Since last week’s revelations concerning the National Security Agency looking at American phone records, it’s been fascinating to watch Obama-loving media members take issue with what the White House is doing.
Include New York Times columnist Paul Krugman who on ABC’s This Week Sunday said that America is now “kind of” an “authoritarian surveillance state” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday had harsh words for the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald revealing last week that the National Security Agency is looking at phone records of virtually all Americans.
Appearing on ABC’s This Week, Rogers said, “I know your reporter that you interviewed, Greenwald, says that he’s got it all and now is an expert on the program. He doesn't have a clue how this thing works” (video follows with transcript):
Texas Congressman Steve Stockman (R) weighed in on the recent revelations involving the National Security Agency looking at Americans' phone records with a humorous knock at Chris Matthews' so-called "news network."
Commenting on Twitter, Stockman wrote Saturday, "At this point the only way to prevent people from hearing your conversations is to have them on MSNBC":
Now THAT’S what I’m talking about.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Saturday cut the mic of the incredibly "offensive" and "obnoxious" liberal shill Julian Epstein for refusing to have a serious discussion about the current White House scandals and instead insisting on echoing Democrat talking points (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
Jay Leno continued his humorous attacks on the White House Friday.
In the middle of a lengthy set of opening monologue jokes about the various scandals plaguing Barack Obama, the NBC Tonight Show host said, “We wanted a president that listens to all Americans - now we have one” (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary):
On the day Barack Obama lost the New York Times, it appears he also lost Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert.
On Thursday’s Colbert Report, the host actually said, “Obama is a tyrannical despot who ignores all the rules” (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
The Washington Post on Friday stuck to its practice of keeping oversight hearings off the front page. On A-3, readers would learn Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the Senate, and the new IRS chief was being questioned about lavish spending in the House.
The Post did lead with the data-mining story (perhaps that’s a Bush/Obama scandal, not an Obama scandal), but also carried front-page stories on an openly gay track star at a local high school and a New York Post-like story on “the puzzling case of the pizzeria patio pilferer.”
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had some harsh words Thursday for the Obama administration collecting phone records of millions of Americans.
Speaking with Yahoo! News, Paul said, “I think it would be remedial education for those who are doing this. They need to go back and read the Constitution, read the Fourth Amendment, and understand that our records are private.”
Jay Leno continued his string of humorous attacks on the White House Thursday.
On NBC’s Tonight Show, the host joked about being worried as a kid about “Big Brother” saying, “Now with Obama, we actually have a brother watching us.”
Isn't it rich that the White House is accusing Attorney General Eric Holder's critics of being "partisans who seem more interested in launching political attacks than cooperating with him to protect the security and constitutional rights of the American people"?
Partisan? Launching political attacks? Well, if the White House and Holder were not so partisan and attack-oriented themselves, we wouldn't be having this discussion about Holder, the IRS or the AP.
The patent absurdity of trusting Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate himself is the topic of today's NB ToonsDay:
Here's an interesting example of your tax dollars at work: Gwen Ifill, a newscaster for the Public Broadcasting System, uses her television programs to staunchly defend Eric Holder, the scandal-ridden U.S. attorney general, and the Internal Revenue System, which has been accused of targeting conservative organizations that apply for a tax-exempt status.
Not content with using her roles as managing editor and moderator of the “Washington Week” program and as a senior correspondent for the “PBS NewsHour,” Ifill took her crusade online on Sunday, when she posted on Twitter that it's “Fun to see the same (named & unnamed) folks calling for Holder resignation who always have” and asserted that “people don't want to know the details back and forth” of the IRS targeting.