Defending Bill, Lanny Launches 'Blizzard of BS
Their infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad . . . Be assured, Baghdad is safe, protected. There are no American infidels in Baghdad . . . There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad. -- Saddam's Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, AKA "Baghdad Bob."Not bad, Bob. But if you want to see how flackery is done at its supremely…
64% of Americans Don’t Trust Presidential Campaign Coverage
Here's something America's media should be proud of: 64 percent of people surveyed do not trust press coverage of the presidential campaign. Want to know the really inconvenient truth?The study, done by Harvard University's Center for Public Leadership, was performed in September before the recent CNN Democrat presidential debate debacle in Las Vegas.Just imagine what those numbers would look…
NBC, CBS Morning Shows Ignore Bill Clinton's Flip-Flop on Iraq War
Wednesday's editions of the CBS "Early Show" and NBC's "Today" show both ignored Bill Clinton's incredible assertion on Tuesday that he opposed the Iraq war from its inception. Only "Good Morning America" correspondent Jake Tapper pointed out the obvious fact that Clinton was no vocal critic of the military action. Filing a report on the subject, Tapper incredulously wondered, "Bill Clinton…
Zogby Zinger: Hillary Aide Should Temper Criticism 'With a Little Bit
"You sort of have to be a little careful. There's a whole campaign handbook of things that you say to dismiss polls. But you should mire them in a little bit of truth." -- John Zogby, responding to criticism by Mark Penn, chief Hillary Clinton strategist, of Zogby's online polling.Mark Twain, famously warning against getting into a spat with newspapers, said "never pick a fight with someone who…
Schieffer Newsflash: Politicians Just ‘Tell Us What We Want to Hear
In his "Final Word" at the end of Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS, host Bob Schieffer made the cliched charge:Candidates now race to tell us what we want to hear. They load us down with spin, tiptoe around controversial issues, and give us tortured explanations of how a change in their position really wasn't a change at all. This pandering to popular public sentiment toward politicians was…
Newsweek: Who's Less Liberal? Romney or Giuliani
"Rudy v. Romney: Which one is least [sic]* liberal?"So asks a teaser headline in the Newsweek.com front page "light box" slideshow (pictured at right). The link takes readers to Newsweek assistant editor Andrew Romano's article, "Forget 'Conservative.' Who's the 'Least Liberal' GOP Frontrunner?"Conservatives examining whom to support in the primary elections might do well to welcome an…
ABC's Moran: Obama 'Fresh Face' Who Represents 'Real Change
According to "Nightline" host Terry Moran, Iowa voters are listening to Barack Obama's "real argument that he is tomorrow, a fresh face who represents a real change from our bitter, polarized politics." The ABC anchor, who profiled the Democratic candidate for Tuesday's edition of the program, spent part of the interview interpreting the feelings of caucus voters. He gushed, "...You get the sense…
'Campaign Operatives Are People Too': CNN's Cooper On Debate Questions
Mary Katharine Ham briefly chatted with CNN's Anderson Cooper and David Bohrman about tomorrow's CNN/YouTube debate and concerns about the agenda of questions that will be picked. For the whole thing, go here, but I just had to share this priceless gem (my emphasis in bold). First Ham's question, then Cooper's answer: Q: There’s been a bit of scandal about the screening that CNN did on its “…
Dobbs: Clinton White House Would Be Praised for Today’s Economy
For years, NewsBusters and its parent, the Media Research Center, have been reporting on the disparity in economic coverage by mainstream media outlets during the Clinton and Bush administrations. In the past seven years, economic data that would have been praised when Bill Clinton was in the White House has continually been presented as recessionary, or even depression-like. With that in…
ABC's Sawyer: Huckabee's 'Heavy Handed' Ad Plays 'Religion Card
"Good Morning America" host Diane Sawyer apparently has a significant problem with 2008 GOP contender Mike Huckabee's new ad that identifies the candidate as a "Christian leader." On Tuesday's program, Sawyer fretted over whether "we crossed a line here" and asked guest Newt Gingrich if the campaign spot is "just too heavy-handed about specific denominations?" The GMA host also speculated that…
The Media, Their Polls and the False News They Produce
First published in Human Events on November 27th, 2007.Wash, spin, rinse, spin. Phone, spin, report, spin, poll, spin. The similarities between the work of the mainstream media and a laundry machine are striking. Yet there is nothing about the cycle -- the spin-report-poll-spin cycle -- that does for political events what detergent does for your boxers or briefs. The media, as One, spend days…
Hillary Aide Scolds Scarborough For Airing Party-Pooping Poll
Update | 10:25 AM -- Zogby says Penn should know better . . . Clinton campaign #1 user of Zogby results. See entire Zogby response at foot. Presaging the kind of press control a President Hillary Clinton might try to impose, a member of her inner circle scolded Joe Scarborough today for having the audacity to mention a poll with results unfavorable to Clinton.Yesterday, Zogby International…
Matthews: 'I Don't See a Whole Lot of Heart' From Rudy or Romney
Widows and orphans, beware: the Republicans are coming!That was the upshot of Chris Matthews's observation today about two Republican front-runners.View video here.Financial Times US Managing Editor Chrystia Freeland has become a "Hardball" regular of late. CHRYSTIA FREELAND: The other thing that people worry about is if someone forecloses on their home, and that's the issue we haven't really…
