Hardly Reported: Venezuelan Refinery Disaster Has Chavez on Defensive

The Associated Press, in a Sunday evening dispatch, reported that the refinery explosion in Venezuela, which has thus far killed "at least 39 people" and injured "more than 80" (as of 10 a.m.; now it's at 41)  is "Venezuela's deadliest refinery blast ever." I'm sure that I join all readers here in expressing deep condolences and prayers for the victims and all who have been affected.…
Tom Blumer
August 27th, 2012 1:29 PM

Sam Donaldson Tells NewsBusters 'Real Journalism' Is 'A Dying Breed

"I think there’s some real journalism left, but it’s a dying breed.” So said ABC's Sam Donaldson during an impromptu interview with NewsBusters at the Republican National Convention in Tampa Monday (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
NB Staff
August 27th, 2012 1:10 PM

Who Knew? Sununu A Fluent Spanish Speaker

When this NewsBuster entered a Spanish-language press conference at the Republican National Convention this morning, he was surprised to find former New Hampshire Governor and Romney surrogate John Sununu at the podium . . . holding forth in fluent Spanish. Interviewed after his remarks, Sununu told NewsBusters that he was born in Havana and that his mother was originally from El Salvador.  "…
Mark Finkelstein
August 27th, 2012 1:02 PM

NBC Hypes Storm as 'Latest in a Series of Distractions' After 'Tough W

In a report for Monday's NBC Today, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd was eager to paint a picture of Republicans in disarray prior to the GOP convention: "The specter of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina, which proved so politically damaging to George W. Bush, looms large here in Tampa. It's the latest in a series of distractions that has jolted the Romney campaign off its core…
Kyle Drennen
August 27th, 2012 12:51 PM

ABC Downplays New Poll Showing Romney Leading, Frets About 'Pep Rally

The hosts and reporters on Monday's Good Morning America downplayed a new ABC News/Washington Post poll showing Mitt Romney taking the lead over Barack Obama. It wasn't until the 8am hour that news anchor Josh Elliott specifically revealed the numbers: "When it comes to the economy, 50 percent trust Romney to handle it, while just 43 percent favor the President." The poll has the presumptive…
Scott Whitlock
August 27th, 2012 12:45 PM

Salon.com Celebrates Gender-Bending Japanese Ad

If there’s any remaining doubt that the left-wing media have little but contempt for traditional Americans, it ain’t the fault of Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams. In an August 26 piece fittingly reposted at the far-left moon-bat site Alter-Net, Williams lovingly described a Japanese Toyota ad featuring an androgynous model while getting in a shot at America.
Matt Philbin
August 27th, 2012 12:44 PM

Naomi Wolf Writes Biography About Her Lady Parts

Your humble correspondent is so fascinated by his own navel that he spends hours each day just staring at it. In fact, I am so absorbed by that body part that I am planning on writing a biography about it called "Belly Button: A New Biography." Should you think that I am over the top in narcissistic self-absorbtion, that is nothing compared to the book that former Al Gore "alpha male"…
P.J. Gladnick
August 27th, 2012 12:25 PM

‘Hunger Games’ Scare You? Blame Bush, Says DVD

America is a totalitarian regime. Or, it was when George W. Bush was president. And maybe it still is. Or something. As if we needed more proof that blockbuster entertainment needn’t have even a nodding acquaintance with cogent political thought, the people that brought us Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games” franchise can’t just quietly take their millions to the bank. They need us to know how…
Lauren Thompson
August 27th, 2012 12:14 PM

CNN Contributor Cites Bush's Katrina Fiasco to Ask If GOP Is 'Worried

In light of Tropical Storm Isaac threatening the Gulf coast during the Republican National Convention, The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza evoked shades of Hurricane Katrina and the Bush malaise on Monday's Starting Point. "Does the Republican Party worry about that right now, that when you think of hurricane and Republicans, that it's not necessarily two things that have gone together in the past…
Matt Hadro
August 27th, 2012 12:11 PM

WaPo Sees Vast White-wing Conspiracy in Tea Party Groups Exercising Le

If you're a conservative poll watcher on Election Day, you're probably a racist! That's essentially the charge leveled in an August 25 Washington Post-published article by AJ Vicens and Natasha Kahn of the News21 Carnegie-Knight Initiative.  Entitled, "True the Vote and other poll watchers motives questioned," Kahn and Vicens opened their article by noting the paranoia of a Milwaukee voter…
Matt Vespa
August 27th, 2012 11:51 AM

Salon.com Celebrates Androgynous Japanese Ad

Cheers ‘changing way gender is portrayed in advertising.’
Matt Philbin
August 27th, 2012 11:45 AM

Broadcast Networks Ignore New Study Showing Household Income Has Dropp

On Thursday, Sentier Research released a study showing that household income has actually declined at a worse rate in the sluggish economic recovery than it did during the December 2007-June 2009 recession. "From June 2009 to June 2012, inflation-adjusted median household income fell 4.8 percent, to $50,964," Washington Post's Michael Fletcher noted in Friday's paper, although his article was…
Ken Shepherd
August 27th, 2012 11:10 AM

Unhinged Matthews Welcomes GOP By Ranting About Romney Playing the 'Ra

Chris Matthews's unhinged, fuming performance on Monday's Morning Joe is a good reason why members of the GOP avoid MSNBC. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus aggressively battled the liberal cable anchor after the host unloaded on Mitt Romney for playing the "race card." [Must see video below the jump. MP3 audio here.] Asserting that just mentioning welfare is racist,…
Scott Whitlock
August 27th, 2012 10:40 AM

Open Thread: More States in Play Now

Since Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan was announced as Mitt Romney's running mate, the situation in the various states seems to have changed a bit. Ryan's home state of Wisconsin has tightened up quite a bit, moving from solid Obama to a tossup. Mitt Romney's birth state of Michigan has also become more competitive:
NB Staff
August 27th, 2012 10:36 AM