Clashes between leaders in the Democratic Party are rarely reported by the press, which regularly points out even the slightest disagreement among Republicans as a sign that the GOP is crumbling before our very eyes.
That wasn't the case on Tuesday, when New York Times columnist Thomas B. Edsal asked if ObamaCare is destroying the Democratic Party because that “redistribution scheme has angered and alienated working-class and middle-class Americans.”
An Associated Press story late this afternoon has New York Senator Chuck Schumer saying the darnedest things, with only a tiny bit of pushback from reporter Charles Babington.
In the wake of a midterm election rout which saw Republicans win at least eight Senate seats, increase their House majority, and take gubernatorial races in at least three deep blue states (MD, MA, and IL), Schumer now says that Democrats erred in pushing passage of the Affordable Care act, aka Obamacare, at the supposed expense of economic issues. Hey Chuck, that's because the Keynesian clowns in the Obama administration thought they had the economy totally under control in 2009 thanks to the stimulus plan.
Let's see. A rebel group pushing for separation from Ukaine has shot down a passenger plane, killing almost 300 aboard. Israel has invaded Gaza. Illegal immigrants are flooding across the U.S.-Mexico border, in at least one instance following a hail of protective gunfire directed at Border Patrol agents.
Meanwhile, in news concerning truly important matters, New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and fellow party member Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut are focusing on what's really important — prescription pet medication prices:
As my colleagues have been documenting throughout the day, both NBC and MSNBC have had their share of biased segments against Israel on their Tuesday programs.
So it was rather refreshing to see Hardball host Chris Matthews defend the United States's staunchest -- and only truly democratic -- Middle Eastern ally in his closing "Let Me Finish" commentary for the July 15 program. You can read the transcript below the page break (MP3 audio here, video follows page break; emphasis mine):
On Thursday, Washington Post reporter Ed O’Keefe blogged: “An incredible thing happened this week: A bill written by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has passed Congress.” It was a bill designed to block entry into the country for Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations, who aided the radical Iranians who held Americans hostage for 444 days in 1979 and 1980.
On Saturday, the Post put the controversy on page one and played “Hide the Ted.” There was no mention of Cruz anywhere in the 946-word article. The only proud politician quoted was liberal Chucky Schumer. Reporter Anne Gearan began:
CBS This Morning stood out on Wednesday as the only Big Three newscast so far to devote any air time to a new gun control proposal by Democrats in Congress. Nancy Cordes reported on the "fierce opposition" to a proposed amendment to an extension of an existing ban on so-called "plastic guns", which would "require that all guns contain a piece of metal that cannot be removed".
However, both of Cordes' talking heads during the segment were from Democratic supporters of the proposal, and she failed to include any soundbites from gun rights supporters. [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
MRC director of media analysis Tim Graham appeared on Neil Cavuto's prime-time show on Fox Business on Thursday night to discuss how the media rained down critiques of House Speaker John Boehner for delaying more federal aid for Hurricane Sandy victims. Cavuto said they tried to turn Boehner into "Satan" as the New York Daily News ran the headline "STABBED IN THE BACK: N.Y. pols blast Sandy betrayer Boehner."
This bias in favor of ever more federal subsidies reminded Graham of the old Daily News headline: "Ford to City: Drop Dead." (Video and transcript below)
NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, on Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, implored liberal New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer to push for more gun control. After noting that students from Sandy Hook Elementary School had finally returned to class after the tragic shooting, Mitchell pressed Schumer: “Is something meaningful going to happen on guns this year?”
An appreciative Schumer responded: “I hope so.” (video after the jump)
On November 14, the Hill reported that "Senate Democrats, feeling confident from their net gain of two seats in last week’s election, say any deficit-reduction package negotiated in the coming weeks must include stimulus measures." Alexander Bolton's writeup quoted Senator Chuck Schumer publicly asserting that "We have to do something because the economy is not growing fast enough in the first year or two." Although Schumer was referring to 2013 and 2014, the "not growing fast enough" characterization fits the U.S. economy under President Barack Obama's and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's "stimulus"-oriented policies ever since the recession officially ended in June 2009.
The fact that Democrats insist on more so-called "pump-priming" after four years of trillion dollar-plus deficits accompanied by tepid growth, thereby increasing the chances that the deficit streak will hit five years or more, even with tax hikes, while growth remains anemic, is something one might consider to be, well, news. But apparently not at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, or the Politico.
There are politically motivated hearings every day on Capitol Hill. So why did the New York Times single out one in particular for coverage? Likely because it was led by liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer and exploting the Times' favorite cause, the defense of illegal immigrants.
Immigration-beat reporter Julia Preston, one of the paper's most reliably pro-amnesty reporters, authored Wednesday's "Fierce Debate on Arizona Immigration Law on Eve of Supreme Court Hearing."
Appearing on Friday's "Fox & Friends," NewsBusters publisher and Media Research Center president Brent Bozell addressed how the media conveniently ignore or downplay liberal Democratic gaffes or incivility.
For example, earlier this week Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was caught unawares on microphone laying out to fellow Democrats his partisan talking points about "extremist" Republicans and their planned budget cuts.
If House Republican leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) did that, it would be front-page news, anchor Steve Doocy suggested.
Bozell agreed.
Liberals have a bad habit of mixing funerals (or death anniversaries) with political rallies. On Friday night's All Things Considered, NPR's Robert Smith offered a story that was 100 percent about union activists and liberal politicians, with no rebuttals.
NPR anchor Melissa Block began: "New York City today marked the 100th anniversary of one of its worst disasters: a fire at the Triangle shirtwaist factory that killed 146 people. NPR's Robert Smith reports that the city's unions used today to voice their anger over recent union setbacks."
Smith revealed Sen. Charles Schumer somehow connected Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to those long-ago fiery deaths: