Reporting on the latest unemployment reports by the U.S. government, ABCNews's Facebook page curiously left out the most newsworthy statistic: 63.2 percent. That's where the labor force participation rate stands right now. [see screen capture below the page break] It's the lowest it's been since 1978.
But here's how ABCNews's social media editors teased Facebook visitors:
ABC News is not in the habit of publicizing conservative blogs....unless it sends a message liberals adore -- like pro-lifers are freaks. ABCNews.com pted a story on Wednesday headlined “Anti Abortion Activists Give Children Toy Fetuses at State Fair.”
An announcer sounds shocked on an accompanying video with “Fetus Doll Stunt” as the headline: “A bizarre surprise turned up at a state fair in North Dakota! Parents were stunned when their parents pulled out some squishy, life-size fetus dolls. A North Dakota anti-abortion group packed these into bags and handed them out to kids at a state fair.” Horrors! Alana Abramson’s story centered on the disgusted conservatives and liberals:
Mainstream media outlets have offered effusive praise for Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis (D) since her 11-hour filibuster against a bill that would limit abortion access in the Lone Star State. Despite the bill’s recent and overwhelming passage through both chambers of the Texas state legislature, the national media continue to cheer on their latest liberal darling – and hype her upcoming fundraising trip to our nation’s capital.
ABC News’s The Note – the network’s online political blog – fawned over Davis’s forthcoming visit to Washington, D.C. in a Wednesday post, with “Wendy Davis Goes to Washington” displayed prominently on the front page.
ABC News’s John Parkinson parroted liberal talking points on student loan rates Monday, claiming the GOP “seemed perfectly content to watch rates double” while Democrats prepped a Wednesday vote in the Senate to keep rates at 3.4 percent.
In an online article, Parkinson pitted the “unrelenting” Democratic Party against a gleefully partisan GOP, apparently buying into Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) vicious attacks on Republican lawmakers over the issue.
The liberal media just can’t get enough of Texas state senator Wendy Davis, and neither can Jeff Zeleny of ABC News. Zeleny interviewed the now-famous abortion filibusterer for the ABC News/Yahoo! News Power Players blog, and the conversation was loaded with softballs and fluff. Among the softballs was Zeleny’s fascination with the pink running shoes Davis wore during her filibuster. In fact, the prominence of Davis’s footwear in the interview could be gleaned from the title of the entry: “A Walk in Wendy Davis’s Shoes: The Woman Behind the Long Filibuster.” [Watch the video and read the accompanying article here.]
It only took Zeleny two questions to reach the topic of Davis’s sneakers: “Why did you decide to wear your running shoes? Let’s take a look at those, they’ve kind of been rocketing around the Internet.” As Davis took the shoes out of her bag and placed them on the table in front of her, Zeleny muttered, “Wow,” as if he had just been shown a rare diamond.
There's no word on whether Elizabeth Vargas had to receive smelling salts during her interview of Madonna which appeared on "Good Morning America." But it wouldn't be a surprise if she did.
When the ABC reporter, whose interview was relayed by the network's Sabrina Parise and posted at Yahoo.com, questioned the diva's use of gun choreography in her current tour's stage show, she certainly expected a robust defense. But she probably didn't expect a trip into the land of the Second Amendment. Nonetheless, that's what happened (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary; HT Hot Air; bolds are mine):
In Tuesday night's episode of ABC's Nightline, host Cynthia McFadden introduced a story about a "normal" community of polygamist families that live in Centennial Park, Arizona. She also went on to plug for the new National Geographic show Polygamy, USA:
To some, having more than one wife might sound like heaven on earth. But just imagine the communication skills required the potential for jealousy. And all those family logistics well they might just seem overwhelming. No one knows exactly how many polygamous live in this country. Most live in secret. There's been a lot of news about the followers of Warren Jeffs and alleged forced marriages of underage girls. But tonight we meet a community with a twist the women choose their husbands, not the other way around.
In a web interview after his appearance on ABC's “This Week” yesterday, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who suddenly withdrew after being nominated by President Barack Obama to be his first Secretary of Commerce in 2009, was asked the following about freshman U.S. Senator Ted Cruz: "Do you think he represents most Hispanics with his politics?"
His answer (video is at link) follows the jump:
The recent dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas has brought a fresh opportunity to reflect on the legacy of the 43rd president. Of course, for the liberal media, to contemplate Bush’s legacy is to focus almost entirely on what went wrong in his presidency.
ABC’s Jonathan Karl displayed the media’s rampant anti-Bush attitude during an interview with Karl Rove posted on ABC News’s Power Players blog on Friday. Karl hit Bush’s former senior advisor with an onslaught of negative questioning, but Rove, to his credit, fought back admirably.
On Wednesday, ABC News posted a story on its website that is sure to send chills of horror down the spines of women all across the northern Great Plains. The state of North Dakota only has one abortion clinic – and it may soon be forced to shut down if the state’s restrictive new abortion law goes into effect. (Read the full story here.)
The story, written by political reporter Chris Good, was a ridiculously one-sided plea for sympathy for North Dakota women who have to travel great distances to kill their unborn children. Good set the tone in the third paragraph:
On Thursday, George Stephanopoulos touted how legalizing same-sex "marriage" would supposedly bring in additional revenue into the federal government's coffers. The former Clinton administration official claimed that "the Treasury would actually take in more money if gays and lesbians were allowed to get married and get federal benefits."
Stephanopoulos cited an eight-plus year old study from the Congressional Budget Office that found that redefining marriage to include homosexual couples "could bring in up to $1 billion a year – so, a net benefit for the Treasury from gay marriage."
In an interview with former Bill Clinton adviser George Stephanopoulos at ABC (transcript here), President Barack Obama claimed that “We don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt." Despite his claim, no one can know that for sure, but it's at least consistent with what he said during the 2012 presidential campaign ("we don't have to worry about it short term").
Obama's elaboration on the debt topic, however, was not consistent: "In fact, for the next ten years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place." Ten years is long-term by any reasonable definition. His statement directoly contradicts what he said In October 2012: "... it is a problem long term and even medium term." Of course, ABC's subsequent coverage of that interview by Jonathan Karl didn't note the President's change of tune, and went further to assist Obama by presenting a misleading visual and by misstating the relative size of this year's officially projected deficit to that seen in fiscal 2009.