea, with Deutsch declaring: "I'm not quite sure somebody who edits a fashion magazine is qualified to be a liaison to one of our biggest allies." […

NBC: To Get Fiscal Cliff Deal That Hikes Taxes, Boehner Must 'Sell It

December 5th, 2012 11:52 AM
On Wednesday's NBC Today, political director Chuck Todd proclaimed that despite fiscal cliff negotiations being "in such a bad state," one bit of "good news" was that House Republicans "realize they don't have much leverage right now" and predicted they would eventually sign on to tax hikes proposed by President Obama. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Moments later, co…

Matt Damon Tells Crude 'Tossing Salad' Joke On Today Show, Lauer and G

December 4th, 2012 4:35 PM
Actor Matt Damon made a crude sexual joke about "tossing salad" on NBC's Today show Tuesday. Although the topic was food, co-hosts Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie both clearly understood the reference and laughed along with Damon and others on the set (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

NBC Gushes Over Obama's 'Very Fashionable Decision' to Possibly Name

December 4th, 2012 4:33 PM
At the top of Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie cheered the news that President Obama may make one of his major campaign donors, Anna Wintour, an ambassador: "Going Vogue? A report this morning that the President could appoint Vogue's famed editor-in-chief Anna Wintour to be his next ambassador to England or France. More on what could be a very fashionable decision." [Listen to the…

'Today' Show Guest's Bizarre Gratuitous Shot at Karl Rove Goes Unchall

December 3rd, 2012 11:12 AM
Appearing on Monday's NBC Today, lawyer Robert Sheehan, one of the defense attorneys for former murder suspect Lois Goodman, managed to attack GOP strategist Karl Rove while asserting that the charges recently dropped against Goodman would not be re-filed: "Anybody who thinks that this case is gonna be reopened can go count votes with Karl Rove in Ohio." Co-host Matt Lauer didn't seem fazed…

Citing Charlie Sheen as Recent Precedent, Media Continues to Mock Angu

November 29th, 2012 11:06 AM
You may recall when CBS fired Charlie Sheen early last year from the popular Two and a Half Men series for a string of "felony offenses involving moral turpitude." In the weeks and months that preceded this decision, an increasingly erratic Sheen received an inordinate amount of media attention for his drug-induced rants. To this day however, Sheen's bad boy persona is received warmly by the…

NBC's Guthrie to Chris Matthews: Did Susan Rice 'Mislead' the Public

November 28th, 2012 4:25 PM
In an exchange with MSNBC Harball host Chris Matthews on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie pondered the possibility that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice lied about Benghazi: "...should she have been more direct that the information she was providing to the American people was at that point, not just preliminary, but incomplete? I guess the bottom line is, did she mislead?" Matthews…

Washington Post Mag Finds ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Harmed Demolition De

November 28th, 2012 2:06 PM
Cash for Clunkers, the failed Obama scheme to try to save the auto industry, is still wreaking havoc. This time on a an American pastime: demolition derby. Many in the news media applauded the clunker of a program, including The Washington Post which repeatedly praised this program in 2009, trumpeting and increase in consumer spending. But many of those stories also ignored the problems of…

NBC's Lauer Tees Up Warren Buffett to Demand Tax Hikes and Dismiss GOP

November 27th, 2012 11:55 AM
In an interview with Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer was puzzled by GOP opposition to the billionaire investor's call for higher taxes: "One of the ideas being pushed out there by the Right is that if you raise taxes on the wealthy it will have a chilling effect on hiring and investment in this country....Why do you think Republicans are clinging…

NBC Eager to See Republicans 'Peeling Off' From Tax Pledge, Pressures

November 26th, 2012 12:13 PM
Talking to chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie enthusiastically touted: "...we've seen a few Republicans peeling off from a pledge they signed to Grover Norquist, who, of course, is a lobbyist, an anti-tax lobbyist, who's been very powerful among conservatives. Is that a significant move?" Todd replied by urging the rest of the GOP to…

NBC Uses Dubious Propaganda Images from Gaza War

November 24th, 2012 10:13 AM
During the recent war in Gaza, NBC News used two images of which definitely one and possibly both qualify as deceptive propaganda against Israel's war effort. The first example is the infamous image of a child who was killed by shrapnel from a rocket fired out of Gaza by the terrorist group Hamas, but which some news outlets, including CNN, attributed to an Israeli airstrike early on.

CNBC's Harwood: Benghazi Scandal Being 'Prolonged' Because of Campaign

November 20th, 2012 11:02 AM
Appearing on Saturday's NBC Today, CNBC chief Washington correspondent John Harwood completely dismissed the scandal surrounding the Benghazi terrorist attack as merely leftover campaign politics: "...what we're seeing in the Petraeus scandal and the Benghazi issue being prolonged is an extension of some of the conflict and the bitterness that we had during the election campaign." [Listen to…

NBC Promotes Jordan's Queen Noor and Valerie Plame 'On a Mission' to E

November 16th, 2012 4:51 PM
On Friday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie interviewed Jordan's Queen Noor and former CIA operative Valerie Plame about their effort to rid the world of all nuclear weapons: "...two women taking on a big challenge....leading an initiative called Global Zero. The goal, to eliminate nuclear weapons around the world." The headline on screen declared them to be "on a mission." At one point…