NBC Hypes 'Prominent Voices' Backing Gun Control, Including 'Influenti
December 18th, 2012 1:09 PM
On Monday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams was eager to seize on any perceived momentum for greater gun control in the wake of Friday's school shooting: "The President said he would use the power of his office to prevent more gun tragedies, and tonight he is being joined by a growing number of prominent voices."
In the report that followed, correspondent Tom Costello listed some of…
Colbert Boosts 'Brave' Nun's War Against Paul Ryan; Hails Her Dissent
December 17th, 2012 11:32 PM
Stephen Colbert lent his Comedy Central television platform on Thursday to one of the left's favorite religious figures, Sister Simone Campbell, to promote her ongoing battle against Rep. Paul Ryan's fiscal ideas. Campbell slammed congressional conservatives to the extreme point of hinting that they would have treated the Holy Family worse than the innkeepers in Bethlehem [audio clips available…
CBS Lines Up Pro-Gun Control Liberals; Lets Only One Gun Rights Advoca
December 17th, 2012 1:32 PM
Bill Plante slanted four-to-one in favor of gun control on Monday's CBS This Morning as he reported on congressional Democrats' efforts to introduce new firearms regulations. Plante played soundbites from Senator Dianne Feinstein, Carolyn McCarthy, and President Barack Obama. His sole pro-gun rights talking head was Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, who came only after the clips from the liberals were…
Networks Herald Obama Throwing Down 'Political Gauntlet' on Gun Contro
December 17th, 2012 11:31 AM
The NBC, ABC, and CBS morning shows on Monday all touted President Obama seemingly calling for more gun control during a Sunday night vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting. NBC's Today provided the most hype as correspondent Lester Holt proclaimed: "While he offered words of comfort, he also laid down a political gauntlet....sketching the outlines of what amounted to a policy…
Politico, in Discussing Obama's Delayed 2014 'Budget' Proposal, Fails
December 16th, 2012 10:29 PM
One of the most frustrating elements of the just-completed presidential race was the utter failure of Mitt Romney's campaign to make sure the American people learned that their government hasn't passed a budget since April 29, 2009. It seems that because those who follow the news closely already knew that, they figured the rest of the country did, which was -- and still is -- not the case.
Of…
Virtually Unreported: CCW Holder Likely Prevented Larger Clackamas Mal
December 16th, 2012 2:21 PM
If certain aspects of stories relating to an incident of gun violence don't fit the template, they usually doesn't get reported at all. But if such things somehow get some local exposure, they rarely escape into the broader national news environment. What follows is an example of the latter.
On Saturday, Dan Zimmerman at the Truth About Guns blog (HT Instapundit) asked a quite logical…
Not News: Detroit-Area Pastor Threatens Campaign of Harassment Against
December 16th, 2012 8:40 AM
Imagine for a moment if a Christian fundamentalist pastor publicly threatened a Democratic Party governor about to sign a legitimately passed bill into law with a long-term campaign of public harassment for doing so. Now imagine if that pastor extended that threat to include appearances at the governor's home and at his children's sporting events, and that Republican and conservative elected…
NBC's Williams to Rice: 'Were You Set Up? Were You a Victim of Circums
December 14th, 2012 11:13 AM
In an exclusive interview on Thursday's NBC Rock Center with U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice following her withdrawal of her name to be secretary of state, host Brian Williams worked to portray her as a victim of unwarranted political attacks: "She's been under withering attack for weeks....Were you set up? Were you a victim of circumstance? Bad data? Bad information?...Are you blameless in all this…
NBC's Todd Labels Susan Rice 'Victim' of 'Conservative Media' Attacks
December 13th, 2012 5:34 PM
Moments after news broke of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrawing her name from consideration to be secretary of state, NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd appeared on MSNBC's Martin Bashir to denounce those he deemed responsible: "It was all driven, in many cases, by some conservative outlets who were making her the center of the Benghazi story....[which] never made a lot of sense…
MSNBC & Others Hype PolitiFact's 'Lie of the Year' Award For One of Ro
December 13th, 2012 5:21 PM
There has been no shortage of deceptive ads, factually-distorted statements, and outright fabrications from the political left over the campaign year to choose from, but leave it to the Tampa Bay Times's PolitiFact to give its "Lie of the Year" award to the Romney campaign. The now infamous "falsehood" in question was Romney's claim that Jeep was planning on moving production of some of its…
CBS to DeMint: Why Can't the GOP Just Cave to Obama's Tax Hike Demand
December 13th, 2012 3:03 PM
Charlie Rose and Gayle King pressed outgoing Senator Jim DeMint on Thursday's CBS This Morning over congressional Republicans resistance to tax hikes. When DeMint stated that President Obama will "probably eventually get his tax increases one way or another", Rose replied, "So, if he will get them, why not get them now and compromise and avoid going off the fiscal cliff?"
Open Obama booster…
NBC Poll Shows Pessimism About Obama 2nd Term, Lauer Spins it as Pessi
December 13th, 2012 12:41 PM
Following a report on Thursday's NBC Today in which political director Chuck Todd touted a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, co-host Matt Lauer tried to spin one finding: "...only 53% say they're optimistic about a second term for Obama and 47% say they are pessimistic. Is this really more pessimism about Washington in general?"
Todd accepted the characterization: "It is. You know, you…
Bedard: Liberal Dem McAuliffe Paints Himself as Mainstream, Opponent a
December 12th, 2012 4:23 PM
In his Washington Secrets column in the December 12 Washington Examiner, columnist Paul Bedard disclosed for readers the thrust of a recent email that Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe sent supporters: McAuliffe is a "mainstream" candidate fighting for Virginians against the "extremist" Tea Party conservative Ken Cuccinelli.
That's par for the course for a liberal Democratic…
Corporate Money Didn't Take Over Politics Post-Citizens United, New St
December 12th, 2012 2:44 PM
Remember the hand-wringing from the Left about how the Citizens United Supreme Court decision was supposed to turn America into a corporate dystopia. The media obligingly amplified those complaints. Well, the December 12 USA Today published an analysis showing minimal corporate participation in this year’s election cycle. In fact, their contributions amounted to roughly 10% of the mega…