CNN and MSNBC Applaud Elena Kagan's Capitol Hill Comedy Hour
June 30th, 2010 6:03 PM
In covering Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings, CNN and MSNBC have repeatedly lauded the Supreme Court nominee for her "flashes of humor" and "disarming ease."In tune with the reverberations of the network morning shows' echo chamber, correspondents like CNN's Dana Bash and anchors like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Tuesday praised Kagan for her ability to inject humor into otherwise "hollow and…
Updated: Chris Matthews Highlighted Faulty Daily Kos/Research 2000 Pol
June 30th, 2010 4:16 PM
With the news that Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas is suing the polling group Research 2000 for providing "bunk" results that his Web site published, the question has to be asked: Will those figures in the media who've advanced Daily Kos poll results, like MSNBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews, let their viewers know of the suspect data? Back on the February 2, 2010 edition of Hardball,…
Chris Matthews: Sen. Sessions Is the Voice of the Confederacy; GOP Wan
June 29th, 2010 5:59 PM
Chris Matthews keeps painting the Elena Kagan confirmation hearing as a "culture war" between the Obama nominee and the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Newsbusters reported yesterday, Chris Matthews seemed to spin Monday's standoff between Sessions and Kagan as a battle between the senator's rural, unsophisticated Alabama roots and Kagan's Northeastern liberal academic…
Olbermann: Palin a 'Phony,' 'Idiot
June 29th, 2010 4:17 PM
Name-calling isn't just for 6-year-olds anymore. Keith Olbermann proved once again that Sarah Palin is the media's favorite conservative to hate, mock and condemn when he called Palin an "idiot" who endorses "stupidity instead of intelligence." Olbermann named "Sister Sarah" his "Worst Person in the World" on "Countdown" June 28 after Palin mistakenly said Ronald Reagan's alma mater was "…
Chris Matthews: Robert Byrd 'Treasured' Gadsden Flag; 'Scared' When Fl
June 29th, 2010 3:57 PM
While MSNBC host Chris Matthews has routinely cited the American Revolution-era Gadsden flag as evidence of the extremism of the tea party movement, at the end of Monday's Harball, he expressed his love for the banner while remembering West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd. [Audio available here]In his 'Let Me Finish' segment, Matthews shared his thoughts on Byrd and how he particularly admired how…
MSNBC Panel Invokes Anita Hill, Injects Sexism in Kagan Hearing
June 29th, 2010 2:25 PM
A liberal panel led by MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews injected sexism into the Kagan confirmation hearings on Tuesday morning, suggesting that Republican senators should curtail the tenacity of their questioning because the Supreme Court nominee happens to be a woman.Invoking the Clarence Thomas hearings, which focused on the testimony of Anita Hill, who accused Thomas of making inappropriate sexual…
Chris Matthews Disgracefully Uses Sen. Byrd's Death To Bash Bush
June 29th, 2010 10:43 AM
It goes without saying that Monday's media coverage of Sen. Robert Byrd's (D-W.V.) death was predictably sycophantic on a disturbing number of levels.However, the award for most disgraceful use of a politician's passing to further one's agenda has to go to MSNBC's Chris Matthews who ended last night's "Hardball" memorializing a senator he had great esteem for by attacking former President George…
'Conservative' NYT Columnist Douthat: Right-Wingers Don't Realize Hawa
June 28th, 2010 10:55 PM
Over the weekend, Dave Weigel resigned as WaPo's house chronicler of conservatives after revelations of his antipathy toward the people he was covering. Tonight brings us the spectacle of Ross Douthat, an ostensibly conservative columnist at the New York Times. Appearing on MSNBC's Ed Schultz show, Douthat proffered precisely zero criticism of anyone or anything liberal. But he did manage to…
Matthews: Republicans Putting Pins in Kagan Like She's a Voodoo Doll
June 28th, 2010 7:12 PM
From the morning to the evening Chris Matthews, during MSNBC's coverage of Elena Kagan's hearing on Monday, berated what he saw as GOP mistreatment of Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, calling their performance at times, a "brutal assault" and even evoking strange imagery of Kagan having pins stuck in her by Republicans. Early in the day the MSNBC host complained that Republican Senator Jeff…
Chris Matthews Thinks Sen. Sessions' Criticism of Kagan Was a 'Brutal
June 28th, 2010 6:25 PM
MSNBC's Chris Matthews framed Sen. Jeff Sessions' criticism of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan as a "brutal assault," during MSNBC's live coverage of the Senate hearing Monday afternoon."It's a brutal assault on this nomination," Matthews complained about the Alabama Republican's remarks.Matthews also seemed to cast Sessions as an unsophisticated country bumpkin challenging Kagan's prestigious…
VIDEO: Media Routinely Used 'Conservative' Label on Bush Nominees to S
June 28th, 2010 11:13 AM
When President Bush nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in 2005, the media did not hesitate to describe both men as "very conservative," but when President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan this year many in the press couldn't seem to identify any liberal ideology. The Media Research Center has produced a video compilation of examples to further…
Barnicle Can't Bring Himself To Mention Byrd's Klan Past
June 28th, 2010 8:03 AM
When Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond died, the MSM was quick to stress his segregationist past. The New York Times ran the headline "Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100," leaving readers to imagine the South Carolinian had remained an advocate of segregation. The very first line of USA Today's story described Thurmond as "the nation's most prominent segregationist." Strange how the…
Chris Matthews: Republicans Are Suicide Bombers Trying To Destroy Gove
June 27th, 2010 2:19 AM
Chris Matthews on Friday said Republicans are like suicide bombers trying to destroy the government for their own political benefit.In a "Hardball" discussion with Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Politico's Jim VandeHei, Matthews said, "Republicans have been able to get up in the morning every day saying our goal is to destroy the government. That`s our job. And somehow its cheering section back home…
MSNBC's Matthews Compares Conservative Candidates to Suicide Bombers
June 25th, 2010 6:40 PM
"Being a suicide bomber is the new political role model," Chris Matthews told his Friday "Hardball" audience. "Just kill everything, destroy everything, blow it up, nothing gets done. You're dead, but who cares?" he added, referring to conservative Republicans running against Democrats in the 2010 midterms.The comment came at the end of a segment featuring Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Politico's…