Chris Matthews: 'Ted Cruz is the Unsmiling, Contemptuous Face of the W

"Pay attention to Senator Cruz because he is the unsmiling, contemptuous face of the wild, nasty, hard-right fringe of a Party that once competed with the Democrats to be the country’s governing Party." So said MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Friday's Hardball (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
May 24th, 2013 6:28 PM

'PoliticsNation' Panel Mocks Republican Outreach to Minorities

On his May 23 program, the Rev. Al Sharpton’s PoliticsNation panel turned to the thorny issue of race in politics. As could be expected, it was not a balanced discussion as Sharpton’s panel was an Amen pew of liberal pundits: the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank and left-wing XM Radio host Joe Madison. For his part, Milbank snarked that the GOP is made up of “a coalition of white southern men…
Andrew Lautz
May 24th, 2013 5:45 PM

Networks Give Three Times More Quotes to Supporters of Gay Scout Admit

Touting the Boy Scouts' "landmark" and "historic" decision to allow openly-gay members, CBS, ABC, and NBC gave supporters of the decision three times as many quotes as their opponents got on Friday morning's news stories. The networks gave 10 soundbites to supporters of the new Scouts policy and only three to its opponents. Supporters included President Obama, gay scout Pascal Tessier, and…
Matt Hadro
May 24th, 2013 4:52 PM

State Dept. Official Who Altered Benghazi Talking Points Promoted; Onl

News broke late Thursday afternoon that President Obama had made his selection for the appointee to the position of Assistant Secretary of State to Europe and Eurasia, Victoria Nuland. Normally, that's a snoozer of a nomination unworthy of national media coverage but in this case, it should have garnered media attention.  If the name vaguely rings a bell, it is because Nuland was the…
Nathan Roush
May 24th, 2013 4:49 PM

HUH? Slate Editor: Kaitlyn Hunt Case 'Is About Gay Rights. But It’s

This is one of those stories that have you asking yourself if you’re still on planet Earth.  Emily Bazelone of Slate, a Washington Post affiliated site, wrote today that the case of Florida 18-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt’s sexual affair with a 14-year-old girl “is about gay rights. But it’s not about that.”  This isn’t Bazelon’s first foray into trying to defend the indefensible.  In the aftermath of…
Matt Vespa
May 24th, 2013 4:28 PM

ABC’s Jim Avila Hectors Sen. Sessions for Opposing Immigration Plan

Liberal media members love to demonize any politician who stands in the way of their notion of progress, and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has planted himself squarely in the path of the current immigration reform train. It was no surprise, then, that ABC News opted to berate him in an interview posted online to the network’s Power Players blog. [Read the post and watch the video here.] Even…
Paul Bremmer
May 24th, 2013 4:23 PM

Christie Dismisses Climate Change Question from NBC's Lauer as 'Distra

In an interview with Chris Christie on Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer grilled the New Jersey Governor on his skepticism that man-made climate change caused Superstorm Sandy: "You said you don't think there's been any proof thus far that Sandy was caused by climate change. Several experts I've heard from say the destruction, though, from Sandy, was probably more severe because of…
Kyle Drennen
May 24th, 2013 4:19 PM

Bill Maher: Ted Cruz Has 'The Steely-Eyed Focus of a Serial Killer

Despite HBO's Real Time being off for the Memorial Day weekend, host Bill Maher felt it was necessary to offend a conservative without the aid of television. So he took to his blog Friday to attack Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) writing, "[H]e's got Newt Gingrich's ambition and ego mixed with the steely-eyed focus of a serial killer":
Noel Sheppard
May 24th, 2013 4:18 PM

MSNBC’s Krystal Ball Gushes Over Obama Speech, Claims the President

In a way you have to hand it to Krystal Ball. The former Democratic congressional candidate-turned-MSNBC co-host is always hard at work spinning for the Obama administration, come what may. Appearing on Thursday's Politics Nation, the co-host of MSNBC’s The Cycle raved about President Obama’s May 23 national security speech, claiming the president is “reining in his own power,” a “remarkable…
Andrew Lautz
May 24th, 2013 3:42 PM

Weekend Open Thread

For general discussion and comment...
NB Staff
May 24th, 2013 3:41 PM

Piers Morgan Bans Guest After ‘Glib’ London Beheading Tweet

A well-known phrase states that “you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.” That concept was very much in play on Wednesday, when Piers Morgan -- the Britain-born host of a weeknight program on CNN -- banished conservative talk radio host Dana Loesch from his show for being “glib” about the grisly beheading of a London soldier. The conflict began…
Randy Hall
May 24th, 2013 3:33 PM

CNN Ignores Eric Holder Approving Seizure of Fox Reporter's E-Mails

[UPDATED BELOW] News broke on Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder approved the Justice Department's seizure of a Fox News reporter's private e-mails. CNN still has yet to report this development, although the network found time to cover Brad Pitt's "face blindness" on Friday. Host Jake Tapper ripped into the Obama administration on Wednesday for its investigation of Rosen, but on…
Matt Hadro
May 24th, 2013 3:21 PM

Anti-Straight Hate? HuffPo Blogger Rants Against Religion, Men, Straig

Police haven’t pinned responsibility on anyone yet for the alleged “hate crimes” against gays in New York, but “Social Justice Activist” Murray Lipp has already decided who’s to blame for the violence: religion, patriarchal society, and too many straight people. Come again?  That’s right.  Writing on the Huffington Post’s “Gay Voices” page, Lipp insisted the blame for violent hate crimes be…
Lauren Enk
May 24th, 2013 3:15 PM

MSNBC Complains Boy Scout Move Didn't Go ‘Far Enough

MSNBC’s openly gay daytime host Thomas Roberts has almost daily segments promoting the network’s pro-gay agenda. Over the past several months, one of Roberts’ pet projects has been opposing a long-standing policy by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) prohibiting openly gay individuals from being members of or leaders in the organizations. On May 23, the BSA voted to allow openly gay individuals…
Jeffrey Meyer
May 24th, 2013 3:00 PM