1. Brokaw: Limbaugh's Hurting GOP as Voters Reject Reagan 'Dogma'
On Sunday's Meet the Press, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw pounded the narrative that Reaganism is dead or dying within the Republican Party, with a "nomadic herd" of voters "rejecting dogma," so he contended Rush Limbaugh trying to debate which candidate is truly conservative "is not going to help the Republican Party." As if Tom Brokaw was really interested in that goal. He insisted the country is "hungry for solutions," as if "solutions" and "conservatism" were antonyms.

2. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on Hardball: 'Giuliani is a Dictator!'
Appearing on Monday night's edition of Hardball, ESPN host and Philadelphia Inquirer sports reporter Stephen A. Smith declared himself not to be a fan of Rudy Giuliani. When asked by Chris Matthews about what he thought of the former New York Mayor's chances to become President, Smith blurted: "It'd be a disaster!....Giuliani is a dictator as far as I'm concerned."

3. ABC's Shipman Slams Linda Tripp on Lewinsky-Gate Anniversary
Half a decade after observing the fifth anniversary of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Good Morning America correspondent Claire Shipman filed a report on Monday's show that commemorated ten years since the event. Shipman used the January 21 piece to take a swipe at Lewinsky-gate figure Linda Tripp, snidely labeling her "that questionable, tape-recording friend" and pointing out that she "has remade her face and her life." After observing that Tripp has since opened a store selling Christmas trinkets in Virginia, Shipman mused: "Atonement? Simply irony? Who knows?" During the fifth anniversary segment, on January 16, 2003, this same GMA reporter appeared dismissive of the Lewinsky scandal. She claimed, perhaps hopefully: "It may be, especially in this newly-sobered world, that the Lewinsky episode, as riveting as it seemed at the time, will have little lasting impact, will be little more than a memorable footnote in our political life." A similar tone pervaded Shipman's report on Monday when she described the event as the "national political episode that a decade later, and in a post-September 11th, Iraq-dominated world, seems surreal."

4. FNC Highlights Latest Poll Showing Public Sees Liberal Bias
FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume on Monday picked up on the late 2007 Sacred Heart University poll, highlighted in Monday's CyberAlert, which found that by three-to-one Americans see a media slant to the left over the right while FNC led as the "most trusted" news source. In the "Grapevine" segment, fill-in anchor Bret Baier recited how the survey determined "45.4 percent of the respondents think journalists and broadcasters are mostly or somewhat liberal. Just 15.7 percent think they are conservative." He then ran through how "44.9 percent view CNN as liberal; 41.9 believe the New York Times leans left; 40.3 for National Public Radio and 38.8 for MSNBC." As for as which outlet is "most trusted?" FNC "led the way with 27 percent, CNN at 14.6, NBC News at 10.9, ABC News at seven, local news 6.9. CBS 6.8, MSNBC four and Public Broadcasting at three percent."

5. Top Ten Ways World Would Be Different If Everyone Were Named Mitt
Letterman's "Top Ten Ways the World Would Be Different If Everyone Were Named 'Mitt.'"

Brokaw: Limbaugh's Hurting GOP as Voters
Reject Reagan 'Dogma'

     On Sunday's Meet the Press, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw pounded the narrative that Reaganism is dead or dying within the Republican Party, with a "nomadic herd" of voters "rejecting dogma," so he contended Rush Limbaugh trying to debate which candidate is truly conservative "is not going to help the Republican Party." As if Tom Brokaw was really interested in that goal. He insisted the country is "hungry for solutions," as if "solutions" and "conservatism" were antonyms.

     Brokaw tried to claim the "nomadic" search for the non-dogmatic is "going on in the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party." Where on Earth would he get evidence for that? As Clinton, Obama, and Edwards all lurch left to secure the MoveOn/Daily Kos vote, they're rejecting "dogma"?

     [This item is adapted from a posting by the MRC's Tim Graham, was posted Monday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     Here's the exchange from a pundit's-roundtable which consumed the entirety of the January 20 Meet the Press produced in Manhattan:

     TOM BROKAW: Well, I think, I think if there's a big thematic issue here in this election, it's the end of dogma, which has dominated so much of our politics in the last -- well, since 1980, really. And people are rejecting dogma. As I see it, there's this kind of nomadic herd of voters out there wandering the landscape, looking for solutions, looking for a water hole, if you will, in which they can kind of resupply themselves and find solutions to the issues that really trouble them. It's going on in the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party. I was listening to Rush Limbaugh for an hour yesterday, who is determined to not have this campaign, as he put it, redefine conservatism. And one of the ditto heads, one of his followers, called and-
     JON MEACHAM: Ditto heads.
     BROKAW: -said, "Well, help me out here. What do I think now about Pat Buchanan and Newt Gingrich?" And it's one of the few times I've ever heard Newt -- ever heard Rush Limbaugh kind of temporarily at a loss for words. And he ended up saying that they're not true conservatives. And that debate is not going to help the Republican Party, if they if they get bogged down in that. The country is hungry for solutions-
     DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN: Yeah. This is the mess the Democrats have got themselves into.
     BROKAW: -and hungry for authenticity, and hungry for tone.

     Peggy Noonan, a leading promoter of Reagan and his legacy, sat at the same table, but only very gently disagreed:
     "I would agree, except I would add this. The, the country is hungry for sense in its leaders that they have thought it through, that they have a philosophy, that they've considered the relationship of man and of the state, and considered the moment of history we're in, that philosophically, they are coherent. That matters, too...But I understand what you're saying about dogma, which is mere ideology, which is merely uninteresting. Philosophy's interesting, though, and counts, I think evermore this year."

     Limbaugh played the Brokaw and Noonan clips on his show Monday, and replied:
     "I just love these liberals trying to tell us what we need to do to solve the country's problems...How shallow does he come off here? I listen to bites like this. I know he's liberal. None of these guys want conservatives to triumph. But they make no effort to understand what drives conservatives or understand why these battles take place."

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on Hardball:
'Giuliani is a Dictator!'

     Appearing on Monday night's edition of Hardball, ESPN host and Philadelphia Inquirer sports reporter Stephen A. Smith declared himself not to be a fan of Rudy Giuliani. When asked by Chris Matthews about what he thought of the former New York Mayor's chances to become President, Smith blurted: "It'd be a disaster!....Giuliani is a dictator as far as I'm concerned."

     [This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Monday evening on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org:newsbusters.org ]

     The following exchange occurred on the January 21 edition of Hardball:

     CHRIS MATTHEWS: I have a man here who's a real fan of Rudy Giuliani's, Stephen Smith.
     STEPHEN A. SMITH, ESPN: Oh please, don't get me started.
     MATTHEWS: What do you make of him in a general election?
     SMITH: No, absolutely not! It'd be a disaster! If he became the next President of the United States that would be an absolute disaster. And I'm a say it why. It's because of who's in office now. Considering Bush, you're following him up with Giuliani? There would be no foreign relations whatsoever. I mean it would be an absolute, we'll be hated by the rest of the entire world! You cannot have Giuliani in office.

     After a comment from Pat Buchanan, Smith declared: "Giuliani is a dictator as far as I'm concerned. That's his mentality."

ABC's Shipman Slams Linda Tripp on Lewinsky-Gate Anniversary

     Half a decade after observing the fifth anniversary of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Good Morning America correspondent Claire Shipman filed a report on Monday's show that commemorated ten years since the event. Shipman used the January 21 piece to take a swipe at Lewinsky-gate figure Linda Tripp, snidely labeling her "that questionable, tape-recording friend" and pointing out that she "has remade her face and her life." After observing that Tripp has since opened a store selling Christmas trinkets in Virginia, Shipman mused: "Atonement? Simply irony? Who knows?"

     During the fifth anniversary segment, on January 16, 2003, this same GMA reporter appeared dismissive of the Lewinsky scandal. She claimed, perhaps hopefully: "It may be, especially in this newly-sobered world, that the Lewinsky episode, as riveting as it seemed at the time, will have little lasting impact, will be little more than a memorable footnote in our political life." A similar tone pervaded Shipman's report on Monday when she described the event as the "national political episode that a decade later, and in a post-September 11th, Iraq-dominated world, seems surreal."

     [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     The ABC correspondent closed her segment by noting that Monica Lewinsky has finally reclaimed some of her belongings from the investigation, but doesn't know what to do with them. Making a connection, Shipman solemnly lectured, "I guess, much in the same way as we're just not sure what to do with that year of our political lives." In 2003, she appeared even more blunt, likening the intern sex scandal that almost brought down the Clinton presidency to "a bad acid flashback." At one point during the fifth anniversary piece, Shipman demonstrated her distaste at covering a story that had such negative ramifications for the Clintons. "Our stomachs lurched as the bottom dropped out of our national political life," she breathlessly lamented. (To read the entire transcript of that story, see the January 17, 2003 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org

     A transcript of the January 21 segment, which aired at 7:42am:

     DIANE SAWYER: And now, Monica Lewinsky. Believe it or not, it's been a decade since one of the biggest political sagas in U.S. history began. The world has changed a lot since then and so have the key players. And GMA's senior national correspondent Claire Shipman decided to look back at how much. Claire?
     CLAIRE SHIPMAN: Diane, you know, everybody involved in that chapter has said, at one point or another, they'd like to forget about it. Well, some have had more success than others. It's a national political episode that a decade later and in a post-September 11th, Iraq-dominated world, seems surreal.
     BILL CLINTON: I did not have-
     KEN STARR: We have experienced people working on all expect aspects of our investigation-
     SHIPMAN: Hmm, we should be able to move on, right? It's been ten years, after all. Some of the players have. Paula Jones, whose accusations led prosecutors to Monica, has tried hard to lie low. She's remarried in Arkansas, selling real estate. And Linda Tripp, that questionable, tape-recording friend, has remade her face and her life. She, too, married again, a high school sweetheart. They sell Christmas notions in Virginia. Atonement? Simply irony? Who knows? But it doesn't help a scandal's burial when the wrong spouse is making a run for the White House.
     TODD PURDUM (National editor, Vanity Fair): I think what's unclear yet is whether the presence of them both on the national stage and the thought of him back in the White House as a spouse will ring bells in people's minds that make them think about things that they hadn't thought about in a while.
     TYRA BANKS: Hillary Clinton, come out here right now.
     SHIPMAN: And Hillary in her more emotive mode these days, opened up uncharacteristically about those dark times to Tyra Banks.
     BANKS: Were you embarrassed? I would be embarrassed.
     SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON: Well, sure. I mean, all of that. You know, you're mad. You're really upset. You're disappointed. All of that goes through your mind.
     SHIPMAN: One person remains remarkably fixated, bringing up the subject even when nobody asks.
     BILL CLINTON: Ken Starr spent $70 millions and indicted innocent people to find out that I wouldn't take a nickel to see the cow jump over the moon.
     SHIPMAN: Speaking of, Ken Starr is dean of the law school at Pepperdine University, but he's not shying away from Washington. He's had a few cases before the Supreme Court. And that other person at the center of the storm-
     PURDUM: I think it's proved hard for her to get on with her life in way that other people have been able to get on with heir their life.
     SHIPMAN: Monica has spent the decade making purses, making money on a silly relationship reality show, making fun of herself on "Saturday Night Live."
     MONICA LEWINSKY: Well, I did have phone sex with this one guy, his name really doesn't matter.
     SHIPMAN: And these are making good with a degree from the London School of Economics. But she's told friends not only is it impossible to date, she can't get a job. The Clinton connections are so pervasive, most firms are afraid to hire her. And do you know, Monica, recently, just recently, Diane, after ten years, got some of her belongings back from investigators. They sit in a box along with that blue dress in an anonymous storage unit. She's not really sure what to do with it all. I guess much in the same way as we're just not sure what to do with that year of our political lives.

FNC Highlights Latest Poll Showing Public
Sees Liberal Bias

     FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume on Monday picked up on the late 2007 Sacred Heart University poll, highlighted in Monday's CyberAlert, which found that by three-to-one Americans see a media slant to the left over the right while FNC led as the "most trusted" news source. In the "Grapevine" segment, fill-in anchor Bret Baier recited how the survey determined "45.4 percent of the respondents think journalists and broadcasters are mostly or somewhat liberal. Just 15.7 percent think they are conservative." He then ran through how "44.9 percent view CNN as liberal; 41.9 believe the New York Times leans left; 40.3 for National Public Radio and 38.8 for MSNBC." As for as which outlet is "most trusted?" FNC "led the way with 27 percent, CNN at 14.6, NBC News at 10.9, ABC News at seven, local news 6.9. CBS 6.8, MSNBC four and Public Broadcasting at three percent."

     [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     The January 21 CyberAlert article, "Sixth Poll in a Year Finds Public Recognizes Liberal Tilt to News Media," recounted:

For the sixth time in a year, a national survey has found many more Americans see a media bias to the left than to the right, and the latest poll released earlier this month by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute, discovered "significantly declining percentages of Americans saying they believe all or most of media news reporting," with MSNBC (at a piddling four percent) and PBS (three percent) the least trusted for accurate reporting. Fox News, at 27 percent, was the most trusted, way ahead of second-best CNN at 14.6 percent. The Fairfield, Connecticut university's January 8 press release reported: "Just 19.6 percent of those surveyed could say they believe all or most news media reporting. This is down from 27.4 percent in 2003."

By a three-to-one margin "Americans see news media journalists and broadcasters (45.4 percent to 15.7 percent) as mostly or somewhat liberal over mostly or somewhat conservative," but for NPR and the New York Times recognition of a liberal tilt is closer to four-to-one.

     Check that posting for a rundown of the previous five surveys: www.mrc.org

     The January 21 "Grapevine" segment item from Bret Baier:

Another national survey has found that more Americans believe the news media leans more to the left than to the right. The study by Sacred Heart University Polling Institute found 45.4 percent of the respondents think journalists and broadcasters are mostly or somewhat liberal. Just 15.7 percent think they are conservative. 44.9 percent view CNN as liberal; 41.9 believe the New York Times leans left; 40.3 for National Public Radio and 38.8 for MSNBC. Now, 48.7 percent said Fox News is mostly or somewhat conservative.

As far as which outlet is "most trusted?" Fox News led the way with 27 percent, CNN at 14.6, NBC News at 10.9, ABC News at 7, local news 6.9, CBS 6.8, MSNBC 4 and Public Broadcasting at 3 percent.

     The university's January 8 press release summarizing the poll's findings: www.sacredheart.edu

Top Ten Ways World Would Be Different
If Everyone Were Named Mitt

     From the January 21 Late Show Newsletter, via the Home Office in Wahoo, Nebraska, "an exclusive un-aired Top Ten list edited from the 1/15/08 broadcast," the "Top Ten Ways the World Would Be Different If Everyone Were Named 'Mitt.'" Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. Quarterback rivalry between brothers Mitt Manning and Mitt Manning

9. Nike slogan: Just Do It, Mitt

8. Mitt Herbert Walker Bush seen as superior to son Mitt W. Bush

7. Host of NBC's "Apprentice": The Mitt

6. ABC's most popular comedy? "Ugly Mitt"

5. Mitt McCartney finishes concerts by singing "Mitt In the Sky With Diamonds"

4. Sunday school children taught the inspiring biblical story of Mitt's ark

3. One of the greatest films of all-time: "Mitt of Arabia"

2. Confused hip-hop mogul changes his name from "Mitt Daddy" to "P. MItty" to just "Mitty"

1. People's Sexiest Man Alive: Mitt Pitt

-- Brent Baker