Media, Democrats, and the President Have Been in Lockstep with the Tea
Throughout his tenure, there have been several facets in which President Obama has been demonstrably weak on leadership, with the debt debate coming to the forefront in recent months. Now however, lost in that news cycle has been another failure of leadership for the President – his own request to tone down violent rhetoric in this country. For it was mere months ago that Obama stood in front…
July 30th, 2011 2:29 PM
Weekend Open Thread
For general discussion and debate about politics, the debt ceiling, the economy, sports, or whatever else tickles your fancy.
July 30th, 2011 10:40 AM

Spitzer Says 'I Believe in Facts' After Claiming Bush 'Gave Us the Der
The folks at CNN should be really proud of themselves.
In less than 24 hours, one of their current anchors - Fareed Zakaria - flat out lied about deficits, the debt ceiling, and the U.S. credit rating before a former host - Eliot Spitzer - falsely told viewers of HBO's "Real Time" that George W. Bush "gave us the deregulatory craziness that led us over the cliff" (video follows with…
July 30th, 2011 10:02 AM
NYT’s Bronner Touts Anti-Israel Activists Who Invoke Nazis and Rosa
In Wednesday’s New York Times article, "Where Politics Are Complex, Simple Joys at the Beach: Israelis and Palestinians Dare to Swim Together," reporter Ethan Bronner sympathetically devotes nearly all of the article to a group of left-wing Israeli women - an organization called We Will Not Obey - who illegally smuggle Palestinian women through checkpoints from the West Bank into Israel so…
July 30th, 2011 3:42 AM

GDP Media Coverage, Part 2: Time's Error-Prone Embarrassment
This afternoon's report at Time.com's misnamed Curious Capitalist blog by Roya Wolverson ("GDP Report: What It Tells Us About the Debt") is an embarrassing hash of omissions, errors, and gratuitous political points.
Ms. Wolverson's most obvious omission is her failure to mention the government's breathtaking downward revision to first quarter gross domestic product growth from the annualized…
July 29th, 2011 11:07 PM

CNN's Romans Scolds Dissenting Republicans: 'I'll Tell You Why They're
CNN's American Morning co-hosts tried to lecture those opposed to voting to raise the debt ceiling on the error of their ways on Friday morning. When a guest GOP congressman tried to explain why he was voting no, and complained of being "vilified" for his stance, Romans showed him no mercy.
The American Morning co-host accused the dissenting Republicans who voted "no" to Boehner's plan…
July 29th, 2011 8:15 PM
Time Magazine's Scherer Insists: Obama Has a Plan
Appearing on MSNBC this afternoon, Time Magazine's Michael Scherer set out to debunk a non-existent Republican red herring on the debt ceiling debate on Friday's News Nation. "The President has been negotiating behind the scenes, has put forward a number of proposals and he's gone public with the outlines of a proposal he is willing to accept," said Scherer.
July 29th, 2011 7:45 PM
Open Thread: House Passes Debt Ceiling Increase Bill
Now the ball is in the Senate Democrats' court. Unfortunately for them, they don't even have a written bill yet.
Will the media put the onus back on Democrats who are split between tax hikers and non-tax hikers? List of GOP "no" votes follows below the break...
July 29th, 2011 7:05 PM

Charles Krauthammer Scolds Margaret Carlson for Saying Tea Party 'Stra
Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson on Friday accused the Tea Party of wanting "to burn the place down" and having figuratively "strapped explosives to the Capitol" during debt ceiling negotiations.
Sitting beside her on PBS's "Inside Washington" was Charles Krauthammer who smartly replied, "I thought post-Tucson we weren’t supposed to accuse our political opponents of being terrorists" (video…
July 29th, 2011 6:33 PM
Praying for the Right (or Left) Result
Texas Republican governor and potential presidential candidate Rick Perry will headline a "Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis" on Aug. 6 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
The ACLU of Texas and liberals are predictably upset.
July 29th, 2011 6:32 PM

Maddow Guest Host, NBC Reporter Oh So Amused by Religious Faith of Rep
Tulane professor Melissa Harris-Perry, guest hosting on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show last night, could hardly contain her mirth at the specter of an elected official actually praying for guidance while Congress struggles over the debt ceiling.
Here's Harris-Perry describing tea party Republicans facing the wrath of House Speaker John Boehner for not supporting his debt plan (video after page…
July 29th, 2011 6:25 PM

Fareed Zakaria Flat Out Lies About Deficits, Debt Ceiling and U.S. Cre
In a "Fareed Zakaria GPS" segment to be aired on CNN Sunday and posted at the network's website Thursday, the host flat out lies about the current debt ceiling debate as well as when and why credit rating agencies began expressing concern about our nation's finances.
"Please understand that none of these things are happening because the United States is running deficits," Zakaria falsely…
July 29th, 2011 5:37 PM
NY Times Staffer Vlasic Hails 'Solidarity' of Obama and Automakers on
"Four years ago, the American auto industry was so opposed to higher fuel economy standards that executives of Detroit camped out in Washington in an unsuccessful bid to undercut them," Bill Vlasic opened his July 28 front page New York Times article.
But now "when President Obama announced even stricter standards — in fact, the largest increase in mileage requirements since the government…
July 29th, 2011 5:33 PM

John King Spins for Obama, Praises His Political Smarts In Debt Ceilin
It is one matter if a president stakes out a smart position within a heated political debate, but it is another matter when members of the press believe so and shower him with positive coverage. CNN's John King complimented President Obama on Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360 for having "positioned himself smartly here in the middle" on the debt ceiling debate.
King painted the president as a…
July 29th, 2011 4:55 PM