Culture/Society

On Monday's AC360 on CNN, retired Lt. General Russel Honore rebuked the media's coverage of the ongoing controversy surrounding the police shooting of Michael Brown. Anderson Cooper raised how a liberal legal analyst contended that Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's activation of the National Guard, in anticipation of a grand jury decision on the case, was an "escalation of this military-style…

On Sunday's 60 Minutes, CBS's Norah O'Donnell hounded Cardinal O'Malley on the Catholic Church's teaching on priestly ordination, and wondered, "Does the exclusion of women seem at all immoral?" She also hyped that "some women feel like they're second-class Catholics." The journalist also underlined that the "conservative" Boston archbishop is a "hardliner on Catholic doctrine. Like Pope Francis…

CBS and NBC's morning and evening newscasts on Saturday and Sunday ignored Pope Francis's condemnation of abortion and euthanasia during a Saturday meeting with Catholic doctors in Italy. Their omission is glaring when compared to their hype over a supposed "seismic shift towards gays and divorcees" in a proposed document from a bishops' meeting. Surprisingly, ABC's fluff-filled Good Morning…

While Obama’s Federal Communications Commission obsesses over liberal concerns like the under-regulation of the Internet and whether “Redskins” is a profanity, broadcast television is sleazier than ever. As The Hollywood Reporter recently noted, “Nearly two months into the fall, it's clear that explicit jokes and boundary-pushing storylines are changing the definition of what sexual content is…

The European Space Agency made history on Wednesday, after its Philae lander touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko – the first spacecraft to land on a comet. CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC all interrupted their regular programming with the breaking news. However, a vocal group of leftists on Twitter brushed this stunning development aside to berate one of scientists taking part in the…

CNN's Anderson Cooper found himself the target of a prank on Monday's AC360. During his regular, light-hearted 'Ridiculist' segment, Cooper was surprised by video footage of his own office and the scented candle burning on his desk. The anchor explained the reason for its presence: "Somebody told me that I smelled...or my jeans smell, because I don't wash them. So, that's why I got the candle,…

Alex Wagner was noticeably gleeful on her MSNBC program on Monday about Pope Francis reassigning Cardinal Raymond Burke from a prominent role at the Vatican to patron of the Knights of Malta. Wagner hyped this move as "a strong message to arch-conservatives in the Catholic Church – reform or be removed." The left-wing host later underlined that the pontiff "demoted hardline U.S. Cardinal Raymond…

David Weigel's writeup this afternoon at Bloomberg Politics ("Meet the Mild-Mannered Investment Advisor Who's Humiliating the Administration Over Obamacare") is about the guy who has found at least two incriminating videos of Jonathan Gruber revealing the true intentions behind the Affordable Care Act. In some respects, it's well done and interesting. What's not well done is Bloomberg's choice…

A Sunday Associated Press item carried at its national news site informs readers that the town of Westminster in north central Massachusetts is seriously considering a ban on tobacco products. The Boston Globe covered the story in a lengthy report on October 28, and the Washington Post carried a brief item at its GovBeat blog that same day. None of those three items addressed an obvious question…

CNN's Chris Cuomo expressed his nagging doubt on Monday's New Day about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Co-anchor Alisyn Camerota boasted, "I find it satisfying to hear about his last seconds – I got to say." Cuomo initially agreed with his co-anchor, but then reversed course: "Actually, I don't know that I do. I don't like the idea of anybody having to lose their life, but that gets into a…

David Masciotra believes we should “discourage young, poor and working-class men and women from joining the military,” and that “part of the campaign against enlistment requires removing the glory of the ‘hero’ label from those who do enlist.”

Saturday morning, Erica Werner at the Associated Press, aka the Administratino's Press, channeled her inner Nancy Cordes to play "gotcha" with Republicans who won election to the House on Tuesday. Werner's report essentially regurgitated Cordes's petulance in the CBS reporter's question directed at House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday. Cordes identified supposedly stupid or ill-advised things…

On Friday's CNN Newsroom, Brooke Baldwin played up the apparent similarity between Senator-elect Joni Ernst's laugh and that of Cruella De Vil, the antagonist from Disney's 101 Dalmations. Baldwin aired a short segment on Ernst and two newly-elected Republican women in Congress. She ended the part about the Iowa politician with her comparison: "Don't forget about that laugh. Some people call it…

Earlier this week, Discovery Channel announced it would air a reality TV special December 7 called “Eaten Alive” in which filmmaker Paul Rosolie would let himself be swallowed by an anaconda, then make it out alive, without harm to him or the snake. Discovery Channel hoped the publicity stunt would boost slow Sunday night TV ratings. Well, the ever-sensitive animal rights group PETA (“People For…