Whit Johnson
Portland, Oregon police allowed the domestic terrorist group known as Antifa to prowl their streets on Saturday were they clashed with purported “right-wing” protesters and assaulted the press. Despite putting one journalist in the hospital with a brain hemorrhage, ABC’s Good Morning America couldn’t be bothered to give the story more than 17 seconds and no mention of the journalist. NBC’s Sunday Today ignored the story altogether.
John Walker Lindh, “The American Taliban” was released from prison three years early for “good behavior” Thursday, despite evidence that he still clung to his jihadist ways. When news of his imminent release broke earlier in the week, the liberal media rightly condemned it. But a peek into the Media Research Center’s vast archives showed that the media was overly concerned for his well-being at the hands of the George W. Bush administration.
With roughly 24 hours until polls closed for the midterm elections, the liberal broadcast networks were out in force Monday evening as they pleaded with viewers to vote for Democratic candidates. From touting Democratic Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill as a moderate to blasting Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp for accusing Democrats of hacking to fantasizing about all the investigations of President Trump the Democrats would start, the liberal networks were all hands on deck.
On Friday, far-left comedian Amy Schumer announced that the reason no one would be seeing her in Super Bowl ads next year was that she was boycotting on behalf of mediocre quarterback Colin Kaepernick. During Sunday’s Good Morning America, ABC’s liberal anchors celebrated Schumer’s decision and were interested in seeing if her “peer pressure” would cause a larger “celebrity boycott” of commercials and the halftime show.
The FBI investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh was only a couple days old and the liberal media already had the heavy equipment out to dig up the goalpost. Despite spending roughly a week comparing Kavanaugh’s confirmation to that of Justice Clarence Thomas and touting the speedy FBI investigation then, Sunday’s Good Morning America worried it was “overly restricted”. They were also eager to know what happens if Kavanaugh was the one caught lying.
On Friday's The Early Show, CBS correspondent Whit Johnson filed a report highlighting a recent Gallup poll finding a majority of Americans opposing new gun control laws at the highest rate ever recorded. After beginning the piece by highlighting a woman who just recently decided to become a gun owner for the first time in her life, Johnson detailed some of the poll's findings:
While morning and evening newscasts from all three broadcast networks in the last few days have focused on anti-Mormon sentiment within the Republican Party that may hinder Mitt Romney's bid for the presidency, FNC's Special Report with Bret Baier on Monday noted that self-identified Republican voters are substantially more willing to accept a Mormon President compared to Democrats.
FNC correspondent Carl Cameron observed that Democrats are "least tolerant" compared to Republicans and independents as he recounted the findings of a Quinnipiac poll:
ABC, CBS, and NBC ignored the existence of the Cut, Cap and Balance (CCB) bill until last week, a Nexis search revealed, despite multiple polls demonstrating overwhelming public support.
In addition to the blackout, none of the broadcast networks ever mentioned the positive polls in their coverage of the bill, even though 65 percent of the public backed a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget in a Mason-Dixon poll from May and 72 percent approved of such a measure in a Fox News poll from June.
On Saturday's Early Show fill-in co-host Russ Mitchell saw passage of the tax deal as a possible "turning point for Mr. Obama's presidency" and speculated that it was "perhaps setting the stage for another victory as the Senate takes up the repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law."
In the report that followed, correspondent Whit Johnson declared that with the deal "President Obama could finally declare victory." The headline on screen read: "The President's Big Win; More Success Before The Holiday Break?" Johnson explained "that after months of debate, they [Democrats] finally have the votes to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'" In a report on Sunday Morning, Johnson touted the eventual repeal of the policy on Saturday as a "major victory" for Democrats.
At the top of a report on CBS's Sunday Morning, correspondent Whit Johnson proclaimed: "In San Francisco yesterday, they celebrated the end of an era. After nearly two decades, the policy of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' which bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, is all but history." The one-sided segment focused almost exclusively on supporters of repeal.
Of the ten sound bites featured throughout the story, only one, that of Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, was critical of the policy being overturned. Johnson described how "Opponents of repeal...pleaded that such a dramatic change during a time of two wars would put troops in harm's way." However, after the clip of McCain was played, Johnson dismissed critics of repeal: "Democrats got a boost from a recent Pentagon study in which two-thirds of U.S. troops said changing the controversial law would have little impact, a feeling shared by most of America."
As all the broadcast network evening newscasts on Saturday used words like "historic" and "landmark" to describe the Senate vote in favor of repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on homosexuals serving in the military, the networks also provided substantially more soundbites to supporters of the measure than to those who opposed changing the policy.
On ABC, the lead report filed by correspondent David Kerley used soundbites from five supporters of lifting the ban, while only two soundbites featured opponents. Kerley began his report by quoting an unnamed "civil rights leader" calling Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell a "stain on our nation," and, after quoting President Obama’s statement supporting the measure, immediately highlighted a former military service member who is gay. Kerley:
"A stain on our nation has been lifted," is how one civil rights leader put it tonight, and President Obama says, quote, "No longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans just because they are gay." This Senate vote was very personal for thousands of service members. Major Mike Almy served in Iraq but was discharged when the Air Force learned he was gay. He's been battling Don't Ask, Don't Tell ever since.
CBS’s John Dickerson also brought up civil rights as he called the vote a "civil rights victory for the President," although he also uniquely used the term "liberals" to refer to some of the President’s supporters who advocated the policy change. Dickerson: "Well, it's definitely a civil rights win for him, and it’s a win politically with liberals in his party, and they’ve been angry with him. They were angry with him on this issue in particular because they felt like he wasn’t pushing hard enough.
Saturday’s The Early Show on CBS showed a preview clip of correspondent Lesley Stahl interviewing former President Jimmy Carter for 60 Minutes in which Carter blamed former Senator Ted Kennedy for derailing his universal health care plan in the 1970s. Stahl referred to former Senator Kennedy as "Teddy" as she asked Carter if he held Kennedy responsible. Stahl: "And you blame Teddy for the failure?"
A clip of the interview can be found on the CBS News Web site.
Below is a transcript of the segment, introduced by Whit Johnson, from the Saturday, September 18, The Early Show on CBS: