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April 23, 2007
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(Vol. Twenty; No. 9)
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Victims of Unfair, Racist
America |
"The Rutgers players [insulted by Don Imus]
now find themselves part of history, but not the part they probably wanted -
not as victors but as victims of what a chorus of millions considers the
latest display of racism...The latest Census figures show the median income
for African-American households is almost $20,000 less than white
households. Whites are about twice as likely than blacks to get a college
degree, and the Justice Department says blacks are five times more likely
than whites to go to jail."
- Correspondent Richard Schlesinger on the April 10 CBS Evening News.
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Big Media Run by David
Duke? |
"Thirty-nine years after Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. was murdered in Memphis, racism remains a central issue in our
national life. The story of Imus's long career sheds light on an
uncomfortable fact: media power is still concentrated largely in white hands
and, as a result, racism is sometimes tolerated and enabled in ways that
many white Americans are unable, or unwilling, to acknowledge."
- Newsweek's Weston Kosova, April 23 cover story.
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Next Target: Rush Limbaugh |
 "It
is not the first time offensive comments have been spewed on the radio.
Conservative Rush Limbaugh, who has offended just about every minority
group, drew special criticism for attacking actor Michael J. Fox....Limbaugh
later apologized, but the criticism for that low blow hasn't stopped him
from lashing out at presidential hopeful Barack Obama, calling him 'Halfrican.'"
- CNN's Paula Zahn on her Paula Zahn Now, April 10.Host Keith
Olbermann: "I'll ask you the ten million dollar question: How does Rush
Limbaugh or Michael Savage get away with worse than what Don Imus said?"
Left-wing radio host Sam Seder: "...Corporations have said we're not
going to tolerate this any more, and the next time Limbaugh slips up, which
I think is inevitable, I think you're going to see this sort of same type of
reaction."
Olbermann: "It's the best thing I've heard in a couple of
days....From your lips to God's ears!"
- MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, April 12.
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Time to Re-Cork the
Champagne |
"A short while ago, the Democratic-led House
passed the final measure of its self-declared first one hundred hours in
office....It was an energy bill that would encourage investment in
alternative energy sources and lower oil industry subsidies....The House, by
the way, completed their scheduled hundred hours of work in just about 42
hours, so they can put the other 58 in the bank."
- ABC anchor Charles Gibson, January 18 World News.vs.
Anchor Charles Gibson: "When Democrats took control of the Congress
in January, they promised it would be a new day....They even had a
checklist. Well, 100 days after taking control, we've checked the
checklist...."
Reporter Jake Tapper: "[Democrats] have no major legislative
accomplishments to mark this anniversary....Democrats in the House and
Senate have passed bills allowing funding of embryonic stem cell research,
increasing the minimum wage, implementing 9/11 Commission recommendations
and funding the Iraq war while requiring troops to start withdrawing. But
Democratic leaders have yet to reconcile the House and Senate versions of
these bills....Democratic leaders know conflict with the White House is not
enough for voters. So in the next hundred days they'll try to deliver on the
promises of their first hundred days."
- ABC's World News with Charles Gibson, April 13.
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"Slanderous" Swift Boat
Vets |
"While Congress is out of session, President
Bush flexed his executive power muscle, appointing businessman Sam Fox as
U.S. ambassador to Belgium less than a week after his nomination was pulled
when Senate Democrats hammered away at him for donating money to a
conservative group that helped sink Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential
campaign. Kerry and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., led Senate Democrats'
opposition to Fox, who in 2004 contributed $50,000 to the slanderous Swift
Boat Veterans for Truth, which used a series of television ads to undermine
Kerry's combat record."
- ABC News political unit producer Tahman Bradley in an April 4 news
story on ABCNews.com.
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Bush's Cheating = Idol's
Gain |
"[High ratings for Fox's American Idol]
cannot solely be explained by technological advances or a regression in
human nature. It cannot be a coincidence that television voting rights arose
so soon after the 2000 election left slightly more than half the voting
population feeling cheated. Those who didn't go to the polls and fear that
their abstention inadvertently made possible the invasion of Iraq may feel
even worse. Idol could be a displacement ritual: a psychological
release that allows people to vote - and even vote often - in a contest that
has no dangerous or even lasting consequences."
- New York Times TV reporter Alessandra Stanley, April 4.
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ABC Finds Nostalgia for
Saddam |
 "One Iraqi in particular remembers, and now
regrets, that iconic moment four years ago when the huge statue of Saddam
Hussein was toppled in Fardus Square. Khadim Yabani is a former weightlifter
whose great strength helped bring the statue down. 'At the time, I was
proud,' he says, 'but now I just feel regret because nothing has improved.'
That's why he says it would have been better that Saddam had never been
overthrown."
- ABC's Hillary Brown on World News, April 9.
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Nice Pep Talk, Diane |
Diane Sawyer:
"How long have you been here?...How do you make it through 15 months out
here?...How many times a month do you say, 'I don't know that I can do
another month of this? A day?'"
Unidentified U.S. Army Captain: "No, I don't. It doesn't ever occur
to me that way."
- Sawyer in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division,
April 10 Good Morning America.
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ABC Overheats Its Hype
Machine |
 "In just a few hours, this place will be
packed with people all wearing blue. Now, where they will stand represents
where the Manhattan coastline could be if the sea level rises just 10 feet,
actually a moderate estimate for global warming standards."
- ABC's Christianne Klein reporting on a "Step It Up" protest against
global warming, April 14 Good Morning America. The most recent UN
climate report suggested a sea-level rise of just a few inches over the next
100 years.
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Blame Your Sneezes on SUVs |
Co-host Matt Lauer:
"Are you sniffling and sneezing right now? Are your eyes so watery you can
barely see the TV? Well, it could be your allergies. And guess what? We may
only have ourselves to blame...."
Reporter Martin Savidge: "Allergy levels have never been high this
early. And pollen counts have been rising almost yearly. Experts say the
problem is us."
Paul Epstein, Center for Health and Global Environment: "Carbon
dioxide from burning fossil fuels is stimulating plants to make more pollen
and the weeds love this stuff."
Savidge: "....Unfortunately some scientists predict that climate
change could soon mean year-round misery. In fact they say you can count on
it."
- NBC's Today, April 3.
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Prefers False Arrest to
Imus Insult |
"Perhaps the outpouring of sympathy for [the
falsely arrested Duke lacrosse players] Reade Seligman, Collin Finnerty and
David Evans is just a bit misplaced....As students of Duke University or
other elite institutions, these young men will get on with their privileged
lives....They are very differently situated in life from, say, the young
women of the Rutgers University women's basketball team."
- Nightline co-anchor Terry Moran writing on his "Pushback" blog
on ABCNews.com on April 12, the day after the North Carolina Attorney
General declared the players innocent of highly-publicized rape charges.
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PUBLISHER: L. Brent Bozell III
EDITORS: Brent H. Baker, Rich Noyes, Tim Graham
MEDIA ANALYSTS: Geoffrey Dickens, Brad Wilmouth, Scott
Whitlock, Justin McCarthy, Matthew Balan and Brendan Jones
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE: Michelle Humphrey
CIRCULATION MANAGER: Holly Schnitzler |
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