2010 Congressional

Diane Sawyer Ruins Marvelous Special on Gabby Giffords By Attacking Sarah Palin
By Noel Sheppard | November 16, 2011 | 10:22 AM EST

ABC presented an absolutely marvelous special Tuesday evening about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' (D-Ariz.) remarkable recovery from a gunshot to the head last January.

After 36 minutes of uplifting scenes involving the Congresswoman's therapy and road back to being able to walk and speak, host Diane Sawyer for some reason felt the need to bring politics into the program at its conclusion while taking a truly pathetic swipe at former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (video follows with transcript and commentary):

How To Make Morning Joe Panel Shut Up: Say 'Solyndra'
By Mark Finkelstein | November 16, 2011 | 8:15 AM EST

Ever been watching Morning Joe, and wished you could stop the steady stream of liberal blather?  Simple.  Say the magic word—Solyndra—and watch the gabby guests fall suddenly silent.

Today's show offered a prime example of the phenomenon.  For the first ten minutes, the panel had a great old time cackling and crowing on the theme that the Republican presidential field is a mass of morons.  They laughed at the mere mention of Herman Cain, likened the GOP field to a vaudeville show, dragged out the shopworn "bar in Star Wars" simile, and called the Republican candidates "jokes," "clowns" and "stupid." But then, 13 minutes in, Mika Brzezinski mentioned a story reporting that the Obama admin had suppressed the announcement of layoffs at Solyndra until after the 2010 elections.  Despite Mika looking around the table at her guests as she wondered out loud "why this story hasn't picked up more," there wasn't a peep out of the quickly clammed-up crew and Brezinski breezed on to another topic. Video after the jump.

David Gregory Spins: Chris Dodd 'Stepped Out of Politics' Because He Was 'Disappointed' With Washington
By Kyle Drennen | November 14, 2011 | 2:54 PM EST

Interviewing former Democratic Senator Chris Dodd on Sunday for Meet the Press's Press Pass, host David Gregory described Dodd's exit from politics this way: "...you stepped out of politics, and one of the things that you were really disappointed about what – the state of the politics in Washington, the inability to compromise, the venomous relationship in Washington..."    

That was quite a charitable characterization of Dodd's decision not to run for reelection. In 2010, The Washington Post explained the real reason for Dodd's retirement: "Dodd's political star fell over a two-year period...[he] was linked to a VIP mortgage loan program overseen by a controversial Wall Street financier. He also drew harsh questions about his oversight of Wall Street, as chair of the Senate Banking Committee, in the years when the nation's financial system was heading toward near collapse."

Morning Joe Hypes GOP Setback in Ohio Labor Law Vote Without One Word On ObamaCare Defeat
By Noel Sheppard | November 9, 2011 | 11:53 AM EST

Political analysts across the country were closely watching votes on two key initiatives in Ohio Tuesday to get a sense as to where the nation is on the power of labor unions as well as the President's signature piece of healthcare legislation.

On MSNBC's Morning Joe Wednesday, the failure of Ohio's Issue 2 - which strikes down Governor John Kasich's (R) anti-collective bargaining law by public unions - was raised several times as a major defeat for Republicans, but not once in three hours did the overwhelming passage of Issue 3 - which effectively makes ObamaCare illegal in the state - surface.

Martin Bashir Calls on Boehner and Cantor to Resign if They Won't Raise Taxes on Rich
By Noel Sheppard | October 28, 2011 | 5:15 PM EDT

MSNBC's Martin Bashir on Friday called for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh.) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to resign if they won't raise taxes on the rich (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Chris Matthews Blames Tea Party for Congress's Lousy Poll Numbers
By Noel Sheppard | October 27, 2011 | 7:16 PM EDT

MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Thursday blamed the Tea Party for Congress's record-low job approval.

Much as Bill Press did on MSNBC Wednesday evening, the Hardball host totally ignored the fact that Democrats control the Senate (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Bill Press Says Mitch McConnell Is Senate Majority Leader
By Noel Sheppard | October 27, 2011 | 10:52 AM EDT

With Congress's poll numbers so low, the goal of the liberal media is to make the public believe the Republicans are in charge of both chambers.

Bill Press appearing on MSNBC's PoliticsNation Wednesday dishonestly demonstrated precisely how (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Local Media Fail: Judge in 'Sore Loser' Driehaus-Susan Anthony Case in Cincinnati Has Unreported Conflict of Interest
By Tom Blumer | October 26, 2011 | 1:10 AM EDT

On Saturday, Barbara Hollingsworth at the Washington Examiner (HT Peter Roff at US News) reported on the latest development in lawsuit filed by former congressman Steve "Sore Loser" Driehaus against Susan B. Anthony's List (SBA).

Democrat Driehaus, who served one term in Congress before losing to Republican Steve Chabot, is suing SBA under a Ohio’s False Statement Law for "loss of livelihood." Seriously. Driehaus says that his vote for ObamaCare, which has no prolife protections hard-wired into the law, was not a betrayal of his prolife beliefs. SBA says it was a betrayal, and is correct. Driehaus's excuse was that President Obama wrote up an Executive Order with supposed prolife protections, which of course can be revoked at any whimsical presidential moment -- like, say, January 21, 2013 if he's reelected (or January 19, 2013 if he's not).

Howard Dean: Tea Party 'Not Playing With Full Deck'
By Mark Finkelstein | October 5, 2011 | 7:56 AM EDT

Bulletin from the Bureau of Pot-Meet-Kettle: Howard Dean has declared that Tea Party Americans "are not playing with a full deck."  This not merely from the man who made The Scream famous, but who in the very same segment today had a manic tongue-sticking-out moment [see screen grab] that might have scared pets and small children.  

Dean also managed to get into a spirited fight with Michael Steele over Obama's 2012 prospects.  Dean claims to see an Obama transformed, a candidate "on fire" who is on course to win.  Steele soberly poured the water of the 9.1% unemployment rate on Obama's fire.  Video after the jump.
 

David Gregory: Republicans Have 'Harsh Stance' On Immigration Reform
By Mark Finkelstein | October 2, 2011 | 12:26 PM EDT

Did David Gregory realize just how much he was letting down the mask and revealing his liberal bias?   On today's "Meet The Press,"  Gregory stated as a simple declarative fact that Republicans have a "harsh stance" on immigration reform.

Did Gregory simply forget the "some say" fig leaf so favored by the MSM?  Or is the MTP moderator so lost in the liberal media cocoon that he can't imagine anyone disagreeing with his assertion that the GOP view is "harsh"?  View the video after the jump.

CBS Shows Who Won NY 9th in the ‘1920 Republican Landslide’
By Brent Baker | September 15, 2011 | 2:18 AM EDT

Andrew Petersen. That’s the last Republican to win New York’s 9th Congressional District. CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley provided that bit of trivia, and displayed a picture of him, on Wednesday night as he relayed how Petersen was “swept into office in the 1920 Republican landslide...”

Scarborough Smacks Down E.J. Dionne's GOP Obstruction Charge: Obama 'Owned Washington' for Two Years
By Noel Sheppard | September 1, 2011 | 10:42 AM EDT

I sure hope Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne as well as other unapologetic Obama-loving media members were watching MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Thursday.

After Mika Brzezinski read a snippet of Dionne's "Obama's Paradox Problem" wherein he basically blamed all that ails the nation on GOP obstruction, Joe Scarborough accurately noted, "the President owned – OWNED! – Washington, D.C., in 2009 and 2010" (video follows with transcript and commentary):