Boosting Obama, NYTimes's Landler Quotes Zakaria's Praise, Omits He Ad

New York Times reporter Mark Landler’s lead story for Saturday’s National section boosted Obama (and slapped down Mitt Romney) via the unlikely topic of the president's reading material: “Obama Buttresses Case for U.S. Resilience With Book From Unlikely Source.” Landler reveled in what he called a "delicious coincidence for the White House." When Senator Barack Obama was photographed…
Clay Waters
January 30th, 2012 7:28 PM

Chris Matthews Calls Romney’s Attacks on Gingrich ‘A Snuff Movie

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews had some harsh criticism for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Monday. In a discussion about the viciousness in the GOP race, the Hardball host said, “I’ve never seen one, but it’s like a snuff movie we’ve been watching here” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
January 30th, 2012 6:48 PM

Juan Williams Finds Racism in Candidates' (and Others'?) Use of 'Const

So a guy whose contract was terminated by NPR on a phony pretext for not toeing the liberal line enough, including writing a book ("Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It") which indicted the modern civil-rights movement for, well, undermining Black America, now appears to want eliminate "Constitution…
Tom Blumer
January 30th, 2012 5:56 PM

NBC Ignores Burning of American Flag by Oakland Occupiers

NBC whitewashed the anti-American activities of the violent Occupy protests in Oakland. The network dedicated only 34 seconds to covering the riot, but refused to mention the fact that Oakland protestors burned an American flag - despite the fact that both its sister networks, ABC and CBS, had done so. On Saturday, Jan. 28, nearly 400 Occupy Oakland protesters were arrested for their actions…
Paul Wilson
January 30th, 2012 5:35 PM

Hardball: Diane Sawyer Quizzes Obama on the Super Bowl and Singing

According to Nightline co-anchor Juju Chang, Diane Sawyer's interview with the President on Thursday was "exclusive and candid." Although Sawyer didn't find time for questions about scandals such as Solyndra or Fast and Furious, she did manage to squeeze in queries about the Super Bowl and the President's singing. At one point, the World News anchor enthused, "And speaking of sports teams,…
Scott Whitlock
January 30th, 2012 5:34 PM

NYT's Friedman: Castro's 'Idiocy' Complaints About Conservative Candid

First it was New York Times reporters who were quoting unelected Cuban dictator Fidel Castro insulting the “idiocy and ignorance” of the two lead candidates for the GOP nomination, in a January 26 story. Now columnist Thomas Friedman gets in on the act, quoting Castro approvingly in Sunday’s “Made in the World.”
Clay Waters
January 30th, 2012 4:28 PM

MSNBC 'Now' Panel Bemoans How Occupy Movement's 'Moral Argument' Has B

The "moral argument" of the Occupy movement have been unfairly tarnished by violence and as well as frittered away by the group's lack of Tea Party-like political mobilization. That's the consensus of the liberal panelists on today's edition of MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner. The Nation magazine contributor Ari Melber kicked things off by blaming the recent violence and vandalism of the Occupy…
Ken Shepherd
January 30th, 2012 3:59 PM

CBS's Rose Scolds Newt: 'Why Are Drudge and Ann Coulter Attacking You

On Monday's CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose hammered Newt Gingrich on the issue of the opposition his presidential campaign was receiving from some prominent conservatives: "Why are so many conservatives, including...Drudge and Ann Coulter, attacking you?" Rose also spotlighted how apparently "there are those who say that you [Gingrich] are angry and you want to get even with Romney." The…
Matthew Balan
January 30th, 2012 3:19 PM

Muppets Trash Fox News, Host Bolling

Apparently Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog don’t take criticism well. The pair was asked at a press conference for “The Muppets” premiere in London about concerns over the movie’s attack on the oil industry and business. The Muppets were asked how they felt when Eric Bolling from Fox News discussed their latest movie and said the Muppets were “pushing a dangerous liberal agenda and trying to…
Iris Somberg
January 30th, 2012 2:36 PM

ABC: Romney is Looking to 'Drive a Stake' Through Gingrich's Heart

So, Newt Gingrich is a vampire? Over the course of two segments on Monday's Good Morning America, ABC's journalists goaded Gingrich to repeat his attacks on the "dishonest" Mitt Romney, while suggesting that the former Massachusetts governor is getting ready to "drive a stake" through the ex-Speaker's heart. Playing up the fight between the two candidates, George Stephanopoulos pushed…
Scott Whitlock
January 30th, 2012 1:00 PM

CNN Anchor Goes Personal on Vitter; He Says 'The Good News Is...It's N

Bill Clinton has done hundreds of TV interviews since leaving office in 2001, and journalists have very rarely found it appropriate to revisit his sex scandals. But for CNN, Republicans merit an entirely different standard of coverage. On Monday's Early Start, co-host Ashleigh Banfield insisted to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that "I got to" bring up his 2007 prostitution scandal, so she could…
Matt Hadro
January 30th, 2012 12:45 PM

NY Mag Editor Admits On National TV He Never Reported John Kerry's Inc

The ridiculous media hypocrisy concerning all the fuss over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's wealth and income tax rate was perfectly demonstrated on MSNBC's Morning Joe Monday. After claiming that Romney's "tax issue is not remotely" past him, John Heilemann, the National Affairs editor for New York magazine, admitted that he never reported John Kerry's income tax rate during…
Noel Sheppard
January 30th, 2012 12:30 PM

NBC Whines About Use of Brokaw Report to Attack Newt on Ethics Charges

On Monday, Today co-host Matt Lauer pushed Mitt Romney to stop running an ad that features a clip of former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw reporting Newt Gingrich being charged with ethics violations in 1997. However, it has now been 4,742 days without an NBC story on Gingrich subsequently being cleared on those charges. Even as Lauer grilled Romney on use of the NBC News coverage, he…
Kyle Drennen
January 30th, 2012 12:17 PM

Chris Matthews Squirms as Scarborough Discusses JFK Buying West Virgin

There was a truly delicious moment on MSNBC's Morning Joe Monday as the gang discussed the Republican presidential race from Florida. When host Joe Scarborough recollected John F. Kennedy buying the West Virginia primary in 1960, Hardball host Chris Matthews, one of JFK's biggest fans, was seen visibly uncomfortable shifting position in his chair (video follows with transcript and commentary…
Noel Sheppard
January 30th, 2012 11:31 AM