Events

Jimmy Fallon Mocks Sarah Palin For Invoking Dr. Seuss During CPAC Speech
By Jeffrey Meyer | March 12, 2014 | 8:56 AM EDT

Jimmy Fallon is now the newly minted host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show”, replacing long-time host Jay Leno as the network’s newest late night comedian. Unfortunately for Fallon, the NBC host took an unnecessary swipe at former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) this week.

During his monologue on Monday March 10, Fallon mocked Palin’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) speech, specifically her comparison of Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” to ObamaCare. During her speech, Palin used Seuss’ poetic language to comment that “I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam.” [See video below.]

Alan Colmes Attacks NewsBusters For Critiquing New York Times Coverage Of CPAC
By Jeffrey Meyer | March 10, 2014 | 4:11 PM EDT

Liberal Fox News contributor and former TV host Alan Colmes took a swipe at NewsBusters on Monday’s "Happening Now" over our coverage of "The New York Times" coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Appearing alongside conservative writer Jim Pinkerton on Monday's "Happening Now", Colmes claimed that "Conservatives are always complaining they're not getting fair treatment in the media. It’s the conservatives saying that it wasn't fair" before laying into his attack on NewsBusters. [See video below.]

Press Reluctant to Call Russia's Crimea Takeover an 'Invasion'; No Such Hesitation in 1970 with Cambodia
By Tom Blumer | March 3, 2014 | 3:51 PM EST

The Obama administration's most recent abuse of the English language late last week involved its reluctance bordering on refusal to call Russia's military move into Crimea an "invasion." The press, unlike in 1970 when Richard Nixon sent U.S. troops into Cambodia for under three months, is largely following suit.

CNN (HT Hot Air) began the Team Obama-driven festivities on Friday by reporting that "According to the latest U.S. assessment, there has been an uncontested arrival of Russian military forces by air at a Russian base in Crimea. They are believed to be Russian land forces, CNN was told."

CBS ‘Face the Nation’ Ignores Tea Party’s 5th Anniversary
By Jeffrey Meyer | March 2, 2014 | 1:53 PM EST

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the Tea Party movement, and on Sunday, CBS and NBC did their best to squash its momentum, with CBS’s Face the Nation snubbing the event altogether.

Meet the Press moderator David Gregory hyped how on its anniversary Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had “a message for his party, basically you know be careful how you’re conducting yourself.”

NBC’s David Gregory Plays Nice With Susan Rice On Benghazi
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 23, 2014 | 11:32 AM EST

For the first time since her infamous 2012 interview, National Security Advisor Susan Rice appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday February 23 to discuss a variety of foreign policy issues, most noticeably Benghazi.

Throughout the interview, which focused primarily on the recent violent protests in Ukraine, host David Gregory provided Rice with a variety of softball questions on Benghazi, and allowed her to push White House talking points without any significant pushback.

AP, NYT AWOL on FCC's Newsroom Snooping Proposal
By Tom Blumer | February 21, 2014 | 11:59 PM EST

On Thursday, Kyle Drennen at NewsBusters noted that none of the three broadcast networks had covered the intent of the Federal Communications Commission, in the words of Byron York at the Washington Examiner, to "send government contractors into the nation's newsrooms to determine whether journalists are producing articles, television reports, Internet content, and commentary that meets the public's 'critical information needs.'"

Given that the nets take many of their new prioritization cues from the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, and to a lesser extent from the New York Times, it shouldn't surprise anyone that searches at the self-described "essential global news network" and at the Old Gray Lady indicate that neither outlet has covered it. The FCC has supposedly backtracked, but not really, as Katy Bachman at AdWeek noted yesterday (bolds are mine throughout this post):

Predictably, USA Today's Coverage of Nagin's Conviction Omits His Dem Party ID
By Tom Blumer | February 12, 2014 | 4:24 PM EST

Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin was convicted on 20 of 21 counts of corruption and bribery today.

USA Today reporter Rick Jervis did a bit of a profile of Nagin in the course of reporting on the convictions. It included a recounting of his time at the city's helm during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But one thing his 2:39 p.m. report predictably did not include was Nagin's Democratic Party affiliation (bolds are mine):

ABC’s David Muir Hypes David Petraeus Endorsement of Hillary Clinton, Omits Benghazi
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 9, 2014 | 8:07 PM EST

A new biography entitled HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton is set to hit bookshelves later this month, and the folks at ABC News have already jumped on a new endorsement for Ms. Clinton that was revealed in the upcoming book.

On Sunday night, World News host David Muir jumped all over the “eye opening endorsement” made by General David Petraeus, yet when the endorsement was read, Muir ignored referencing Benghazi, which Petraeus gave as the primary reason for his endorsement. Muir only quoted Petraeus’ claim that Clinton would “quote make an incredible president.” [See video below.]

Kirsten Powers on Benghazi: ‘I Don't Understand Why the Administration Can't Just Tell the Truth About This’
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 4, 2014 | 9:24 AM EST

Liberal columnist and Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers was apparently shocked that the Obama Administration would be stonewalling the public on what happened in Benghazi in 2012.

Appearing on Special Report w/ Bret Baier on Monday February 3, The Daily Beast columnist seemed perplexed as to “why the administration can't just tell the truth about this.” [See video below.]

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's Democratic Party Affiliation Disappears at AP As Bribery Trial Begins
By Tom Blumer | February 3, 2014 | 5:40 PM EST

Though there were some exceptions (e.g., this one caught by Geoffrey Dickens at NewsBusters a few days ago), most press reports as the beginning of the trial of former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin tagged him as a Democrat.

Apparently, there's a quota on "D" references at the Associated Press. A lengthy AP story by Kevin McGaill carried at Time.com and AP's national site has no reference to Nagin's party affiliation. Nagin was part of the odd couple of Democrats (former Governor Kathleen Blance is the other) who failed to do what they needed to do to prepare New Orleans and the Bayou State for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Excerpts from the longer Time story follow the jump (bolds identifying opportunites to identify Nagin's party affiliation are mine):

ABC’s Stephanopoulos Asks Paul Ryan If Pope Francis Would Endorse His Budget
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 2, 2014 | 12:41 PM EST

George Stephanopoulos must be spending too much of his free time watching MSNBC as he used their talking points to attack Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) during an interview on This Week on February 2. 

The Republican congressman appeared with the ABC host and former Press Secretary for President Bill Clinton on Sunday morning and was immediately hit with a barrage of attacks over his opposition to President Obama’s use of executive orders to his views on poverty. Stephanopoulos went so far as to suggest that Pope Francis would reject Paul’s conservative philosophy and claimed that, “You don't think he'd endorse your budget, do you?”

CBS Plays Nice With Biden, Suggests Obama Is Building a 'Can-Do Attitude'
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 29, 2014 | 12:00 PM EST

Vice President Joe Biden made the rounds on the network morning shows following President Obama’s State of the Union address and CBS This Morning did its best to help the vice president protect Obama from criticism. Appearing with co-hosts Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell on January 29, Biden was treated to a friendly interview, and the only tough questions he received were that the Obama Administration wasn’t being liberal enough in pushing its agenda.  

Perhaps the most notable point of the interview was when Rose made the softball pitch that President Obama’s acknowledgment of a wounded veteran was “trying to capture the spirit of America and build a kind of identification with this can-do attitude.” [See video below. MP3 audio here.]