1. Totenberg "Surprised How Very, Very Conservative [Roberts] Was"
A parody of herself? NPR's Nina Totenberg, who has tagged Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as "very conservative," "very, very conservative" and "very, very, very conservative," as well as "a really conservative guy," "a hardline conservative" and "a clear conservative," to say nothing of being "a conservative Catholic," on Inside Washington over the weekend relayed that after she "spent five hours reviewing all of his documents from when he worked in the Justice Department," she "was actually quite surprised at how, how very, very conservative he was." Apparently, she didn't listen to herself.

2. CBS's Bob Schieffer Again Pushes McCain's Wiseness Over Bush Team
CBS's Bob Schieffer concluded Sunday's Face the Nation by insisting that "I don't always agree" with Senator John McCain, but he touted McCain's sponsorship of "legislation to outlaw, quote, 'cruel, inhumane and degrading' treatment of all prisoners held by the United States. Incredibly, the administration is trying to kill this legislation, claiming it would hamper the fight against terrorism or some such." Schieffer lectured that the administration "should pay attention to him on this one" because "he was learning about torture while some of them were still in graduate school." Just two months ago Schieffer cited McCain in arguing that Guantanamo should be closed and in 2004 he pushed McCain for Vice President on the Democratic ticket after urging him, in 2000, to make a presidential bid.

3. Frist Decision "Re-establishes His Credentials As Man of Science"
Senator Bill Frist grew in the eyes of journalists with his Friday announcement, first provided to the New York Times, that he would break with President Bush and back further federal funding of embryonic stem cell research using cells from invitro-fertilization efforts. After Schiavo, ABC's George Stephanopoulos contended, "this re-establishes his credentials as a man of science and a doctor. And to establish his independence in a presidential race, he had to break with President Bush on a big issue eventually. And then finally, it now gives him a much more popular position in a general election." ABC's Dr. Tim Johnson trumpeted how "it goes a long way toward rehabilitating his image as a physician, which took a nose-dive after his medical comments during the Schiavo case." CBS's doctor, Mallika Marshall, cited not scientific research, but what the hopes a woman conveyed to her: "We actually talked to a woman with Parkinson's disease today who says that this may not be a cure for her in her lifetime, but hopefully it could benefit her grandchildren."

4. CNN's Frank Sesno Scolds Media for Bad News Bias in Iraq Coverage
Picking up on the criticism of Iraq coverage by a St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial writer, on Sunday's Reliable Sources on CNN, former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno agreed "the bias is towards that which is going wrong, that which is blowing up and that which is not working." Sesno, now a CNN "special correspondent," lamented that "if you are a reader or a viewer and you want to know, well, how are we doing, you know, is anything getting rebuilt, are they really democrats over there? How engaged are the Sunnis? Could I see an interview with any of these founding fathers and founding mothers of this new emerging country? Can you find that? You'll have a hard time doing it."

Totenberg "Surprised How Very, Very Conservative
[Roberts] Was"

     A parody of herself? NPR's Nina Totenberg, who has tagged Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as "very conservative," "very, very conservative" and "very, very, very conservative," as well as "a really conservative guy," "a hardline conservative" and "a clear conservative," to say nothing of being "a conservative Catholic," on Inside Washington over the weekend relayed that after she "spent five hours reviewing all of his documents from when he worked in the Justice Department," she "was actually quite surprised at how, how very, very conservative he was." Apparently, she didn't listen to herself.

     Inside Washington is a weekend show carried Saturday nights at 7pm local time by NewsChannel 8, a Washington, DC area all-news channel owned by the ABC affiliate, and Sunday mornings at 10am, right after This Week, by that affiliate, WJLA-TV.

     On the edition aired over this past weekend, Totenberg asserted: "I've known John Roberts for years. I think it's a very sensible pick in all serious ways. But I must say that when I was, spent five hours reviewing all of his documents from when he worked in the Justice Department, I was actually quite surprised at how, how very, very conservative he was. He fought with people much more senior than he was, who we would all consider very conservative like Ted Olson and Rex Lee, who was Solicitor General. They weren't conservative enough for him. And even William Bradford Reynolds, the head of the civil rights division, on a couple of occasions, there was Roberts saying to the Attorney General you shouldn't authorize this employment discrimination lawsuit, Reynolds is wrong about it."

     Previous CyberAlert items on Totenberg's labeling of Roberts, both with pictures of her:

     # July 21 CyberAlert: There's no doubt in NPR reporter Nina Totenberg's mind that Judge John Roberts is "very conservative," it's just a matter of how "very." On NPR's All Things Considered on Tuesday night, she prefaced "conservative" with three verys, describing him as "a very, very, very conservative man." But in a taped soundbite on the next day's Good Morning America on ABC, she cut back to two modifiers, dubbing him merely "a very, very conservative man." For the quotes in full: www.mrc.org

     # July 25 CyberAlert: NPR's Nina Totenberg, who last week tagged Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as "very, very conservative" and "very, very, very conservative," on Inside Washington over the weekend described him as merely "very conservative." But she couldn't resist adding a modifier every time she applied the conservative label, also dubbing him "a really conservative guy," "a hardline conservative" and "a clear conservative." Plus, she emphasized how he's "a conservative Catholic." See: www.mrc.org

CBS's Bob Schieffer Again Pushes McCain's
Wiseness Over Bush Team

     CBS's Bob Schieffer concluded Sunday's Face the Nation by insisting that "I don't always agree" with Senator John McCain, but he touted McCain's sponsorship of "legislation to outlaw, quote, 'cruel, inhumane and degrading' treatment of all prisoners held by the United States. Incredibly, the administration is trying to kill this legislation, claiming it would hamper the fight against terrorism or some such." Schieffer lectured that the administration "should pay attention to him on this one" because "he was learning about torture while some of them were still in graduate school." Just two months ago Schieffer cited McCain in arguing that Guantanamo should be closed and in 2004 he pushed McCain for Vice President on the Democratic ticket after urging him, in 2000, to make a presidential bid.

     Schieffer's commentary at the end of the July 31 Face the Nation:
     "Finally today, I don't always agree with him, but when John McCain talks about prisoners of war and torture I do pay attention. As someone who was tortured for five years in a North Vietnamese prison, he just knows a little more about torture than the rest of us. So when John McCain told me the other day that he would not want to be the next American taken prisoner in Iraq, I listened. McCain, along with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, is sponsoring legislation to outlaw, quote, 'cruel, inhumane and degrading' treatment of all prisoners held by the United States. Incredibly, the administration is trying to kill this legislation, claiming it would hamper the fight against terrorism or some such.
     "Here is my question: Does that mean we endorse torture? Of course not. But what will the other side make of those words? John McCain has no more sympathy for the terrorists than I do. He is worried about our soldiers. He knows that if the enemy believes we are torturing their people, they will be more likely to torture our people.
     "John McCain has never been a favorite of this administration, but they should pay attention to him on this one. He was learning about torture while some of them were still in graduate school. The gallant young men and women we are asking to fight this war are already paying a terrible price. Let's not make it even more dangerous for them. Listen to John McCain."

     Schieffer cited McCain in a May 29 commentary, as summarized by the May 31 CyberAlert: Recalling how John McCain's "code of honor" is what "separated him from his captors" in communist North Vietnam, on Sunday's Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer casually referred to how he "thought about that as yet another tale of torture and abuse came out about the POW camp we are running at Guantanamo Bay." Schieffer then proceeded to endorse New York Times columnist Tom Friedman's recommendation that "the prison ought to be shut down because the stories about it are so inflaming the Arab world." Schieffer presumed the worst about the uncorroborated charges related to detainee treatment, most of which fall far short of qualifying as "torture." Schieffer asked: "I wondered if the greater danger is the impact Guantanamo is having on us. Do we want our children to believe this is how we are?" Characterizing the U.S. as no better than our enemies, Schieffer concluded: "As we reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day, let us remember first what it is that separates us from those who would take away our freedom," the code "John McCain's dad taught his kid." See: www.mrc.org

     The March 22, 2004 CyberAlert recounted: Network news stars just can't let go of their dream of a Kerry-McCain ticket. On Sunday's Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer waxed about how "John Kerry's high command" has "not dismissed the idea" of McCain for Vice President and so "the possibility of John McCain as a running mate for Senator Kerry is still alive and is still operating." See: www.mediaresearch.org

     In 2001, Schieffer devoted all of a Face the Nation to Chandra Levy, except for his end of show commentary which he dedicated to arguing that the House rejection of McCain's pet cause gives him a good reason to run for President, the July 16, 2001 CyberAlert reported. An excerpt from Schieffer's commentary after a setback for "campaign finance reform":
     "McCain has been saying all along he has no plans to run for President as a third-party independent candidate. But doesn't this give him the perfect excuse? The script writes itself. Both parties are so beholden to the big-money interests, it will take someone else to clean up the mess, and on and on and on. Now I have no idea what McCain will do, but you could make the case that the only person who came out of this stronger politically than he went in is McCain because it gives him that issue to run on. I'm not sure that's what opponents of campaign finance reform had in mind."

     For that commentary in full: www.mediaresearch.org

     For the CBS News posting of recent "Schieffer's Take" commentaries: www.cbsnews.com

Frist Decision "Re-establishes His Credentials
As Man of Science"

     Senator Bill Frist grew in the eyes of journalists with his Friday announcement, first provided to the New York Times, that he would break with President Bush and back further federal funding of embryonic stem cell research using cells from invitro-fertilization efforts. After Schiavo, ABC's George Stephanopoulos contended, "this re-establishes his credentials as a man of science and a doctor. And to establish his independence in a presidential race, he had to break with President Bush on a big issue eventually. And then finally, it now gives him a much more popular position in a general election." ABC's Dr. Tim Johnson trumpeted how "it goes a long way toward rehabilitating his image as a physician, which took a nose-dive after his medical comments during the Schiavo case." CBS's doctor, Mallika Marshall, cited not scientific research, but what the hopes a woman conveyed to her: "We actually talked to a woman with Parkinson's disease today who says that this may not be a cure for her in her lifetime, but hopefully it could benefit her grandchildren."

     At the top of Friday's Good Morning America, ABC's Diane Sawyer excitedly plugged her "exclusive" interview with Frist: "Good Morning America exclusive: The most powerful Republican in the Senate breaks with the President on stem cell research. Life, death, politics and controversy. Bill Frist in the headlines and joining us live."

     Friday night on ABC's World News Tonight, following a story on Frist's decision, anchor Bob Woodruff brought aboard Stephanopoulos and Johnson for reaction. The MRC's Brad Wilmouth took down their assessments:

     Woodruff: "Senator Frist's decision has the potential to reshape the national debate about stem cell research. It also could impact Senator Frist's own political future. We're joined by the host of ABC's This Week, George Stephanopoulos. George, you heard Linda Douglass raise this question. Does this mean that this bill on Capitol Hill now passes because of Bill Frist's influence?"
     Stephanopoulos, from Washington, DC with the White House in te background: "It gives it a huge boost, Bob, no question about that. And I think it all but guarantees that this bill is going to make it to the President's desk for that first presidential veto of his presidency. But still, the bill is far short of what it takes to override that veto, especially in the House."
     Woodruff: "We assume that Bill Frist is going to run for President. We don't know for sure. If he does, does this hurt him or does this help him?"
     Stephanopoulos: "Well, one conservative activist told me today it's game over, there's no way that Bill Frist can get the nomination right now. And you saw that barrage of criticism he got today from the pro-life movement. On the other hand, this re-establishes his credentials as a man of science and a doctor. And to establish his independence in a presidential race, he had to break with President Bush on a big issue eventually. And then finally, it now gives him a much more popular position in a general election. The tough part for Senator Frist is getting through those primaries where he is going to face a lot of opposition now from social conservatives, Christian conservatives.
     Woodruff: "A long road ahead, George Stephanopoulos, thank you."

     Woodruff turned to Johnson: "And as George mentioned, Senator Frist, also a heart surgeon, had been under pressure from all sides in the stem cell debate, including the medical community. Our medical editor, Dr. Tim Johnson, joins us now. Dr. Tim, George talked about this, the political and ethical divide. But doctors, on the other hand, seem to be generally behind this decision."
     Johnson: "Very much so. And I think it goes a long way toward rehabilitating his image as a physician, which took a nose-dive after his medical comments during the Schiavo case. Today, he's back in the mainstream of prevailing medical science opinion."
     Woodruff: "Do you know from the history that you know about Bill Frist whether this really is a real departure from his medical thinking on stem cells?"
     Johnson: "I think it's a return to his basic medical thinking. He was, before entering politics, a well-regarded heart surgeon, transplant expert. He had expressed his favor toward embryonic stem cell research before President Bush announced his policy. Today, I think he's returning to his basic science beliefs."
     Over on the CBS Evening News, John Roberts introduced CBS's medical expert: "Well, for more now on the medical dimension of embryonic stem cell research, we welcome our contributing correspondent, Dr. Mallika Marshall. Good evening."
     Marshall, on the set: "Good evening, John."
     Roberts: "So if this does manage to survive a presidential veto -- and there's nothing to say that it will -- what are the potential impacts on research?"
     Marshall: "Well, this has huge implications not only for scientists but also for the millions of Americans that are plagued with diseases that could potentially be cured. Scientists who rely on federal funding say more money could help speed up the process. They don't have to rely on the pre-existing stem cell lines, they can create new lines, and we actually talked to a woman with Parkinson's disease today who says that this may not be a cure for her in her lifetime, but hopefully it could benefit her grandchildren."
     Roberts: "Partially because of a lack of federal funding there's been somewhat of a brain drain in the United States, some of the best stem cell researchers going to places like England, South Korea, Singapore, also some Americans having to go overseas for treatment. Might they find it a more inviting atmosphere or environment here in the States if this bill were to survive?"
     Marshall: "Absolutely. As you mentioned, we're losing some of our most brilliant minds to other countries, and we want to stay competitive. So hopefully this will encourage more scientists to do research here in this country, stay in this country, and hopefully we can find cures and not allow our patients to go elsewhere for treatment."
     Roberts: "Still a long fight ahead, Dr. Mallika Marshall. Thanks."

     Marshall, a medical doctor, works in Boston where she's affiliated with the CBS-owned station in that city, "CBS4," WBZ-TV. For a picture and bio of her: cbs4boston.com

CNN's Frank Sesno Scolds Media for Bad
News Bias in Iraq Coverage

     Picking up on the criticism of Iraq coverage by a St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial writer, on Sunday's Reliable Sources on CNN, former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno agreed "the bias is towards that which is going wrong, that which is blowing up and that which is not working." Sesno, now a CNN "special correspondent," lamented that "if you are a reader or a viewer and you want to know, well, how are we doing, you know, is anything getting rebuilt, are they really democrats over there? How engaged are the Sunnis? Could I see an interview with any of these founding fathers and founding mothers of this new emerging country? Can you find that? You'll have a hard time doing it."

     The July 14 CyberAlert cited the same column raised Sunday by Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz: An assistant editorial page editor with the St. Paul, Minnesota Pioneer Press has written a column, headlined "Why They Hate Us," castigating his fellow journalists for biased coverage of the Iraq War. Mark Yost explained that he saw the same media pattern when he served in the U.S. Navy in the 1980s: "Substitute 'insurgent' for 'Sandinista,' 'Iraq' for 'Soviet Union,' 'Bush' for 'Reagan' and 'war on terror' for 'Cold War,' and the stories need little editing. The U.S. is 'bad,' our enemies 'understandable' if not downright 'good.'" For an excerpt from Yost's column: www.mrc.org

     Sesno appeared in-studio on the July 31 Reliable Sources with Chicago Tribune Deputy Managing Editor Jim Warren, from Chicago, and from Baghdad, Time magazine reporter Michael Ware. The topic: Whether the media are too fixated on car bombings and deaths in Iraq to the exclusion of other relevant developments.

     At one point, Kurtz asked: "I want to read you, Frank Sesno, a column by Mark Yost in the St. Paul Pioneer-Press [text on screen]:
     "'When is the last time you read a story about the progress being made on the power grid? Or the new desalination plant that just came online, or the school that just opened, or the Iraqi policeman who died doing something heroic? To judge by all the dispatches, all the Iraqis do is stand outside markets and government buildings waiting to be blown up.' Fair criticism?"
     Sesno, now a professor at George Mason University, agreed:
     "Yes. Fair criticism. You know, it's interesting, for this conversation I went online last night when I couldn't sleep, and spent a good deal of time looking into this. And including the Chicago Sun-Times, the LA Times, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, they all have special sections online. You know, 'read more about the Iraq war,' and they list their archives of stories going back days, sometimes weeks or even months. I will say despite what Jim [Warren] says, and he is quite right, print is where you go if you want the breadth and depth of the story, but even then, the bias is towards that which is going wrong, that which is blowing up and that which is not working.
     "If you are a reader or a viewer and you want to know, well, how are we doing, you know, is anything getting rebuilt, are they really democrats over there? How engaged are the Sunnis? Could I see an interview with any of these founding fathers and founding mothers of this new emerging country? Can you find that? You'll have a hard time doing it."

     For a picture and bio of Sesno, who was the original anchor of Late Edition, check his page posted by the MRC's Alexandria, Virginia neighbors, the Washington Speakers Bureau: www.washingtonspeakers.com

     # Al Gore is scheduled to appear tonight (Monday) on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

-- Brent Baker

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