Yet Another Front-Page 'Fracking' Story; NYT Again Hits 'Reckless' Nat

New York Times reporters Danny Hakim and Nicholas Confessore filed another in a series of front-page stories Friday  revolving around the natural gas industry, especially the “fracking” process by which natural gas is obtained from shale and is opposed by liberal environmentalists. This time the scene is the paper’s own backyard: “Cuomo Moving To End a Freeze On Gas Drilling.” The Cuomo…
Clay Waters
July 1st, 2011 2:07 PM

' Not a Parody': Newsweek Writer Faults Halperin for Distracting from

Under the headline "Not a Parody," Jonah Goldberg highlighted a piece on Mark Halperin's crotch reference on Morning Joe. The writer is Michelle Goldberg (no relation), a "senior contributing writer for The Daily Beast/Newsweek." She insisted the D-word was bad, but "His far greater sin: being so cowed by conservatives that he’s offended by Obama’s mild poke at the GOP." He touted the…
Tim Graham
July 1st, 2011 1:45 PM

Chris Matthews Compares Kansas Abortion Regulations to Jim Crow Effort

In the warped mind of MSNBC's Chris Matthews, efforts to regulate the practice of abortion are morally equivalent to literacy tests in the South that were aimed at preventing African-Americans from voting. The "Hardball" host made that puzzling and arguably insulting comparison on the June 30 program in a segment titled "What's the Matter with Kansas?" [video posted below page break]
Ken Shepherd
July 1st, 2011 1:00 PM

NBC: Republicans 'Strike Back' at Obama and 'Made it Unusually Persona

While NBC's Today on Thursday characterized President Obama's attacks on congressional Republicans as "feisty," on Friday, correspondent Kelly O'Donnell appeared on the broadcast and declared that "Republicans made it unusually personal" in responding to the White House  criticism. Despite the President's claim in his Wednesday press conference that his daughters worked harder than GOP…
Kyle Drennen
July 1st, 2011 12:49 PM

CNN Belief Blog Highlights Christian Debate Over Ayn Rand, But Would T

CNN asked Wednesday if a person can follow "both Ayn Rand and Jesus," pulling quotes from both a Democrat and a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights to answer that Christianity and Rand's philosophy oppose each other. Buried deep within the post on CNN's Belief Blog was the contrary view that Christians can adopt certain tenants of Rand's philosophy while rejecting others…
Matt Hadro
July 1st, 2011 12:21 PM

Krugman: Spending Cuts Would Destroy 'Possibly Millions of Jobs

With a month to go before the next supposedly "drop dead date" regarding the nation's debt ceiling, liberal media members are out in force with hysterical claims about the world ending if Congress isn't free to spend more money it doesn't have. Ever the faithful shill, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman did his part Friday cautioning that any spending cuts at this time "would destroy…
Noel Sheppard
July 1st, 2011 11:36 AM

'Mortal Kombat' and the First Amendment

Intellectually, I understand the Supreme Court's 7-2 decision that the First Amendment protects the most violent of video games. Experientially, I don't. It's fine for the majority to say parents have ultimate control over what their children see, but how many members of the Supreme Court have experienced "real" life? Chief Justice John Roberts spoke at the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference…
Cal Thomas
July 1st, 2011 11:00 AM

NYT: Monogamy 'Destroys More Lives Than It Saves

It's Fourth of July weekend - how about cheating on your spouse? For those not thinking about it, a piece to be published in the New York Times Magazine this Sunday marvelously titled "Married, With Infidelities" is recommending it:
Noel Sheppard
July 1st, 2011 10:30 AM

Media Lauded Meghan McCain's 'Saucy' Memoir but Call Bristol's Book 'T

There were two candidates on the GOP ticket in 2008, John McCain and Sarah Palin. Both had young daughters involved in the campaign. Both have written books about the experience. Guess which book was celebrated and which was savaged? The media's character assassination of Sarah Palin knows no bounds, as she's been smeared as everything from "evil" to "unintelligent." But "Palin Derangement…
Erin R. Brown
July 1st, 2011 10:23 AM

Filmmaker Hopes for 'Atheist Brokeback Mountain

Hollywood once eschewed making movies that openly advocated atheism. That is no longer the case. "The Ledge" is the latest in a series of recent Hollywood films that actively promote atheism. Director Matthew Chapman hopes that his movie will be the "'Brokeback Mountain' moment for atheists." "The Ledge" has a simple plot. An atheist seduces the attractive wife of a Christian fundamentalist…
Paul Wilson
July 1st, 2011 9:30 AM

Google Finds Former Leftist Allies Turning on It

You don’t have to believe in karma to find the irony in the fact that the Web giant Google is finding itself in the cross hairs of the same pressure groups that it funded back when it was pushing heavily for “network neutrality.” The latest cause célèbre among this crowd is “search neutrality,” the idea that somehow the government needs to get into the business of Internet search engines.
Matthew Sheffield
July 1st, 2011 9:27 AM

July 4th Parades Only Energize Republicans

Paul Bedard at U.S. News & World Report passed along a new study that suggests that celebrating Independence Day is a Republican-boosting activity. While liberals and Democrats can have a tendency to skip patriotic rituals (or drop "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, eh, NBC?), a little patriotism apparently makes one lean to the right: Democratic political candidates can skip this…
Tim Graham
July 1st, 2011 8:41 AM

Obama Raffle Video Not Legal, Election Law Experts Say

A video of President Barack Obama filmed in the White House and included in a fundraising e-mail sent to supporters is not legal, two election law experts told CNSNews.com. The video was included in an e-mail sent to supporters of President Obama promoting a fundraising drive that offered participants a chance to win an invitation to dinner with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Matt Cover
July 1st, 2011 8:29 AM

Mika: 'Morning Joe' Being Pressured To Invite More Pro-Obama Flacks

  Jay Carney admits calling MSNBC yesterday to complain about Mark Halperin's crack [that we were first to report] that the President, at his Wednesday press conference, acted like a "d--k."  Did the White House press secretary take the opportunity of his call to pressure the show to bring on more pro-Obama flacks? The question arises because on today's show, Mika Brzezinski revealed that…
Mark Finkelstein
July 1st, 2011 7:30 AM