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On December 2, the Associated Press carried a story by Terry Collins with the following headline: "Murder charge filed in Occupy Oakland slaying." What? I thought that the related November attack, despite a statement from an actual eyewitness, "was unrelated to the ongoing protest of U.S. financial institutions" -- i.e., that it was unrelated to Occupy Oakland. After all, the San Francisco…

In his Politico column and on Morning Joe today, Joe Scarborough made the case for Newt Gingrich from the Republican primary voter's perspective, pointing to Gingrich's record of winning back the congressional majority, achieving balanced budgets and passing welfare reform. Scarborough then proceeded to trash Gingrich, saying that: 1. he'd never vote for him; 2. Gingrich would be a "danger…

Last month, NewsBusters reported 60 Minutes cherry-picking Peter Schweizer's book about Congressional insider trading to make it appear the problem was largely a Republican one. Schweizer did a phone interview with NewsBusters last week to discuss this matter in greater detail including how with the exception of Fox News, despite this being a bipartisan issue, the media have largely ignored…

A not so creative liberal fantasy. Dan Rather “got it right” in his 2004 story about President George W. Bush’s avoidance of National Guard duty, a hit piece discredited because of Rather’s reliance on forged documents, the President of the imaginary “UBS News”cable channel will declare in an upcoming HBO drama helmed by left-wing writer Aaron Sorkin. A TV Newser item on Monday about how HBO…

Once was the time that a dutiful liberal wouldn't dare impugn the downtrodden of Appalachia. Those days are ancient history. Mike Papantonio, a toxic attorney who co-hosts the "Ring of Fire" radio show with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sam Seder, had this to say Friday on "The Ed Show" about Donald Trump moderating an upcoming GOP debate in Iowa (video and audio clips after page break) --

According to Chris Matthews on Monday, the Republican presidential candidates are engaging in a "reign of terror" and "don't like democratic government." In a possible (though confusing) allusion to the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the Hardball anchor smeared, "These are guys who tear down statues. They don't put them up."  [See video below. See MP3 audio here.] Matthews has a history of…

After MSNBC's Chris Matthews bashed Barack Obama a few weeks ago for having "the worst kind of a notion of the presidency," people were wondering if the Hardball host no longer got a thrill up his leg for the Commander-in-Chief. Let not your heart be troubled for on Monday the man many in the blogosphere refer to as "Tingles" said the current White House resident's "smile's worth a million…

As NBC's Meet the Press panel ripped into Newt Gingrich on Sunday for his comments on poor children in inner cities lacking working role models, Manchester Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid was the lone voice of dissent: "I think he gets a bum rap on the child labor thing." That prompted host David Gregory to declare: "Are you really saying that the working poor in this country don't have…

We live in a bipolar culture. We allow ourselves to be drenched in sexual images in movies, on television and on the Internet and then defend First Amendment protection to even the most graphic of them. Then, when a politician acts out what culture promotes, we criticize him, especially if he's conservative, branding him with the equivalent of a "scarlet letter." In our not too distant past,…

On Monday's Early Show, CBS's John Dickerson and Time's Joe Klein harped on Newt Gingrich's overwhelming "liabilities." Klein hinted that the former House Speaker's ego would get the better of him: "This is a guy who cannot stand prosperity....[He] cannot control his ego when he is riding high." Dickerson played up how Gingrich's "negatives were very, very high when he left Washington in the…

According to Good Morning America's Josh Elliott on Monday, the Occupy "protests within sight of the White House turned violent over the weekend." Actually, the protests occurred at McPherson Square, two blocks from the White House and not in "sight" of it. (See a map here.) Perhaps Mr. Elliott, who grew up in California and went to high school in Los Angeles, can be forgiven for such an…

Acting again as a video press release service for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), MSNBC today has repeatedly highlighted the DNC's complaints about new voter ID laws on several programs today. In the 10 a.m. hour, Jansing & Co. anchor Chris Jansing gave a platform to the DNC's "director of voter protection" Will Crossley to plug he party's new website, protectingthevote.com. The…

Saturday’s lead New York Times story by economics reporter Catherine Rampell found some hope for President Obama: “Jobless Rate Dips To Lowest Level For Last 2 Years – Unemployment at 8.6% – Boost for White House as Economy Shows Some Resilience.” The economic news also led the Washington Post on Saturday, but its deck of headlines was less optimistic than that of the Times, putting the…

I’m sorry to say the good people at CatholicVote.org are apparently starstruck. Blogged Josh Mercer yesterday: "The Gingrich campaign contacted me directly last night about the comments that he made to ABC News. The campaign sent me the following statement from Newt Gingrich. (Which is also on their website). I am very glad that the Gingrich campaign was quick to respond to the fallout from the…