Recap: The Most Ridiculous Leftist Defenses of Anthony Weiner

UPDATE: Check out reaction from some of the chief Weiner-defenders below the break. The so-called Weinergate scandal provided a true spectacle of media bias and conspiracy theorizing. While there was certainly plenty of good reporting throughout, many opted to take Rep. Anthony Weiner's claims at face value and search for other culprits or scapegoats. Others devised more malicious theories…

NBC's Lauer Claims Breitbart Violated Conservative Principles by Break

In an interview with Andrew Breitbart on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer suggested the conservative blogger should not have broken news of the scandal involving Congressman Anthony Weiner: "Did you worry that – you know, as a conservative, you don't want government in people's bedrooms. And so did you stop and have a debate with yourself about that?" Moments earlier, Breitbart had…

Chris Matthews Sees Edwards Indictment as GOP 'Revenge,' Like in 'Thir

On Friday's Hardball on MSNBC, host Chris Matthews proposed a GOP conspiracy behind the indictment of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards: "Do you think there's politics in this prosecution? Was it just a Republican U.S. attorney going after this guy, sticking around to do the dirty work for the 'R's?" [Audio available here] Matthews posed that question to Democratic…

NBC: 'Critics Blast' 'Bad Case' Against John Edwards, 'Did Government

At the top of Monday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer touted objections to the indictment of former Democratic Senator John Edwards: "Some critics blast the government's case against the former presidential candidate. Why they say what he did may not have been against the law." Introducing a later report on the scandal, fellow co-host Meredith Vieira similarly proclaimed: "There are growing…

In Friday Morning Coverage of John Edwards Scandal, CBS Only Major Net

In the Friday morning coverage of former Sen. John Edwards' indictment by a federal grand jury, only one of the three major networks, CBS, reported that he was a Democrat. Neither ABC nor NBC reported Edwards' party affiliation, simply calling him a "former presidential candidate." ABC's Good Morning America sympathetically called the morning "a difficult one" for Edwards as he faced…

Anthony Weiner: The Ick-arus of Capitol Hill

How long before Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner conducts his next meltdown press conference flanked by two adult-movie "goddesses" a la Charlie Sheen? Like the delusional bad-boy actor, Weiner actually thinks his self-destructive act is winning, too. The tweetaholic congressman spent the week dodging and deflecting questions about what he called a "randy" image that appeared in his official,…

NY Times Omits John Edwards's Party ID After Indictment; Quick to Labe

UPDATE: Some hours after the Times's initial filing, the phrase "former senator" in paragraph one was changed to read "former Democratic senator." Where’s the party? New York Times reporter Katharine Seelye filed an online report early Friday on the breaking story of the indictment on campaign finance violations of John Edwards, the former senator and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate (…

CNN, CBS Zero In on Breitbart's Role in Spreading Word of Weiner Scand

Both CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday's AC360 and CBS's Nancy Cordes on Thursday's Early Show highlighted conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart's early part in spreading news of the lewd photo Tweeted from Rep. Andrew Weiner's Twitter account. Cooper played up Breitbart's supposedly "questionable credibility," while Cordes reported how "supporters of Weiner note that it was [the] right-wing…

Former D.C. Prosecutor: It Would Be Crime for Weiner to File False Pol

Joseph E. diGenova, former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said today it would be a crime for Rep. Anthony Weiner (D.-N.Y.) to file a complaint with the police claiming his Twitter account had been hacked if he knew it had not been hacked. Last Friday, a Tweet that included a lewd photograph was sent from Weiner’s Twitter account to a 21-year-old woman in Seattle, whom the 46-year…

Donny Deutsch: Weiner Should Have Been 'Very Honest' And Said He Sent

So now we know: Donny Deutsch would advise Dems caught in a sex scandal . . . to fabricate a false story. On today's Morning Joe, ad man Deutsch stated that, when caught with his pants down, Anthony Weiner should have been "very honest" and claimed that he had sent the picture to his wife. And by "very honest," Deutsch of course means "very dishonest" since no one, starting with Weiner…

CNN's Yellin: 'I Thought That Congressman Weiner Was Refreshingly Cand

What a difference a day makes.  Yesterday, much of the media muttered about how unresponsive Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was to questions about how he's been multitasking on Twitter.  Today it appears the liberal Democrat has redeemed himself through an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.  Guest hosting on CNN's John King, USA this evening, Jessica Yellin began an interview with two…

Unlike ABC and CBS, NBC’s Williams Spikes Weinergate Yet Has Time fo

ABC’s World News and the CBS Evening News on Wednesday night both allocated full stories to Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner and his evolving non-denial denials over the lewd photo sent from his Twitter account, but not the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Williams instead made the news judgment to skip Weiner and highlight the “PR problem” Republican New Jersey Governor Chris…

ABC, NBC Spotlight Growing Weiner Photo Scandal; CBS Punts

ABC's GMA and NBC's Today on Wednesday both did due diligence on the Rep. Anthony Weiner brouhaha surrounding a lewd photo posted on his Twitter site. ABC's Jonathan Karl noted how Weiner didn't give "the most convincing press conference" in response to the controversy. NBC's Meredith Vieira highlighted how "people are wondering why he is being so defensive." But CBS's Early Show didn't even…

New York Times Reporter Stolberg Has Front-Page Fixation on Ging's Bli

Will Newt Gingrich's big credit line at Tiffany's define his 2012 Republican presidential run? The New York Times seems to hope so. Wednesday’s front page "Political Memo" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg on Gingrich’s credit line was bejeweled with a headline that sounded like a liberal wish: "All That Glitters May Redefine Run by Gingrich." To the long list of rich-guy foibles that turned into…