Kagan Hearings, Day 1: Evening Newscasts Downplay; NBC Offers Just

All three network evening newscasts on Monday downplayed the start of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings, with NBC Nightly News squeezing in just 24 seconds for Kagan at the tail end of a story about the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor the 2nd Amendment. For their part, CBS and ABC offered full stories outlining Kagan’s first day before the Judiciary committee after…
Rich Noyes

Matt Lauer Lectures: 'Our Appetite for Oil' Caused Spill

NBC's Matt Lauer, on Tuesday's Today show, blamed America's "appetite for oil" as the reason for the spill in the Gulf and asked former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw if the country will finally "take away the proper message" from the mess? For his part Brokaw responded that he hoped "young people who are coming of age" and entering public service and the corporate world will view the spill…
Geoffrey Dickens

Media Spin Supreme Court Gun Ruling as Loss for States' Rights

Don't look now, but it seems the media have suddenly discovered a respect for states' rights. All it took was a Supreme Court ruling affirming the Second Amendment's role in protecting gun owners' rights from state or local infringement. Newsweek called the ruling "bad news" for gun controllers because "the right to ‘keep and bear arms' in the U.S. Constitution's 2nd Amendment restricts state…
Katie Bell

Loose-Cannon Leftist Randi Rhodes Resorts to Hate Speech to Malign Mar

Libtalker Randi Rhodes can't hold a candle to conservative radio host Mark Levin when it comes to constitutional law.  But Rhodes remains unrivaled in doling out gratuitous insults to divert attention from the issue at hand. Here's Rhodes on her radio show Friday, describing the reaction of Levin and Washington lawyer Cleta Mitchell to the so-called Disclose Act narrowly passed by the House (…
Jack Coleman

Chris Matthews Disgracefully Uses Sen. Byrd's Death To Bash Bush

It goes without saying that Monday's media coverage of Sen. Robert Byrd's (D-W.V.) death was predictably sycophantic on a disturbing number of levels.However, the award for most disgraceful use of a politician's passing to further one's agenda has to go to MSNBC's Chris Matthews who ended last night's "Hardball" memorializing a senator he had great esteem for by attacking former President George…
Noel Sheppard

Kudlow, Forbes Debunk Krugman's 'Third Depression' Call

It's hard to imagine an economist being provocative, but Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner, has managed to do so. In his June 28 New York Times op-ed, Krugman argued that since governments around the world aren't willing to double-down on Keynesian policies meant to stimulate the global economy, the United States and the rest of the world are facing a third depression. But on CNBC's June 28 "…
Jeff Poor

Open Thread: The 2nd Amendment as a Civil Rights Issue

NB Staff

Why Presidential Elections Matter

Because of some things we have to live with, long after they are out of office.
Glenn Foden

Salon’s Walsh Jumps the Shark -- Calls GOP Senators Bigots for Invok

Did you know that calling attention to an area where a Supreme Court justice nominee is from, which happens to be a well-known bastion of liberalism, is bigoted?  If you didn't, you want to take a look at the wisdom of Salon.com's Joan Walsh. In her June 28 post "It's not even coded bigotry anymore," Walsh argued that references to SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan's Upper West Side of Manhattan roots…
Jeff Poor

Jon Stewart Asks David Axelrod: Has This Government Proven Itself Comp

Jon Stewart on Monday asked David Axelrod a truly extraordinary question: has this government proven itself competent enough to regulate industry?Speaking to President Obama's senior advisor on "The Daily Show," the Comedy Central star was in the middle of a rather interesting discussion when he surprisingly said, "It's clear that this administration believes that government can have a stronger…
Noel Sheppard

Fireworks Are 'Toxic, Environmental Hazard,' Claims Green Movement

Alana Goodman

Salon's Walsh Jumps the Shark -- Calls GOP Senators Bigots for Invokin

Jeff Poor

'Conservative' NYT Columnist Douthat: Right-Wingers Don't Realize Hawa

Over the weekend, Dave Weigel resigned as WaPo's house chronicler of conservatives after revelations of his antipathy toward the people he was covering. Tonight brings us the spectacle of Ross Douthat, an ostensibly conservative columnist at the New York Times.  Appearing on MSNBC's Ed Schultz show, Douthat proffered precisely zero criticism of anyone or anything liberal.  But he did manage to…
Mark Finkelstein

Weigel Goes Even Further Left, Signs as MSNBC Contributor

Since I've been accused of leading "something of a crusade" against former Post blogger Dave Weigel, how could I resist this announcement? Weigel, who left the Post amidst a controversy where he bashed tons of conservatives, has joined the leftwing convention at MSNBC (video right). According to a Tweet from "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann, Weigel has come on board as a contributor. "And…
Dan Gainor