AP: Gathering of 75 in Des Moines Shows 'Iowa Residents Largely Suppor

Who knew that merely getting just over six dozen people together to support having Iowa "expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul" would earn coverage from the Associated Press -- and then be treated as some kind of groundswell of support? Well, it did. The item involved, complete with a headline which makes it appears if some kind of poll might have gauged Iowans'…
Tom Blumer
July 30th, 2013 3:28 PM

MSNBC's Hayes: 'Heinous Teaching' for Pope to Say It Is 'Sin' to 'Viol

On Monday's All In show, as MSNBC's Chris Hayes rejoiced somewhat over Pope Francis's recent comments about people who have homosexual "tendencies" becoming priests, the MSNBC host also declared that it was a "heinous teaching" for the Pope to say that it is a "sin" to "violate God's law," referring to acting out on homosexual feelings. Hayes complained:
Brad Wilmouth
July 30th, 2013 3:02 PM

USA Today Flubs it: Pope ‘Closed Door’ on Women Priests

Surprise, surprise: the media still can’t seem to get their act together on the Pope’s words. Continuing the sloppy reporting on the Pope’s recent press conference, USA Today’s print version flubbed the Pope’s remarks on women’s ordination. While hyperventilating over the Pope’s words on gays, the paper mistakenly claimed that the Pope’s remark “closes door on women’s ordination” – implying…
Lauren Enk
July 30th, 2013 2:27 PM

ABC, CBS, NBC All Fail To ID Weiner, Filner as Democrats on Saturday A

All three major networks ran full-length stories on their Saturday morning shows on the sex scandals involving San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner. However, none of the networks directly identified either politician as a Democrat. ABC’s Saturday edition of Good Morning America ran separate stories on each of the two men. Their two-and-a-half minute…
Paul Bremmer
July 30th, 2013 2:12 PM

MSNBC's Roberts Calls Abortion Clinics ‘Choice Providers

For years, MSNBC has made it clear where it stands on the issue of abortion in America: on the side of promoting abortion rights advocates against any restriction or regulation on the taking of unborn life. Unsurprisingly, one of MSNBC’s most fervent abortion activists is Thomas Roberts, who apart from using his daily MSNBC show to promote gay marriage, has taken it upon himself to rail against…
Jeffrey Meyer
July 30th, 2013 1:54 PM

NBC Hype: Pope's 'Revolutionary' Gay Comments 'Stunned the Catholic Wo

At the top of Monday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams seized on Pope Francis expressing compassion toward gay people of faith and framed the comments as a major shift for the Catholic Church: "Making history. We're on the Pope's plane as he makes some stunning comments that sure sounded revolutionary..." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Later introducing a…
Kyle Drennen
July 30th, 2013 1:49 PM

TIME's Resident Catholic Church-hater Padgett: '"Loving the Sinner" Is

While most liberal media outlets have been positively giddy about Pope Francis's off-the-cuff remarks to the media about gay Catholics, Tim Padgett is having none of it, complaining, accurately, that the media have misconstrued the pontiff's comments. But Padgett's beef is not with inaccurate secular media outlets but with the church itself. "Catholic doctrine still vilifies homosexuality, and…
Ken Shepherd
July 30th, 2013 12:43 PM

Sherri Shepherd Doesn't Want Bill O'Reilly to Have 'License' to Critic

How's this for a conversation on race? After CNN's Don Lemon cited Bill O'Reilly's critique of problems in the black community, ABC's The View co-host Sherri Shepherd wouldn't listen to O'Reilly. "I don't want to give Bill O'Reilly a license to say anything, because he's never been a young black man growing up in the situations that a lot of them grow up in," Sherri Shepherd told Lemon on…
Matt Hadro
July 30th, 2013 12:17 PM

ABC Touts the Official Word on Weiner: Bill and Hillary Clinton's 'Pat

 Tuesday's Good Morning America, just as NBC did on Monday, offered concern about how the Weiner scandal would impact the real victims, Bill and Hillary Clinton. Reporter Linsey Davis breathlessly explained that for the power couple, "...Patience has run out." An ABC graphic worried, "Clintons Put Pressure on Candidate: Upset at 'Comparisons' With Weiner." Davis informed viewers that,…
Scott Whitlock
July 30th, 2013 11:53 AM

USA Today: John Kerry ‘Worked A Bit Of Magic’ In Israel-Palestinia

For decades, no American president has successfully navigated the tenuous relationship between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, each one failing to broker a long-term peace agreement between the two groups. Despite the daunting task of establishing Middle East peace, USA Today believes that President Obama has a secret weapon that no president has had before: Secretary of State John Kerry…
Jeffrey Meyer
July 30th, 2013 11:23 AM

Writer of April NYT Weiner Puff Piece: ‘Never Even Occurred to Me to

When the New York Times Magazine published an 8,000-word puff piece in April about Anthony Weiner and wife Huma Abedin, the media predictably applauded with all three broadcast networks gleefully referring to the piece to assist in the sext-crazed politician's rehabilitation. Adding insult to injury, the article's author Jonathan Van Meter - who is a contributing editor to Vogue and New York…
Noel Sheppard
July 30th, 2013 10:31 AM

'Disgusted' Deutsch Hits Huma As 'Opportunist

Was this a case of Donny Deutsch expressing sincere sentiments—or wanting Weiner out of the way to help Hillary? Whatever the explanation, the ad man unleashed on Huma Abedin on today's Morning Joe, saying he was "disgusted" by the spectacle of her press conference, accusing Abedin of being an "opportunist" who wants to be First Lady of New York.  A much more understanding Mika Brzezinski…
Mark Finkelstein
July 30th, 2013 9:44 AM

Open Thread Tuesday

Discuss the news of the day and anything else you'd like...
NB Staff
July 30th, 2013 9:38 AM

New York Times Gets Obama Interview, Fails to Ask Anything About IRS

Over the weekend, The New York Times promoted its July 24 interview with President Obama – after being shut out for almost three years – but reporters Jackie Calmes and Michael “Macaca” Shear couldn’t find time for a single question about the IRS scandal, Benghazi, or other Obama scandals. They found time to ask a softball about whether Obama would help observe the 50th anniversary of Martin…
Tim Graham
July 30th, 2013 8:23 AM