Ed Schultz Questions Whether Anderson Cooper Behind GQ Putting Him on
Looks like GQ magazine and CNN's Anderson Cooper have gotten under Ed Schultz's skin. Then again, so many things do.
The magazine last week ranked Schultz in a satirical listing of "The 25 Least Influential People Alive," a tally that also included President Obama. (audio clip after page break)
NBC's Lauer Hits Obama Advisor From Left, Cites Democratic Mayor Calli
On Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer interviewed Obama advisor David Plouffe and promoted liberal concerns that the administration had not pushed enough government economic programs: "Even the Democratic Mayor of Scranton, Christopher Dougherty, says that he'd hoped for more federal help under this Democratic administration, and it hasn't come."
Lauer further detailed Dougherty's…
NBC's Ann Curry in Baghdad: 'U.S. Brings Its Divisive Eight-Year War i
In a live report from Baghdad on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry described her arrival to the country with Vice President Biden: "Security is heavy amid an uptick in violence as the U.S. brings its divisive eight-year war in Iraq to an end. The Vice President timed his trip to the last days of America's war in Iraq."
Later in the report, Curry listed the cost of the war: "Eight…
WaPo Continues Barney Frank Puffery with 'Barney's Greatest Hits
Yesterday we noted how the Washington Post devoted both an A-section front-pager and a Style section front-pager to celebrating the career of Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who announced his retirement from the House on Monday.
Today the Post's "In the Loop" columnist Al Kamen continued the paper's celebration with a look at "Frank's Greatest Hits", a collection of the Massachusetts Democrat's…
Oops: DNC Blasts Tapper for Blogging Obama Ad Was False on Romney Clai
The Democratic National Committee blasted ABC reporter Jake Tapper in an "open letter" for declaring on his Political Punch blog that their ad was "deceptive and false" on Mitt Romney's position on the stimulus (as we reported first here.) Ben Smith at Politico reported it, and noted it has now been unpublished. This is probably why: DNC National Press Secretary Melanie Roussell charged, "If…
'Bold and Unabashed' - NPR Gushes Over Outgoing Rep. Barney Frank
NPR's Tovia Smith sang the praises of Congressman Barney Frank on Monday's All Things Considered: "Frank has proven both piercing and pithy, zinging one-liners....bold and unabashed." Smith barely included any dissenting voices in her report, playing four sound bites from the staunch liberal and his supporters, versus only two from opponents.
Host Melissa Block noted how Rep. Frank is a "…
NBC's Brian Williams Gushes Over 1950s 'Wholesomeness' of Obama Family
In an interview with President Obama's outgoing assistant Reggie Love on NBC's Rock Center Monday night, host Brian Williams fawned over the First Family: "...like a retro almost 1950s American family, that there's a – kind of a wholesomeness about them. They play board games, they play on the floor of the living room with the dog, they're not – the girls aren't allowed a lot of TV and social…
AP Pair on Frank's Retirement: 'Gay Pioneer' With 'Legislative Triumph
Anyone who made the easy prediction that the Associated Press would fail to bring up Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac in its fawning tribute to Barney Frank after his retirement announcement yesterday was correct. Anyone making the easy prediction that the AP would lionize him as a "gay pioneer" was also spot-on.
Also predictably, the wire service's Bob Salsberg and David Espo failed to mention that…
NBC's Savannah Guthrie Ignores Barney Frank's Role in Housing Collapse
In a testy interview on Tuesday's NBC Today, fill-in co-host Savannah Guthrie avoided asking retiring Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank about his role in the collapse of the housing market and yet the liberal Democrat still complained: "You've managed to ask all sort of negative questions.....you're four for four in managing to find a negative approach."
Guthrie began the segment by…
WaPo Offers Not One But Two Puffy Stories on Barney Frank Retirement
The Washington Post responded to yesterday's retirement announcement by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) today with not one but two well-placed positive stories. "Longtime lawmaker brokered critical deals as skilled negotiator," gushed the subheader to Paul Kane's 20-paragraph page A1 article.
"Fearlessly, Frank made his mark," blared the below-the-fold Style section front page article by Robert…
Networks Ignore Violence at 'Peaceful' Occupy L.A., Play Up 'Party' Vi
The Big Three network morning shows on Monday all reported on the possible showdown between Occupy L.A. protesters and the LAPD. NBC's Today and CBS's Early Show highlighted that the left-leaning demonstrators held a "block party" as they defied law enforcement. All three media outlets also played up the supposedly "peaceful" nature of the protest, while ignoring other media reports of violence…
'Meet the Press' Panel Laments 'New Era' of Obama Disrupted By GOP 'Im
Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Random House executive editor Jon Meacham described the political comeback of Republicans: "...we were all sitting around in 2009, and this was a new era. It was an entirely different time. And I think it was a implacable opposition, which is not to say it's wrong, but it was an implacable opposition."
Host David Gregory quoted Meacham's…
CNN Eulogizes 'Titan' Barney Frank
Reporting on Monday morning that Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was not seeking re-election, CNN's political team whitewashed his controversial tenure in office with some fond words like "titan," "larger-than-life," and "teacher at heart."
CNN's Joe Johns lauded Frank's skills as a teacher -- especially as the first openly-gay congressman. "He's taught this country so much about the gay…
Wrong, Frank Rich: NYC Radicalized Oswald, Not Dallas
Nearly a half century after John F. Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas, many liberals now grudgingly accept that it was a left winger who killed him. But it was the harsh right-wing rhetoric of early '60s Texas that compelled the assassin to pull the trigger, liberals also insist.
The latest iteration of this transparent exercise in ideological face-saving comes from Frank Rich in a New York…
