NPR Asks: 'Did the Wheels Just Fall Off the GOP Campaign?' David Brook

On Friday's All Things Considered, NPR anchor Robert Siegel wasn't mincing words about wanting the 2012 presidential race to be over after the secret Romney tape surfaced: " What do you make of that shift, E.J.? Is it just a terrible week with several more weeks to go in the campaign or did the wheels just fall off the Republican campaign?" Dionne temporized a little before saying the speech…
Tim Graham
September 22nd, 2012 6:47 PM

Democrats Offer Lunch With Gore and Pelosi As Prize for Donations

Al Gore was nowhere to be seen at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte earlier this month, but an email message sent out Saturday indicates he's stepping into the fray. The Huffington Post reported moments ago that a lunch with Gore and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is being offered as a prize for new contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign…
Noel Sheppard
September 22nd, 2012 6:09 PM

Ex-Pittsburgh Pirates Owner Comes Out As Gay

Kevin McClatchy, Pitsburgh Pirates owner and CEO from 1996 to 2007, revealed Saturday that he's gay. In an article to be published in Sunday's New York Times, McClatchy said "he frequently heard homophobic language during his days in baseball. It convinced him that keeping his sexual orientation hidden was best."
Noel Sheppard
September 22nd, 2012 3:33 PM

MTV's Dan Savage: Romney's a 100-Percent Bigot Who'd Break Your Nose

On Joy Behar's Current TV show Say Anything on Thursday, comedian John Fugelsang subbed in and interviewed MTV sexual adviser Dan Savage about politics. His jokey question: "Is Mitt Romney anti-gay, or just 47 percent anti-gay?" Savage laughed. "I think hes 100 percent anti-gay. I don’t make a distinction between an honest bigot and a dishonest bigot. The bigotry’s just the same...whether…
Tim Graham
September 22nd, 2012 2:34 PM

ABC’s Karl Dissembles on Romney’s Tax Rate, But NBC Points Out He

Repeating a common mythology that a person’s federal income tax rate equals the effective tax rate they actually pay after deductions, ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Friday night forwarded the canard that Mitt Romney’s 14.1 percent rate is lower than what a $75,000 earner pays. NBC’s Peter Alexander, however, correctly noted “the average middle class American family pays roughly 13 percent.” On…
Brent Baker
September 22nd, 2012 2:09 PM

Weekend Open Thread: Michelle Won't Run

NB Staff
September 22nd, 2012 1:47 PM

Chicago Tribune's Touching Homeless Teacher Story Gets An Embarrassing

Journalists love a good sob story about poverty. But is it always a full story? “Always check public records before you run a sob story,” warned Jim Romnesko on his media-news website. The Chicago Tribune failed to do its homework in a Labor Day story on Henry Wolfson, a 66-year-old longtime substitute teacher who’s been living in a homeless shelter the last four months. Students felt so…
Tim Graham
September 22nd, 2012 1:04 PM

Mark Russell: 'No Comedian Wants Obama to Win

Political satirist Mark Russell came out of retirement Friday to trash Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Speaking to PBS Inside Washington host Gordon Peterson, Russell said, "No comedian wants Obama to win. We may vote for Obama, but we want, we want Romney" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
September 22nd, 2012 12:28 PM

Former San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock Calls Chris Matthews a Liar to

Roger Hedgecock, the former San Diego mayor turned conservative talk radio host, called MSNBC's Chris Matthews a liar to his face Friday evening. This resulted in quite a heated exchange between the two on HBO's Real Time (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
September 22nd, 2012 10:50 AM

AP Report on 'Occupy' Anniversary Wallows in Nostalgia, Ignores Blocka

Gosh, those were the good old days. Or so Meghan Barr at the Associated Press apparently believes. As what's left of the Occupy Wall Street mobs from last year staged a pathetic anniversary protest in New York on Monday, Barr, in one of the most embarrassing reports I've seen emanate from the self-described "essential global news network," described them as "celebrating" and "giddy." At the…
Tom Blumer
September 22nd, 2012 9:54 AM

Chris Matthews Says 'Unemployment Was Well Past 10%' When Obama Took O

"When your guy left town, Dubya - who nobody asked him to come back by the way at the Republican convention - unemployment was well past ten percent and skyrocketing." So falsely said MSNBC's Chris Matthews to conservative talk radio host Roger Hedgecock on HBO's Real Time Friday (video follows with commentary):
Noel Sheppard
September 22nd, 2012 9:44 AM

Banning Anti-Islamic Film Is Banning Freedom

The Innocence of Muslims trailer that has sparked deadly protests overseas is crass, intentionally offensive, and grossly inappropriate. That much is clear. As crude as the video may be, however, Google did the right thing in not removing it from YouTube because its content is not, in itself, what the law would call an “incitement to violence.” Its message did not urge others to participate in…
Frank Wright
September 22nd, 2012 8:51 AM

Bozell Column: Islamic Exceptionalism

The “enlightened” who claim a firm grip on the steering wheel of Western civilization see the future through a lens in which man becomes ever more perfectible as outdated religious creeds fade away. And thus the irony. For all the contempt these cosmopolitans show for religion, there is one faith beyond public rebuke. Call it Islamic exceptionalism.      Public Enemy #1 right now is the man…
Brent Bozell
September 22nd, 2012 8:21 AM

The MRC@25: The Worst Media Bias of

NewsBusters is showcasing the most egregious bias the Media Research Center has uncovered over the years — four quotes for each of the 25 years of the MRC, 100 quotes total — all leading up to our big 25th Anniversary Gala on Thursday, September 27. Click here for blog posts recounting the worst of 1988 through 2007. Today, the worst bias of 2008: Keith Olbermann shrieks at President Bush to…
Rich Noyes
September 22nd, 2012 8:06 AM