McConnell: Kochs Should Be As Free to Spend As Media Companies Do

On Thursday, USA Today reported Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was "defiant" on the right of the Koch brothers to spend money on political ads. Reporter Susan Page suggested the amount of Koch spending was inappropriate, just too large. McConnell shot back at USA Today ownership: "How many people have to sit down and shut up in order to make the process work? My view is that in a free…
Tim Graham
January 30th, 2015 10:31 AM

Thomas Roberts: Jeb Will Be Tied To Charlie Hebdo Because Abu Ghraib

You say "Jeb Bush," Thomas Roberts says "the Kouachi brothers."  It's got to be one of the strangest political Rorschach test results of all time. On today's Morning Joe, Roberts claimed that Jeb Bush would have a "big onus" around his neck if he runs for president "because if we hear 'Bush' we're automatically going to go to people bringing up the Kouachi brothers and their photos of Abu Ghraib…
Mark Finkelstein
January 30th, 2015 8:46 AM

Nets Skip News Detainee Traded for Bergdahl Working to Rejoin Taliban

On Thursday night, the major broadcast networks declined to cover reports that one of the five Taliban detainees swapped for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in May 2014 has been seeking to rejoin the terrorism ranks by contacting Taliban members back in Afghanistan. The news, which was broken by CNN Thursday afternoon, came following reports on Wednesday from Fox News and NBC News that the Army could be…
Curtis Houck
January 30th, 2015 12:57 AM

Hank 'Fart Facts' Green Defends His Service As YouTube 'Pawn' of Obama

Remember the good ole days when people got famous for nothing but a sex tape? Well, now there are people who have become famous for eating Froot Loops while soaking in a bathtub of milk, or for creating a video called “14 Fart Facts For My Flatulent Friends.” These were exactly the kind of people the White House Administration sought in a recent interview with President Obama. Hank Green, he of…
Melissa Mullins
January 29th, 2015 10:49 PM

Scott Walker 'Almost...a Liberal Caricature of a Conservative Villain'

Ed Kilgore comments that Walker may have an “especially seductive” appeal to the Republican base given that “he won over and over again in Wisconsin without compromising with conservatism’s enemies. Indeed, he behaved almost like a liberal caricature of a conservative villain…Walker tells [right-wingers that] they…can win by confrontation, not compromise or outreach, and his three victories are…
Tom Johnson
January 29th, 2015 10:10 PM

Bozell: NBC Must Apologize for Chris Kyle 'Killing Spree' Comment

Media Research Center president Brent Bozell called on NBC to formally apologize for the outrageous "killing spree" statement that network correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin made on the January 29 edition of Morning Joe. Of course, Mohyeldin's nasty anti-American comments should come as no surprise, Bozell reminded host Megyn Kelly, noting how the Palestinian journalist got his start in major-network…
NB Staff
January 29th, 2015 9:56 PM

English, Spanish Networks Ignore Senate Approval of Keystone Pipeline

The U.S. Senate took the step Thursday of approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline in a bipartisan fashion by a margin of 62-to-36, with nine Democrats joining 53 Republicans to pass it for the first time after failing to do so under the previous Congress.  When the major English and Spanish language networks aired their Thursday evening newscasts, however, the news of the bill’s passage was…
Curtis Houck
January 29th, 2015 9:29 PM

Blizzard 2015: Another Snow Job by the Media

The network meteorologists barely had time to come up for air while "forecasting" the latest snowstorm non-disaster. Politicians, fearing what might happen to their approval numbers if a blizzard hit, went on TV to announce they were taking proactive measures. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shut down tunnels, bridges, even the subway to prepare for the worst. Governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris…
Cal Thomas
January 29th, 2015 9:00 PM

Lamenting Netanyahu Invite, Matthews Slams 'Likud-Republican Party'

For a guy who is forever hearing "dog whistles" and racially-tinged "code words" in conservative political rhetoric, Hardball host Chris Matthews seems blissfully unaware of the arguably anti-Semitic prattle he spewed tonight in his criticism of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the U.S. Congress on March 3.  
Ken Shepherd
January 29th, 2015 8:43 PM

CNN's Full-page NYT Ad: 'New Day' Ratings Top MSNBC's 'Morning Joe'

The perpetual battle for last place in the cable “news” channels took an interesting turn on Thursday, when the Cable News Network took out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times claiming that while MSNBC's Morning Joe program was “leaning forward” -- a reference to that channel's motto -- CNN's New Day show was “moving ahead!” “SORRY, JOE,” the title glared before the text below…
Randy Hall
January 29th, 2015 8:05 PM

Ed Schultz, Who Flipped on Keystone, Slams Dems for Being 'Bought'

A furious Ed Schultz on Thursday raged over the fact that only 36 Senate Democrats opposed the Keystone pipeline in a vote. Nine defections contributed to the bill passing the Senate. Schultz sneered, “But what a sad moment for Democrats if they're concerned about climate change…The Democrats can be bought.”
Scott Whitlock
January 29th, 2015 6:49 PM

Chris Matthews: Blacks Should Not Vote GOP Until Reince Priebus Is Out

Hardball host Chris Matthews used a panel discussion about President Obama's attorney-general nominee Loretta Lynch on his Wednesday program as a convenient opportunity to slander conservative Republicans as seeking to repress the vote of Democratic constituencies in major cities.
Ken Shepherd
January 29th, 2015 5:57 PM

Andrea Mitchell: White House 'Furious' Netanyahu Speaking to Congress

On her Thursday MSNBC show, host Andrea Mitchell was aghast at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreeing to speak before a joint session of Congress during an upcoming U.S. visit without consulting the Obama administration: "The White House is furious, furious at Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu and also a little bit angry at Speaker Boehner for inviting Netanyahu to speak before Congress, to a…
Kyle Drennen
January 29th, 2015 5:20 PM

Bradley Cooper: Playing Chris Kyle Was 'Life-Changing'

Before he signed up to play Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in American Sniper, Bradley Cooper put on weight, studied with a voice coach, and learned to put a bullet into a target from 800 yards away. But he told People magazine the most lasting lessons he learned were about the struggles of everyday military families. "I had an appreciation for veterans before this, but what I definitely did not know is…
Tim Graham
January 29th, 2015 5:10 PM