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1. CBS's Smith Urges Gore to Declare, Presses Gore '08 Button on Him On Wednesday's Early Show, co-host Harry Smith stumped for an Al Gore presidency, going so far as trying to place a "Gore 2008" button onto the former Vice President's suit. "They were handing these out at the lecture last night at George Washington University," Smith explained as the two sat in Washington, DC with the Capitol on the background. Holding up the button to Gore's suit, Smith wondered, "here, let's see what it looks like....Save that in a freeze frame." 2. ABC Attempts to Justify Anti-American Booing of Miss USA On Wednesday's Good Morning America, the ABC program attempted to justify and explain away the booing that Miss USA, Rachel Smith, received in Mexico City during Monday night's Miss Universe pageant broadcast on NBC. In a tease for the segment, GMA anchor Diane Sawyer even wondered aloud, "Was it fair?" Reporter Dan Harris insisted that the rude heckling and yelling must be understood in a broader context. He explained: "By all accounts, the booing was actually not personal. It's actually a sign of the increasingly intense relationship between the U.S. and Mexico at a time when the immigration debate is very hot." Harris later elaborated, saying that "many Mexicans feel that U.S. uses its power to get its way in world politics and also in competitions such as this one..." 3. GMA Cites Michael Moore to Trumpet Popularity of Universal Health To promote the popularity of "universal health care," as espoused by Democratic candidates and Michael Moore, ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday selectively cited a poll from last year. With "56% of Americans favor universal health care" on screen," Diane Sawyer touted how "Senator Barack Obama released his plan for what he calls universal health care, something the majority of Americans say they want, according to an ABC News poll." But Sawyer failed to note how that's down six points, from 62 percent, in ABC's 2003 health issues survey. Reporter Claire Shipman recounted how the leading Democratic candidates are matching the desire of the public by proposing universal coverage plans before she trumpeted how "the issue should soon get hotter with this," the "upcoming release of Michael Moore's new film 'Sicko,' his scathing look at the health care system." However, Shipman failed to explain how very few think universal coverage "would actually improve the quality or cost of their own care, the availability of treatments, or their choice of doctors or hospitals." 4. Tapper Notes Thompson's 'Liberal' on Campaign Finance & Abortion Reporting moves by Fred Thompson to launch a presidential campaign, ABC's Jake Tapper on Wednesday night interjected a conservative take on the actor and former Senator, suggesting "Thompson will soon face questions" about "the liberal positions he's taken in the past on campaign finance reform and abortion." Describing McCain-Feingold as "liberal" is noteworthy in itself. In his World News piece, Tapper had explained how, given conservative dissatisfaction with the three leading Republican contenders, Thompson thinks he can be "a conservative with star power." But, Tapper cautioned, "playing a President is a lot easier than being one." 5. Ex-WashPost Reporter 'Infuriated' Opponents Deny He's a Democrat Charlie Hall, a Washington Post reporter and copy editor for 20 years, is running for a county board seat in suburban northern Virginia as a Democrat, and as the Post itself reported Tuesday, he gets really upset when his Democratic opponents suggest he has no Democratic credentials: "The issue infuriates Hall, who said that he has voted Democrat his whole life." CBS's Smith Urges Gore to Declare, Presses Gore '08 Button on Him On Wednesday's Early Show, co-host Harry Smith stumped for an Al Gore presidency, going so far as trying to place a "Gore 2008" button onto the former Vice President's suit. "They were handing these out at the lecture last night at George Washington University," Smith explained as the two sat in Washington, DC with the Capitol on the background. Holding up the button to Gore's suit, Smith wondered, "here, let's see what it looks like....Save that in a freeze frame." [This item is adapted from a NewsBusters posting, with video, by Justin McCarthy. The video will be added to the posted version of this CyberAlert, but to watch it in the meantime, go to: newsbusters.org ] The Gore/Smith love fest began with seven and a half minutes of soft questions. Harry Smith, who offered a puffy interview of Al Gore several months ago (On The Early Show in February, Harry Smith asked Richard Branson: "Is Al Gore a prophet?" See: www.mrc.org ), asked such questions as "where's the other party?" implying that the Democrats do not attack the administration enough. Gore read through the usual left wing talking points such as U.S. troops "trapped in a civil war" in Iraq, implied Congress has been a rubber stamp for the administration, called for public financing of political campaigns, and of course, called reducing greenhouse emissions a "moral issue." As Gore ticked these off, Smith simply said "right" several times. Harry Smith set up the former Vice President to speak out against Bush's environmental policies: "President Bush getting ready to go to Europe for the G-8. The folks in the European Union want to do emissions reductions. The president said yesterday we're not going to participate. Your reaction?"
At the end of the interview, Smith essentially begged Gore to run as he presented a "Gore 2008" pin: Just last week, as documented in the May 29 CyberAlert, the CBS Evening News championed Gore: "He was once called 'Mr. Stiff.' Now he's known as 'The Goreacle,' the new Al Gore," CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric touted in plugging an upcoming Friday night story. With "Gore 2.0" on screen, Couric set up the subsequent tribute by asserting that "no one's getting more attention than the latest edition of Al Gore. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on Gore 2.0." Attention from the media, certainly. Alfonsi trumpeted how "Al Gore seems to have gone from awkward to almost slick," proposing that "all it took was eight years, some melting polar ice caps and an Oscar win for his documentary." Interspersed with clips of Gore on various news and entertainment shows, Alfonsi hailed how "he spread the word about global warming, and now is changing the political climate. In some polls, Gore is third for the Democratic nomination, and he's not even a candidate. And he's come out with another book, The Assault on Reason." In his media tour for it, he's "knocking the media with one arm and the Bush administration with the other." See: www.mrc.org The entire transcript of the May 30 Early Show interview:
SMITH: Former Vice President Al Gore believes it is time to act to save American democracy. In his new book, "The Assault on Reason," he argues that the foundations of our republic are under threat by today's politics of fear as practiced by the Bush administration and Al Gore joins us this morning. Good morning, sir.
ABC Attempts to Justify Anti-American Booing of Miss USA On Wednesday's Good Morning America, the ABC program attempted to justify and explain away the booing that Miss USA, Rachel Smith, received in Mexico City during Monday night's Miss Universe pageant broadcast on NBC. In a tease for the segment, GMA anchor Diane Sawyer even wondered aloud, "Was it fair?" Reporter Dan Harris insisted that the rude heckling and yelling must be understood in a broader context. He explained: "By all accounts, the booing was actually not personal. It's actually a sign of the increasingly intense relationship between the U.S. and Mexico at a time when the immigration debate is very hot." Harris later elaborated, saying that "many Mexicans feel that U.S. uses its power to get its way in world politics and also in competitions such as this one..." At no time did time during the segment did Harris feature anyone who disagreed with this so-called political statement from the crowd or even anyone who simply called them rude for booing a beauty pageant contestant.
He did, however, interview a left-wing Green Party activist who attempted to validate the boorish behavior:
For a taste of Lopez's politics, see his interview in Socialist Worker magazine: www.socialistworker.org [This item, by Scott Whitlock, was posted Wednesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] At the very end of the piece, host Diane Sawyer did utter a mild rebuke for the booing, but clearly Dan Harris felt that berating a young woman who did educational work in South Africa is a legitimate way to make a political statement.
A transcript of the segment, which aired at 7:17am on May 30:
The subsequent story. Robin Roberts: "We're going to switch subjects now because it's the fall heard around the world. Yes, you're going to see it again, Miss USA taking a tumble during the Miss Universe pageant in Mexico City. But if you thought that was tough, wait until you hear what Miss USA had to endure from the audience there in Mexico. You hear that? Boos, even heckling? A lot of people wondering why that type of reception. We asked Dan Harris to find out."
GMA Cites Michael Moore to Trumpet Popularity of Universal Health To promote the popularity of "universal health care," as espoused by Democratic candidates and Michael Moore, ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday selectively cited a poll from last year. With "56% of Americans favor universal health care" on screen," Diane Sawyer touted how "Senator Barack Obama released his plan for what he calls universal health care, something the majority of Americans say they want, according to an ABC News poll." But Sawyer failed to note how that's down six points, from 62 percent, in ABC's 2003 health issues survey. Reporter Claire Shipman recounted how the leading Democratic candidates are matching the desire of the public by proposing universal coverage plans before she trumpeted how "the issue should soon get hotter with this," the "upcoming release of Michael Moore's new film 'Sicko,' his scathing look at the health care system." However, Shipman failed to explain how very few think universal coverage "would actually improve the quality or cost of their own care, the availability of treatments, or their choice of doctors or hospitals." From the ABCNews.com summary of the network's poll released last October: "While 56 percent support a shift to universal coverage, far fewer, ranging from 15 to 26 percent, think such coverage would actually improve the quality or cost of their own care, the availability of treatments, or their choice of doctors or hospitals. Indeed by 2-1 people think universal coverage would make the quality of their own care worse, and by better than 2-1 think it would worsen their choice of doctors or hospitals."
That's online at: abcnews.go.com A transcript, provided by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, of the May 30 GMA story: Diane Sawyer: "Well, one of the hottest of the hot topics possible in the race for the White House is health care. And on Tuesday, Senator Barack Obama released his plan for what he calls universal health care, something the majority of Americans say they want, according to an ABC News poll. But his plan has drawn fire from his fellow contenders and we're going to turn now to GMA senior national correspondent Claire Shipman who has more. Claire?"
Claire Shipman: "Diane, this was Barack Obama saying I have substance as well as style. He was caught flat footed on the health care issue a couple of months ago and he is picking the right subject. In addition to Iraq, health care is something the Democrats are really focusing on this time. The voters care about it. A recent ABC News poll showed that 80 percent of Democrats and, get this, two thirds of independent voters, that's a critical voting block, think universal coverage is more important than keeping taxes down. It's the issue of the day for Democrats."
Tapper Notes Thompson's 'Liberal' on Campaign Finance & Abortion Reporting moves by Fred Thompson to launch a presidential campaign, ABC's Jake Tapper on Wednesday night interjected a conservative take on the actor and former Senator, suggesting "Thompson will soon face questions" about "the liberal positions he's taken in the past on campaign finance reform and abortion." Describing McCain-Feingold as "liberal" is noteworthy in itself. In his World News piece, Tapper had explained how, given conservative dissatisfaction with the three leading Republican contenders, Thompson thinks he can be "a conservative with star power." But, Tapper cautioned, "playing a President is a lot easier than being one." The NBC Nightly News also took time to look at a potential Thompson bid, but neither Brian Williams or Tim Russert hinted at any liberal views held by Thompson. In fact, Williams relayed how "he would run as a red-meat conservative" and Russert reported that, to fill the vacuum felt by conservatives, "Thompson would try to cast himself as a consistent conservative." [This item was posted Wednesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
The relevant portion of Jake Tapper's May 30 World News story, a longer version of which aired later on Nightline:
Ex-WashPost Reporter 'Infuriated' Opponents Deny He's a Democrat Charlie Hall, a Washington Post reporter and copy editor for 20 years, is running for a county board seat in suburban northern Virginia as a Democrat, and as the Post itself reported Tuesday, he gets really upset when his Democratic opponents suggest he has no Democratic credentials: "The issue infuriates Hall, who said that he has voted Democrat his whole life." [This item, by Tim Graham, was posted Wednesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Post reporter Bill Turque chronicled the primary fight for the Providence District of the Fairfax County Board, a long-time Democratic stronghold. Hall's a staunch opponent of new real-estate development in the area. The incumbent fighting for re-election on June 12 is Linda Q. Smyth, who is backed by the chairman of the Fairfax County Board, Gerald Connolly: The race has been marked by an undercurrent of charge, countercharge and score-settling. Connolly has been outspokenly critical of Hall's lack of involvement in the Democratic Party, even suggesting that he is a closet Republican in cahoots with Connolly's arch political rival, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va). Providence is in Davis's 11th Congressional District. "Charlie Hall has no known Democratic credentials," said Connolly, who normally extols as a virtue the board's bipartisan consensus on major issues. Hall said newsroom guidelines at The Post, where he worked as a reporter and part-time copy editor from 1985 to 2005, barred active involvement in partisan causes. He did acknowledge, however, that he and other activists met with Davis for 45 minutes in his congressional office in January to discuss politics in Providence. Hall, who said the meeting was arranged by someone else, said he had been considering running as an independent and wanted to know about the chances that a Republican would join the race, which would make an independent candidacy less attractive. He said Davis described the chances as low. The issue infuriates Hall, who said that he has voted Democrat his whole life and that Connolly "has spent a hell of a lot more time in Tom Davis' company in the last six months than I have." His campaign produced records showing that Smyth voted in Republican primaries in 1988, 1989 and 1996. "Meanwhile the other side is questioning my fitness as a Democrat," he said. "It seems like an odd tack to take. Anybody looking at my fundraising would see that if I had a congressman behind me, I'd be in a different boat." Smyth enjoys a commanding edge, $77,856 to Hall's $3,685, according to the latest reports. END of Excerpt
For the May 29 "Metro" section article in full: www.washingtonpost.com Hall's Web site touts the endorsement of the Democratic bloggers at Raising Kaine, who agree the former Post reporter is the more authentic anti-development liberal: www.charliehall2007.org
-- Brent Baker
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