NBC Buries Obama Special Olympics line; ABC Knocks 'Late Night Gaffe

March 20th, 2009 1:02 PM
NBC's "Today" show on Friday minimized and neglected a gaffe by Barack Obama that his bowling skills are on the level of the "Special Olympics or something." In contrast, ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS's "Early Show" heavily covered the remark. GMA devoted the first two segments to the ill advised joke the President made on Thursday's "Tonight Show With Jay Leno." And although "Today"…

Will Media Notice Obama's Poor Taste Special Olympics Joke

March 19th, 2009 10:03 PM
During his appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show," President Obama made a joke that may come back to haunt him, degrading the physical abilities of participants in the Special Olympics.Obama's joke came after host Jay Leno asked him whether he had torn out the White House bowling alley given the president's past difficulties with the sport. (h/t NB reader J.H. Blair, video courtesy Ms Underestimated):

Leno and Olbermann Aren't Sure if AIG is an American Company

March 19th, 2009 5:32 PM
Did you know that AIG, aka American International Group, is an American company?Well, on NBC's "Tonight Show" Wednesday, Jay Leno didn't, and the supposedly brilliant Keith Olbermann wasn't sure.Imagine that.A company that has been a hot topic in the news for at least the past six months, and these guys not only didn't know it was American, but also thought its initials stood for American "…

'Today' Continues Trek to Discover Obama's Global Appeal

March 17th, 2009 2:45 PM

Picking up from Al Roker's puffery about Barack Obama's Irish heritage from yesterday, NBC's Meredith Vieira, on Tuesday's Today show asked Ireland's President Mary McAleese to gauge the U.S. president's popularity on the Emerald Isle as she queried, "Barack Obama, our new president...I understand much loved here...What is it about Barack Obama that instills in, in the people of…

All Three Morning Shows Skip Cheney Jab That Obama Has Made U.S. Less

March 16th, 2009 4:07 PM
All three morning shows on Monday skipped a rather serious charge made by former Vice President Dick Cheney that Barack Obama, through his actions as president, has made America less safe and more susceptible to terrorist attack. Speaking to CNN host John King on Sunday's "State of the Union," Cheney criticized some of Obama's actions, including giving the order to close Guantanamo Bay. The ex-…

NBC's Al Roker Celebrates Obama's Irish Roots on 'Today

March 16th, 2009 1:32 PM

Over a chorus of gleeful Irish pub-goers literally singing Barack Obama's praises, NBC's Al Roker, broadcasting live from Ireland on Monday's "Today" show, explored the current president's Irish roots as he observed: "As St. Patrick's Day approaches in Moneygall the townsfolk join in the chorus, determined to keep hope alive." The "Today" show weatherman began the celebratory segment by…

NBC's Vieira Refuses to Challenge Barney Frank on Wasteful Earmarks

March 16th, 2009 12:13 PM
Barney Frank was allowed, by NBC's Meredith Vieira, to go on a tear against AIG for wasting bailout money on corporate bonuses, on Monday's "Today" show, yet Vieira never once interrupted Frank to point out his own wasteful stimulus spending on earmarks going to Frank's home district, including $1 million for scallop research. Vieira also didn't interject when Frank blamed the Bush administration…

Lauer Oddly Asserts NY Media Didn't Help Put Obama in Office

March 12th, 2009 4:43 PM
Acting as if he's been living in alternate media reality for the past year NBC's Matt Lauer, interviewing Howard Fineman, on Thursday's "Today" show made the very odd assertion, that the "establishment," of "Washington insiders," and the "New York-based media," didn't help put Barack Obama "in the Oval Office." Lauer, made the head-scratching point, after reading a portion of Fineman's most…

Pelosi Flies In Style, Major Media Ignores

March 11th, 2009 5:47 PM

Matthews: Limbaugh Like a Bond Villain, a 'Human Vat of Vitriol

March 9th, 2009 6:47 PM
Over the weekend, Chris Matthews compared Rush Limbaugh to a James Bond villain and claimed the radio talk show host was a "human vat of vitriol. He relishes the attention and he sells anger as a weapon." Before playing a clip from "You Only Live Twice," in which a Bond nemesis drops a victim into a piranha tank, Matthews, on his syndicated "The Chris Matthews Show," offered up the following…

Rachel Maddow on Leno: Limbaugh Should Back Socialism Once It's Enacte

March 5th, 2009 4:47 PM

Video: Meredith Vieira's Twitter Gaffe [Mild Content Warning

March 4th, 2009 5:55 PM
Meredith Vieira cracked up "Today" show co-hosts Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, and Al Roker today as she tried, apparently, to make a joke about micro-blogging application Twitter.The gaffe is somewhat reminiscent to her unintentional use of double entendre in a similar segment in late January. Video below the fold.: 

Obama Names Abortion Extremist to HHS; Media Silent

March 4th, 2009 4:23 PM
Back during confirmation hearings in 2001 for former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson Dan Rather reminded Evening News viewers of Thompson's "hardline anti-abortion stand." Eight years later, there's a whitewash of President Barack Obama's HHS' nominee abortion record. As a Democratic governor in red-state Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed several bills that would…

'Today' Blames Limbaugh for GOP 'All-Time Low

March 4th, 2009 11:34 AM
According to the Politico Democratic strategists, months ago, planned to paint Rush Limbaugh as a bad guy to hurt the GOP and on Wednesday, the "Today" show followed that blueprint as Matt Lauer pilloried RNC Chairman Michael Steele over his flap with the talk show host: Doesn't Rush Limbaugh put people like you in a very tough position? If you agree with him publicly it sounds like you're…