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1. CBS Skips Durbin, Picks Up Repub's Shot at Dems as Anti-Christian The CBS Evening News has yet to inform its viewers about Democratic Senator Dick Durbin's comparison on June 14 of interrogation techniques at Guantanamo to those employed by "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags," nor his June 22 apology, but on Wednesday night, in story on how "there are allegations Christian Evangelicals at the [Air Force] academy have been harassing cadets of other faiths," David Martin highlighted a Republican Congressman's charge which had enraged Democrats. Martin relayed how the "explosive charge of religious intolerance" at the service academy "triggered this heated exchange when Democrat David Obey brought it up on the floor of the House." Viewers saw a clip from Monday of Republican Congressman John Hostettler of Indiana: "Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians." CBS then showed Obey's rebuke: "I move the gentleman's words be taken down." 2. MSNBC's Countdown Finally Gets to Durbin, But Only to Scold GOP MSNBC's Countdown has been a lot more interested in Nazi comparisons by Republicans than Democrats. In May, Keith Olbermann castigated Republican Senator Rick Santorum for criticizing another Senator's Nazi reference and dug out video from 2003 of Santorum "comparing the New York Times to Nazis," but not until Wednesday night of this week did the show mention Democratic Senator Dick Durbin's comparison of treatment of detainees at Guantanamo to how the Nazis behaved. Fill-in host Alison Stewart asserted that Republicans were the hypocrites since "the outcry comes from leaders in the Republican Party whose own members and supporters have used that word, even made it a suffix -- i.e., 'feminazi.'" Stewart reminded viewers that "Durbin is not the only lawmaker to attack a practice or policy by comparing it to Nazis. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?" She then cited three Nazi quotes from GOP Senators before Craig Crawford rued how "the Democrats lost the portrayal of these remarks by Durbin to the spin from the Republican side." 3. Lauer Asks Biden for Good News from Iraq, Then Returns to Usual For a brief, fleeting moment on Wednesday morning's Today Matt Lauer allowed some good news about Iraq. But then it was quickly back to the usual. Interviewing Democratic Senator Joe Biden, who had delivered a speech the day before railing against how White House claims don't match the dire reality of Iraq, Lauer acknowledged how "I think sometimes there's a fear that in the media we don't spend enough time talking about the accomplishments. What's going right there?" After Biden's answer, Lauer returned to the usual: "Having said that it's still a very dangerous and violent place. Insurgent attacks have been maintaining a consistent level not only against our military but against civilians as well..." Lauer also found time to ask Biden about the Bolton nomination and his fundraising challenge for his possible 2008 presidential bid, but not about fellow Democratic Senator Dick Durbin's apology the night before. 4. Tom Brokaw Bought a Dude Ranch with Clinton Admin's Robert Rubin Last year Tom Brokaw bought a Montana "dude ranch" with several others, including Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, actor Michael Keaton, one of the other partners, revealed on Wednesday's Late Show with David Letterman. The February issue of Sunset magazine reported the purchase and how the buyers turned the ranch into a private fishing camp, but didn't mention Rubin's involvement: "Last spring...an out-of-state partnership including former anchorman Tom Brokaw and actor Michael Keaton purchased a 640-acre ranch for a reported $8 million, creating a private hunting and fishing preserve." 5. "Top Ten Reasons Saddam Hussein Loves Doritos" Letterman's "Top Ten Reasons Saddam Hussein Loves Doritos." CBS Skips Durbin, Picks Up Repub's Shot at Dems as Anti-Christian The CBS Evening News has yet to inform its viewers about Democratic Senator Dick Durbin's comparison on June 14 of interrogation techniques at Guantanamo to those employed by "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags," nor his June 22 apology, but on Wednesday night, in story on how "there are allegations Christian Evangelicals at the [Air Force] academy have been harassing cadets of other faiths," David Martin highlighted a Republican Congressman's charge which had enraged Democrats. Martin relayed how the "explosive charge of religious intolerance" at the service academy "triggered this heated exchange when Democrat David Obey brought it up on the floor of the House." Viewers saw a clip from Monday of Republican Congressman John Hostettler of Indiana: "Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians." CBS then showed Obey's rebuke: "I move the gentleman's words be taken down." CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer set up the June 22 story: "For years the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has been racked by charges of sexual harassment and sexual assault against female cadets, but in recent months there have been charges of an entirely different nature that born again Evangelical Christians were harassing non-Christian cadets. An official investigation of this has just been completed, and David Martin has the findings."
Martin began: "Most of the cadets who graduate from the Air Force Academy to join the military chain of command call themselves Christians. But now there are allegations Christian Evangelicals at the academy have been harassing cadets of other faiths, an explosive charge of religious intolerance that triggered this heated exchange when Democrat David Obey brought it up on the floor of the House."
MSNBC's Countdown Finally Gets to Durbin, But Only to Scold GOP MSNBC's Countdown has been a lot more interested in Nazi comparisons by Republicans than Democrats. In May, Keith Olbermann castigated Republican Senator Rick Santorum for criticizing another Senator's Nazi reference and dug out video from 2003 of Santorum "comparing the New York Times to Nazis," but not until Wednesday night of this week did the show mention Democratic Senator Dick Durbin's comparison of treatment of detainees at Guantanamo to how the Nazis behaved. Fill-in host Alison Stewart asserted that Republicans were the hypocrites since "the outcry comes from leaders in the Republican Party whose own members and supporters have used that word, even made it a suffix -- i.e., 'feminazi.'" Stewart reminded viewers that "Durbin is not the only lawmaker to attack a practice or policy by comparing it to Nazis. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?" She then cited three Nazi quotes from GOP Senators before Craig Crawford rued how "the Democrats lost the portrayal of these remarks by Durbin to the spin from the Republican side." Stewart, the MRC's Brad Wilmouth noticed, plugged the upcoming segment, on the June 22 Countdown, by questioning why Durbin was pilloried: "Coming up, the Nazi name-calling on Capitol Hill: Senator Dick Durbin issued an apology for his remarks, but what about everyone else who's been throwing around Nazi comparisons? The politics of an apology: We'll discuss it next with Craig Crawford."
Fourteen minutes into the show, Stewart introduced her #4 segment: "A Democratic politician says something that crosses a line, gets blasted for it, and later apologizes. Business as usual? Not when it revolves around the word 'Nazi,' and when the outcry comes from leaders in the Republican Party whose own members and supporters have used that word, even made it a suffix -- i.e., 'feminazi.' Words used to attack the opposition. You have our number four story in the Countdown tonight, Senator Dick Durbin has apologized for comparing practices at the Guantanamo prison camp to Nazis and other repressive regimes. His comments last week drew condemnation from the White House and in Congress. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld even compared Durbin's remarks to Jane Fonda's criticism of U.S. soldiers during Vietnam. Senator Durbin had been quoting from an FBI agent's memo describing detainees at Gitmo." Stewart's approach matched that of Olbermann, who while not on the air Wednesday night, filed a Bloggermann blog posting at 12:05pm EDT titled: "Enough with the Nazi references!" An excerpt: A message to Dick Durbin, Rick Santorum, and Robert Byrd -- as they combine to delay my reports to you about the night I inadvertently offered Bill Clinton my New York City subway pass, and my experiences behind the scenes at The Tonight Show, and my private eight minutes with Mary Carey. The message is this: Boys, just don't say "Nazi" ever again in your life. There's no place for the reference in this culture. Not about the Republican tactics, not about the Democratic tactics, not about Guantanamo Bay. The Republicans are not the SS, and the Democrats are not the Gestapo, and Gitmo is not Buchenwald.... END of Excerpt But Durbin's claim about Guantanamo didn't concern Olbermann enough to do an item on it. To read his blog entry in full: www.msnbc.msn.com In May, the MRC's Brad Wilmouth remembered, Olbermann pounced on Santorum for criticizing a Nazi comparison made by Senator Robert Byrd.
On the Monday May 23 Countdown, in the midst of coverage of the cloture vote on a judicial nominee, Olbermann asserted:
Lauer Asks Biden for Good News from Iraq, Then Returns to Usual For a brief, fleeting moment on Wednesday morning's Today Matt Lauer allowed some good news about Iraq. But then it was quickly back to the usual. Interviewing Democratic Senator Joe Biden, who had delivered a speech the day before railing against how White House claims don't match the dire reality of Iraq, Lauer acknowledged how "I think sometimes there's a fear that in the media we don't spend enough time talking about the accomplishments. What's going right there?" After Biden's answer, Lauer returned to the usual: "Having said that it's still a very dangerous and violent place. Insurgent attacks have been maintaining a consistent level not only against our military but against civilians as well..." Lauer also found time to ask Biden about the Bolton nomination and his fundraising challenge for his possible 2008 presidential bid, but not about fellow Democratic Senator Dick Durbin's apology the night before. As recounted in the June 22 CyberAlert, on Wednesday morning, Today news reader Natalie Morales related this brief item, but not until the 8am news update: "Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois is apologizing for comparing interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis. Durbin's voice cracked as he apologized for his, quote, 'poor choice of words' on the Senate floor Tuesday. His comments came after an FBI report said detainees were chained to the floor at the prison without food or water."
For more on the avoidance of Durbin by the broadcast networks: www.mediaresearch.org
The MRC's Geoff Dickens caught the unusual angle of Lauer's first inquiry: "Before we talk about what's wrong in Iraq and you went into pretty good detail on Tuesday let's talk about what's right there because you've made several trips to Iraq and I think sometimes there's a fear that in the media we don't spend enough time talking about the accomplishments. What's going right there?"
Tom Brokaw Bought a Dude Ranch with Clinton Admin's Robert Rubin Last year Tom Brokaw bought a Montana "dude ranch" with several others, including Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, actor Michael Keaton, one of the other partners, revealed on Wednesday's Late Show with David Letterman. The February issue of Sunset magazine reported the purchase and how the buyers turned the ranch into a private fishing camp, but didn't mention Rubin's involvement: "Last spring...an out-of-state partnership including former anchorman Tom Brokaw and actor Michael Keaton purchased a 640-acre ranch for a reported $8 million, creating a private hunting and fishing preserve." Back on the May 12, 1999 NBC Nightly News, the day Rubin resigned from his Treasury post, Tom Brokaw praised Rubin, telling viewers he "is going back to private life after quietly and very skillfully positioning the government to help fuel these extraordinarily good times."
On Wednesday's Late Show, Michael Keaton, a star of the new movie for kids, Herbie: Fully Loaded, brought up fishing and that prompted David Letterman to ask: "Recently, I've heard from Tom Brokaw, that you and Tom purchased a fishing camp." (The MRC's Brian Boyd corrected the closed-captioning against the video of the June 22 Late Show.) To see where this ranch is located and if anyone had reported this Brokaw-Rubin venture, I performed some Nexis searches and came up with only one article, in Sunset magazine, which reported the 2004 transaction for the ranch in the area of Big Timber, Montana. (Letterman also owns property in Montana.) The article cited Brokaw and Keaton, but not Rubin. An excerpt from the story in the February edition of Sunset magazine, "Home on the range: Meet Montana ranching families want to raise healthier beef for you -- and save their way of life," by Jeff Phillips: The town of Big Timber, once the region's largest wool producer, today has only 1,700 residents, but Montana State University Extension agent Marc King, who works with both farmers and government agencies in Sweet Grass County, says the face of that population is starting to change. "Most every ranch in this county has been in the family for at least three or four generations," explains King, "but as those families are forced to sell, new owners are taking the land out of production." Last spring, for example, an out-of-state partnership including former anchorman Tom Brokaw and actor Michael Keaton purchased a 640-acre ranch for a reported $8 million, creating a private hunting and fishing preserve. Members of that partnership now own at least 12,000 acres of ranchland in the heart of the region. END of Excerpt
The article is posted online, but you'll need to be an AOL member or pay to read it: www.sunset.com The Internet Movie Database's bio page for Michael Douglas, who is better known by his stage name of Michael Keaton: www.imdb.com
"Top Ten Reasons Saddam Hussein Loves Doritos" From the June 22 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Reasons Saddam Hussein Loves Doritos." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com 10. Three-cornered chips remind him of the Sunni Triangle 9. Chemical Ali taught him how to convert the spicy powder into a nerve agent 8. The "crunch" sounds like the breaking of a dissident's bones 7. Pringles are for Kurds 6. They are corn chips of mass deliciousness 5. Goes perfectly with a tall glass of camel milk 4. Endorsed by his favorite late night television host, Al-Asaad Muhammed Leno 3. "Cool ranch" flavor is a preview of the paradise that awaits a martyr 2. When beard is full of orange crumbs, he can do hilarious "Yosemite Saddam" 1. Delicious taste allows him to momentarily forget he'll spend eternity in Hell
-- Brent Baker
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