At AP, GOP Criminal an 'Operative,' Dem Criminal an 'Adviser' Without
June 21st, 2010 2:28 PM
An Associated Press writer has perpetuated a long-standing allegation of bias with two stories about corruption in New York State she wrote last Monday.In one story, "NY AG: ‘Everyone does it' not a fraud defense'", Colleen Long wrote about the New York Attorney General's office rejecting arguments for dismissing corruption charges against Hank Morris, a former aid to State Comptroller Alan…
The Real Style Bully: Robin Givhan
June 21st, 2010 12:51 PM
At first blush, it seems as if this item might be one to file under "It Takes One to Know One." That would be wrong; the circumstances are too different. Carly Fiorina took what she thought was a private swipe (which might not even have been a swipe at all, as noted at the end of this post) at Barbara "Don't Call Me Ma'am" Boxer's hairdo as being "so yesterday." The comment was captured by a…
AP Writers Criticize Foreign Oil Spill Aid Offers Because (Gasp!) They
June 20th, 2010 11:28 PM
A Friday report by reporters Matthew Lee and Eileen Sullivan indicates that there is a serious shortage of critical thinking skills over at the Associated Press, or a serious desire to run interference for the Obama administration no matter how ignorant doing so makes the wire service's reporters appear.Lee and Sullivan try to excuse the State Department's inaction on the vast majority of roughly…
The Real Detroit Three Stories in JD Power’s Latest Initial Quality
June 19th, 2010 6:38 PM
When it comes to the performance of the U.S.-headquartered Detroit automakers once known as the Big Three, the real news in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Initial Quality Study (IQS) is not what the Associated Press's Stephen Manning wrote in his Thursday coverage ("US cars top foreign brands on quality survey") of Power's pronouncement. While barely true and in a sense historic, it's not…
Catching Heat From Left, Obama Meets With Liberal Commentators to Disc
June 18th, 2010 1:06 PM
President Obama met with a group of prominent liberal commentators on Thursday to discuss the Gulf oil spill and the administration's response. The meeting came in the midst of a rare firestorm of criticism from the left over the president's response to the spill.It was surely not coincidence that the journalists seen leaving the White House that afternoon--the New York Times's Gail Collins, the…
Bachmann Responds to 'F--- Michele Bachmann' Concert Fliers: 'We Don
June 17th, 2010 6:14 PM
It is way beyond comprehension - the dislike, hatred for Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a relative backbencher in terms of congressional clout, but a strong outspoken conservative leader. Fliers (posted below fold) have been surfacing around Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. advertising a "F--- Michele Bachmann 2010" tape party featuring the hip-hop artist G-Biz. And on Sean Hannity's June 17…
MSNBC's Brewer Annoyed at Barton's 'Shakedown' Reference, But Colleagu
June 17th, 2010 5:12 PM
In a satellite interview with Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) held shortly before 1 p.m. EDT today, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer criticized Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) for denouncing the president for pushing BP to agree to a $20-billion escrow account for oil spill damages as a "shakedown": So, there's Joe Barton calling the $20 billion in escrow a shakedown, and as you point out, there are people in…
Chris Matthews Crams Year's Worth of Anti-Tea Party Cliches into One H
June 17th, 2010 12:16 PM
What do Tea Partiers, Truthers, birthers, Birchers, militias, Pat Buchanan, Jerry Falwell, Barry Goldwater, Joe McCarthy, Father Coughlin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Ronald Reagan, Strom Thurmond, Rand Paul, Alex Jones, Orly Taitz, and Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh all have in common? Approximately nothing, but don't tell Chris Matthews.The MSNBC "Hardball" host…
CNN Airs Gushing Two-Part Report on 'Powerhouse' Anti-Prop 8 Lawyers
June 16th, 2010 8:19 PM
CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger returned to her roots as a slanted journalist on Wednesday's Newsroom with a glowing two-part report on Ted Olson and David Boies, the former rivals in Bush v. Gore who are now fighting to overturn California's Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex "marriage." Borger portrayed their coalition as "a script that could have been written in Hollywood."…
Bachmann: Obama Oil Spill Response 'Dereliction of Leadership'; Media
June 15th, 2010 7:39 PM
Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann isn't exactly known for her reticence on the news of the day. And when it comes to the White House's handling of the BP oil spill disaster, Bachmann had some harsh words for President Barack Obama. Speaking at the June 25 Bloggers Briefing at the Heritage Foundation, Bachmann pointed out how she thought it was peculiar that all the comments coming out…
CNN's Soledad O'Brien Sympathizes With Lesbian Teen's Plight
June 15th, 2010 3:57 PM
On Monday's Campbell Brown program, CNN's Soledad O'Brien presented a one-sided report about a lesbian teenager in Mississippi whose senior portrait was left out of her school's yearbook because she chose to have it taken in a tux, defying the school's rules. O'Brien commiserated with the teen, asking her at one point, "I want people to understand because other people will say- oh, for God's sake…
On Same Day, NYT Downplays Etheridge Assault, Runs Long Report on 3-Ye
June 15th, 2010 2:28 PM
RELATED: From NB's Noel Sheppard -- "NYT Reports Whitman's 2007 'Shove', Ignores Brown Calling Her Nazi Last Week"If the folks at the New York Times had any sense of shame, they would feel foolish today. A review of the Times's June 15 print edition index and review of the related articles indicates that the paper's editors: Gave reporter Jeff Zeleny about 330 words on Page A21 to recycle a…
Follow-up: AP TV Says Etheridge 'Manhandles' Questioner; Text Coverage
June 15th, 2010 12:58 PM
It would appear, based on the graphic tease reproduced at the right and the underlying content, that the folks putting together videos at the Associated Press didn't get the memo that they should go as soft as possible on North Carolina Democratic Congressman Bob Etheridge. Etheridge arguably committed assault "last week" when approached on a public street. The description of what occurred and…
WaPo Asks 'Who Cares' if President Golfs During Crisis, Forgets They D
June 15th, 2010 10:56 AM
Poor Barack Obama. Being president can take a lot out of him. That's why he needs to relax on the links, and relieve some stress into his golf game. No problem, says the Washington Post, the Gulf Spill can wait. This is the same Washington Post that berated President Bush for golfing while an armed conflict was taking place…in Israel.Not that suicide bombings in Israel are an unserious matter,…