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1. Lauer Gives Extremist Tag to Alito: "He Is an Ultra-Conservative" On Tuesday's Today, co-host Matt Lauer applied an extreme ideological tag to Supreme Court nominee Sam Alito, telling former Senator Fred Thompson: "Let's face it, he is an ultra-conservative and his track record on the bench is that he, he, [talking over Thompson] he goes to the right on key issues." Thompson rejected the label. Lauer also fretted that if Alito is confirmed, "eight of the nine Supreme Court justices will be men, eight of the nine will be white, eight of the nine will have law degrees from either Harvard or Yale, five of the nine will be Catholic. What does that say about the, the Court's ability to reflect and, and, and rule on behalf of the diverse population of this country?" 2. ABC Anchor Vargas Worries to Specter That Alito May Overturn Roe ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas approached Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter from the left in a taped interview played on Monday's World News Tonight. She described the fairly liberal Pennsylvanian as "a moderate Republican" before empathizing with him over Alito's apparent position that the Constitution does not provide a right to abortion: "How bothered are you by comments that he's made in 1985 in memos, saying that there is not a constitutional right? The Constitution does not protect the right to have an abortion?" Vargas pointed out to Specter how "you are one of a handful of pro-choice Republicans" and wondered: "But if you get the sense in these hearings that Judge Alito would overturn or weaken Roe versus Wade, would that make him unqualified if your opinion?" When Specter insisted that "there are no extraordinary circumstances to warrant filibustering Judge Alito," a seemingly astounded Vargas blurted: "None?" 3. CBS Digs Out Blurry C-SPAN Video to Taint DeLay with Abramoff CBS's Gloria Borger was so intent on tying Tom DeLay to Jack Abramoff that she "obtained" -- meaning someone with an agenda gave to her -- a very blurry C-SPAN video which she trumpeted on Monday's CBS Evening News: "In this 2003 videotape of a convention of College Republicans obtained by CBS News, Jack Abramoff all but called Tom DeLay his hero." After running a clip of Abramoff declaring that "Tom DeLay is who all of us want to be when we grow up," Borger, as if a public official can control who praises him, ran video of Abramoff giving DeLay a hug as she charged: "Now the cozy relationship between the lobbyist and the leader has left DeLay without a top job in the House and left Republicans scrambling to keep their majority." 4. Harry Belafonte: Bush is "the Greatest Terrorist in the World" During a visit with Venezuela's far-left President Hugo Chavez, actor/singer Harry Belafonte, a UNICEF "goodwill ambassador," denounced President George W. Bush as "the greatest tyrant in the world" and "the greatest terrorist in the world" and proclaimed to Chavez that "millions of the American people, millions support your revolution." Lauer Gives Extremist Tag to Alito: "He Is an Ultra-Conservative" On Tuesday's Today, co-host Matt Lauer applied an extreme ideological tag to Supreme Court nominee Sam Alito, telling former Senator Fred Thompson: "Let's face it, he is an ultra-conservative and his track record on the bench is that he, he, [talking over Thompson] he goes to the right on key issues." Thompson rejected the label. Lauer also fretted that if Alito is confirmed, "eight of the nine Supreme Court justices will be men, eight of the nine will be white, eight of the nine will have law degrees from either Harvard or Yale, five of the nine will be Catholic. What does that say about the, the Court's ability to reflect and, and, and rule on behalf of the diverse population of this country?"
Such skin color diversity priorities were not displayed by liberals or the news media during the hearings for Clarence Thomas. # "Fred Thompson is a former Republican senator from Tennessee who helped guide current Chief Justice John Roberts through his confirmation hearings just last year. Senator, nice to see you, welcome back." # "Mostly table setting yesterday in, in these hearings but a couple of interesting things. You had a lot of senators get up and basically say, 'I've already made up my mind Judge Alito as to whether I'm gonna vote up or down for you.' So is this process now, Senator Thompson, all about giving senators a chance to make partisan speeches?" # "In, in his opening statement the headline that's coming from Judge Alito yesterday is that when he said that judges should be able to learn and change their minds, he even said, quote, 'Good judges are always open to the possibility of changing their minds.' And then interestingly Senator Specter said, 'Hey!' he reminded the other senators, 'Hey in the past partisans have been surprised by some people they've elevated to the Supreme Court who've actually ruled in ways they didn't expect.' How do you, how do you like that strategy?" # "And interpret the law. But okay what he did write in 1985 when applying for a job in the Reagan administration was the following, 'I am particularly proud of my contribution in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion.' So if he's interpreting the law there in that statement he doesn't believe that a woman's right to choose is protected by the Constitution why shouldn't a fair minded person like yourself assume that will impact any future rulings he makes on the Supreme Court?"
# "But let's face it, he is an ultra-conservative and his track record on the bench is that he, he, he goes to the right on key issues." # Lauer: "If you were advising him the way you advise Judge Roberts how would you advise him to answer that very question on that comment, on that writing from 1985 that he's bound to get today?" # "Take a look at this graphic [it']s interesting. The Supreme Court. If Judge Alito is con-, is nominated or confirmed eight of the nine Supreme Court justices will be men, eight of the nine will be white, eight of the nine will have law degrees from either Harvard or Yale, five of the nine will be Catholic. What does that say about the, the Court's ability to reflect and, and, and rule on behalf of the diverse population of this country?" # "He'll be confirmed?"
ABC Anchor Vargas Worries to Specter That Alito May Overturn Roe ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas approached Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter from the left in a taped interview played on Monday's World News Tonight. She described the fairly liberal Pennsylvanian as "a moderate Republican" before empathizing with him over Alito's apparent position that the Constitution does not provide a right to abortion: "How bothered are you by comments that he's made in 1985 in memos, saying that there is not a constitutional right? The Constitution does not protect the right to have an abortion?" Vargas pointed out to Specter how "you are one of a handful of pro-choice Republicans" and wondered: "But if you get the sense in these hearings that Judge Alito would overturn or weaken Roe versus Wade, would that make him unqualified if your opinion?" When Specter insisted that "there are no extraordinary circumstances to warrant filibustering Judge Alito," a seemingly astounded Vargas blurted: "None?" Vargas also touted how Specter, a cancer survivor, "fights passionately for stem cell research." [This item was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. To share your views, go to: newsbusters.org ] The January 9 piece from Vargas, who anchored from Washington, DC, followed the lead story by George Stephanopoulos, who recounted Alito's first day of hearings. Vargas had sat down with Specter in an empty Senate hearing room. Vargas introduced her session with Specter: "The man leading the proceedings is Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, who's been part of ten previous Supreme Court confirmation hearings. His vote is powerful. It is also unpredictable. As a moderate Republican, he has sided with Democrats in the past. And today, he told me, the best thing Sam Alito can do for his chances is to be candid."
Vargas to Specter: "You have said you're going to begin your questions on the subject of abortion. How bothered are you by comments that he's made in 1985 in memos, saying that there is not a constitutional right? The Constitution does not protect the right to have an abortion?"
CBS Digs Out Blurry C-SPAN Video to Taint DeLay with Abramoff CBS's Gloria Borger was so intent on tying Tom DeLay to Jack Abramoff that she "obtained" -- meaning someone with an agenda gave to her -- a very blurry C-SPAN video which she trumpeted on Monday's CBS Evening News: "In this 2003 videotape of a convention of College Republicans obtained by CBS News, Jack Abramoff all but called Tom DeLay his hero." After running a clip of Abramoff declaring that "Tom DeLay is who all of us want to be when we grow up," Borger, as if a public official can control who praises him, ran video of Abramoff giving DeLay a hug as she charged: "Now the cozy relationship between the lobbyist and the leader has left DeLay without a top job in the House and left Republicans scrambling to keep their majority." [This item was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. To post your comments, go to: newsbusters.org ]
Bob Schieffer set up the January 9 CBS Evening News piece:
Jack Abramoff, in blurry C-SPAN video with bad sound (likely a more than once copied VHS tape) from July 25, 2003: "-say no one has encountered an individual as unique as Tom DeLay."
Harry Belafonte: Bush is "the Greatest Terrorist in the World" During a visit with Venezuela's far-left President Hugo Chavez, actor/singer Harry Belafonte, a UNICEF "goodwill ambassador," denounced President George W. Bush as "the greatest tyrant in the world" and "the greatest terrorist in the world" and proclaimed to Chavez that "millions of the American people, millions support your revolution." The AP on Sunday first reported Belafonte's Sunday outburst and the cable networks on Monday ran a video clip, from Venezuelan TV, which provided a bit longer quote.
As aired on Monday's Hannity & Colmes on FNC, for instance, on an outdoor stage with Chavez beside him, Belafonte charged: For the Internet Movie Database's page on Belafonte: www.imdb.com
For the AP story, "Belafonte Calls Bush 'Greatest Terrorist,'" from Caracas, which reported that "Belafonte led a delegation of Americans including the actor Danny Glover and the Princeton University scholar Cornel West that met the Venezuelan president for more than six hours late Saturday. Some in the group attended Chavez's television and radio broadcast Sunday," go to: news.yahoo.com -- Brent Baker
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