NBC's Curry: Do Tea Party Members of Congress 'Know How to Govern
In a discussion with Meet the Press host David Gregory and Tom Brokaw on Monday's NBC Today about the debt ceiling deal, co-host Ann Curry contemptuously wondered: "...do you think that members of the Tea Party Caucus know how to govern or are they – do they understand that standing up for a cause is not the same as governing?" [Audio available here]
Interestingly, Brokaw rejected Curry's…
NY Times' Zeleny: 'Both Sides' 'Bruised' in Debt Ceiling Deal; Only Co
In a front-page “news analysis” piece this morning, Times national political correspondent Jeff Zeleny pronounced that “After a Protracted Fight, Both Sides Emerge Bruised.”
Yet Zeleny’s analysis was chock full of the typical liberal bias slant that puffs up President Obama, slams the Tea Party as “intractable” and ignores the partisanship of liberal Senate members, particularly Harry Reid (…
NBC Hosts Fret Obama Had to 'Give In' to GOP With 'Not Balanced' Debt
In an interview with White House advisor David Plouffe on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer worried about liberals being unhappy with the proposal deal on the debt ceiling: "So did the President compromise here, David, or did he give in simply so that he wouldn't be labeled as the president who was on duty as the nation defaulted on its financial obligations?"
Plouffe defended the plan…
Sharpton Pushed for Comcast/NBC Merger - And Now Is In Line for Own Sh
Remember how Al Sharpton was among the first black leaders to speak out in favor of Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal?
My recollection of this was vague at best, tending as I do to dismiss nearly everything coming from Sharpton as insignificant, predictable or clownish.
Then after FCC approval of the merger back in January, Sharpton began appearing more often as a guest on MSNBC, a…
Fox 19 Cincinnati's Sherrod Brown Interview Typifies Weak Media Covera
Saturday night in Cincinnati, Fox 19's Kimberly Holmes Wiggins interviewed Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown from Washington about the state of the debt-ceiling debate. A full transcript follows.
Contained therein readers will see the untruthful establishment press memes which have dominated their coverage, and all too typical disgraceful and predictable demagoguery by Brown. Similar…
AP's Hurst Implies Default Would Happen on Aug. 2 Without Debt-Ceiling
In his roughly 10 a.m. report this morning (HT to an NB emailer), the Associated Press's Steven R. Hurst opened by saying that "The top Republican in the Senate said Congress and the White House were very close to a deal on raising the limit on U.S. borrowing that would avert an unprecedented default on America's debt, ending one of the nastiest partisan fights in recent memory."
In his…
GDP Media Coverage, Part 3: AP Pair Pins Prime Blame on Gas Prices, Fi
The AP's coverage of the U.S. economy late Friday focused on high gas prices as the dominant, uh, driver of this year's anemic growth both visually and in its text.
As will be seen after the jump, the graphic at the AP's national site is of a gas price sign. The final sentence in the caption of the full-size version reads "High gas prices and scant income gains forced Americans to sharply…
Media, Democrats, and the President Have Been in Lockstep with the Tea
Throughout his tenure, there have been several facets in which President Obama has been demonstrably weak on leadership, with the debt debate coming to the forefront in recent months. Now however, lost in that news cycle has been another failure of leadership for the President – his own request to tone down violent rhetoric in this country. For it was mere months ago that Obama stood in front…
Maddow Guest Host, NBC Reporter Oh So Amused by Religious Faith of Rep
Tulane professor Melissa Harris-Perry, guest hosting on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show last night, could hardly contain her mirth at the specter of an elected official actually praying for guidance while Congress struggles over the debt ceiling.
Here's Harris-Perry describing tea party Republicans facing the wrath of House Speaker John Boehner for not supporting his debt plan (video after page…
Networks Deride 'Rebellious' 'Hardline Conservatives' Creating 'Chaos
On Friday, all three network morning shows played up the theme of stubborn House GOP conservatives opposing Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling plan. On CBS's Early Show, co-host Chris Wragge proclaimed: "House Republicans will meet again this morning after hardline conservatives handed House Speaker John Boehner a major setback."
On ABC's Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos…
20-1: NY Times Continues to Bury Liberal Label in Debt Debate, Highlig
The New York Times' lead story on the debt ceiling debate, Friday, for the second time in three days, featured no liberal labels, but managed to tag "conservatives" five times. This now brings the ideological scorecard (for that time period) to 20 conservative identifications and just one for liberals.
The Times' Carl Hulse only slightly varied his description of the House Republicans. He…
MRC-TV: Bozell Discusses Debt Crisis Bias on 'Fox & Friends
"When, oh, when is a Republican going to stand up" and call the liberal media on their lies about the debt ceiling debate, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell lamented on this morning's "Fox & Friends."
Bozell was reacting to a clip of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) answering a misleading and biased question by CBS's Bob Schieffer (video follows page break; MP3 audio here):
CBS's Schieffer Wrongly Claims Social Security Checks Can't Go Out Wit
On three occasions between July 22 and July 26, 2011, CBS's Bob Schieffer carried water for President Obama when he echoed the Democrat's inaccurate claim about Social Security: "Millions of Americans...may not get their next [Social Security] check if the debt ceiling crisis is not resolved." In reality, there is enough federal revenues and authorized expenditures to pay for the program [audio…
NBC Highlights Sniping at Boehner Debt Plan, No Criticism of Dems
On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell declared the delayed vote on House Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling plan "took precious little time," and touted how "Democrats filled the time with sharp words." A sound bite was featured from Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen: "I've had kidney stones that are easier to pass than this."
O'Donnell focused…