Gibbs on Cramer’s 'Daily Show' Dismal Performance: 'I Enjoyed It Tho

March 13th, 2009 3:44 PM
What's a little salt on the wound after a seemingly humiliating performance by CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on Comedy Central's March 12 "The Daily Show?" At least that's the way White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs acted when he took the opportunity to comment on last night's "Daily Show" during his March 13 press briefing. Gibbs was asked what he thought of the interview, where "Daily…

So Why DID H. Rodgin Cohen Withdraw as Treasury's No. 2? Press Is Curi

March 13th, 2009 7:42 AM
There seems to be a wall of silence surrounding the sudden withdrawal of H. Rodgin Cohen (pictured at right) from consideration for the Number 2 job at the Treasury Department. The party line, according to ABC's This Week host and former Clinton administration adviser George Stephanopoulos, is that "an issue arose in the final stages of the vetting process." David Cho at the Washington Post…

Media Forgets Obama's Nominee to Justice Dept. Was a Terrorist's Lawye

March 13th, 2009 2:05 AM
On March 9, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on one of Barack Obama's latest nominees. This time it was to assess the suitability of Tony West, Obama's nominee for the assistant attorney general in charge of the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Division. Things went "smoothly" according to the San Jose Mercury News, also publishing a nice bio of West. The Washington Post merely…

WaPo Chats with Time Writer Turned Biden Gaffe Goalie Jay Carney

March 12th, 2009 3:27 PM
In case you were worried, former Time magazine staffer Jay Carney has "had very little trouble adapting" to his job as Vice President Biden's director of communications. From a recent interview with Washington Post's Mary Ann Akers published in the March 12 paper: [Akers]: You left journalism after 20 years with Time. How is life on the other side? Carney: It's great. I have had very little…

Swaps Stopped: Cities in LA Co. Were Doing Stimulus Funding Deals With

March 12th, 2009 12:47 AM
It seems that so-called stimulus package funding is being spread around so widely that some of its beneficiaries can't figure out how to spend it as intended. When it became clear to a few small cities in California's Los Angeles County that they didn't have appropriate transportation projects for their promised stimulus funding, they decided to sell the rights to that funding to other nearby…

Fox's Sammon: Carville, Greenburg Told Reporters They Wanted Bush to F

March 11th, 2009 11:33 PM
The above headline isn't even the half of it. After the attacks were known to all, James Carville told assembled Washington reporters at a hotel conference room breakfast where he and Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg spoke (photo is from the May 20, 2004 Christian Science Monitor) to "Disregard everything we just said! This changes everything!" The assembled press apparently understood that…

GMA's Chris Cuomo Brags: 'We're Not a Great Entertainment Show

March 11th, 2009 6:11 PM
"Good Morning America" news anchor Chris Cuomo gave an interview to the TV Newser podcast "Morning Media Menu" on Wednesday in which he touted the seriousness of the ABC program and later vaguely broached the subject of the issues journalists leave out of stories. But first, he bragged, "I think a fair criticism of 'Good Morning America' would be that we're not a great entertainment show. You…

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Pleads 'Guilty' to Barney Frank for Media Scru

March 11th, 2009 3:59 PM
The Treasury Department oversees the Internal Revenue Service. But if the Secretary of the Treasury - or any other political appointee being considered for the Treasury Department - didn't pay his income payroll taxes, it doesn't matter. That's the message from House Banking Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and he blamed the fourth estate for acting like it does matter. On MSNBC's…

LA TV Station Notes ACORN Presence at School Board Meeting; Other Outl

March 11th, 2009 3:47 PM
Los Angeles's NBC television affiliate must not have gotten the memo telling them that they should not utter the name of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), lest anyone reach the "wrong" conclusions. NBC Los Angeles is the only media outlet I have found thus far to identify ACORN's presence in a story about a "disruptive display of disobedience" by members the United…

MRC's Bozell Reacts to Newsweek/Air America Partnership

March 11th, 2009 3:12 PM
Imagine a partnership between the owners of the Titanic and the Hindenburg, and you've pretty much got the brilliance behind Newsweek's newly-announced alliance with Air America."[G]iven the respective ratings, it’s an outstanding business decision. Clearly, Newsweek wanted a radio partner whose listenership mirrors their readership -- minimal and declining rapidly," quipped Media Research Center…

Air America Begins Syndication Division With ... Newsweek, Whose Curre

March 11th, 2009 11:10 AM
"Journalistic" Cheap Shot at the CompetitionUPDATE: Below the fold. ------------------------------------------- Couldn't they have at least waited a week to make this announcement?Liberal radio uber-failure Air America is branching out, expanding their tremendously successful business model to include syndication of outside programming.  And with whom are they beginning this new venture?Why,…

Brits Officials Can't Get Obama Folks on Phone, U.S. Media Not Picking

March 11th, 2009 3:05 AM
If the snub of British PM Gordon Brown at the hands of President Obama and his wife weren't enough, now British Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell is saying that Downing Street is finding it "unbelievably difficult" to get hold of officials from Obama's administration. British officials can't seem to ever get past the administration's answer machines as they call here to try and coordinate plans…

USNews Columnist: Dems 'Must' Keep Census Political -- 'Gerrymander an

March 10th, 2009 10:34 AM
Bonnie Erbe, a columnist and blogger for U.S.News and World Report, is keen to make sure that Democrats continue to cheat on re-districting as much as possible. She is insisting that Democrats not fall for a bi-partisan or a fair approach to re-districting and says that the Census should stay "politicized" because, after all, it’s Democrats in power now! So, as far as she is concerned, the…

The AP Channels the Democrats in the Limbaugh-Kennedy ‘Scandal

March 9th, 2009 2:47 PM
***TWO UPDATES, including the response from AP's Ron Fournier, at the end of this post.***Friday evening the Associated Press (AP) issued an un-bylined story which was nothing more than a stenographic reprint of the latest dishonest Democratic attack on talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.  The Friday story apparently reflected zero research into the charge levied by Brian Wolff, executive…