Jennings Decides It's Wrong to Call Osama Message "Disgusting" --10/31/2004-- Media Research Center

1. Jennings Decides It's Wrong to Call Osama Message "Disgusting"
Osama bin Laden's videotaped message "fascinating" but not "disgusting." ABC's Peter Jennings on Friday night described bin Laden's message as "quite fascinating and disgusting to read." But a minute or so later on World News Tonight, Jennings backtracked from one of his characterizations: "Probably not appropriate of me to characterize the tape as I did -- calling it 'disgusting.'"

2. CBS Upbeat on Kerry, Downbeat on Bush & Harps on Confetti Miscue
On Friday, for the second night in a row, the CBS Evening News provided downbeat coverage for George Bush's campaign day and an upbeat look at John Kerry's. With "Rallying Cry" as the on-screen peg, Byron Pitts began his story on Kerry's day by portraying Osama bin Laden's message as playing into Kerry's hand: "Osama bin Laden was already a key part of John Kerry's campaign, the foundation of his argument that President Bush is unfit for office." But for Bush, CBS put "Bad Week" on the screen as the network treated a meaningless miscue on when to drop confetti as a metaphor for an unsure campaign. Bush's "attempt to seal the deal with voters didn't always go off as planned," Dan Rather intoned. Bill Plante began: "It's been a bad week for a President who doesn't like surprises. That was only an air cannon full of confetti going off early, but it came on top of days of questions about the missing Iraqi explosives and word of a widening investigation into Halliburton. And Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who was supposed to add some star power to Mr. Bush's campaign swing through New Hampshire, suddenly cancelled..."

3. ABC & NBC Twist 3.7% GDP Into Bad News, ABC Stresses Job Losses
When the third quarter GDP rate in 2000 plunged to 2.7 percent from 5.6 percent, ABC and NBC didn't bother to report, a week before the election, the bad news for Vice President Al Gore and CBS's Dan Rather rationalized the slower growth: "There is a school of thought that says this is overall good for the economy to keep it from overheating." But on Friday night, while Rather stayed neutral, ABC's Peter Jennings and NBC's Tom Brokaw forwarded negative twists to the announcement of a solid 3.7 percent GDP growth rate for the third quarter of this year, much better than the 2000 number. "That was an improvement from the spring but less than forecast," Jennings intoned before Betsy Stark recalled Reagan's question: "'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' For most Americans, economic well-being begins with having a job. And there are 821,000 fewer jobs today than when Mr. Bush took office." Brokaw's take on the 3.7 percent jump: "It's not as strong as analysts had expected." Brokaw was more upbeat the last time an incumbent President, Bill Clinton, faced re-election, even though the GDP rate then was much lower.

4. CBS's Early Show Delivers Pre-Halloween Treat to John Edwards CBS's Hannah Storm "interviewed" John Edwards in an "exclusive" for Friday's Early Show and Storm exclusively tossed him a series of softballs which cued up his standard talking points. She began by asking him to expand on the Kerry campaign's position that the Bush administration has managed to "avoid responsibility for the 380 tons of missing explosives in Iraq." Storm fretted that "we're not seeing headlines about the economy, jobs, health care" where you "score very well in the poll numbers." She noted charges "the Bush administration showed favoritism to Vice President Dick Cheney's company" and asked: "What's your reaction to that news?" She also prompted Edwards to "describe" his "relationship" with Kerry, to explain why it "would be so beneficial to you and Senator Kerry" for "voters to get to the polls early before November 2nd" and, "on a lighter note," as if everything before wasn't light, "Sunday is Halloween. Are you going to get a chance to go with your little ones and go trick-or-treating?"

5. Belzer: Bush "Worst President in History," Coulter a "Fascist"
Actor/comedian Richard Belzer, who plays "Detective John Munch" on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, charged Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, to loud audience applause, that John Kerry is "running against the worst President in the history of the United States! And that's not hyperbole." Belzer cited "the demonization of gays, the repression of black voters, the favoritism of Halliburton." He also dismissed the terrorist threat: "We can't consume everybody's life with this fear when we've been attacked twice in twenty years." To loud applause from the Los Angeles audience, he denigrated Ann Coulter as "a fascist party doll" and claimed she's "a repugnant person who says the most vile things, she lies."

Jennings Decides It's Wrong to Call Osama
Message "Disgusting"

Osama bin Laden's videotaped message "fascinating" but not "disgusting." ABC's Peter Jennings on Friday night described bin Laden's message as "quite fascinating and disgusting to read." But a minute or so later on World News Tonight, the MRC's Rich Noyes noticed, Jennings backtracked from one of his characterizations: "Probably not appropriate of me to characterize the tape as I did -- calling it 'disgusting.'"

Following a report from Brian Ross on what bin Laden spewed in his message played by al-Jazerra, Jennings alerted viewers: "The text of all this, by the way, you can find at ABCNews.com. Of course, it's quite fascinating and disgusting to read."

Jennings then played reaction soundbites from President Bush and Senator John Kerry before he was joined at the anchor desk by George Stephanopoulos. Jennings decided that it was inappropriate to have described the message as "disgusting," but not to have called it "fascinating," as he segued from the candidate clips to Stephanopoulos: "So this is, of course, now a factor to some degree in the presidential election for the last few days. ABC's George Stephanopoulos is with us. Probably not appropriate of me to characterize the tape as I did -- calling it 'disgusting.' But how does a politician identify with the disgust of most, if not all Americans, and still either use this for his presidential campaign or see that it doesn't hurt him?"
Stephanopoulos advised that they must react "very carefully" in order "to look sober, to look tough and to look patriotic, not partisan."

CBS Upbeat on Kerry, Downbeat on Bush
& Harps on Confetti Miscue

On Friday, for the second night in a row, the CBS Evening News provided downbeat coverage for George Bush's campaign day and an upbeat look at John Kerry's. With "Rallying Cry" as the on-screen peg, Byron Pitts began his story on Kerry's day by portraying Osama bin Laden's message as playing into Kerry's hand: "Osama bin Laden was already a key part of John Kerry's campaign, the foundation of his argument that President Bush is unfit for office."

But for Bush, the MRC's Brad Wilmouth observed, CBS put "Bad Week" on the screen as the network treated a meaningless miscue on when to drop confetti as a metaphor for an unsure campaign. Bush's "attempt to seal the deal with voters didn't always go off as planned," Dan Rather intoned. Bill Plante began: "It's been a bad week for a President who doesn't like surprises. That was only an air cannon full of confetti going off early, but it came on top of days of questions about the missing Iraqi explosives and word of a widening investigation into Halliburton. And Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who was supposed to add some star power to Mr. Bush's campaign swing through New Hampshire, suddenly cancelled citing his injured ankle." Plante warned that while "outwardly the President's team is confident, privately they're concerned that they could lose a few key states."

     CBS on Thursday night had launched another effort to torpedo President Bush's re-election as their reporters gloated over how their earlier hit on "missing explosives," combined with their lead story about the FBI probing one person's claim about a no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton, had meant "a bad week for Mr. Bush has gotten only worse" while John Kerry is "on a roll" now that he's "buoyed by the momentum that the weapons controversy has given him." For details about the October 28 CBS Evening News, see the October 29 CyberAlert: www.mediaresearch.org

     Following the lead story on the bin Laden tape, Dan Rather introduced the first campaign story on the October 29 CBS Evening News: "As we noted, the bin Laden video surfaced as the presidential candidates were heading into the final weekend of campaigning, making their closing arguments with voters. CBS's Byron Pitts is with Senator Kerry in Florida."

     With "RALLYING CRY" on screen over video of Kerry working a rope line, Pitts began by glowing: "Osama bin Laden was already a key part of John Kerry's campaign, the foundation of his argument that President Bush is unfit for office."
     John Kerry, unidentified date: "He outsourced the job of getting Osama bin Laden, rather than relying on the best trained troops in the world, who were waiting to avenge New York and Washington and Pennsylvania."
     Pitts: "Campaigning in West Palm Beach today, ground zero of the 2000 recount, Kerry's focus is now rallying the faithful and getting them to the polls."
     Kerry: "This is your chance to hold George W. Bush accountable."
     Pitts: "This year Florida has already set a record for early voting. By next Tuesday, it's estimated that 20 percent, or two million of its registered voters, will have cast their ballots. Four years later, Florida voters are nervous and still angry."
     Unidentified woman: "-stole the election."
     Pitts: "But the Kerry campaign is well aware anger will go but so far. It isn't enough to simply say what's wrong with President Bush. So in today's final issues speech of the campaign, Kerry laid out his vision for America, his closing argument."
     Kerry: "Biggest deficits in history, jobs overseas, costs going up, wages falling for Americans. This is George Bush's record, but it doesn't have to be our future."
     Pitts concluded with a laundry list of Kerry's claims: "Kerry's summation: Make America safer at home and abroad, set a new course in Iraq, create and keep jobs in the U.S. by ending tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas, raise the minimum wage, expand health care coverage, and cut costs by rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. It's a wish list the Bush campaign argues the nation can't afford. But for John Kerry, it provides what he hopes will be a winning formula in a tight race both sides fear may not be resolved next Tuesday night. Byron Pitts, CBS News, West Palm Beach, Florida."

Rather then set up Plante with Bush: "Even before the bin Laden tape, President Bush had been campaigning hard on the theme that he could keep the country safe, and today was no exception. Still, as CBS's Bill Plante reports, in the closing hours of the President's final campaign, his attempt to seal the deal with voters didn't always go off as planned."

     With "BAD WEEK" on screen over video of George and Laura Bush ascending stairs to a campaign stage, Plante delivered a glooming assessment: "It's been a bad week for a President who doesn't like surprises. [video of confetti falling on, at the Verizon Arena in Manchester, before he finished his speech] That was only an air cannon full of confetti going off early, but it came on top of days of questions about the missing Iraqi explosives and word of a widening investigation into Halliburton. And Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who was supposed to add some star power to Mr. Bush's campaign swing through New Hampshire, suddenly cancelled citing his injured ankle. Bush advisers privately think Schilling was pressured. At this event, the President never mentioned John Kerry by name. Instead, surrounded by relatives of 9/11 victims, he invoked the nation's feeling of unity in the wake of the attacks."
     George W. Bush, in Manchester: "For three years, the people of this country have shown patience and purpose in the hard tasks of history. So long as I'm your President, we will not be held captive by fear."
     Plante: "But at the next stop, the gloves were off once again, and the President attacked Kerry as unfit to lead the war on terror."
     Bush: "We both have records. I'm proudly running on mine. [applause] The Senator's running from his."
     Plante concluded with Bush's promises: "In these final few days, the President, his surrogates and his advertising will hammer at the one issue on which he out-polls John Kerry by a wide margin: Security. These are the President's closing arguments. George Bush can be trusted to keep the nation's families safe, to win the war on terror, and to lead the nation to a better future in an uncertain time. Outwardly the President's team is confident. Privately they're concerned that they could lose a few key states. That's why the President will campaign in ten states between now and Tuesday. And they think that Osama bin Laden's latest videotape will only reinforce the President's bottom line argument that he can keep the nation safer than John Kerry."

ABC & NBC Twist 3.7% GDP Into Bad News,
ABC Stresses Job Losses

When the third quarter GDP rate in 2000 plunged to 2.7 percent from 5.6 percent, ABC and NBC didn't bother to report the announcement, a week before the election, of the bad news for Vice President Al Gore and CBS's Dan Rather rationalized the slower growth: "There is a school of thought that says this is overall good for the economy to keep it from overheating."

But on Friday night, while Rather stayed neutral, ABC's Peter Jennings and NBC's Tom Brokaw forwarded negative twists to the announcement of a solid 3.7 percent GDP growth rate for the third quarter of this year, significantly better than the 2000 number. "That was an improvement from the spring but less than forecast," Jennings intoned before Betsy Stark recalled the "question that Ronald Reagan first asked when he ran for President: 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' For most Americans, economic well-being begins with having a job. And there are 821,000 fewer jobs today than when Mr. Bush took office." Brokaw's take on the 3.7 percent jump: "That's slightly better than in the spring, but it's not as strong as analysts had expected."

Brokaw was more upbeat the last time an incumbent President faced re-election, even though the GDP rate was much lower. "The economy was slow but steady going into the last quarter," Brokaw insisted about a 2.2 percent GDP growth report that came out right before Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election bid. Brokaw, the MRC's Rich Noyes determined, found economists pleased: "Many economists were encouraged by that, because it means inflation is under control and interest rates will stay low."

Back on October 27, 1992 when a 2.7 GDP number for the 3rd quarter represented the sixth straight quarter of economic growth under President George H. W. Bush, the same growth rate as in the third quarter of 2000 which ABC and NBC ignored and Rather spun into good news, all three broadcast network evening shows led with the number but quickly dampened the good news for the senior Bush's re-election effort:

"That is more than economists had projected, but in many cases, less than meets the eye," Peter Jennings cautioned on October 27, 1992. "There is some doubt about the accuracy of the figures," Dan Rather warned before adding how "it was also announced today" that "consumer confidence in the economy continues to fall." (In the subsequent story Susan Spencer warned that Bush "crowed today at upbeat news of a third quarter growth rate of 2.7 percent, though some economists warn that rate may not hold." In fact, it soared in the next quarter, jumping 5.4 percent in the 4th quarter of 1992.) Tom Brokaw said the 2.7 percent rate was "well above what most economists predicted, but in this unusual economy that's not enough, not with another report out today showing a sharp drop in consumer confidence."

For a full rundown of the contrasts between coverage for the same 2.7 percent GDP rates in the third quarters of 1992 and 2000, see the October 28, 2000 CyberAlert: www.mediaresearch.org

(Note: Since this is a review of contemporary media coverage, all historic GDP numbers quoted above of are the rates announced at the time by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. Most, if not all, were subsequently revised up or down.)

Now, back to Friday night, October 29:

-- CBS Evening News. Dan Rather delivered a short item: "The government today put out its final report on the U.S. economy before the election. It says the economy picked up a bit in the third quarter of the year, growing at an annual rate of 3.7 percent."

-- NBC Nightly News. Tom Brokaw reported: "And we have news on the economy tonight. The last look at the GDP before the election, which measures overall economic growth. The economy grew at a 3.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter. That's slightly better than in the spring, but it's not as strong as analysts had expected."

-- ABC's World News Tonight. Peter Jennings used the GDP number to segue to a story on the overall status of the economy: "The government said today that the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in the third quarter [number on screen]. That was an improvement from the spring but less than forecast. This, of course, is the government's last snapshot of the economy before Election Day. And our business correspondent Betsy Stark is with us to say that, I guess, each campaign gets a little bit out of it."

     Stark, sitting at the anchor desk by Jennings, checked in with a set of good and bad economic numbers, starting with a bad one for Bush: "Each campaign does get a little bit out of it. But what matters to voters, Peter, gets back to that question that Ronald Reagan first asked when he ran for President: 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' For most Americans, economic well-being begins with having a job."
     Man: "Well, I'm not working nearly as much."
     Stark, over video of a big unemployment line: "And there are 821,000 fewer jobs today than when Mr. Bush took office. On the flip side, more Americans than ever own their own homes, and the value of those homes has gone up an average of 26 percent, at the same time that mortgage rates have gone down. Even so, Americans are more in debt than they were four years ago. They're spending 49 percent more for family health insurance, 35 percent more on tuition at public universities, and 39 percent more for a gallon of gas."
     Another man: "We spend a lot more money on gasoline now than we did four years ago."
     Stark: "Some Americans may have saved money from the decline in federal income taxes under Mr. Bush -- on average, down 10 percent. Investors, however, may think about the 5 percent decline in the Dow during his term and the 28 percent drop in the Nasdaq. Americans have lost ground on several pocketbook issues, but when we asked in a recent poll, 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' the results were a draw, with perceptions following politics. Likely Bush voters were likely to have a positive view of the economy. Likely Kerry voters, a largely negative view."

And by coincidence, the view of network reporting matches those with a negative view.

No mention by Stark of the relatively low unemployment and inflation rates.

CBS's Early Show Delivers Pre-Halloween
Treat to John Edwards

CBS's Hannah Storm "interviewed" Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards in an "exclusive" for Friday's Early Show and Storm exclusively tossed him a series of softballs which cued up his standard talking points. She began by asking him to expand on the Kerry campaign's position that the Bush administration has managed to "avoid responsibility for the 380 tons of missing explosives in Iraq." She proceeded to wonder if his assertion that the missing weapons could be used in terrorist attacks is "an attempt to chip away at the President, whose leadership numbers in the area of terror are very strong?"

Storm fretted that "we're not seeing headlines about the economy, jobs, health care" where you "score very well in the poll numbers," and noted charges "the Bush administration showed favoritism to Vice President Dick Cheney's company" and asked: "What's your reaction to that news?" She also prompted Edwards to "describe" his "relationship" with Kerry, to explain why it "would be so beneficial to you and Senator Kerry" for "voters to get to the polls early before November 2nd" and, "on a lighter note," as if everything before wasn't light, "Sunday is Halloween. Are you going to get a chance to go with your little ones and go trick-or-treating?"

Storm delivered CBS's Halloween treat to Edwards.

Edwards appeared via satellite from Indianola, Iowa and the MRC's Brian Boyd took down Hannah Storm's questions posed in the taped session which CBS played back in two segments on the October 29 Early Show.

     -- Storm began the 7am half hour segment with this exchange:
     "Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, Senator John Edwards, is expected to make campaign stops today in Wisconsin, Michigan and his home state of North Carolina. Last night, he took a break from his hectic schedule to talk with us. I asked him about the Kerry campaign's charge that President Bush is trying to, quote, avoid responsibility for the 380 tons of missing explosives in Iraq."
     John Edwards: "...regardless of the timing of when they disappeared, we know they're gone and we know the president was supposed to secure them and he didn't do it. And I will just point out, this is part of a long trail of failure, and I mean, it's not just the weapons, the explosives here. They didn't have a plan. They didn't have enough troops, according to their own people, to secure the country, and I think all of the president's failures have lead to the mess we have now in Iraq."
     Storm: "Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who's been serving as a spokesperson for the Bush campaign, said that the troops in Iraq are the ones who bore the responsibility for securing the explosives and not the President. What's your reaction to that?"
     Edwards: "My reaction is if they believe that the blame for 380 tons of explosives being missing and possibly in the hands of terrorists, if they believe the blame is with the troops, then they need to show us the order. The president should show us the order he gave to the troops to secure this weapons facility. If he did that, then he ought to be willing to show us that. If not, he shouldn't be blaming the troops for something that he's responsible for. My belief is, and John Kerry's belief, is that the troops did everything that they were asked to do as they have the entire time in Iraq. It's the President who didn't do his job."

Storm's other questions:

-- "Want to touch on something you just said, because your campaign is focused on these missing weapons as being potentially used in terrorist attacks. Now is this an attempt to chip away at the President, whose leadership numbers in the area of terror are very strong?"

-- "You are making a lot of headlines talking about these missing weapons, but we're not seeing headlines about the economy, jobs, health care. Now, the polls show that these are very important to average Americans. You score very well in the poll numbers, you and John Kerry do in these areas. Are you concerned that by focusing on Iraq and the war on terror that you're going to lose your edge on these domestic issues?"
Edwards: "...We have plans and ideas about creating jobs and to deal with the health care crisis, bringing down health care costs. For example, allowing prescription drugs into this country from Canada, which President Bush has blocked, but we're talking about those things. We'll continue to talk about them."

-- Storm: "The FBI's begun investigating whether the Pentagon improperly awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton companies. So this elevates to a criminal matter, this question here, of whether the Bush Administration showed favoritism to Vice President Dick Cheney's company. What's your reaction to that news?"
Edwards: "Well, it's very troublesome....I think it's just a long pattern of favoritism that this administration shows to their friends and the people they have close contacts with, and we need a president and vice president of the United States who consistently stand up for the interests of the American people, and that's not what we're seeing right now."

-- Storm: "Let me ask you an economic question. Can you 100% guarantee that you won't raise taxes on the middle class?"
Edwards: "Yes, ma'am."

Storm wrapped up: "And we'll have more of my interview with John Edwards in our second hour. Also, we should note, that despite ongoing requests for interviews with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over the past six months, they have repeatedly declined."

Storm's question in the tape played back during the 8am half hour:

-- "Despite working together in the Senate for six years, it wasn't until they became running mates earlier this year that John Kerry and John Edwards really got to know each other. In an exclusive interview with the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Edwards, I asked him to describe their relationship."
Edwards: "First of all, John and I trust each other...We are very, very close, and I expect that I'll be a very trusted adviser for him."

     -- "Are you worried that this election will be similar to last time, a disputed election? And the latest poll by Time Magazine says almost half of Americans think an illegitimate winner might actually prevail in this election. What would that mean if this goes to the courts and the lawyers? What would that mean for our democracy?"
     Edwards: "Well, I don't believe it's going to happen...we have put in place a whole group of grassroots activists around the country, in the critical places, to monitor what's happening in the polls, to make sure that people get to vote. And also we have a great legal team. Legal teams, who are ready to embark-"
     Storm: "10,000 lawyers. 10,000 lawyers."
     Edwards: "Yeah, but the point of this is not to get, not to have the courts involved. The point is to make sure that while the voting is going on, people get to vote and their vote gets counted."
     Storm: "You have really been urging voters to get to the polls early before November 2nd. Why do you think that would be so beneficial to you and Senator Kerry?
     Edwards: "Not complicated, the more people who vote, the more likely John Kerry's going to be president. And if people early vote, it's much more likely that they won't get stuck on election day and not be able to get to the polls. So, we're urging people to get out. I think early voting's a terrific idea, by the way, it just provides a much longer window for people to be able to cast their vote. Makes it more likely our democracy will work the way it's supposed to."

     -- "On a lighter note, Sunday is Halloween. Are you going to get a chance to go with your little ones and go trick-or-treating?...Are you going to dress up, Senator?"
     Edwards: "I don't have a plan to, you think I should? What should I be?"
     Storm: "I don't know. Are there any John Edwards masks out there? Maybe someone will dress up like you?"
     Edwards: "I don't know. Maybe they will."
     Storm: "Do you think we'll have a winner on Wednesday morning?"
     Edwards: "I do. Yes, I do"
     Storm: "And?"
     Edwards: "Oh, John Kerry's going to be President."
     Storm: "Okay."
     Edwards: "John Kerry's going to be President."
     Storm: "Senator Edwards plans to stop at his home state of North Carolina today to cast his vote."

Looks like Storm has already cast hers.

Belzer: Bush "Worst President in History,"
Coulter a "Fascist"

Actor/comedian Richard Belzer, who plays "Detective John Munch" on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, charged Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, to loud audience applause, that John Kerry is "running against the worst President in the history of the United States! And that's not hyperbole." Belzer cited "the demonization of gays, the repression of black voters, the favoritism of Halliburton." He also dismissed the terrorist threat: "We can't consume everybody's life with this fear when we've been attacked twice in twenty years." To loud applause from the audience, he denigrated Ann Coulter as "a fascist party doll" and claimed she's "a repugnant person who says the most vile things, she lies."

The hour-long Real Time with Bill Maher, produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, is shown live at 11pm EDT on Fridays on HBO East, and has re-runs through the following week.

Belzer appeared on the Real Time panel with retired General Wesley Clark and actor Kevin Costner who claimed he was "conservative" yet spent most of his time effusively praising Ralph Nader and attacking Bush from the left.

In reaction to Costner urging those who like Nader to vote for him and not consider the political impact of costing Kerry the presidency, Belzer broke in to argue, referring to Kerry:
"He's running against the worst President in the history of the United States! [audience applause] And that's not hyperbole. That's not hyperbole. The environment, the demonization of gays, the repression of black voters, the favoritism of Halliburton, this unending war. Where are we going to get the troops? He said that we're going to win the war on terror. Terrorism has been in existence for thousands of year, there'll always be terrorists. Of course we have to address them, but we can't consume everybody's life with this fear [applause] when we've been attacked twice in twenty years."

Later, by satellite, Maher interviewed conservative columnist Ann Coulter. Just before she came on, Belzer smeared her: "She's a fascist party doll."

Following the interview, during which Belzer took barely audible, off-mike cheap shots at her, much of the audience booed Coulter, prompting Maher to call for respect for differing views. Belzer fired back: "She's a repugnant person who says the most vile things [loud applause], she lies, she's a liar and you know that."

For NBC's bio of Belzer (with a picture), who lives in France when not filming Law and Order: SVU, and the character he plays: www.nbc.com

For the Internet Movie Database's page on Belzer, with photo: www.imdb.com

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