Networks Ignore GOP Response to SOTU, But Publicize GOP Congressman Th

On Wednesday evening's news casts, the networks all hyped GOP congressman Michael Grimm (N.Y.) threatening a reporter after Tuesday's State of the Union address while skipping the Republican response to the address entirely. Of Grimm's outburst, ABC's Jeff Zeleny quipped, "It was not the State of the Union response Republicans had in mind." It was the response that the networks chose to…
Matt Hadro
January 29th, 2014 10:20 PM

Most Americans Don't Know How Little Impact Obama's Minimum Wage EO Wi

In his Tuesday night State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama made the following pledge: "In the coming weeks, I will issue an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally-funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour – because if you cook our troops’ meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty." One would have every reason to…
Tom Blumer
January 29th, 2014 9:45 PM

Networks Boost Obama's Push for Minimum Wage Increase, Ignore GOP Oppo

The networks played right into President Obama's hand Wednesday evening as they touted his push for a minimum wage increase while giving barely any voice to his Republican opposition. "[T]he President was out there hitting that 'give America a raise' theme hard today in campaign-style events both in Pennsylvania and in Maryland," noted ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl. "Does…
Matt Hadro
January 29th, 2014 9:09 PM

MSNBC Lionizes 'Action Hero' Obama as Superman, Washington Crossing th

MSNBC airs a bizarre video montage at the beginning of every episode of The Ed Show, but the program was especially outlandish on Monday and Wednesday, depicting President Obama as a series of larger-than-life figures. The liberal network first portrayed the chief executive as Superman standing on top of the White House, and later placed the Democrat's head on George Washington's body in the…
Matthew Balan
January 29th, 2014 7:08 PM

Daily Beast's Moynihan: Let's Not Whitewash Pete Seeger's Sympathy for

"[I]t’s important to remember that [Pete] Seeger, once an avowed Stalinist, was a political singer devoted to a sinister political system--a position he held long after the Soviet experiment drenched itself in blood and collapsed in ignominy." With lines like that, the Daily Beast's Michael Moynihan might find himself crossed off a few Christmas card lists and curiously uninvited to some…
Ken Shepherd
January 29th, 2014 5:25 PM

All Three Networks Avoid Fact Checking Obama Speech, But Include Biden

  ABC, NBC and CBS's morning shows on Wednesday failed to fact check Barack Obama's State of the Union address. These same networks, however, made time to feature Vice President Joe Biden (who was in full cheerleader mode). It's not as though fact checks weren't available. The Washington Post and the Associated Press both produced such critical analysis. During his speech, Obama touted "the…
Scott Whitlock
January 29th, 2014 4:00 PM

NBC Host Cheers Obama's Call for Women's Equal Pay: 'Let's Make This H

On Wednesday's NBC Today, 9 a.m. ET hour co-host Natalie Morales touted one of the "great moments" from President Obama's Tuesday night State of the Union: "I think one of the moments that a lot of people were talking about was when he made reference to the gender inequality issue. He said, 'You know, we are no longer in a Mad Men era'....33,000 tweets, I believe, so something that I think a…
Kyle Drennen
January 29th, 2014 3:59 PM

Al Gore at Davos: Africans Must Have Their Human Fertility 'Managed

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, former vice president Al Gore asserted that it's crucial for global philanthropists to impose "fertility management" on Africa. No one called that racist. Gore, who apparently mismanaged his fertility by having four children, praised the “wonderful work' of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: “Depressing the rate of child mortality,…
Tim Graham
January 29th, 2014 3:34 PM

MSNBC's Alex Wagner Condescends About GOP Woman's Response to Obama

On Tuesday night, Alex Wagner gave the latest example of "if it weren't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all" (a regular saying of conservative talk show host Chris Plante). The MSNBC host took to Twitter to slam Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers's fireside setting, where she delivered the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union: "Living room.…
Matthew Balan
January 29th, 2014 2:36 PM

WashPost's Milbank: Obama Needs 'Cattle Prod' and 'Baseball Bat' to De

Appearing as a guest on Tuesday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank utilized the kind of violent imagery that would make liberals howl if uttered by anyone on the right as he suggested that President Barack Obama needs a "cattle prod" and a "baseball bat" in dealing with Republicans. Referring to a quote from President Obama that "I've got a pen, and I've got a…
Brad Wilmouth
January 29th, 2014 1:50 PM

WashPost Hails Unpopular, Distrusted Obama's Defiant SOTU; In 2006, Pa

When President Bush gave his fifth State of the Union address on January 31, 2006, he sat at 43 percent approval in the Gallup tracking poll, in no small part because of public perception regarding his administration's handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. When President Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union last night, his Gallup approval number was lower a mere 41 percent,…
Ken Shepherd
January 29th, 2014 1:25 PM

NBC Political Reporter Obscenely Tries to Rub War Hero's Courage Off o

NBC political reporter Mark Murray – whose wife works in the Obama administration – took last night’s touching tribute to Army Ranger Cory Remsburg and obscenely tried to rub his heroism on President Obama, who has never served in the military. Remsberg story was just like Obama's story. Seriously? This was not a momentary gaffe. It was a tweet, and then Murray doubled down on it:
Tim Graham
January 29th, 2014 1:11 PM

NBC: GOP Inviting 'Duck Dynasty' Star to SOTU Not 'Dignified'; 'Trying

During NBC's live State of the Union coverage Tuesday night, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd sneered at Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson being a Republican guest at the event: "...after the shooting with Gabby Giffords and for a couple of State of the Unions in a row....There was more of a dignified feeling about the guests that you would invite. Boy, you can tell things are a lot…
Kyle Drennen
January 29th, 2014 12:55 PM

Bozell Column: Obama, The Media's Favorite Autocrat

Everyone proposes drinking games for the State of the Union speech. But it’s not just the president that can drive you to drink. It’s the opportunistic media elites deciding which branches of government have too much power, depending on which branches the Democrats presently control. After a lot of stalemate in 2013, the partisan media think it’s high time for the executive branch to go…
Brent Bozell
January 29th, 2014 12:33 PM