top
|
|
1. Nightline Awards Democrats 'Strait A's' for 'Perfect' Third Night "Professor George Stephanopoulos," on Wednesday's Nightline, awarded the Democrats "straight A's" for the third day of their convention, with an A for "Filling in the Blanks," an A for "Heartstrings," an A for "Red Meat" and an A for "Body Language." The former Bill Clinton campaign operative and White House aide glowed over "a night of perfect political choreography" from his former boss and other Democrats as he marveled "the only problem Barack Obama has right now, and it's a high-class problem, as Bill Clinton used to say, is can he top what happened tonight?" Anchor Terry Moran echoed: "An extraordinary series of speeches." Nightline has used Stephanopoulos all week to assign grades. Not counting his F on Monday night for the "garish stage," of eleven grades over three nights Stephanopoulos has presented eight A's, two grades of B+ and one C. 2. Williams Channels Fret Kerry Waited to Answer 'Swiftboating' Hailing 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry's Wednesday night address to the Democratic convention "the toughest speech" by "perhaps the most forceful speaker so far," one in which Kerry denounced the "Swiftboating" of Barack Obama, NBC anchor Brian Williams channeled the liberal view, which he described merely as that of "people watching tonight," that Kerry lost in 2004 because he didn't take on the presumed unfair "Swiftboating" attacks against him four years ago. The first question from Williams to Kerry during NBC's 10 PM EDT prime time hour of coverage: "I don't need to tell you, people watching tonight were, you can answer this before I do, saying, "Sure, now, he took on 'Swiftboating' in his speech tonight, but not when he ran for President." Kerry vociferously rejected the premise, then agreed with it, before he rejected it again as he credited newspapers with writing "the truth" about how he was smeared. 3. Matthews Bored By Possible Pawlenty VP Pick, Ridge 'Spectacular' Chris Matthews liked the pick of longtime Senator Joe Biden for Barack Obama but the prospect of John McCain picking a veep, of similar voltage on the Republican side, like Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, caused Matthews to yawn: "not interesting." Of a potential Pawlenty pick, the Hardball host, during MSNBC's live coverage of the Democratic Convention on Wednesday night, described it this way: "It's like two little puddles of water coming together. There is no splash. There is no news." Matthews, however, trumpeted Tom Ridge as "a spectacular choice," but regretted: "Pat [Buchanan] is probably right knowing the Republican Party. You would have the, the Tony Perkins of world and the Focus on the Family people and he knows the rich list of those people who would immediately rebel. It would be like the Dixiecrats walking out." 4. CBS Declares McCain's Anti-Obama Ad 'a Stretch' CBS reporter Dean Reynolds on Wednesday night described the attacks on the other candidate by Barack Obama and John McCain, but only felt McCain's required a correction. After conveying how Obama is painting McCain as "out of touch and asleep at the switch are two...Obama favorites," Reynolds cited a new McCain "ad attacking what it said was Obama's position on Iran." Viewers saw a clip of the ad: "Iran. Radical Islamic government, known sponsors of terrorism. Obama says Iran is a 'tiny' country, 'doesn't pose a serious threat.' Obama, dangerously unprepared to be President." Reynolds pounced: "But the ad is a stretch because this is what Obama really said last May in Pendleton, Oregon, on the need for diplomacy." 5. Morning Shows Gush: Hillary 'Aced It' with 'Perfect' Speech All three broadcast morning shows on Wednesday hailed Hillary Clinton's convention speech the night before, as ABC's Diane Sawyer saw Clinton "bringing down the house," while George Stephanopoulos declared that "she aced it. I think she's gone farther than any losing candidate has ever gone in a convention like this." Sawyer gushed: "If her candidacy put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, her speech probably punched a hole in it." Over on NBC, Andrea Mitchell fawned that Clinton's "words were perfect. I don't see how she could have found a better way of expressing herself and coming out strongly for Barack Obama." On CBS, Early Show co-host Harry Smith was also enthusiastic: "Hillary Clinton stands and delivers....What a speech last night....If you appreciate stagecraft at any level you had to say she did a good job with that." Producers at all three morning shows seemed to have been smitten by Clinton's jab at John McCain: "No way, no how, no McCain," including the shot in their opening teases and again in their packaged reports. 6. Williams Again Wonders 'If Not Hillary, Who? If Not Now, When?' On two separate occasions during the 1 p.m. EDT hour of MSNBC News Live on Wednesday, host Brian Williams continued to wonder, as he did repeatedly the night before, if there will ever be a female President, pleading: "If not Senator Clinton, who? And if not now, when?" He recited the line during discussions with Representative Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and NBC Political Director Chuck Todd. 7. NBC's Luke Russert Touts Hillary's 'Pretty Damn Good' Speech Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert, appeared as a correspondent on Wednesday's Today show to tout the technological superiority of the Barack Obama campaign and its "online political revolution." Co-host Meredith Vieira pronounced the 23-year-old's reporting "terrific," but really the segment was just another puff piece on liberals such as Obama and Bill Clinton. Regarding the latter, Russert recounted meeting the ex-president at the Denver Democratic convention and being asked by Clinton how his Senator wife's speech went. Russert replied, "Well, judging from the crowd, pretty damn good." The bulk of the segment featured Russert interviewing Jayron Finan, a new supporter of the Illinois Senator and a Democratic delegate. Russert explained: "Inspired by Obama's stand against the war and his less confrontational political style, she visited his website and got involved." Continuing to repeat talking points and cliches, he added: "As she heads to the convention hall, Jayron believes that bringing new blood to the political process is the best way to bring about change." 8. NBC Gushes Over Common Man Joe Biden, the 'Amtrak Senator' On Wednesday's Today, frequent MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle filed a fawning, credulous report on "Amtrak Senator" Joe Biden and his daily habit of taking the train home from Washington D.C. after completing his duties in the U.S. Senate. Barnicle, who accompanied Biden during one of these trips back to Delaware, seemed to be repeating talking points when he touted how the journey keeps the politician grounded: "The train ride also had another benefit: Keeping him in touch with real people and his working class Irish Catholic roots." After listing what political pundits think are Biden's strengths, the journalist cooed, "But for the Amtrak Senator, it's about working people he feels a part of." As though he were narrating one of the promotional videos that have been used to introduce speakers at the Democratic convention, Barnicle pivoted off a comment by Biden that one doesn't need a focus group for most political issues. The MSNBC personality extolled, "All you need, says the presumptive Democratic nominee for vice president, is a seat on a train that takes you home every night." 9. ABC's GMA Suggests Viewing Obama 'A Religious Experience' On the Obama Messiah watch, in the last half-hour of ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday, anchor Chris Cuomo interviewed photographer Pete Souza who has a new book of Obama photographs. In addition to cooing over photos of the Obama daughters and Obama with the Kennedys, Cuomo highlighted photos of women looking adoringly at Obama: "And now, of course, the insight you're able to capture out on the trail. You say, it's so much like a religious experience for people as they meet him. Let's see the view that you get. Look at them with their hands clasped." 10. CNN, Not FNC, Punts on Pelosi's Catholic Abortion Teaching Gaffe CNN placed a total news blackout on Nancy Pelosi's misrepresentation of Catholic teaching and history on abortion on Sunday's Meet the Press and the subsequent reaction from several prominent Catholic bishops and from pro-life politicians. The news network did not mention the story at all between Sunday morning, when Pelosi made her remarks, and early Wednesday evening. This contrasts with major media outlets such as AP, Reuters, the Washington Post, and Fox News picking up on the controversy, not to mention the conservative blogosphere and talk radio. 11. On MSNBC, Actor Richard Dreyfuss Rails Against 'Corrupt' GOP Appearing on MSNBC Wednesday afternoon to promote his new movie, America Betrayed, a left-wing screed produced by a former CNBC anchor that purports to be a "documentary" about the evils of the American government during the past seven years, actor Richard Dreyfuss slammed the Republican Party as "corrupt through and through," "adept at thievery," and that "the rest of the country" abandoned New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Dreyfuss drew loud cheers from the liberal audience gathered around MSNBC's outdoor spot as he nonsensically declared: "I am tired of being called a traitor because I like my flag and I like -- and I support the troops." 12. 'Top Ten Things Overheard at the Democratic National Convention' Letterman's "Top Ten Things Overheard at the Democratic National Convention."
for 'Perfect' Third Night "Professor George Stephanopoulos," on Wednesday's Nightline, awarded the Democrats "straight A's" for the third day of their convention, with an A for "Filling in the Blanks," an A for "Heartstrings," an A for "Red Meat" and an A for "Body Language." The former Bill Clinton campaign operative and White House aide glowed over "a night of perfect political choreography" from his former boss and other Democrats as he marveled "the only problem Barack Obama has right now, and it's a high-class problem, as Bill Clinton used to say, is can he top what happened tonight?" Anchor Terry Moran echoed: "An extraordinary series of speeches." Nightline has used Stephanopoulos all week to assign grades. Not counting his F on Monday night for the "garish stage," of eleven grades over three nights Stephanopoulos has presented eight A's, two grades of B+ and one C. Giving his A on Wednesday for "Filling in the Blanks," which he described as "defining who Barack Obama is," Stephanopoulos was enamored with Bill Clinton and his credibility: "The question that has not been answered in this convention is: Is Barack Obama ready? It's a question on a lot of American people's minds, you saw Bill Clinton there. He's been a commander in chief. He said from what I've learned from being there, Barack Obama is ready. It was a big speech, it was a generous speech. It was an essential speech." Moran chimed in: "Classy speech, and there aren't many people who can make that endorsement." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted early Thursday morning on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The "Nightline Report Cards" assessed by Stephanopoulos so far this week: Monday: Heartstrings: A (Kennedy) Filling in the Blanks: B+ Bells and Whistles: F (garish stage) Clinton Psychodrama: incomplete Tuesday: The Speech: A (Hillary's) Red Meat: A (more attacks on Bush-McCain by Hillary) Filling in the Blanks: C Body Language: B+ Heartstrings: A (Chelsea Clinton) Wednesday: Filling in the Blanks: A Heartstrings: A Red Meat: A Body Language: A
The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcript of the explanations for the Wednesday, August 27 grades on the show broadcast from inside the Pepsi Center in Denver:
TERRY MORAN: Well, now, it's time once again for the "Nightline Report Card." And once again, Professor George Stephanopoulos joins us. All right. Let's grade them. Let's grade them. First, that big question, first subject. Filling in the blanks, defining who Barack Obama is.
Answer 'Swiftboating' Hailing 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry's Wednesday night address to the Democratic convention "the toughest speech" by "perhaps the most forceful speaker so far," one in which Kerry denounced the "Swiftboating" of Barack Obama, NBC anchor Brian Williams channeled the liberal view, which he described merely as that of "people watching tonight," that Kerry lost in 2004 because he didn't take on the presumed unfair "Swiftboating" attacks against him four years ago. The first question from Williams to Kerry during NBC's 10 PM EDT prime time hour of coverage: "I don't need to tell you, people watching tonight were, you can answer this before I do, saying, "Sure, now, he took on 'Swiftboating' in his speech tonight, but not when he ran for President."
Kerry vociferously rejected the premise, then agreed with it, before he rejected it again as he credited newspapers with writing "the truth" about how he was smeared: Williams didn't pose any tough questions to Kerry, cuing him up a few minutes later: "Where do you rank the folks that surround Senator Obama, this organization compared to all those you've seen in politics?" (In contrast, in the previous hour on FNC, Sean Hannity pressed 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis to identify some achievements by Barack Obama: "What are his major, specific accomplishments?") [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted late Wednesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] From about 12 minutes into the 10 PM EDT hour of NBC on Wednesday, August 27, as provided to me by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Senator Kerry, thank you for being with us. I don't need to tell you, people watching tonight were, you can answer this before I do, saying, "Sure, now, he took on 'Swiftboating' in his speech tonight, but not when he ran for President."
Pick, Ridge 'Spectacular' Chris Matthews liked the pick of longtime Senator Joe Biden for Barack Obama but the prospect of John McCain picking a veep, of similar voltage on the Republican side, like Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, caused Matthews to yawn: "not interesting." Of a potential Pawlenty pick, the Hardball host, during MSNBC's live coverage of the Democratic Convention on Wednesday night, described it this way: "It's like two little puddles of water coming together. There is no splash. There is no news." Matthews, however, trumpeted Tom Ridge as "a spectacular choice," but regretted: "Pat [Buchanan] is probably right knowing the Republican Party. You would have the, the Tony Perkins of world and the Focus on the Family people and he knows the rich list of those people who would immediately rebel. It would be like the Dixiecrats walking out." [This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted late Wednesday night on the MRC's blog: NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The following conversation between Matthews and Keith Olbermann occurred at 12:36am [EDT] on the August 27 (through Thursday morning) of MSNBC's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention:
KEITH OLBERMANN: Listen well we're talking about the Republican vice presidential choice and the prospect of it being leaked out to sort of blunt the Obama acceptance speech tomorrow. Chris and I were sitting here talking about this and I thought you made an excellent point. It's great to leak that out if it's going to be a wow, a wow moment! That would be news.
Stretch' CBS reporter Dean Reynolds on Wednesday night described the attacks on the other candidate by Barack Obama and John McCain, but only felt McCain's required a correction. After conveying how Obama is painting McCain as "out of touch and asleep at the switch are two...Obama favorites," Reynolds cited a new McCain "ad attacking what it said was Obama's position on Iran." Viewers saw a clip of the ad: "Iran. Radical Islamic government, known sponsors of terrorism. Obama says Iran is a 'tiny' country, 'doesn't pose a serious threat.' Obama, dangerously unprepared to be President." Reynolds pounced: "But the ad is a stretch because this is what Obama really said last May in Pendleton, Oregon, on the need for diplomacy." CBS then played a clip of Obama on May 18, part of the statement the McCain campaign cited to support its ad: "Strong countries and strong Presidents talk to their adversaries. I mean, think about it, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Wednesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Sounds like he said what the ad quotes him as having said. I've yet to hear Reynolds describe any of Obama's anti-McCain ads as "a stretch." McCain's page about the ad: www.johnmccain.com From the start of the Reynolds story aired on 6:30 PM EDT edition, which was mostly live coverage of the roll call at the Democratic convention, of the CBS Evening News:
DEAN REYNOLDS: Barack Obama tried to build a bridge to a key voting block today, telling an audience of veterans in Montana that this election provides a stark choice.
with 'Perfect' Speech All three broadcast morning shows on Wednesday hailed Hillary Clinton's convention speech the night before, as ABC's Diane Sawyer saw Clinton "bringing down the house," while George Stephanopoulos declared that "she aced it. I think she's gone farther than any losing candidate has ever gone in a convention like this." Sawyer gushed: "If her candidacy put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, her speech probably punched a hole in it." Over on NBC, Andrea Mitchell fawned that Clinton's "words were perfect. I don't see how she could have found a better way of expressing herself and coming out strongly for Barack Obama." On CBS, Early Show co-host Harry Smith was also enthusiastic: "Hillary Clinton stands and delivers....What a speech last night....If you appreciate stagecraft at any level you had to say she did a good job with that." Producers at all three morning shows seemed to have been smitten by Clinton's jab at John McCain: "No way, no how, no McCain," including the shot in their opening teases and again in their packaged reports. [This item, by the MRC's Rich Noyes, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, Newsbusters.org: newsbusters.org ] On ABC, however, Sawyer and Stephanopoulos spent some time considering the idea that Clinton had actually sidestepped any kind of personal endorsement of Obama. Sawyer noted: "She did not use one adjective about Obama himself nor did she reverse the skepticism she'd expressed about him as commander in chief." Stephanopoulos tried to rationalize the omission: "Perhaps the calculation in the Clinton camp was that would have seemed inauthentic in some way and too calculated, too political." CBS's Early Show minimized such thoughts during their 7am coverage, but at 7:40 brought aboard a former FBI agent to analyze Clinton's body language. Joe Navarro told co-host Maggie Rodriguez that Clinton's physical demeanor failed to reinforce her declarations of support for Obama. "The gestures, the non-verbals, that give us the emotion really weren't there," Navarro, a former FBI agent, explained. "This was not an impassioned speech." On NBC, Mitchell and NBC political director Chuck Todd also voice sympathy for Clinton, suggesting she's been unfairly rushed to make her peace with Obama. "She took some time to grieve," Mitchell argued. "But she got over it and she was more of a professional than the other one," an obvious reference to Bill Clinton. Todd added: "It took Ted Kennedy years to get over losing to Jimmy Carter. It took John McCain about seven years to get over losing to George W. Bush. Hillary Clinton is actually doing this at a faster pace than most primary losers." Now, some details from the Wednesday morning shows, all of which led with Clinton and ignored the keynote address of former Virginia Governor Mark Warner in their wrap-up pieces. # ABC's Good Morning America, as transcribed by MRC's Justin McCarthy: Opening tease at 7:00am EDT: DIANE SAWYER: This morning, bringing down the house. Hillary Clinton gets cheers and tears as she gives a battle cry for her supporters....
ROBIN ROBERTS: Good morning to you, Diane. I'm here in Times Square, of course, on this Wednesday, August 27th. And, yes, the night belonged to Hillary Clinton greeted with a standing ovation that just wouldn't stop. Diane, it just kept going and going and going. It was something else. In Sawyer's piece re-capping Tuesday night's speech:
SAWYER: But McCain forces have already noticed. She did not use one adjective about Obama himself nor did she reverse the skepticism she'd expressed about him as commander in chief. The strongest she said about him on foreign policy- Reviewing the speech with George Stephanopoulos:
DIANE SAWYER: And now for "The Bottom Line" this morning, once again our chief Washington correspondent, host of "This Week," George Stephanopoulos. What did you think, George?
Opening tease at 7am:
HARRY SMITH: Hillary Clinton stands and delivers....What a speech last night....If you appreciate stagecraft at any level you had to say she did a good job with that. We'll have much more on that in just a little bit, Mags. Beginning of convention re-cap story by Bill Plante: BILL PLANTE: Good morning to you, Harry. Well, there was a question, a big question, and a huge cloud of doubt. Would Hillary Clinton, after fighting so long and hard for the nomination, wholeheartedly support Barack Obama? Well, last night in this arena you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief as the Senator from New York stepped up and let it rip. During analysis with Democrat Joe Trippi and Republican Dan Bartlett:
HARRY SMITH: There you go. First things first. There really is this threshold that Hillary Clinton had to get over last night, in terms of being able to satisfy not only the Obama supporters, but especially those people who have been so loyal to her. From your perspective, did she get the job done?
Opening the show:
MEREDITH VIEIRA: Hey, Matt. You have to wonder how Hillary Clinton is feeling this morning. She had hoped to take center stage as the Democratic Party's nominee tomorrow night. Instead, she had to settle for speaking last night trying to persuade her supporters to back Barack Obama. Story by David Gregory:
DAVID GREGORY: Good morning, Matt. In a rousing speech, Senator Clinton sought to unite the party behind Barack Obama, even as she took pains to preserve her own political future. She showed up and brought the house down. In the final chapter of her own historic race for the White House, Senator Clinton said the words Barack Obama needed to hear. Analyzing the speech with NBC's Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd
MATT LAUER: This is going to be nitpicked. This speech is going to be analyzed and hyper-analyzed all day long. So, let's break it down to her words and her tone. How did she do with words?
LAUER: People asking why didn't Hillary Clinton make this definitive statement earlier? Was perhaps the reason she understands political theater better than anyone and she realized this was going to be a big night and the impact would be far greater than doing it on a Tuesday night after a primary months ago?
Who? If Not Now, When?' On two separate occasions during the 1 p.m. EDT hour of MSNBC News Live on Wednesday, host Brian Williams continued to wonder, as he did repeatedly the night before, if there will ever be a female President, pleading: "If not Senator Clinton, who? And if not now, when?" He recited the line during discussions with Representative Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and NBC Political Director Chuck Todd. Williams first raised the topic during the second segment of the hour. After asking Rep. Lowey about her thoughts on Senator Hillary Clinton's Democratic National Convention speech, Williams wondered: "Congresswoman, we have talked about the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling. As I said to Tom Brokaw on the air last night, the people who came to gladly vote for Senator Clinton, came with hammers in their hands to break that glass ceiling. They didn't cast their vote lightly. And here's the conundrum. If not Senator Clinton, who? And if not now, when? Because, after all, it's been a generation since Geraldine Ferraro, another member of the New York congressional delegation, was on a national ticket." After Lowey gave the typical response that Hillary Clinton ran an historic campaign and women cannot afford to elect Senator John McCain President, Williams rephrased the question and made it more personal: "I'll put it differently, Congresswoman. When Nita Lowey's grandchildren look up and ask when there's going to be a woman President of the United States, when you look at the bench of this party at this convention, the Republican Party next week in St. Paul do you tell them?" Just before 1:30 p.m. EDT, Williams again brought up the subject of a female president during his discussion with NBC political director Chuck Todd. After Todd talked about the difference between Hillary's supporters throughout the Democratic primary deciding to support Obama and the Clintons' "entourage" of people who have gotten VIP treatment at Democratic Party functions for the past 16 years supporting Obama, Williams added: "[B]ut the other issue, especially for all those of us with daughters, party aside, you, last night when you raised the fact that it's been an American generation since Geraldine Ferraro and then you look at if not now, when, that becomes such an interesting question. As we look at the bench on both the Republican side and the Democratic side." [This item, by MRC intern Lyndsi Thomas, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] As the August 27 CyberAlert noted noted, Brian Williams also brought up this same question of "if not Hillary, who, and if not now, when" on Tuesday's NBC Nightly News and then twice more during NBC's Tuesday prime time coverage: [www.mrc.org The relevant August 27 transcripts follow: # 1:06 p.m. EDT:
BRIAN WILLIAMS, host: We have another member of Congress on deck who's been waiting patiently to talk to us. Representative Nita Lowey in the state New York. An early and strong supporter of Senator Clinton, who, like a lot of other Democrats who came out for Senator Clinton, is getting in line behind this ticket. And congresswomen, first of all, thank you for being with us from our train station location and we'll hope we don't have an engine coming through, as it has all week long, at about this hour. First of all, tell me about what you thought of Senator Clinton's speech last night.
Damn Good' Speech Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert, appeared as a correspondent on Wednesday's Today show to tout the technological superiority of the Barack Obama campaign and its "online political revolution." Co-host Meredith Vieira pronounced the 23-year-old's reporting "terrific," but really the segment was just another puff piece on liberals such as Obama and Bill Clinton. Regarding the latter, Russert recounted meeting the ex-president at the Denver Democratic convention and being asked by Clinton how his Senator wife's speech went. Russert replied, "Well, judging from the crowd, pretty damn good." The bulk of the segment featured Russert interviewing Jayron Finan, a new supporter of the Illinois Senator and a Democratic delegate. Russert explained: "Inspired by Obama's stand against the war and his less confrontational political style, she visited his website and got involved." Continuing to repeat talking points and cliches, he added: "As she heads to the convention hall, Jayron believes that bringing new blood to the political process is the best way to bring about change." [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] NBC co-host Matt Lauer appeared awed at the tech savvy Obama campaign. He marveled: "It's amazing. Barack Obama really does seem to have embraced technology and the internet even when you talk about text messaging, the announcement that Joe Biden would be his running mate." Of course, that text message actually came at 3am on the morning of August 23, a few hours after it had leaked to the media. Additionally, in a lone voice of dissent, political analyst and Republican campaign veteran Mike Murphy was featured in a clip. He observed, "Well, this was President Howard Dean's plan, too. You know, the magic of the Internet is going to swamp regular politics and it didn't happen." At the end of the segment, the young Russert described his encounter with President Clinton: "I was in the hallway, managed to avoid the Secret Service. I got underneath the Secret Service hand line there and I talked to him. And he goes, 'How did my girl do? How did my girl do?'" It was at this point Russert said he replied, "'Well, judging from the crowd, pretty damn good.' And he says to me, 'She knocked it out of the park. Home run. Home run. I'm so proud of her.' So, you could obviously see a very jubilant ex-president walking the halls here in Denver." A transcript of the segment, which aired at 7:43am on August 27:
7:01am tease
7:43am
the 'Amtrak Senator' On Wednesday's Today, frequent MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle filed a fawning, credulous report on "Amtrak Senator" Joe Biden and his daily habit of taking the train home from Washington D.C. after completing his duties in the U.S. Senate. Barnicle, who accompanied Biden during one of these trips back to Delaware, seemed to be repeating talking points when he touted how the journey keeps the politician grounded: "The train ride also had another benefit: Keeping him in touch with real people and his working class Irish Catholic roots." After listing what political pundits think are Biden's strengths, the journalist cooed, "But for the Amtrak Senator, it's about working people he feels a part of." As though he were narrating one of the promotional videos that have been used to introduce speakers at the Democratic convention, Barnicle pivoted off a comment by Biden that one doesn't need a focus group for most political issues. The MSNBC personality extolled, "All you need, says the presumptive Democratic nominee for vice president, is a seat on a train that takes you home every night." [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Today co-host Matt Lauer actually teased the NBC piece by asserting, "The Democrats like to say the senator's got the common touch." Clearly, it's not just Democrats who will be promoting that particular angle. The graphic for the Barnicle segment unquestioningly announced, "All Aboard: Riding the Rails With Joe Biden." In a previous piece, reporter Andrea Mitchell and NBC political analyst Chuck Todd preemptively praised Biden's vice presidential speech, set for Wednesday night. Mitchell claimed she saw Biden practicing the address in the Denver convention hall. "And he is going to be ready. This guy knows how to give a speech," she enthused. Todd agreed: "Biden is good speech theater. Ask labor guys. This guy knows how to give fire and brimstone. It will be- People will be surprised by what they see tonight." And while Today found time to rhapsodize about Biden's everyman appeal and his toughness, unsurprisingly there was no labeling of the senator, a committed ideological liberal, in either segment. Biden's lifetime score from the American Conservative Union is 13: www.acuratings.org A transcript of the August 27 segment, which aired at 8:24am: MATT LAUER: Well, Senator Joe Biden, it's his big night tonight. He's the man that Barack Obama picked as his running mate. The Democrats like to say the senator's got the common touch. It may be in part because he likes to take the train to and from work every day. It's because, actually, he needed to be with his kids when they were young and dealing with tragedy. So, we're going to go along for the ride. ....
MATT LAUER: Welcome back to Denver where Senator Joe Biden will accept his party's vice presidential nomination tonight. You know, he likes to say that he's not a typical Washington politician because, in part, he takes the train to and from his Delaware train every single day. Before he got the nod to become Barack Obama's running mate, Senator Biden took a ride on that train with MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle.
Experience' On the Obama Messiah watch, in the last half-hour of ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday, anchor Chris Cuomo interviewed photographer Pete Souza who has a new book of Obama photographs. In addition to cooing over photos of the Obama daughters and Obama with the Kennedys, Cuomo highlighted photos of women looking adoringly at Obama: "And now, of course, the insight you're able to capture out on the trail. You say, it's so much like a religious experience for people as they meet him. Let's see the view that you get. Look at them with their hands clasped." Hallowed be thy name, Barack? Souza described his images: "This is early on and you can just see the people are curious about him. This was in Springfield the day that he announced he was running for president. This was in South Carolina, a lot of curiosity early on, I think." Before that, Cuomo saw "a continuum of leadership" from Abe Lincoln to Martin Luther King to Obama. Souza highlighted a rather pedestrian photo of Obama reading a magazine in his office, strangely touting his ability to relax. (Like so few Americans can?) [This item, by the MRC's Tim Graham, was posted Wednesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] From the last half-hour of the Wednesday, August 27 GMA:
CUOMO: Now, you have a picture of Obama in his office that you believe is revealing beyond what we can just see. Let's take a look at that photo. Is he asleep there? What's going on? Then came the Kennedys, and Cuomo (whose brother Andrew married and divorced Kerry Kennedy, one of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's daughters) chatted like a family insider:
CUOMO: Now here at the convention, the Kennedy family, the senator, the lion of the Senate, has had a big impact here. You have a photo with Obama and Ethel Kennedy, who is of course Robert Kennedy's widow. Let's take a look at that, nice warm embrace. Ethel is a very warm loving person. It felt like a very warm Democratic family gathering at ABC, the supposedly nonpartisan news outlet. For the record, Souza has photographed leaders on both sides of the aisle: from 1983 to 1989, he was an official White House photographer for Ronald Reagan: www.digitaljournalist.org
Abortion Teaching Gaffe 10) CNN placed a total news blackout on Nancy Pelosi's misrepresentation of Catholic teaching and history on abortion on Sunday's Meet the Press and the subsequent reaction from several prominent Catholic bishops and from pro-life politicians. The news network did not mention the story at all between Sunday morning, when Pelosi made her remarks, and early Wednesday evening. This contrasts with major media outlets such as AP, Reuters, the Washington Post, and Fox News picking up on the controversy, not to mention the conservative blogosphere and talk radio. [This item, by Matthew Balan, was Wednesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] For the August 26 report by AP's Eric Gorski, "Pelosi stands by abortion comments," see: www.washingtonpost.com For the August 27 report by Ed Stoddard of Reuters, "Pelosi's abortion comments provoke Catholic criticism," check: blogs.reuters.com For the August 27 Washington Post article by Jacqueline L. Salmon, "Archbishop Disputes Pelosi's Statements," go to: www.washingtonpost.com This past Sunday, Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw asked Pelosi about Barack Obama's now-infamous "above my pay grade" answer to a question about when human life begins and how she would respond to a similar question. She cited that as an "ardent, practicing Catholic," she had researched the Church's stance on the matter over the centuries, referenced how St. Augustine apparently helped her make take the pro-abortion position, and that the Church's current position that human life begins at conception has only been around "maybe 50 years or something like that." Several Catholic bishops began to issue statements correcting Pelosi's public misrepresentation of Church teaching on Monday afternoon. As a result, mainstream media outlets began to pick up on the story by Monday evening/Tuesday morning (Thomas Peters of American Papist blog gives an excellent timeline of the controversy so far, as well as a list of some of the media outlets that have picked up on it). Check: www.americanpapist.com Despite the coverage from their media peers, there was only one oblique reference to Pelosi's pro-abortion stance on CNN, which came from a liberal talking head, and not from any of the network's anchors or correspondents. During CNN's Tuesday evening coverage of the Democratic convention, Hilary Rosen, political director for the Huffington Post, mentioned Pelosi's attendance at a reception earlier that day hosted by the Emily's List, whose stated mission is to help elect "pro-choice Democratic women to office." Rosen failed the mention the "pro-choice" component to their mission in her remark, which came 48 minutes into the 7 pm Eastern hour of CNN's coverage: "...I have a report from backstage at the Emily's List event. Emily's List, you know, is that organization -- that great organization that elects Democratic women. Today was their big gala event. They had Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama all sharing the stage together, and Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama had a chance to meet backstage prior to that gala." Outside of the CNN blackout, the story did get some notice by the television news media. MRC's Brad Wilmouth highlighted that Brit Hume on his evening Special Report program on Fox News Channel devoted an entire segment on Tuesday to the Pelosi/abortion issue. For the August 26 NewsBusters post by Brad Wilmouth, "FNC: Catholic Leaders Respond to Pelosi's Abortion Claims," go to: newsbusters.org
Against 'Corrupt' GOP 11) Appearing on MSNBC Wednesday afternoon to promote his new movie, America Betrayed, a left-wing screed produced by a former CNBC anchor that purports to be a "documentary" about the evils of the American government during the past seven years, actor Richard Dreyfuss slammed the Republican Party as "corrupt through and through," "adept at thievery," and that "the rest of the country" abandoned New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Dreyfuss drew loud cheers from the liberal audience gathered around MSNBC's outdoor spot as he nonsensically declared: "I am tired of being called a traitor because I like my flag and I like -- and I support the troops." [This item, by the MRC's Rich Noyes, was posted, with video, Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, Newsbusters.org: newsbusters.org ] His claim that New Orleans was "abandoned" is absolutely vapid: The Coast Guard responded rapidly, saving thousands from the rapidly rising flood waters. Millions of Americans donated money to help the victims. The federal government has pumped billions of dollars into reconstruction. Even a clip from the film Dreyfuss narrated acknowledged billions of dollars in federal aid to Katrina victims, since he bemoaned "$2 billion of recovery money for Katrina was squandered due to waste, fraud, and abuse." And as for America Betrayed, a July 24 article in Variety included a quote from the movie's producer, Leslie Carde calling her film "a long, hard look at how this country handles disaster, which ones they indirectly cause and how corporate America and their friends in the White House profit from those disasters in the long run." Variety also gave some background on the producer: "Carde, a network TV journo and CNBC anchor, has made numerous visits to Iraq since 2003, including a trip for this doc." For the Variety story: www.variety.com In Wednesday's interview, O'Donnell herself seemed to buy into the loopy left-wing hype, at one point describing the hurricane as "a man-made disaster." She quickly added a clarification: "Because of the government's response, some say." Dreyfuss played to the obviously left-wing crowd outside of MSNBC's broadcast area, milking the applause and receiving cheers each time he bashed the Bush administration as corrupt or incompetent. Here's the exchange from about 3:25pm EDT on August 27: NORAH O'DONNELL: And with the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina quickly approaching, a new documentary is shining a spotlight on our government's role in the worst man-made disaster in American history -- because of the government's response, some people say. Academy-award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss narrates ‘America Betrayed,' a film that not only mentions Katrina but [drowned out by loud cheering of crowd outside MSNBC's booth]....
CLIP FROM AMERICA BETRAYED
O'DONNELL: And joining us now, Richard Dreyfuss, who narrates this new documentary [more loud cheering. Dreyfuss stands and begs with his arms for the crowd to keep cheering.] Don't you get enough praise and adoration? You're here. You're obviously famous. A lot of people know you, of course, even from the ‘Jaws' movies. But you are narrating this documentary and bringing attention to Hurricane Katrina. Why?
National Convention' 12) From the August 26 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Things Overheard at the Democratic National Convention." Late Show home page: lateshow.cbs.com 10. "Check it out -- Bill Clinton and John Edwards are hitting on the same woman" 9. "The decorations are made from 'John Kerry 2004' bumper stickers" 8. "I think the Chinese delegates are underage" 7. "No, Mr. President, you belong at the Republican convention" 6. "Senator Biden, do you think you'll shoot an old guy in the face?" 5) Shut up! I'm trying to listen to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle" 4. No number 4 -- writer at screening of "The House Bunny" 3. "Coming up next, a look at Democratic candidates' greatest concession speeches" 2. "Yes, at midnight they're going to tase Andy Dick" 1. "Hey, it's a giant Al Gore balloon! Oh, wait. That's Al Gore"
-- -- Brent Baker, with the night team: Geoffrey Dickens, Brad Wilmouth and Matthew Balan, plus Michelle Humphrey and Karen Hanna on the DVRs
Home | News Division
| Bozell Columns | CyberAlerts |
|
|
|