1. Mapes: Liberal & Conservative, Unaware If Registered as Democrat
Asked by Bill O'Reilly Thursday night on FNC whether she's a liberal, Mary Mapes, the CBS News producer fired in January for her role in the forged National Guard memos and representations she made to her colleagues, first put up the usual avoidance device of a liberal -- "I'm not sure what a liberal is" -- before insisting that "like a lot of Americans, I'm all over the map." In the taped interview, O'Reilly then pressed her: "Are you registered Democrat?" Mapes seriously responded: "I don't know." O'Reilly scoffed: "You don't know?" Mapes claimed: "I don't know if I'm independent or Democrat. I know I'm not -- in Texas, I'm not sure how I'm registered." (But apparently she's quite sure she's no Republican.) O'Reilly returned to his original interest: "So you would describe yourself politically as?" She maintained: "Oh, my goodness. I'm liberal on some things, I'm conservative on some things."

2. Olbermann Portrays Alito's Judicial Ethics as "Throat-Cutters"
On his Countdown show Thursday night, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann led by hyping "new questions now concerning the judicial ethics of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito" because of alleged conflicts of interest, including the judge's participation in cases involving Vanguard and Smith Barney, companies through which Alito owned mutual funds and stocks. Olbermann expressed his view that "it would seem to me these are throat cutters" and that "he shouldn't be on a federal court after this anymore." Although Olbermann did note that in the case involving Smith Barney, Alito had sided against the company, he did not present a balanced look at the situation as he merely interviewed George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, whom Olbermann credited as "the first to raise questions about Judge Alito's personal conflict...even before he was officially nominated."

3. CNN's Morton Insists McCain's Stands Not What Endear Him to Media
CNN's Bruce Morton denied, in a Thursday story on a speech by John McCain about the Iraq war, that reporters like McCain because of his policy stands. "Some conservatives mistrust McCain," Morton observed on The Situation Room, "partly because reporters like him, and they think that makes him a liberal." Morton rejected that theory: "We like him because he answers our questions, not because of where he stands on issues." Morton contended that "he is, in fact, conservative -- anti-abortion, for a strong defense. He's a fiscal conservative against big spending and big deficits, though that's not a position, critics say, this President takes." Unmentioned by Morton: How McCain is also a champion of many liberal causes, such as campaign finance "reform," smaller tax cuts and greater environmental regulation.

4. FNC to Air One-Sided Liberal Case for Human-Fueled Global Warming
This Sunday the Fox News Channel will air a one-hour special, The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming, which promises to not provide a "fair and balanced" look at the subject, but I bet the usual left-wing critics of FNC won't mind. The MRC's CNSNews.com on Wednesday reported that the special "provides only the liberal take on the controversial issue and was approved after environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reportedly 'dragged' Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes to a lecture by former Vice President Al Gore, 'kicking and screaming.'" The producer of the show conceded the imbalance: "'Often on Fox News Channel, we present both sides, according to our 'fair and balanced' motto, but this is the global warming story,'[Clay] Rawson said. 'We do make it clear that this is one side of the issue through inclusion of a disclaimer,' he added. The documentary is said to ignore scientific skeptics who believe that human activity is not responsible for catastrophic climate change." A promo FNC is running is full of hype: "Massive flooding, torrential rain storms, coastal communities wiped off the map. Global warming: It's happening right now. This isn't science fiction. Some say it's our future."

5. "Top Ten Good Things About Being an 18-Year-Old Mayor"
Letterman's "Top Ten Good Things About Being an 18-Year-Old Mayor."

Mapes: Liberal & Conservative, Unaware
If Registered as Democrat

     Asked by Bill O'Reilly Thursday night on FNC whether she's a liberal, Mary Mapes, the CBS News producer fired in January for her role in the forged National Guard memos and representations she made to her colleagues, first put up the usual avoidance device of a liberal -- "I'm not sure what a liberal is" -- before insisting that "like a lot of Americans, I'm all over the map." In the taped interview, O'Reilly then pressed her: "Are you registered Democrat?" Mapes seriously responded: "I don't know." O'Reilly scoffed: "You don't know?" Mapes claimed: "I don't know if I'm independent or Democrat. I know I'm not -- in Texas, I'm not sure how I'm registered." (But apparently she's quite sure she's no Republican.) O'Reilly returned to his original interest: "So you would describe yourself politically as?" She maintained: "Oh, my goodness. I'm liberal on some things, I'm conservative on some things."

     Wednesday night on CNN's Larry King Live, when asked if she had an agenda against President Bush, an indignant Mapes fired back: "Oh my God no, no of course not." See: www.mediaresearch.org

     For video, check this NewsBusters.org posting: newsbusters.org

     Check this CyberAlert article for a defense, on ABC's Good Morning America, of the accuracy of the original story: www.mediaresearch.org

     For video, check this NewsBusters.org posting: newsbusters.org

     [This item was posted Thursday night, with video, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. To share your thoughts, or to watch a video clip, in either RealPlayer or Windows Media formats, go to: newsbusters.org ]

     Mapes made her in-studio guest appearance on The O'Reilly Factor as part of her book tour for Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power: www.amazon.com

     From near the beginning of O'Reilly's two segments with Mapes, which started just past the halfway mark of the November 10 O'Reilly Factor on FNC:

     Bill O'Reilly: "Now the right wing thinks you're a raving liberal, you and Rather contrived to put Bush in the worst possible light. That's what the right, far right, right believes."
     Mary Mapes: "When they're at their nicest, that's what they say."
     O'Reilly: "Alright. So are you a liberal?"
     Mapes: "Well, I'm not sure what a liberal is. I'm more liberal than some people. I can tell you my eight-year-old son thinks he's being raised by the most conservative parents in the world."
     O'Reilly: "No, but politically you know what I'm talking about."
     Mapes: "Well, I think like a lot of Americans, I'm all over the map and it's something, I mean for me like who I vote for-"
     O'Reilly: "Are you registered Democrat?"
     Mapes: "You know, I don't know."
     An incredulous O'Reilly scoffed: "You don't know?"
     Mapes: "I don't know. I don't know if I'm independent or Democrat. I know I'm not -- in Texas, I'm not sure how I'm registered."
     O'Reilly: "So you would describe yourself politically as?"
     Mapes: "Oh, my goodness. I'm liberal on some things, I'm conservative on some things."

Olbermann Portrays Alito's Judicial Ethics
as "Throat-Cutters"

     On his Countdown show Thursday night, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann led by hyping "new questions now concerning the judicial ethics of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito" because of alleged conflicts of interest, including the judge's participation in cases involving Vanguard and Smith Barney, companies through which Alito owned mutual funds and stocks. Olbermann expressed his view that "it would seem to me these are throat cutters" and that "he shouldn't be on a federal court after this anymore." Although Olbermann did note that in the case involving Smith Barney, Alito had sided against the company, he did not present a balanced look at the situation as he merely interviewed George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, whom Olbermann credited as "the first to raise questions about Judge Alito's personal conflict...even before he was officially nominated."

     Turley criticized Alito because "a judge is supposed to recuse himself when there's an appearance of a conflict," while he also conceded that "it's not that Judge Alito doesn't have an argument here. It's a technical one."

     [This item, by Brad Wilmouth, was posted Thursday night on the MRC's NewsBusters.org blog: newsbusters.org ]

     A complete transcript of Olbermann's interview with Turley from the November 10 Countdown show follows:

     Keith Olbermann, in his opening teaser: "Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? Trouble with the Supreme Court nominee -- again. Judge Alito ruled in favor of the Vanguard mutual fund company. Unfortunately, Judge Alito had $400,000 in Vanguard mutual fund funds at the time, after he had written to the Senate saying he would disqualify himself from any case involving Vanguard mutual funds. Oops!"

     After covering other subjects in the teaser, Olbermann opened the show: "Good evening. It's either yet another case of the borking of a judicial nominee, derail a nomination, in this case for the Supreme Court, one drip at a time. Or instead, it's a legitimate troubling stop along the paper trail of a jurist's life work. Our fifth story on the Countdown, either way, new questions now concerning the judicial ethics of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. As Judge Alito made the rounds on Capitol Hill today, new questions concerning when a judge has to fulfill a promise to recuse himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, and when he does not.
     "And those questions put the Republican leadership on edge. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter asking the judge in a letter, quote, 'to make a full public response on the propriety,' unquote, of his having failed to remove himself from two different cases, one involving the Vanguard mutual funds company he found in the company's favor. The other, Smith Barney. He seems to have found against them. Vanguard and Smith Barney, two firms with which Alito had invested. By doing so, Judge Alito's seemingly breaking a promise to the Senate Judiciary Committee made while filling out its questionnaire before it confirmed him as a circuit court judge in 1990. The current judiciary chair advising today that it would be best for the nominee to get ahead of the story. 'I think it is not advisable to wait until that time which would allow columnists, radio/TV talk shows and your adversaries to speculate on this issue to the determent of your nomination.' Well, that boat has sailed. Those in the know already preparing to skip ahead to the recusal section. Question number 23, when Judge Alito returns this questionnaire submitted to him today by this judiciary committee."
     "And if the Vanguard/Smith Barney cases were not troubling enough, the third item on the recusal watch: Judge Alito, a member of the appeals court which reviewed a 1995 case in which his sister's law firm represented one of the parties. The judge has now replied to Senator Specter's letter with one of his own. 'I respectfully submit that it was not inconsistent with my questionnaire response for me to participate in two isolated cases seven and 13 years later, respectively.' He said the 1990 questionnaire only covered his plans for 'initial service,' and he had been unduly restrictive towards himself. The first to raise questions about Judge Alito's personal conflict in the Vanguard case even before he was officially nominated was George Washington University law professor and constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley. He is good enough to join us right now. Jonathan, good evening."
     Jonathan Turley, George Washington University: "Good evening."
     Olbermann: "I'm a layman, but it would seem to me these are throat cutters. I mean, to the degree that the case could be made, he shouldn't be on a federal court after this anymore. Is it egregious? Or is this a layman's exaggeration?"
     Turley: "I don't think it's an exaggeration. I think it's serious no matter how you look at it. The point is that it's not that Judge Alito doesn't have an argument here. It's a technical one. As we used to say, it's a good Philadelphia lawyering in that he can argue that he didn't technically own an interest in Vanguard. There's an argument to be made on either side, that he didn't meet that very narrow definition. The problem is that being involved in the case with Vanguard was serious enough that he expressly promised not to do it in his confirmation hearings. And it was serious enough that when it was raised, he recused himself from the case. So this doesn't look good. It doesn't show good judgment. And I'm a little bit curious as to when he says that it proved too restrictive for him to continue to comply. These are the only two Vanguard cases I know that came in front of him. It doesn't seem particularly restrictive. The odds that he would have a third such case are rather remote."
     Olbermann: "You can look at those who oppose Chief Justice Roberts or Harriet Miers or anybody else and say, 'Well, look, those were purely political issues and motives.' Is this not something simpler and more resonating with the average person judging this at home, that they seem to be about money and ethics, rather than about politics, that he was, one way or the other, ruling about financial issues, or financial gain, at least, for two companies in which he had some kind of financial stake."
     Turley: "Well, I guess what I'm most disturbed with is the spin we had today. I mean, frankly, this is something that he might be able to get around with by just saying, 'You know what? I made a mistake. And I probably should have recused myself.' A judge is supposed to recuse himself when there's an appearance of a conflict. You're supposed to err on the side of recusal, particularly on the appellate court where it's not that big of a deal for an appellate judge to stand aside in one or two cases in 15 or 17 years. The other thing is that we have to keep in mind that it's not that he had a lot of money at stake. This company has hundreds of billions of dollars, so he probably had less than a bucket stake in this, if that at all. But there is still that appearance. I think people understand that you shouldn't rule in a case with a company that you have this type of direct association with."
     Olbermann: "The time lapse part, in today's response to Senator Specter, that the 1990 questionnaire only applied to his tenure on the circuit court of appeals. I guess from what I'm reading in it, that it only applied to the start of that tenure. Is that legally true? Is that accurate as well?"
     Turley: "Well, that's a little bit odd since his interest in Vanguard continued. I'm not quite sure why they're introducing this sort of temporal element to ethics. What's clear is that he did break his promise from the confirmation hearings. How serious that is? I'm not too sure. I think it's ironic, you know, I've been writing for years that these senators do the same thing. These guys routinely legislate in areas where they have direct financial interest, so it's going to be a rather interesting hearing with these senators doing this Claude Rains and being shocked that anyone would ever do anything in an area where they have a financial interest. But putting that aside, we expect more from judges than we do our politicians."
     Olbermann: "And that is, by the way, the video we're showing right now is a coincidence that we're showing the shot of Senator Frist with the judge, but sum this up for me. Truly it is. The thumbs up or the thumbs down on this? Politics aside on this on an ethical point, whether it's a technicality or the explanation is a technicality, do you think the judge's nomination is in jeopardy?"
     Turley: "I don't think his nomination's in jeopardy. But I got to tell you, this is a hit below the water line, and he can take a few more. But we're still early in this season."

CNN's Morton Insists McCain's Stands
Not What Endear Him to Media

     CNN's Bruce Morton denied, in a Thursday story on a speech by John McCain about the Iraq war, that reporters like McCain because of his policy stands. "Some conservatives mistrust McCain," Morton observed on The Situation Room, "partly because reporters like him, and they think that makes him a liberal." Morton rejected that theory: "We like him because he answers our questions, not because of where he stands on issues." Morton contended that "he is, in fact, conservative -- anti-abortion, for a strong defense. He's a fiscal conservative against big spending and big deficits, though that's not a position, critics say, this President takes." Unmentioned by Morton: How McCain is also a champion of many liberal causes, such as campaign finance "reform," smaller tax cuts and greater environmental regulation.

     The MRC's Megan McCormack caught Morton's spin on the 4pm EST hour of the November 10 Situation Room:
     "Wolf, President Bush must wonder every time he sees John McCain's face come up on the news, is he for me or against me today? They were rivals in 2000, of course. McCain won the New Hampshire primary, won in Michigan. Lost the nomination in a campaign that turned viciously personal in South Carolina. In 2004, for the President. And on issues, sometimes for, sometimes against. In today's speech, McCain says the President is right to stay in Iraq, though he argues for different tactics. He's criticized Mr. Bush's use of military detention centers, like the one at Guantanamo Bay, arguing that even Adolph Eichmann, Hitler's man in charge of killing Jews, got a trial. And McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam during that war, wants to rewrite the rules so Americans don't torture their captives. The President has threatened to veto any bill containing such a restriction, saying it would limit interrogators ability to get information. McCain favors action against global warming. Mr. Bush doesn't. But McCain supported the nomination of John Bolton as UN ambassador and so on.
     "Some conservatives mistrust McCain, partly because reporters like him, and they think that makes him a liberal. But we like him because he answers our questions, not because of where he stands on issues. He is, in fact, conservative, anti-abortion, for a strong defense. He's a fiscal conservative against big spending and big deficits, though that's not a position, critics say, this President takes. And everyone in this political city wonders if he'll run for President in 2008. He says he won't decide until after the '06 congressional elections. But some think he's made up his mind."

FNC to Air One-Sided Liberal Case for
Human-Fueled Global Warming

     This Sunday the Fox News Channel will air a one-hour special, The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming, which promises to not provide a "fair and balanced" look at the subject, but I bet the usual left-wing critics of FNC won't mind. The MRC's CNSNews.com on Wednesday reported that the special "provides only the liberal take on the controversial issue and was approved after environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reportedly 'dragged' Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes to a lecture by former Vice President Al Gore, 'kicking and screaming.'" The producer of the show conceded the imbalance: "'Often on Fox News Channel, we present both sides, according to our 'fair and balanced' motto, but this is the global warming story,' [Clay] Rawson said. 'We do make it clear that this is one side of the issue through inclusion of a disclaimer,' he added. The documentary is said to ignore scientific skeptics who believe that human activity is not responsible for catastrophic climate change." A promo FNC is running is full of hype: "Massive flooding, torrential rain storms, coastal communities wiped off the map. Global warming: It's happening right now. This isn't science fiction. Some say it's our future."

     That promo included a graphic with dots on a map with these claims on screen: "Massive Flooding," "Torrential Rainstorms" and "Coastal Communities Wiped Out."

     The promo ad in full for The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming, as taken down by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth from Wednesday's Big Story:
     Announcer: "Sunday: Massive flooding, torrential rain storms, coastal communities wiped off the map. Global warming: It's happening right now. This isn't science fiction. Some say it's our future."
     Unidentified man: "Hurricanes like Katrina could become commonplace."
     Announcer: "We've traveled around the globe gathering the facts. Now, hear the evidence."
     Unidentified woman: "Climate change is outpacing the ability of biological systems to adapt."
     Announcer: "Sunday, Rick Folbaum hosts The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming."

     An excerpt from the November 9 CNSNews.com story, "Fox News CEO Warms to Climate Change After Heat from Left," by Randy Hall and Marc Morano:

A Fox News Channel documentary on "global warming," set to air Sunday night, provides only the liberal take on the controversial issue and was approved after environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reportedly "dragged" Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes to a lecture by former Vice President Al Gore, "kicking and screaming."

Clay Rawson, the Fox News Channel producer of the hour-long special titled "The Heat Is On: The Case of Global Warming," told Cybercast News Service Wednesday that the project "was a little bit different for us.

"Often on Fox News Channel, we present both sides, according to our 'fair and balanced' motto, but this is the global warming story," Rawson said. "We do make it clear that this is one side of the issue through inclusion of a disclaimer," he added. The documentary is said to ignore scientific skeptics who believe that human activity is not responsible for catastrophic climate change.

The Bangor Daily News (Maine) on Sept. 23 reported Kennedy's comments about having "dragged" Ailes to the Gore lecture. The November edition of Outside magazine also features a column by Amanda Griscom Little, in which she asserts that Laurie David, the wife of comic Larry David, managed to persuade Ailes about the need to air the special.

According to Griscom Little's column, Ailes telephoned Laurie David to discuss the "one-hour global-warming report that his network will air this fall, thanks in large part to Laurie's badgering."

Griscom Little also wrote that "Ailes was charmed by what he calls Laurie's 'impressive passion and dedication'" and that Ailes "considers her one of the country's 'leading authorities' on global warming." Laurie David is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Ailes was unavailable for further comment Wednesday night.

Fox News Channel reporter Rick Folbaum, in a statement on the news organization's website, explained that "after months of research and interviews with many experts, I've learned this simple fact: The earth is heating up. And it's happening much faster than ever before. No one can argue with this."

But Chris Horner, senior fellow with the free market environmental group, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), is among those arguing about the theory of "global warming." He is also criticizing Fox News Channel, not only for its decision to air the documentary, but for featuring "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a prominent agenda-driven environmentalist and registered lobbyist for green causes...as a 'special correspondent' for the show."

Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the program, Horner told Cybercast News Service that "many and possibly most viewers would not even see this disclaimer...

"While it is unfathomable that a reputable news network would air so blatantly a one-sided program regardless of any disclaimer, that the 'fair and balanced' network would put itself in the position of suspending its motto is stupefying," Horner said. CEI plans to deliver a letter to Ailes on Thursday morning, complaining about the documentary....

Folbaum asserted in his Fox News website statement that "the vast majority of the scientific community says we're witnessing a unique and troubling kind of climate change, one where changes that used to occur over centuries are now taking place during the course of a single lifetime."

The reporter concluded by pleading for website visitors to tune in to Fox News Sunday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. "Learn the facts about global warming and decide for your self what needs to be done about these new realities," Folbaum stated....

     END of Excerpt

     For the article in full: www.cnsnews.com

     For Folbaum's "Reporter's Notebook" defense of the program: www.foxnews.com

"Top Ten Good Things About Being an 18-Year-Old
Mayor"

     From the November 10 Late Show with David Letterman, as read on the Ed Sullivan Theater stage by Michael Sessions, the 18-year-old Mayor-elect of Hillsdale, Michigan, the "Top Ten Good Things About Being an 18-Year-Old Mayor." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. "Parents try to tell me what to do, I raise their taxes"

9. "Every night, a different member of the town council does my homework"

8. "It's every teen's dream: The power to regulate zoning laws"

7. "Goodbye, education budget -- Hello, brand new X-box"

6. "I got a call from Demi Moore"

5. "Trying to get the city hall on an episode of 'MTV Cribs'"

4. "I don't have to wait in line at Applebee's anymore"

3. "School bullies now have to deal with the Feds"

2. "Only victory speech featuring the word 'Dude'"

1. "It's flattering when President Bush calls me for advice"

     # Ted Koppel will be a guest on the Friday Late Show.

-- Brent Baker