Joan Rivers on Miss California: ‘God Wants You to Shut Up

May 13th, 2009 5:03 PM
While appearing on Wednesday’s CBS Early Show comedian Joan Rivers shared her thoughts on the Miss California controversy: "It's all so stupid and she's taking it so seriously and so well coached...My advice is oh, relax. God wants you to shut up...You know, you've done enough already." Co-hosts Harry Smith, Maggie Rodriguez, and Julie Chen all laughed in response and shared in mocking Carrie…

ABC Hypes 'Angels & Demons' for 17 Minutes; Allows Spin That It's Not

May 13th, 2009 12:50 PM
"Good Morning America" continued its seemingly endless promotion of "Angels & Demons" on Wednesday, highlighting the film for a third day and almost 17 minutes thus far this week. Once again, co-host Diane Sawyer completely ignored the anti-Christian story elements in the film, including members of the Catholic Church brutally slaughtering a secret society, while talking to star Ewan McGregor…

MRC's Bozell, Other Conservatives Call for Catholic Basher Knox's Remo

May 13th, 2009 10:21 AM
In a letter dated today and a press teleconference held at 9:30 EDT this morning, Media Research Center president and NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell joined other conservatives in calling on President Obama to withdraw Harry Knox from the presidential Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.:Harry Knox is the hate-filled antithesis of this noble objective.  Knox…

Newsweek Frets about Christian Influence on ‘Idol’ Voting

May 12th, 2009 5:42 PM
According to Newsweek's Ramin Setoodeh, "American Idol's" Adam Lambert could "be heading home" due to those homophobic Christians that watch every week. Lambert, Setoodeh wrote in a May 12 blog post, "has been called the best ‘Idol' singer in the history of the show, thanks to his Celine Dion-like pipes. But he's also one of the most controversial, thanks to his Marilyn Manson-like wardrobe…

Miss California, Victim of Liberal Blacklisting for Her Conservatism

May 12th, 2009 1:11 PM
Leo Penn, the father of famous actor Sean Penn, was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the 1950s and harassed, spied upon and ultimately blacklisted for his political views (he attended a pro-union meeting called to support other black- listees.) He refused to accuse others, and lost his livelihood for a period of time, but went on to direct many TV shows including…

Diane Sawyer Goads Lefty Ron Howard to Talk About What a Nice Guy He I

May 12th, 2009 11:49 AM
"Good Morning America" continued its hyping of "Angels & Demons" on Tuesday, a film that accuses the Catholic Church of participating in a brutal massacre of a secret society. While talking to director Ron Howard, GMA co-host Diane Sawyer mostly glossed over the film's controversial elements and again referred to the movie as a "great, spiritual scavenger hunt." She prompted the director to…

CBS’ Rodriguez Continues Push Against Celibacy For Catholic Priests

May 11th, 2009 12:34 PM
While introducing an interview with disgraced Miami Priest Alberto Cutie, who was recently found to be in a romantic relationship with a woman, co-host Maggie Rodriguez again used the scandal to argue that the Catholic Church should overturn its celibacy requirement for priests: "We go right to a story that has single-handedly revived the debate over whether Catholic priests should be allowed to…

Diane Sawyer Skips Controversy for 'Angels & Demons'; Grilled Mel Gibs

May 11th, 2009 12:04 PM
"Angels & Demons" star Tom Hanks received zero critical questions or challenges when he appeared on Monday's "Good Morning America" to promote a movie that features the Catholic Church ordering a brutal massacre in order to silence a secret society. Instead, Sawyer referred to the film, a prequel to "The Da Vinci Code," as a "scary, spiritual scavenger hunt." After playing a clip of Hanks'…

CNN Treats Radical Father Pfleger as Less Controversial Than TV Priest

May 8th, 2009 6:41 PM
Two Catholic priests who appeared as guests during back-to-back segments on Thursday’s No Bias, No Bull program were treated noticeably differently by CNN’s on-air personalities. Father Michael Pfleger of the Archdiocese of Chicago, who is best known for his racially-charged rhetoric against Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic presidential race, as well as his defense of former Obama…

CBS’s Rodriguez Continues to Cover Disgraced Priest Despite Friendsh

May 8th, 2009 3:08 PM
On Friday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez continued to report on a scandal involving Miami priest Alberto Cutie despite admitting that he was "...a family friend whom I've known for many, many years" on Thursday. Rodriguez introduced a Friday report by describing Cutie’s popularity: "The scandal involving celebrity priest Alberto Cutie in Miami is heating up as parishioners at his…

MRC-TV: Brent Bozell Blasts 'Anti-Catholic Bigot' Joy Behar

May 8th, 2009 11:09 AM
"Joy Behar has called homeschoolers demented" and "is an ongoing, non-stop anti-Catholic bigot... yet it's Elisabeth Hasselbeck" that the media label controversial, laments Media Research Center President Brent Bozell. [audio available for download here]The NewsBusters publisher appeared on the May 8 "Fox & Friends" to address how the media consider Hasselbeck "controversial" for teaching her…

Religion Blogger Exaggerates Fox's Take on Obama No-Show at National D

May 8th, 2009 9:13 AM
Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne Slater suggested conservatives in general and Fox News in particular are hypocrites for questioning why President Barack Obama failed to publicly observe the National Day of Prayer. Slater wrote in his May 7 Religion Blog post: Fox & Friends is on fire this morning stoking the controversy over President Obama not publicly observing the National Day of…

CBS’s Rodriguez Calls For End of ‘Rigid’ Vow of Celibacy in Cath

May 7th, 2009 12:19 PM
While reporting on a popular Miami priest, Father Alberto Cutie, getting caught on a beach with a woman, on Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez spoke with CBS religion analyst Father Thomas Williams and criticized the Catholic Church for requiring a vow of celibacy for priests: "The Catholic Church, as you know, has been criticized, and you and I have talked about this, for being…

Bonnie Erbe Urges GOP to Abort Alliance with Religious Conservatives

May 4th, 2009 4:39 PM
The line of liberal journalists waiting to give the GOP free advice on its future is longer than the queue for Jonas Brothers concert tickets and at least 100 times more petulant than the 'tweens lined up for same.U.S. News & World Report contributing editor and PBS "To the Contrary" host Bonnie Erbe, for example, has been on a tear in recent weeks. Whether it's hyping Meghan McCain as a…