1. CBS Paints Illegals as Victims by Showing Kids Split from Parents
While the ABC and NBC evening newscasts led Tuesday night with President George W. Bush's veto of the Iraq funding bill with pull-out deadlines, CBS began with back-to-back stories trumpeting the cause of illegal immigrants and portraying them as the victims. "Tonight," Katie Couric teased the CBS Evening News, "tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets of America to rally in support of illegal immigrants" and then, over video of a teen girl and her little sister, Couric fretted, "she was born here, but her parents were deported and there are many more like her." Of course, it was the choice of the parents to not take the kids with them back to Mexico. Citing how "it's estimated there are as many as 12 million in this country illegally," Couric framed CBS's coverage around their agenda: "What are they and their supporters demanding?"

2. CNN Illegal Alien Rally Coverage Includes (Unlabeled) Leninist
Surely, CNN doesn't stand for Communist News Network. But CNN's Soledad O'Brien went looking for the "grass roots" of the pro-illegal immigration movement in Chicago during Tuesday's Your World Today at mid-day. She interviewed a man she described as "Shaun Harkin of the March 10th Movement." She did not describe him with ideological precision: he's a fervent Leninist. An instant Googling of "Shaun Harkin" quickly brought up an article from Socialist Worker Online, where "SHAUN HARKIN explains why the Russian revolutionary Lenin and the theory that Lenin developed about the rise of imperialism remains so relevant today." Harkin concluded: "The dynamics of imperialism that Lenin analyzed are still present. His approach continues to offer the best framework to understand imperialism -- and is an essential tool for revolutionaries today."

3. CNN's Lou Dobbs Takes on Media Coverage of Illegal Immigration
It is rare for a mainstream media journalist to openly criticize the media's coverage of a particular issue. But that is exactly what CNN's Lou Dobbs did on Tuesday's American Morning. In an interview with co-host Kiran Chetry, Dobbs blasted the media's coverage of illegal immigration: "They're selling an agenda. And they're not applying critical judgment. And critical judgment and skepticism is our job as journalists. We're talking about comprehensive immigration legislation as reform. We're using the word 'reform' as if it were true. There's no skepticism." AUDIO&VIDEO

4. GMA on 'Mission Accomplished' Then: 'A++'; Now: 'Bushian Bravado'
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, the ABC program used the fourth anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech to slam the "Bushian bravado" of an event that "this administration will never live down." Correspondent Claire Shipman marveled at "how naive that banner looks four years later." The day after the President landed on the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, however, GMA wasn't so prescient. Back then, ABC's George Stephanopoulos labeled the speech an "A + +," "well done" and seemed impressed with the "small poster that said 'Mission Accomplished.'"

5. O'Donnell Smears Soldiers, We've Killed More than Have Terrorists
Tuesday's The View marked the fourth anniversary of President Bush's famous "mission accomplished" announcement with Rosie O'Donnell's predictable rants against the war and the administration. "How many more years and how many more dead kids?" she asked about President Bush's insistence on continuing to fight in Iraq," charging: "It's just, you know, it's way over the amount of people killed on September 11th. We've killed more Americans than any terrorist ever did in this war." And, with the aid of guest co-host Ricki Lake, O'Donnell followed themes expounded by Charles Rangel and Andy Rooney to assert that U.S. soldiers are not patriots, but losers who join out of desperation.

6. Letterman's 'Top Ten Signs Fidel Castro Is Fully Recovered'
Letterman's "Top Ten Signs Fidel Castro Is Fully Recovered." Number 2: "He's put on 30 pounds, he's wearing fatigues, he's spewing propaganda -- no, that's Rosie O'Donnell."

CBS Paints Illegals as Victims by Showing
Kids Split from Parents

     While the ABC and NBC evening newscasts led Tuesday night with President George W. Bush's veto of the Iraq funding bill with pull-out deadlines, CBS began with back-to-back stories trumpeting the cause of illegal immigrants and portraying them as the victims. "Tonight," Katie Couric teased the CBS Evening News, "tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets of America to rally in support of illegal immigrants" and then, over video of a teen girl and her little sister, Couric fretted, "she was born here, but her parents were deported and there are many more like her." Of course, it was the choice of the parents to not take the kids with them back to Mexico.

     Citing how "it's estimated there are as many as 12 million in this country illegally," Couric framed CBS's coverage around their agenda: "What are they and their supporters demanding?" Bill Whitaker highlighted the protests and the views of their advocates before acknowledging "the chance for real immigration reform seems slim again this year, so these marchers plan to keep up the pressure to change the laws and stop the deportations, which they say are breaking up families."

     The next report picked up the theme: "I'm Sandra Hughes in San Diego, where nine-year-old Adeline Munoz packs for her weekly trip to Tijuana, Mexico. It's the only place she can see her parents. In February, Abel Munoz and Zulma Miranda were deported by immigration officials." After obligatory heart-rendering soundbites from the kids, Hughes featured the mom: "The deportation was inhumane. Our kids will never forget it. The little one always tells will me, every time I hear a knock on the door, I think it's Immigration." Not until the very end of her piece, about six minutes into the newscast, did viewers hear from someone not so enamored with the cause of the illegals. Hughes set up a clip: "Critics of illegal immigration concede it's a tough situation, but one the parents themselves created."

     [This item was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     A year ago, as recounted in a CyberAlert item, "all three broadcast network evening newscasts led with multiple favorable stories about the day of protests to promote the cause of illegal aliens." And a look back shows that Katie Couric was just following the path set by her more-watched predecessor, Bob Schieffer, who opened the May 1, 2006 CBS Evening News by trumpeting:
     "From coast to coast, from north to south, they wanted us to know what America would be like without them and so millions of immigrants missed work, skipped school and marched in the streets. They want America to find a place for those who came here illegally and it's too soon to know if they changed any minds in Congress. But what we do know is that construction sites shut down, hundreds of restaurants and many small businesses closed across the country..."

     This year, ABC and NBC controlled their enthusiasm. But a year ago: "ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas touted how 'altogether, close to a million people took to the streets in more than 30 cities. And that number could still rise. It was the newest wave of protests against legislation that would increase the penalties for being in the U.S. illegally. Tonight, we have reports from around the country,' including a piece on a 'man in San Antonio, Texas, who broke decades of tradition' -- for 29 years never missing a day of work -- 'to make his own statement.' Over on the NBC Nightly News, which put six reporters on the story, Brian Williams heralded how 'we've been covering a major story unfolding all day,' showcasing video of 'solid people for blocks.' Williams concluded that 'the protests worked in many cases. Stores closed as workers headed out the door, and live television covered it all, all day long. We have comprehensive coverage tonight from coast to coast...'"

     For the May 2, 2006 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org

     The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide a transcript of the May 1 CBS Evening News stories championing the cause of illegal immigrants:

     Katie Couric's tease: "Tonight, tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets of America to rally in support of illegal immigrants. She was born here, but her parents were deported-"
     Teenage girl: "It's just too much."
     Couric: "-and there are many more like her."

     Couric opened her newscast: "Hello, everyone. It is May Day, the workers' holiday, and for the second straight year, there were rallies all over America on behalf of millions of people who work in this country illegally -- illegal immigrants. It's estimated there are as many as 12 million in this country illegally. Nearly four million households are headed by an undocumented immigrant. And what are they and their supporters demanding? We have two reports tonight, beginning with Bill Whitaker."

     Bill Whitaker, over video of protesters: "Ten thousand in Los Angeles. In Chicago, 150,000. In Orlando, Denver, Houston, dozens of cities across the country, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, calling, like last year, for reform of U.S. immigration laws."
     Unidentified female protester: "I want equal rights for everybody and everybody to be treated the same."
     Whitaker: "Still, far fewer than last year when one million marched to protest a bill in Congress that would have made it a felony to enter the country illegally. When that bill died, so did some of the movement's fervor."
     Fernando Guerra, Loyola Marymount University: "Unfortunately, in American politics, fear is a much greater mobilizer than hope."
     Whitaker: "The Latino coalition that was so united last spring is splintered now. Piolin, one of the most popular DJ's in L.A., used his microphone as a bullhorn to get people in the streets last year. This year, he's not urging them to march, but to write a million letters to Congress calling for immigration reform."
     Eduardo "Piolin" Sotelo: "The letters are another way to demonstrate that we support immigration reform. That is important."
     Whitaker: "Other groups are working to register almost three million new voters, to sign up one million new citizens, to stop federal raids and deportations. More than 220,000 illegal immigrants were deported in the last 12 months, up 20 percent from of the previous year. Fernando Guerra calls it 'political maturity.'"
     Guerra: "This year, you're seeing all these groups doing different works in different areas, different sectors, pursuing different strategies, which is a good thing."
     Whitaker: "Still, a year later, they're no closer to getting what they want most -- legal status for the 12 million immigrants here illegally. It's at the top of President Bush's domestic agenda again this year -- tougher border security, a guest worker program, and a pathway to citizenship for the millions here illegally already."
     George W. Bush: "And they would have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law."
     Whitaker: "But the chance for real immigration reform seems slim again this year, so these marchers plan to keep up the pressure to change the laws and stop the deportations, which they say are breaking up families. Bill Whitaker, CBS News, Los Angeles."

     Sandra Hughes: "I'm Sandra Hughes in San Diego, where nine-year-old Adeline Munoz packs for her weekly trip to Tijuana, Mexico. It's the only place she can see her parents. In February, Abel Munoz and Zulma Miranda were deported by immigration officials. They had been living in the United States for 18 years on expired visas."
     Adeline Munoz, 9-year-old daughter of illegal immigrants: "My dad, he got handcuffed. I felt scared, and I couldn't sleep that day.
     Hughes: "Even with an aunt here, the responsibility to cook, clean, and pay bills has fall on 16-year-old Leslie."
     Leslie Munoz, 16-year-old daughter of illegal immigrants: "So much on me. It doesn't, I can't any more. It's just too much."
     Hughes: "All three Munoz children were born in the U.S., so they are legal citizens, but they weren't celebrating, even on Adeline's birthday last week."
     Adeline Munoz: "I don't want to celebrate my birthday because I feel sad that my parents are not here.
     Leslie Munoz: "When you see your little sister is heartbroken, she sits there crying, and you wish that you can bring your parents back because she wants them back. It's hard."
     Hughes, on a beach by the border fence: "It's unclear how many children have been left behind in the U.S. to fend for themselves since the government launched Operation 'Return to Sender.' Almost 24,000 people have been arrested for visa violations, sparking protests across the country. For those deported back to Mexico, this is what divides families -- the U.S.-Mexico border. Children on one side, the parents on the other, both facing an uncertain future. The Munoz family border reunions are bittersweet. The parents say they just couldn't bring the children to the slums of Tijuana with no jobs and sharing only a room at Zulma's parents."
     Zulma Miranda, through translator: "The deportation was inhumane. Our kids will never forget it. The little one always tells will me, every time I hear a knock on the door, I think it's Immigration."
     Hughes: "Critics of illegal immigration concede it's a tough situation, but one the parents themselves created."
     Rosemary Jenks, Numbers USA: "If a U.S. citizen parent commits a crime and is arrested, nobody is out there protesting that this person shouldn't be separated from his kids to go to jail."
     Hughes: "Jenks says part of the problem was past lax enforcement."
     Jenks: "Once we routinely enforce the law, we will face this situation much less because there will be fewer people coming in and putting themselves in this position."
     Hughes: "Making a decision no parent wants to make. Sandra Hughes, CBS News, Tijuana."

CNN Illegal Alien Rally Coverage Includes
(Unlabeled) Leninist

     Surely, CNN doesn't stand for Communist News Network. But CNN's Soledad O'Brien went looking for the "grass roots" of the pro-illegal immigration movement in Chicago during Tuesday's Your World Today at mid-day. She interviewed a man she described as "Shaun Harkin of the March 10th Movement." She did not describe him with ideological precision: he's a fervent Leninist. An instant Googling of "Shaun Harkin" quickly brought up an article from Socialist Worker Online, where "SHAUN HARKIN explains why the Russian revolutionary Lenin and the theory that Lenin developed about the rise of imperialism remains so relevant today." Harkin concluded: "The dynamics of imperialism that Lenin analyzed are still present. His approach continues to offer the best framework to understand imperialism -- and is an essential tool for revolutionaries today." See: www.socialistworker.org

     [This item, by Tim Graham, was posted Tuesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     On CNN, anchor Jim Clancy asked: "Soledad, what are they really expecting to see there today?" O'Brien noted from Chicago's Union Park "There are organizers here who've told us that they expect to see twice the numbers of marchers that they saw last year. Now on the other side of the spectrum, we've also heard people say you could just see under 10,000....What's interesting to me is to see how quickly it has really filled up in the last hour or so."

     Then she turned to the protesters and touted their usual palette of diversity:

     O'Brien: "Now, because it's a grass roots organization, lots of people with lots of different agendas taking part in the march, also, lots of different groups. We've seen Muslims and Puerto Ricans, we've seen Filipinos, we've seen Koreans, you know, you name it, we've seen it here. In addition, of course, a large Mexican [presence], illegal and legal, by the way, turning out. When you ask people why they march, there are a couple of things in which they all see eye to eye. Here's Shaun Harkin. He is one of the organizers with the March 10th Movement."
     Harkin, with heavy Irish brogue: "There's a united message today. We're here to say that the raids and the deportations that have been escalated over the last year are wrong and unjust. And that immigrants are here to work and they're not criminals. And that we think that the best solution to this problem is legalization with full rights for all the undocumented."
     O'Brien: "He talked a little bit about these raids, immigrant raids, criminal raids that have been taking place over the last year. Some people were concerned about the most recent one, a criminal raid, they were concerned that might scare people, clamp down on people turning out for this march. Other people predicted exactly the opposite, that the furor your over that raid would actually make more people turn out."

     It's odd that the March 10th Movement would complain on its Web site ( movimiento10demarzo.org ) that "The undocumented worker is situated on a most flexible and precarious edge, giving rise to extreme forms of labor exploitation." It would have been interesting for O'Brien to ask Harkin if the "undocumented worker" is so extremely exploited, why are they streaming in to capitalist America illegally?

     Clancy also raised the prospect of the march being ruined by conservatives (although he granted them some momentum), and O'Brien agreed and then did another publicity turn for the protesters, noticing the relative absence of foreign flags:

     Clancy: "Soledad, what could really rain on these people's parades is very strong, very vocal opposition to any kind of amnesty, opposition that seems to be growing in a lot of quarters. This is really quite a debate in the U.S., isn't it?"
     O'Brien: "No question about it. That is going to, as you say, metaphorically, rain on the parade. Also what's interesting to me is the visual, and concern to the visual message, as well. Last year, you have a lot of people marching with Mexican flags, and that visual made a lot of people around the country concerned about illegal immigration. They felt that they couldn't support it because of the visual message, and now you're seeing here today, look behind me, the number of American flags. I've seen maybe four Mexican flags the whole time we've been here."

CNN's Lou Dobbs Takes on Media Coverage
of Illegal Immigration

     Dobbs's interview was part of American Morning's coverage of pro-illegal immigration rallies on May Day, the traditional socialist workers' holiday. When asked if any progress had been made in the past year concerning illegal immigration, Dobbs said that "we're making, at the margin, progress, but it's at the margin," and that there was some better enforcement at the border. He then criticized one of the congressional immigration reform proposals, the Flake-Gutierrez immigration bill, calling it "an absurdity."

     Dobbs also answered a couple of questions that were sent in by viewers. Dobbs continued his criticism of the mainstream media in his answer to the first question, which dealt with illegal immigrants' impact on the economy. "Has anybody on this broadcast, any news organization in the country, said, wait a minute, why in the world are we worrying about illegal immigration into this country and their -- and their situation, before we're worrying about how long it takes to become a lawful immigrant in to this country and what we're doing with people who are playing by the rules? This is upside down. It's wrongheaded. And it is simply, to me, a travesty that mainstream media journalists are not focusing on the facts."

     Co-anchor Kiran Chetry also interviewed Eddie Sotelo, a talk show host on a Spanish-language radio station in Los Angeles, on the subject of illegal immigration. Sotelo helped promote last year's May Day rallies for illegal immigration.

     This item, by Matthew Balan, was posted Tuesday, with video, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. The audio/video will be added to the posted version of this CyberAlert, but to watch it in the meantime, go to: newsbusters.org ]

     Key excerpts from Lou Dobbs's May 1 interview:

     Chetry: "What progress have we made, if any, from last year?"
     Dobbs: "Well, I think that there is some better enforcement at the border, but the fact is we still have a million apprehensions at the border. And that means, according to the Border Patrol's rough yardstick, somewhere between two to three times those caught. And let's call it a number of about a million getting in illegally each year. And whether the number is a half million or a million, the fact is the government doesn't know. We're making, at the margin, progress, but it's at the margin...."
     Chetry: "The President's proposal -- and I want to get your thoughts on this -- is the three-year work visa. They pay money for it. They have to return to their home country, apply for residency, pay a fine, and can come back. Now, no one likes that. The immigrant groups don't like it either."
     Dobbs: "It's idiotic. And the fact that the President of the United States, the fact that the Congress of the United States, and the Democratic leadership, particularly in the Senate, could put this legislation before the American people -- the Flake-Gutierrez bill, 700 pages of utter nonsense that, frankly, no one in Congress has read. But it's an absurdity. It's amnesty. It would cost this country a fortune. And for what? The issue is secure borders. The issue is not 12 to 20 million illegal aliens in this country. The issue is enforcing the law. You know, it's fascinating to me to look down at that lower third. You see that, Kiran? It says 'Immigration Nation.' What in the devil does that mean?"
     Chetry: "Well, we put it there because it rhymes, I think. It rhymes."
     Dobbs: "OK. I mean, but everyone should ask themselves, what is the mainstream media in this country doing? They're selling an agenda. And they're not applying critical judgment. And critical judgment and skepticism is our job as journalists. We're talking about comprehensive immigration legislation as reform. We're using the word 'reform' as if it were true. There's no skepticism.
     "Everyone, every journalist has the responsibility to look at what's happening. And instead, I listen to Chris Lawrence and Alina Cho, standing before the Statue of Liberty, talking about the heartbreaking, the horrible experiences of many illegal immigrants coming into this country. All of which is true, but not on point, because the fact is that four industries in which illegal aliens are the predominant employee -- that is landscaping, that is leisure and hospitality, and now construction -- wages in all four of those industries have declined over the last five years.
     "Where is the shortage of labor? If there was a shortage, those wages would moving higher. This is propaganda, and it's got to stop. And the mainstream media has a responsibility to challenge this nonsense...."
     Chetry: "One person, William from New York, asked, 'How can we deport people when our economy depends on them?' You spoke to this issue just a moment ago."
     Dobbs: "Sure."
     Chetry: "Don't we need illegal immigrants here?"
     Dobbs: "You do not need illegal immigrants at any time in this country. This is -- I wish it would say instead of 'Immigration Nation,' it said 'Nation of Laws.'
     "We need immigrants in this country. That's why we bring in more than two million. Has anybody over the past hour on this broadcast or this network reported, or any other network, reported that we bring in more than two million immigrants into this country lawfully each and every year? Has anybody on this broadcast, any news organization in the country, said, wait a minute, why in the world are we worrying about illegal immigration into this country and their -- and their situation, before we're worrying about how long it takes to become a lawful immigrant in to this country and what we're doing with people who are playing by the rules? This is upside down. It's wrongheaded. And it is simply, to me, a travesty that mainstream media journalists are not focusing on the facts."

GMA on 'Mission Accomplished' Then: 'A++';
Now: 'Bushian Bravado'

     On Tuesday's Good Morning America, the ABC program used the fourth anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech to slam the "Bushian bravado" of an event that "this administration will never live down." Correspondent Claire Shipman marveled at "how naive that banner looks four years later." The day after the President landed on the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, however, GMA wasn't so prescient. Back then, ABC's George Stephanopoulos labeled the speech an "A++," "well done" and seemed impressed with the "small poster that said 'Mission Accomplished.'"
    
     [This item, by Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     On the fourth anniversary of the event, anchor Diane Sawyer introduced a segment that looked back on the "confident architects" of the Iraq war. Reporter Shipman then used the "Mission Accomplished" speech as a segue to attack familiar media targets:
     "Good morning, Diane. How naive that banner looks four years later, and that is being charitable. And it is striking when you look at it how circumstances have changed for all of the President's men behind the war effort. It was a moment of Bushian bravado that this administration will never live down."
     President George W. Bush: "Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment."
     Shipman: "Four years later, the mission a disaster. And the once-indestructible architects in profound disarray."
     Cokie Roberts: "The reputation of all of the people who were the architects of this war is shot."

     Shipman concluded her brief report, which aired at 7:09am on May 1, by reminding viewers that Donald Rumsfeld has resigned, that former CIA Director George Tenet has split with the President and of the troubles that Paul Wolfowitz finds himself in. As for Vice President Cheney, the ABC correspondent claimed that the conviction of his former top aide Scooter Libby "was read by many as a warning of his unchecked power."

     However, as noted in the CyberAlert on May 2, 2003, George Stephanopoulos, appearing on Good Morning America to comment about the aircraft landing, seemed impressed:
     "For those who grade presidential photo-ops, this was an A++. I mean, look at the pictures of the President on the flight deck. He looks like one of the pilots -- I'll say one thing, he was very careful to take that helmet off before he got out on the flight deck. Nobody wants a picture in a helmet looking like, remember back in 1988, Michael Dukakis in the tank. But this was well done, you had all of the troops just surrounding him with joy and even, I don't know if we have the picture, but if you look when the President gave the speech last night, even up on the tower of the aircraft carrier, they had a small poster that said 'Mission Accomplished,' in case any photo just looked up that high." See: www.mediaresearch.org

     Is the reputation of Stephanopoulos shot for providing such a positive take?

     Finally, media reports often leave out relevant parts of the May '03 speech Bush gave on the deck of the USS Lincoln: "We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools....The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq."

     Now, quoting this section of the speech may not be as simple and easy as repeatedly showing a banner, but it does provides some context.

O'Donnell Smears Soldiers, We've Killed
More than Have Terrorists

     Tuesday's The View marked the fourth anniversary of President Bush's famous "mission accomplished" announcement with Rosie O'Donnell's predictable rants against the war and the administration. "How many more years and how many more dead kids?" she asked about President Bush's insistence on continuing to fight in Iraq," charging: "It's just, you know, it's way over the amount of people killed on September 11th. We've killed more Americans than any terrorist ever did in this war." And, with the aid of guest co-host Ricki Lake, O'Donnell followed themes expounded by Charles Rangel and Andy Rooney to assert that U.S. soldiers are not patriots, but losers who join out of desperation.

     O'Donnell asked: "Wait, can I just say something? Why do people enlist in the Army?"
     Ricki Lake: "To get an education, and they're poor-"
     O'Donnell: "Thank you."
     Lake: "-and that's the only way to get one."
     O'Donnell: "The vast majority, yes, Elisabeth. It's true!"

     No, it's not. According to a recent study by the Heritage Foundation, military enlistees are "better educated, wealthier, and more rural on average than their civilian peers." Additionally, "recruits have a higher percentage of high school graduates" and "the distribution of household income of recruits is noticeably higher than the entire youth population." See: www.heritage.org

     [This item is adapted from a posting, by Justin McCarthy, on the MRC's NewsBusters.org blog: newsbusters.org ]

     Of course, facts don't matter to Rosie O'Donnell. After all, fire can't melt steel. For her 9/11 World Trade Center conspiracy, and much more, check the MRC's "Profile in Bias" on her, "The Full Rosie: Daytime Host's Long Record of Mean-Spirited Left-Wing Ravings," online at: www.mrc.org

     Token non-liberal Elisabeth Hasselbeck responded harshly and Rosie continued to smear volunteer soldiers before she claimed that she does support the troops.

     Hasselbeck: "First of all, in the past year, the testing scores of our armed services have been higher than ever, so the education level-"
     O'Donnell: "You are wrong. We have more convicted felons in the Army because we're allowing them to get through."
     Hasselbeck: "So they're awful. They're awful then."
     O'Donnell: "Elisabeth, I do everything I can to support the troops financially and emotionally. I love them as much as you do. I'm as much of a patriot. I want them home."

     The fact-free analysis continued as Rosie made this observation: "Well, listen, Elisabeth, we shouldn't be fighting this war, because we were not attacked by either of the nations we invaded. 19 Saudis were on those planes and we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq."

     Perhaps she's forgetting that Afghanistan's then ruling Taliban knowingly harbored Al Qaeda training camps. O'Donnell then continued to downplay the terrorist threat.

     Hasselbeck: "Do you believe Al Qaeda, do you believe Al Qaeda is alive and working and planning in Iraq?"
     O'Donnell: "Well, I think there might be some guy on dialysis in a cave, but I don't think he's really a threat."
     Hasselbeck: "You don't think there are operatives in Al Qaeda, the number one guy-"
     O'Donnell: "There are terrorists in America too. What about Tim McVee (sic)? What about him? He was a terrorist in America."
     Hasselbeck: "Does he have cells operating right now in this country?"
     O'Donnell: "Well, you know, they use those words so that they can scare people 'terror' and 'cell.'"
     Hasselbeck: "Well, guess what, guess what. Terrorists are scary. Terrorists don't need us to help them be scary. They're scary. They're scary people."

Letterman's 'Top Ten Signs Fidel Castro
Is Fully Recovered'

     From the May 1 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Signs Fidel Castro Is Fully Recovered." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. Every morning, 45 minutes of torture followed by 45 minutes of cardio.

9. His coat is shiny and his nose is wet.

8. Organized six guerillas to rob Mick Jagger's apartment.

7. His 1959 Chrysler Imperial was spotted at IHOP.

6. In NFL draft, was picked before Brady Quinn.

5. Recently pimped out his MySpace.

4. Returned to favorite hobbies of his youth, like tennis and kidnapping.

3. Tried to get on "Late Show Impressionist Week 2" doing Pacino in Scarface.

2. He's put on 30 pounds, he's wearing fatigues, he's spewing propaganda -- no, that's Rosie O'Donnell.

1. Hasn't had a "Cuban Missile Crisis" in some time, if you know what I mean.

-- Brent Baker