Dana Bash

Bravo’s Cohen Defends Kathy Griffin ‘Prostitutes’ Crack, Behar Claims Limbaugh & McCain Called Chelsea Clinton ‘Dog’
By Brad Wilmouth | July 20, 2010 | 10:58 AM EDT

On Monday’s Joy Behar Show on HLN, Bravo’s Andy Cohen defended Kathy Griffin’s joke about Republican Senator Scott Brown’s daughters being "prostitutes," which the left-wing comedian made last week on her "My Life on the D List" show on Bravo. Incorrectly claiming that the joke had inspired laughter from both CNN correspondents John King and Dana Bash -- when, in fact, King winced disapprovingly as Bash laughed -- Cohen rationalized:

Because his daughters – look, it's a sensitive topic. Clearly, he has reacted sensitively. He's upset. It was a joke. And we wanted to reiterate that it is a joke and this was not a real accusation. She had John King and Dana Bash laughing at her joke. And then we just reiterated it. Kathy went along with it obviously. That was her voice. And it was very clear this was a joke that was being made. It's a funny show.

Behar argued that it was acceptable to go after the adult children of politicians, contending that "if you trot them out a la Bristol Palin, we're going to make jokes about it," and wondered: "Does the GOP now have no sense of humor whatsoever left?"

After comedian Craig Shoemaker claimed that conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh had called Chelsea Clinton a "dog," Behar went on to charge that both Limbaugh and John McCain had called the presidential daughter a "dog."

Scott Brown Rips Kathy Griffin for Smearing His Daughters as 'Prostitutes'
By Matt Hadro | July 16, 2010 | 10:45 AM EDT

Scott Brown on Thursday slammed left-wing comedienne Kathy Griffin for mocking his daughters as "prostitutes," a joke that prompted laughter from CNN's Dana Bash.

On Wednesday, Newsbusters explained that the correspondent, along with anchor and husband John King, appeared on Griffin's Bravo television show.  The following day, Ben Smith of Politico, among others, reported that the senator's office responded with a scathing statement condemning Griffin's words.

"People can call me any name they want, but families are off limits," Sen. Brown stated. "I love my daughters Ayla and Arianna very much, and any parent would be proud to have them as children. Kathy Griffin and Bravo ought to be ashamed of themselves."

CNN Reporter Dana Bash Laughs as Kathy Griffin Calls Scott Brown’s Daughters ‘Prostitutes’
By Matt Hadro | July 14, 2010 | 6:33 PM EDT

On her Bravo TV show Tuesday night, left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin referred to Sen. Scott Brown's two daughters as "prostitutes," and a CNN reporter apparently thought it hysterical. [Audio available here.]

Griffin, who was readying herself for a trip to Washington, DC to rally and drum up support for a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," brought CNN reporters (husband and wife) Dana Bash and John King onto the show to "coach" her for handling Washington. Bash is a congressional correspondent for CNN, while King anchors the news hour "John King, USA."

When the couple showed Griffin a picture of Sen. Scott Brown and asked her to identify the figure, she responded "Scott Brown – who is a senator from Massachusetts, and has two daughters that are prostitutes."

Bash erupted with laughter, while King grimaced.

CNN and MSNBC Applaud Elena Kagan's Capitol Hill Comedy Hour
By Alex Fitzsimmons | June 30, 2010 | 6:03 PM EDT
In covering Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings, CNN and MSNBC have repeatedly lauded the Supreme Court nominee for her "flashes of humor" and "disarming ease."

In tune with the reverberations of the network morning shows' echo chamber, correspondents like CNN's Dana Bash and anchors like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Tuesday praised Kagan for her ability to inject humor into otherwise "hollow and vapid" hearings and charm hostile Republican senators into docility.

"But just on a color note, what struck me, Candy, has been the way Elena Kagan has tried to use a sense of humor to really disarm the senators, particularly Republicans," noted Bash.

Maddow's guest, Dahlia Lithwick of the liberal Slate magazine, gushed over Kagan's "gut-wrenching" sense of humor, her masterful ability to balance "seriousness and levity and humor," and her "disarming and charming and kind of likeable" personality.

"A likeable liberal. Dear me, I know," quipped Maddow.
Networks Paint ‘Trailblazer’ Kagan as Hilarious Wit Who ‘Can Take a Punch’
By Brent Baker | June 30, 2010 | 2:03 AM EDT

“For the first time, Americans got to see the woman President Obama called a ‘trailblazer’ in action,” ABC anchor Diane Sawyer trumpeted Tuesday night before Jonathan Karl framed his story on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s hearing around how “a confirmation hearing isn't usually a laughing matter, but if we learned one thing about Elena Kagan today, it's that she has a sense of humor.” Like NBC, Karl featured Kagan joking about how she was probably at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas day.

The three broadcast network evening newscasts, as well as CNN and FNC, highlighted Senator Jeff Sessions pressing Kagan on her treatment of military recruiters. Karl used the exchange to praise Kagan: “We also learned that Elena Kagan can take a punch. As when Republican Jeff Sessions slammed her decision as Harvard Law dean to ban military recruiters from the school's career office....She made no apologies for taking a strong stand against the military's ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ policy.”

CBS’s Jan Crawford declared Kagan “held her own, she was confident, showed flashes of wit, but she didn't break a lot of new ground,” while NBC’s Pete Williams touted how “she displayed flashes of humor.” (CNN expressed concern Kagan wasn’t liberal enough: “Some of her answers on hot-button issues may not please all of her fellow Democrats.” More below.)

CNN Gets Its Living-In-A-Box Scare Story from the Chicago Tribune
By Tim Graham | March 3, 2010 | 7:20 AM EST

Mark Finkelstein noticed how CNN found Chicago single mother Madonna Alvarez to suggest Sen. Jim Bunning was going to have her living in a cardboard box. CNN surely found this from an even more dramatic story by Duaa Eldeib in Monday's Chicago Tribune that started like this:

Madonna Alvarez, a single mother of three, fears her unemployment benefits and the little that's left of her savings are all that stand between her family and a cardboard box.

She and thousands of others had been hoping for an extension of those benefits. But they are at risk of being cut off because of a spending dispute in Washington after a lone lawmaker, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., used a filibuster to block legislation to extend the payments for 30 days.

CNN's 'Non-Partisan' Brown Airs Hit Piece On Bunning
By Mark Finkelstein | March 2, 2010 | 8:57 PM EST

 

"Campbell Brown  . . . the only non-partisan cable news anchor at 8 pm." -- CNN description of Campbell Brown
"Non-partisan": right.  The hit that Brown, with help from reporter Dana Bash, put on Jim Bunning this evening was worthy of that hyper-partisan guy over at MSNBC in the 8 PM ET slot.

Bash first narrated a classic of the liberal media genre: an anecdotal story of someone allegedly hurt by hard-hearted Republican policies.   Bash claimed that "in the real world," Bunning's position is having a "devastating effect" on people like single mother Madonna Alvarez.

It got worse . . .

CNN: Senator Dorgan Now a 'Conservative Democrat,' No Liberal Tags
By Matthew Balan | January 7, 2010 | 3:56 PM EST
Campbell Brown, CNN Anchor; & Senator Byron Dorgan | NewsBusters.orgCNN continued its spin on the retirement of Senator Byron Dorgan on Wednesday. Anchor Campbell Brown one-upped Wolf Blitzer’s “moderate Democrat” tag of the senator, going so far to label the liberal a “conservative Democrat.” Correspondent Dana Bash also noted how the outgoing senator is apparently “popular” in his state, contrary to recent polls. Not once was Dorgan labeled “liberal” or “left.”

Brown’s interview of Dorgan aired at the bottom of the 8 pm Eastern hour. During the second half of the segment, the anchor expressed some of the left’s concerns over his decision to not run for reelection: “You know, this is that rare moment where Democrats have a supermajority and are able to get through what they wanted to accomplish. And so there are people- fairly or unfairly- who are saying, why are you doing this to us now?”
CNN Anti-Earmark Story Leaves Out Obama's Failure to Reform
By Julia A. Seymour | October 9, 2009 | 3:30 PM EDT

CNN attacked the practice of earmarking and criticized a few senators for doing it on Oct. 9, but the segment from Dana Bash didn't mention President Obama's campaign promises on the issue or his failure (thus far) to fulfill them.

"Earmarks," John Roberts teased as he introduced congressional correspondent Bash's segment. "We heard that word a lot during the presidential campaign last year. While they're perfectly legal, critics see them as conflicts for members of Congress and a troubling way to get deals done."

After an introduction like that it would have been natural to include what Obama said on the campaign trail about earmarks.

CNN's Bash Highlights Ted Kennedy's Scripture Quote: He Mangled Citation
By Matthew Balan | August 28, 2009 | 4:58 PM EDT

On Friday’s Newsroom, CNN correspondent Dana Bash reported on Senator Ted Kennedy’s alleged “deep Catholic faith,” and zeroed-in on how he “used scripture in his push to end poverty and discrimination,” but chose a clip of his bungling a biblical citation. “My favorite parts of the Bible are always Matthew 25 through 35 [sic]- I was hungry and you gave me to eat, and thirsty, you gave me to drink” [audio clip available here].

Anchor Heidi Collins introduced Bash’s report, which shared a similar theme to AP’s report from Friday morning: “Senator Kennedy had spoken of his complicated relationship with the Catholic Church.” The CNN correspondent then highlighted how “Ted Kennedy’s family chose this church for his funeral Mass because he prayed here every day when daughter Kara was diagnosed with cancer, an example of his quiet, but deep Catholic faith.”
CNN Minimizes Partisan Nature of Ted Kennedy's 'Poignant Plea'
By Matthew Balan | August 20, 2009 | 4:35 PM EDT
Dana Bash, CNN Correspondent; & file photo of Senator Ted Kennedy | NewsBusters.orgOn Thursday morning, CNN downplayed the partisan nature of “legendary” Senator Ted Kennedy’s request to backtrack on a 2004 change in Massachusetts state law which allowed Democrats to hold on to John Kerry’s Senate seat had he won the election. While anchor John Roberts and correspondent Dana Bash explained the circumstances of the 2004 change, Bash merely labeled it a “political irony.”

Roberts gave two news briefs about Kennedy’s letter to Massachusetts officials during American Morning, summarizing that the commonwealth “changed [the law] in 2004 requiring a special election because then-Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, could have appointed someone had Senator John Kerry won the presidential election....Senator Kennedy wants there to be an interim appointment before a special election just to make sure that the state’s covered.” The anchor didn’t include any mention of the health care issue in either of his briefs, which is a clear factor in play with the liberal senator’s request.
CNN Aims to Discredit Canadian Mayo Clinic Patient, Flops Spectacularly
By Matthew Vadum | July 21, 2009 | 8:19 PM EDT

Updated below the foldIn a recent news package liberal journalists at CNN --in this case Dana Bash and Lesa Jansen-- attempted to discredit a Canadian brain tumor patient who received treatment in the U.S. after being told by Canada's health care system to shut up and take her place in line.They were unable to actually discredit Shona Holmes of Waterdown, Ontario, but did manage to find another patient who claims to have received speedy treatment following a cancer diagnosis.