Bernstein: Ford's Nixon Pardon 'Right Thing To Do

March 9th, 2011 8:06 AM
A minor historical footnote, perhaps, but arguably an interesting one . . . A man whose Watergate reporting made his career and led to Richard Nixon's downfall has declared that Pres. Gerald Ford did the right thing in pardoning Nixon.   Carl Bernstein made the--to me at least--surprising statement on today's Morning Joe, in the course of a discussion of Jeff Greenfield's new book about…

MSNBC Hypes Republican Push for Voter Registration Reform as 'War on V

March 8th, 2011 1:36 PM
"With such a strong bloc of these young people voting Democratic [in presidential elections], Republican leaders in some key swing states are looking to even the playing field coming up in 2012," MSNBC's Thomas Roberts insisted as he introduced Heather Smith of Rock the Vote (RTV) in a segment devoted to that group's fears about "voter suppression" -- see RTV screen capture below the page break…

Brent Bozell Calls on Congress to Pull Plug on NPR's Propaganda Machin

March 8th, 2011 12:16 PM
In light of new revelations about NPR's top brass bashing conservatives in a hidden-camera investigation, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell and NewsBusters senior editor Tim Graham issued the following statements calling on Congress to wake up and stop using tax dollars to fund National Public Radio. Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center (MRC):

CNN's 'Highly Regarded Expert on Extremism': Radical Right a Bigger Te

March 7th, 2011 6:17 PM
Mark Potok of the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center claimed on Monday's Newsroom on CNN that radical Islam wasn't "our biggest domestic terror threat," that instead, "that pretty clearly comes from the radical right in this country." Anchor Suzanne Malveaux touted Potok as "expert on extremism" from "one of the most highly regarded non-governmental operations that are monitoring hate groups…

WaPo Worries Republicans 'Seek[ing] More Limits on Voters

March 7th, 2011 5:00 PM
"State Republicans seek more limits on voters" warned the front page Washington Post headline for Peter Wallsten's March 7 article. "GOP says the push targets fraud; Democrats call it a power play," added the subheader. The online version of the article had a decidedly less-loaded headline, but Wallsten's article skewed towards the Democratic complaint (emphasis mine):

On ABC, Daily Beast’s Avlon Complains ‘Obama Derangement Syndrome

March 6th, 2011 11:24 PM
 On the Sunday, March 6, Good Morning America on ABC, as the Daily Beast’s John Avlon appeared as a guest to make predictions about which Republicans will ultimately choose to run for President, he ended up complaining that "Obama Derangement Syndrome" has recently "gotten worse" and "deserves to be called out" because it is "divisive" and "unnecessary." Host Dan Harris asked Avlon about his…

Time’s Stengel: GOP Nominee Will Treat Tea Party Like Sister Souljah

March 6th, 2011 11:23 AM
 Appearing as a panel member on the syndicated Chris Matthews Show on Sunday, as host Matthews led the group in discussing potential Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s recent gaffe about President Obama growing up in Kenya, Time magazine managing editor Richard Stengel predicted that the eventual Republican nominee would have a "Sister Souljah moment with the Tea Party." Stengel…

CNN Hypes Muslims' 'Islamophobia' Worries Over Rep. King's Hearings

March 5th, 2011 12:29 PM
Dan Gilgoff played up the Islamic community's concerns over upcoming congressional hearings on "the radicalization of American Muslims" in a Friday article on CNN.com. Gilgoff quoted Muslims 12 times in his article, versus only 3 times for Rep. Peter King, who will be convening the hearings, and omitted mentioning actual terrorist incidents from recent years that involved native-born or…

Martin Bashir and Bernie Sanders Agree: Hike Taxes on Wealthy and Oil

March 3rd, 2011 5:10 PM
MSNBC's Martin Bashir has only been on the job for a few days, but the newly-minted anchor is already letting his liberal flag fly. On his eponymous program today, Bashir was dumbfounded as to why Congress is reluctant to hike taxes on the rich and end tax deductions for oil companies. "Why won't Congress simply do what the people want?" lamented Bashir, interviewing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-…

CBS Sees Too Much 'Personal Baggage' for Gingrich; Other GOP 2012 Cand

March 3rd, 2011 3:40 PM
Discussing the possibility of Newt Gingrich running for president in 2012, on Thursday's CBS Early Show, co-host Chris Wragge touted "big negatives" for the former House speaker: "...baggage that he brings with him...the government shutdowns back in the '90s, to being forced out as speaker, to the fact that he's on his third marriage, which is probably going to alienate some social…

ABC Omits Jane Russell's Pro-Life Views, Cites Her 'Back Alley Abortio

March 2nd, 2011 7:47 PM
On Tuesday's World News, ABC's David Wright highlighted actress Jane Russell's "botched back-alley abortion in high school," which led her to push "hard to expand adoption," but he failed to mention that she described herself as "vigorously pro-life," and that she was a conservative activist. Wright's report aired at the end of the evening news program. The correspondent spent most of the…

CBS: Fugitive Wisconsin Dems Have 'Become Heroes' to Union Protestors

March 2nd, 2011 4:59 PM
During a report on the latest developments in Wisconsin for Wednesday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Cynthia Bowers proclaimed that the 14 Democratic state senators who fled to Illinois to block Governor Walker's budget proposal from passing have "become heroes to protesters." She lamented: "Now comes word, albeit from a Republican, some may be ready to come home and concede." Bowers used…

CNN.com Story on Gov. Walker's 'Overreach' Loaded with Unanimous Anti

March 1st, 2011 7:41 PM
CNN's Ed Hornick apparently couldn't find anyone who disagreed with the notion that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker "overreached" in his push to eliminate collective bargaining for public sector unions. He couldn't even quote Walker himself. Hornick's Tuesday article quoted from two political science professors, a "progressive" editorial writer, and a former United States comptroller general,…

MSNBC's Martin Bashir Hails Obama Response to Libya As 'Measured,' Sla

March 1st, 2011 6:08 PM
"President Obama has been taking a truckload of flak from the right for his measured response to the crises embroiling the Middle East," MSNBC's Martin Bashir harumphed as he opened his "Clear the Air" commentary on the March 1 program. "Measured is my word because it's certainly not one that right-wing pundits have been using," Bashir complained. Of course the term "measured" implies…