Kurtz and 'Reliable Sources' Panel Agree: Blaming Shooting Sprees on C
When four members of the media, only one of them decidely right-leaning, agree on something, viewers should pay heed: blaming conservative talk show hosts whenever someone goes on an unprovoked shooting spree is wrong.Such was the unanimous conclusion reached on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" when host Howard Kurtz and his guests -- Mark Halperin of Time magazine, Ana Marie Cox of Air America Radio…
Rachel Maddow Reveals Flimsy Rationale for Excluding Republican Guests
There she goes again, revealing more than intended. Hardly a broadcast of her MSNBC cable show passes without Rachel Maddow earnestly claiming to have invited a Republican guest, only to be told, thanks no thanks.But based on Maddow's remarks on her show this past Friday evening, those claims come across as dubious -- given Maddow's censorious rationale for selecting guests. Or more accurately,…
Rachel Maddow's Shabby Deceit Shows Dire Need for Ombudsman at MSNBC
Wanted: Editor at MSNBC familiar with journalism ethics -- and willingness to ensure that "news" division adheres to them. In the unlikely event such a hiring occurs, MSNBC political analyst Rachel Maddow would soon catch the attention of any ombudsman acting in good faith.I have watched Maddow's television show on a regular basis since it started last September, and listened to her Air America…
MSNBC's Maddow: Sotomayor Is, Isn't An Affirmative Action Nominee
Norah O'Donnell and Rachel Maddow can't seem to make up their minds. In the same segment, Maddow argues - and O'Donnell fails to question - that Judge Sonia Sotomayor was not picked as an affirmative-action nominee, and follows with the mystifying non-sequitur that opposing "the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice" would be politically damaging for the Republican party.O’Donnell was interviewing…
Left-Wing Ardor for Show Trials, Closing Gitmo Prison Revealed in Need
Language always gives us away, George Carlin once observed. And it's blowing the cover from liberals unhinged by former vice president Dick Cheney getting the better of an off-balance President Obama.Two recent examples -- the first, Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show on May 20 with Newsweek investigative reporter Michael Isikoff as one of her guests. Isikoff described an "off the record" meeting…
ChiTrib: Limbaugh, Cheney 'Far Right'; Maddow, Obama 'Left Leaning
Monday's Chicago Tribune featured the article "Powell 'still a Republican': Rebutting critics, he criticizes party's far right voices." The article starts:Former Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Sunday that ideological conservatives, particularly radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, have gained a hold over the Republican Party that risks driving the GOP into an extended exile from power.Powell…
Maddow Guest Jane Mayer: Cheney Became 'Obsessive' About Terrorism Aft
Just when you thought left-wing criticism of Dick Cheney had climbed over the top, it keeps reaching new heights.Case in point -- New Yorker magazine writer Jane Mayer appearing on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show May 15 --MADDOW: We're trying to figure out the role of vice president Cheney's office here in part on the torture issue, the leadup to the invasion of Iraq. From your reporting, what…
CNN's Reliable Sources: Fox News and MSNBC are Bad for America
Are the Fox News Channel and MSNBC bad for America?Such was implied on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday when host Howard Kurtz invited the Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik, "USA Today Live's" Lauren Ashburn, and the BBC's Matt Frei on his program to discuss the "increasingly partisan nature of cable news." By the end of the conversation, Ashburn said "[T]he bottom line is this is not good for…
Maddow Guests Provide Welcome Clarity on Iraq, Pre-War Intelligence an
Clarity can come from unexpected places -- even that unlikeliest of sources, MSNBC.Such has been the case with a pair of recent guests on "The Rachel Maddow Show" who made a series of surprising statements -- albeit only in the context of MSNBC. Example one -- Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, appearing on Maddow's show May 12 and criticizing Dick Cheney's assertion that…
Maddow Sidekick Kent Jones Sorely 'Misinformed' About 'Casablanca
Kent Jones, a former Air America Radio humorist and writer for "The Daily Show," has his moments when he appears each weeknight on "The Rachel Maddow Show." But based on Jones' whopper of a claim about the movie "Casablanca," film criticism is not his forte.Here's what Jones said May 5 on Maddow's MSNBC show in describing recent articles by Stephen M. Walt and Daniel W. Drezner on the best films…
Maddow Guest Isikoff: 'It Was Only Learned' Through Prosecution That a
Newsweek investigative reporter and MSNBC contributor Michael Isikoff is willing to give credit where due to the Bush administration, provided it comes with a caveat.Isikoff appeared on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show last Thursday to discuss al Qaeda sleeper agent Ali al-Marri pleading guilty in federal court to terrorism charges.While conceding this could be interpreted as Bush being "…
