Latest Blogs

George Stephanopoulos Lectures Pawlenty on How Obama Kept His Promises
Interviewing presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty on Friday, George Stephanopoulos lectured the Republican that Barack Obama can say I've "kept my promises" for the war on terror. The Good Morning America anchor ignored examples such as the failure to close Guantanamo Bay.
Stephanopoulos added, "Our troops are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. And a weakened al Qaeda has not succeeded on…
May 6th, 2011 12:22 PM

Obama Snubs 9/11 Family Member, But Fmr. Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham L
President Barack Obama's Ground Zero visit yesterday was "pitch perfect," according to former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, despite reports that the commander-in-chief was rude and dismissive toward at least one American who lost a family member on Sept. 11, 2001.
On the May 6 edition of "Morning Joe," MSNBC anchor Willie Geist asked Meacham to characterize the significance of Obama's visit to…
May 6th, 2011 12:17 PM

NBC's 'Today' Takes Sympathetic Look at 'Devoted' Mrs. Osama bin Laden
In report from Pakistan on Friday's NBC Today, news anchor and soon-to-be co-host Ann Curry offered this description of Osama bin Laden's widow, Amal al-Sada: "After more than 10 years of marriage, Amal was known to be devoted to him....and she was much like him: simple, pious, not interested in luxuries like his other four wives. And it appears she lived his life on the run." [Audio available…
May 6th, 2011 11:59 AM

Lesley Stahl: Obama Can Now 'Spray Fairy Dust,' But 'The Gods' Turned
On the website WowOWow.com, CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl on Tuesday declared about the Osama bin Laden takedown "The initial reaction is triumphant: a feeling of justice done; of unfinished business dealt with; of a hurtful wound cauterized." But then she wondered about luck:
The next step for me was thinking about Barak [sic] Obama and luck. If there’s one thing we Americans…
May 6th, 2011 11:33 AM

Bozell: Bush Deserves More Credit on bin Laden Killing
"If you listen very carefully, you can hear the sound of thousands of people in Washington, D.C., peeling egg off their faces," NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell quipped on the May 6 "Fox & Friends," referring to the naysayers who condemned enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding during the Bush administration.
Indeed, President Bush "is not getting the credit he…
May 6th, 2011 11:00 AM
April Unemployment Back Up to 9%; 27th Month Above
The April jobs report showed 244,000 job gains, “surprisingly strong” numbers according to the Kansas City Star. Many national news outlets reported that jobs number as well as the rise in unemployment rate back to 9 percent in their headlines immediately reacting to the news.
CNBC initially suggested that the unemployment rate “ticked” up because of higher participation in the labor force,…
May 6th, 2011 10:45 AM
Open Thread: Who Won Last Night's Debate
The first Republican presidential debate But took place last night on the Fox News Channel, but featured only one candidate, Tim Pawlenty, generally considered to be a front-runner. So now we must undertake the inevitable task of deciding who "won" the debate. The other participants were Herman Cain, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, and New Mexico Governor…
May 6th, 2011 9:28 AM
Bozell Column: Osama's Controversial Aftermath
It’s inevitable that the joy and national unity over the killing of that monster bin Laden would cool. Already we’re debating the journalistic and political ramifications. On Wednesday, President Obama told CBS he wouldn’t “spike the football” by releasing photos proving Osama is dead.
I agree with the President, as much as that pains my friend Sean Hannity and other conservatives (and non-…
May 6th, 2011 9:14 AM

Condi Rice Tells Lawrence O'Donnell 'You Have a Bad Habit With Your Gu
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Thursday had a highly-contentious interview with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"The Last Word" host repeatedly interrupted his guest leading her to say after one such incident, "Lawrence, you have a bad habit with your guests. You never let them answer a question" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
May 6th, 2011 8:12 AM

PBS's Tavis Smiley Brings on Radical Journo to Call Osama-Death Cheeri
A PBS viewer might be surprised that Tavis Smiley might recognize the killing of Osama bin Laden as a newsworthy event, since he believes Christians kill people in bombings every day in America. But on the day after the Osama mission succeeded, Smiley went straight to the radical left for the official PBS reaction. There's your tax dollars at work again, providing a megaphone for The Nation…
May 6th, 2011 8:10 AM

Incoming CBS Anchor Pelley Mimics MSNBC’s Pledge: ‘We’re Going t
Scott Pelley, the incoming anchor for the CBS Evening News, dropped by Washington, DC’s CBS affiliate on Wednesday where he mimicked left-wing MSNBC’s “Lean Forward” slogan as he promised: “We’re going to be leaning forward.”
On DCRTV.com I saw a link to online video of a WUSA-TV story about Pelley’s May 4 visit to the Gannett-owned station where he pledged: “We're going to cover hard news.…
May 6th, 2011 2:16 AM

Matthews Hits Hillary For Denying Photo Showed Her Having Emotional Re
On his MSNBC show this evening, Chris Matthews criticized Hillary's lack of "humanity" for denying that, in the photo of her in the Situation Room during the attack on Bin Laden, she was having an emotional reaction. Matthews played video of Hillary suggesting that rather than reacting in horror, she was merely stifling a cough. Riiight.
On the one hand, Hillary richly deserved Matthews'…
May 5th, 2011 9:47 PM
NPR Forwards Notion That Bin Laden Death is 'Fundamental Shift' For Ob
NPR's Ari Shapiro emphasized the possible political benefits for President Obama on Thursday's Morning Edition in the aftermath of the death of Osama bin Laden. Shapiro lined up sound bites from three pundits who touted the "big moment" for the "bold" President and how it amounted to a "fundamental shift in the way Americans perceive Mr. Obama."
Midway through his report, the correspondent…
May 5th, 2011 7:21 PM

Chris Matthews Dreams Up Silly GOP Debate Questions: Do You 'Fundament
Chris Matthews apparently misses moderating Republican debates and hectoring the candidates with bizarre questions. On Thursday's Hardball, hours before the first GOP face-off, the cable anchor dreamed up hypothetical queries he would like to see: "Question to Mr. Candidate, do you believe in evolution? Are you a fundamentalist who believes in the Bible as written? Has man been around millions…
May 5th, 2011 6:38 PM