Culture/Society

“I’ll take an order of fries, a kid’s meal, and some sexy women with square butts, please.”CBS “Early Show” hosts Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith giggled at the new commercial for the Burger King kid’s meal featuring sexual images inappropriate for children, including sexy women in tight outfits dancing to a parody of the notoriously raunchy tune, “Baby Got Back.”Aimed to promote the new 99 cent…

Our friend from Detroit, Jacob Appel, thinks that gays need government reparations and the Detroit Free Press was so enamored of his idea that it published his plea in its April 7 issue. One has a suspicion that they missed a deadline because this story would have more properly been published on April 1, a day well known as April Fool's Day. This one simply must be a joke. Appel is so filled…

Ed Schultz debuted on MSNBC during the 5 p.m. slot on April 6 with a flashy new set. And although the liberal radio host's "The ED Show" is in its infancy, it has one apparent theme - it's very pro-organized labor. Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, was even Schultz's first guest. On his second show on April 7, Schultz's opening "OpEd" segment was firmly for the Employee Free…

Some groups on the left may have it out for anti-tax tea party movement, but according to one of the movement's biggest proponents - it is because they don't understand it from a hierarchical perspective. Although there are reports that ACORN, The Huffington Post and the Daily Kos wanting to infiltrate the rallies, or crying foul for other reason - Beck, who appeared on Fox News Channel's April…

In a surprising turn for the network, ABC’s “Nightline” included a strong pro-abstinence message on April 6 when it featured comedian and radio host Steve Harvey.Harvey is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” which is all about love and relationships and includes advice on waiting to “give up the cookie.”Sharyn Alfonsi’s insightful interview with Harvey…

[Update, 3:34 pm Eastern: Please read Erin Brown's analysis of the CBS segment on the Culture and Media Institute's website.] In a promo on Thursday’s Early Show, CBS asked if same-sex “marriage” is “inevitable in all 50 states,” and during their segment on the issue, seemed to answer this rhetorical question affirmatively. The network also lined up four sound bites from three individuals who…

Saving the world one tax at a time might sound like a silly notion. Not to those who want a soda tax to control people's consumption habits in the name of fighting obesity.On ABC's April 8 "World News with Charles Gibson," John Berman reported that soft drinks were making people fat - something you don't see in soft drink advertisements."If you watch the commercials, soft drinks make us sing,…

USA Today's Chuck Raasch has decided that President Obama is a "transformational American leader abroad" and that his America Stinks tour of Europe is a "confirming stamp of that new reality." This effluvia of over indulgent praise heaped on Obama is ubiquitous in the media, we all know, but what makes Raasch's piece egregious is the assumption of historical "truth" that posits that Obama has…

It's been all over the news - Rush Limbaugh packing up camp and abandoning his operations in New York City. It's been the subject of a Jon Stewart "The Daily Show" tirade and even drew the attention of New York Gov. David Paterson. Limbaugh appeared on Fox News Channel's April 8 "Your World with Neil Cavuto" and explained why he was leaving and how he felt about those that were glad he was…

Wednesday’s Early Show picked up where The Tyra Banks Show left off in interviewing Levi Johnston, the ex-fiancé of Bristol Palin, as well as his sister and mother, and continued the media’s coverage of the “family feud” between the Palins and the Johnstons. Anchor Maggie Rodriguez asked Levi’s sister Mercede if the Palin family was “snobby.” She also asked the young man if the Palin family was “…

A few weeks ago, MSNBC "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann got exercised at Brit Hume's crediting the Media Research Center for providing fodder for the "Political Grapevine" of his FNC show "Special Report." He was quickly shown as a hypocrite for taking that very information from a left-wing blog.  On April 7, Olbermann was at it again, taking banter from left-wing blogs to attack individuals…

The University of Maryland recently decided that prayer is not allowed during commencement addresses, but pornographic films are allowed on campus. University officials cited “academic free speech” as the reason to allow the film. Occurring nearly simultaneously, both incidents have garnered extensive media coverage. The question is, will the media question the University’s inconsistency in…

The University of Maryland -- my alma mater, for full disclosure -- has made national headlines this week with a pirate-themed porn flick originally scheduled for a full-length screening last Saturday at the campus theater. Under pressure from state legislators, campus officials backed down, yet a student group stepped in the gap, pledging to screen the film in a lecture hall yesterday evening.…

The hubbub over conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh proclaiming he hoped the policies enacted by President Barack Obama fail has gone on for months. It has drawn scorn and condemnation from voices in the media and on the left.However, one committed and very controversial lefty isn't as up in arms about it as one might have thought he would be. HBO's "Real Time" host Bill Maher told the…