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1. ABC & CBS Lead w/ Powell v Cheney & Limbaugh, GOP Too Conservative ABC and CBS, which two weeks ago gave short-shrift to Dick Cheney choosing Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell as the better representative of the Republican Party (brief anchor-read items), both led Sunday night with Powell push back against Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. "Colin Powell hitting back at Dick Cheney and other Republican critics, saying he's still a member of the party, a party he says has to change," ABC anchor Dan Harris teased Sunday's World News. On CBS, Russ Mitchell announced: "Tonight, Colin Powell versus Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. The former Secretary of State defends his Republican credentials." In the lead CBS Evening News story, Kimberly Dozier made Powell's case, reporting how on Sunday's Face the Nation "he said the criticism he faces points to what's wrong with his party" and "he pointed out the party's recent poor track record, losing the presidency by ten million votes and losing a majority in Congress." Dozier had noted that Powell endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain last year, but failed to suggest any hypocrisy in then fretting about the Republican candidate losing. Instead, Dozier proceeded to highlight how "moderate Republicans worry that the party is perceived as embracing only a few narrow issues -- anti-abortion, anti-tax and pro-gun rights." 2. Cummings Whines Cheney's 'Made It Much Harder to Close Guantanamo' The Politico's Jeanne Cummings, a veteran of the Wall Street Journal, fretted on this weekend's Inside Washington that former Vice President Dick Cheney has "changed this debate in a way that has made it much, much harder to close Guantanamo, which the President is already committed to doing." So he's done an awful thing in daring to oppose something President Obama is "committed to doing." Dreadful! In fact, she soon charged that in complicating Obama's intention to close Guantanamo -- which Obama had announced without any plan for where to place the detainees -- "Cheney really did damage to the effort to keep our country secure by turning this into a political issue. We were going to have to deal with this and to make it a political issue is not helpful. It's just not." 3. CNN's Anderson Cooper: Is Cheney 'Emboldening Our Enemies?' Anchor Anderson Cooper grilled Dick Cheney's daughter Liz Cheney on his CNN program on Thursday evening about her father's defense of the Bush administration's anti-terror tactics. At one point, he asked: "Is it appropriate, though, for your father, who has had access to high-level intelligence for -- for eight years, to be very publicly waving a flag, saying, we're much weaker now than ever before? Isn't that, in fact, emboldening our enemies? Couldn't you make that argument?" Cooper later asked the former State Department official, "If a Democrat was doing this in a Republican administration, wouldn't be the Republicans be saying, this is traitorous?" The anchor also questioned whether the CIA actually took care in implementing its enhanced interrogations: "But -- more than 100 people are known to have died in U.S. custody. Twenty -- I think about 20 of those have been ruled a homicide. I mean, if -- if these were just tightly-controlled things, how come so many people are being murdered in U.S. custody?" 4. New Animated Series on ABC to Lampoon Environmentalists With television hosts unwilling to joke about President Barack Obama as those comedians regularly ridicule conservatives, there's a bright spot coming up this week in a new TV show set to debut on ABC which will mock leftist environmentalism. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday: "The new animated television series 'The Goode Family' is a send-up of a clan of environmentalists who live by the words 'What would Al Gore do?' Gerald and Helen Goode want nothing more than to minimize their carbon footprint. They feed their dog, Che, only veggies (much to the pet's dismay) and Mr. Goode dutifully separates sheets of toilet paper when his wife accidentally buys two-ply. And, of course, the family drives a hybrid." 5. Flashback: Couric to Mr. & Mrs. Edwards, 'One Frosty, Two Straws?' Nearly five years ago, when compliant journalists were touting then-vice presidential candidate John Edwards and admiring his supposed idyllic marriage to Elizabeth Edwards, Katie Couric celebrated the happy couple's annual wedding anniversary "romantic ritual" of eating at Wendy's, wondering as all three laughed together: "What do you say, 'One Frosty, two straws?'" Pretty ridiculous in retrospect. 6. New MRC Web Site, So New Online Location for CyberAlerts The MRC launched a new Web site on Friday, so for a few days there will be a disconnect between the links in CyberAlerts for the online posting of each CyberAlert and where you can see screen shots and videos that illustrate each CyberAlert item. As always, you can click on the links to the NewsBusters posts to access the pictures and/or video. Individual CyberAlert items are now posted online under the "Daily BiasAlerts" heading. The CyberAlert e-mails will continue, but only the e-mail will be called "CyberAlert." Sometime this week, I hope, the CyberAlert will begin to deliver a compilation of the newest BiasAlerts posts, usually all those posted during the preceding 24 hours. ABC & CBS Lead w/ Powell v Cheney & Limbaugh, GOP Too Conservative ABC and CBS, which two weeks ago gave short-shrift to Dick Cheney choosing Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell as the better representative of the Republican Party (brief anchor-read items), both led Sunday night with Powell push back against Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. "Colin Powell hitting back at Dick Cheney and other Republican critics, saying he's still a member of the party, a party he says has to change," ABC anchor Dan Harris teased Sunday's World News. On CBS, Russ Mitchell announced: "Tonight, Colin Powell versus Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. The former Secretary of State defends his Republican credentials." In the lead CBS Evening News story, Kimberly Dozier made Powell's case, reporting how on Sunday's Face the Nation "he said the criticism he faces points to what's wrong with his party" and "he pointed out the party's recent poor track record, losing the presidency by ten million votes and losing a majority in Congress." Dozier had noted that Powell endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain last year, but failed to suggest any hypocrisy in then fretting about the Republican candidate, the most liberal since Gerald Ford, losing or then complaining the party is too conservative. Instead, Dozier proceeded to highlight how "moderate Republicans worry that the party is perceived as embracing only a few narrow issues -- anti-abortion, anti-tax and pro-gun rights." As opposed to Democrats embracing only a few narrow issues: pro-abortion, pro-tax and pro-radical environmentalism. [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Sunday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBuster.org: newsbusters.org ] Neither story mentioned Powell's criticism of Obama's handling of Guantanamo: "I think President Obama didn't handle it very well by going up to the Congress and asking for $80 million without a plan." (Sunday's NBC Nightly News folded Powell into a larger story on expectations Obama will name his Supreme Court pick on Tuesday.) Harris opened the May 24 World News: "Good evening. Colin Powell, a decorated war veteran knows a thing or two about fighting back, and so today, Powell plunged into the raging debate between moderate and conservative Republicans over the future of the party by answering his loudest critics, specifically Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh, who have openly mocked Powell as a Republican In Name Only." The CBS Evening News story: RUSS MITCHELL: The battle for the soul of the Republican Party continues this weekend. After his loyalty was questioned by party powerhouses, former Secretary of State Colin Powell responded this Sunday and issued a challenge to his critics. Kimberly Dozier has more from Washington.
KIMBERLY DOZIER: General Colin Powell, a veteran of both the Reagan and the Bush administrations, fired back today at his critics on the Republican right.
Cummings Whines Cheney's 'Made It Much Harder to Close Guantanamo' The Politico's Jeanne Cummings, a veteran of the Wall Street Journal, fretted on this weekend's Inside Washington that former Vice President Dick Cheney has "changed this debate in a way that has made it much, much harder to close Guantanamo, which the President is already committed to doing." So he's done an awful thing in daring to oppose something President Obama is "committed to doing." Dreadful! In fact, she soon charged that in complicating Obama's intention to close Guantanamo -- which Obama had announced without any plan for where to place the detainees -- "Cheney really did damage to the effort to keep our country secure by turning this into a political issue. We were going to have to deal with this and to make it a political issue is not helpful. It's just not." To which a befuddled columnist Charles Krauthammer retorted by pointing out the overwhelming bi-partisan vote to block the closing: "Cheney is the one who turned it into a political issue? I thought it was a 90-6 vote in the Senate. Just about every Democrat in the Senate-" Cummings jumped in to blame Cheney for turning virtually every Senate Democrat against Obama: "No, Cheney started making political arguments a week ago. That is when you did start to see the tide turn up on Capitol Hill. It was after Cheney started to talk about 'I don't want to be the Member who says I brought a terrorist to a jail in my district.'" [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Saturday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Inside Washington is a weekly show produced and aired over the weekend by Washington, DC's ABC affiliate, but first broadcast Friday night on the local PBS station: www.insidewashington.tv Politico's bio for Cummings: www.politico.com From the edition first aired on Friday night, May 22, on WETA-TV: JEANNE CUMMINGS: I think that the country actually suffered a setback this week. This debate was supposed to be about edifying the reasons why the Bush White House had its policies and Obama has their own policy, but if the presumption is Guantanamo was going to be closed either Bush, McCain, or Obama, it just got much more difficult this week because the Vice President made it political. He went on shows saying basically "I don't want to be the member of the House who sees terrorists brought to a jail in my district." And that changed this debate in a way that has made it much, much harder to close Guantanamo, which the President is already committed to doing. ....
CUMMINGS: Cheney really did damage to the effort to keep our country secure by turning this into a political issue. We were going to have to deal with this and to make it a political issue is not helpful. It's just not.
CNN's Anderson Cooper: Is Cheney 'Emboldening Our Enemies?' Anchor Anderson Cooper grilled Dick Cheney's daughter Liz Cheney on his CNN program on Thursday evening about her father's defense of the Bush administration's anti-terror tactics. At one point, he asked: "Is it appropriate, though, for your father, who has had access to high-level intelligence for -- for eight years, to be very publicly waving a flag, saying, we're much weaker now than ever before? Isn't that, in fact, emboldening our enemies? Couldn't you make that argument?" Cooper later asked the former State Department official, "If a Democrat was doing this in a Republican administration, wouldn't be the Republicans be saying, this is traitorous?" The anchor also questioned whether the CIA actually took care in implementing its enhanced interrogations: "But -- more than 100 people are known to have died in U.S. custody. Twenty -- I think about 20 of those have been ruled a homicide. I mean, if -- if these were just tightly-controlled things, how come so many people are being murdered in U.S. custody?" [This item, by the MRC's Matthew Balan, was posted Friday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The CNN anchor had the Cheney daughter on for a live interview eleven minutes into the 10 pm Eastern hour of his Anderson Cooper 360 program. He came out the gate using a term that he led his program with: "Is it -- is it appropriate for your father to be so out in front right now so soon after leaving office, essentially mocking the sitting president of the United States?" When she initially responded by denying that her father was "mocking," Cooper replied, "Well, saying he's pandering to Europe?" Liz Cheney agreed with her father, the former vice president, that President Obama was "pandering to Europe," and that "there's sort of a level of political nicety that's important to observe, except in certain circumstances, and one of those circumstances is where the national security of the nation is at risk, as my father feels strongly that it is....I think my dad began to feel very strongly that somebody needed to speak out, that this needed to be a full airing of views, and not a one-sided mischaracterization of the last eight years." Cooper then trotted out the standard liberal line about the use of waterboarding: "But these -- these are techniques which have been around. I mean, the Nazis used them. The -- the Khmer Rouge used them. The -- the North Koreans used them. So, it's not as if terrorists were unfamiliar with these techniques, if they wanted to train for them, and I'm not sure you really can train for torture or -- or enhanced interrogation." The former State Department official answered that the "legal memos are very clear, and this was a -- a very carefully designed program...that the CIA designed, that they had the lawyers look at, to make sure that the line that divided sort of rough treatment from torture wouldn't be crossed....What the president has done is ensure that no future president can use any of these techniques. So, that's a big step, and that's a step that I think really does endanger the country." The anchor followed-up with his "emboldening our enemies" question:
COOPER: Is it appropriate, though, for your father, who has had access to high-level intelligence for -- for eight years, to be very publicly waving a flag, saying, we're much weaker now than ever before? Isn't that, in fact, emboldening our enemies? Couldn't you make that argument? Later in the segment, Cooper twice brought up the "100 people have died in U.S. custody" and how "20 of those have been ruled a homicide." The Cheney daughter shot back, accusing the anchor of "conflating things that aren't conflated."
COOPER: Well, 20 people -- but 100 people have died in U.S. custody, 20 of it ruled a homicide.
New Animated Series on ABC to Lampoon Environmentalists
With television hosts unwilling to joke about President Barack Obama as those comedians regularly ridicule conservatives, there's a bright spot coming up this week in a new TV show set to debut on ABC which will mock leftist environmentalism. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday: The series, from Mike Judge who created Beavis and Butt-Head for MTV and King of the Hill for Fox, will debut Wednesday night at 9 PM EDT/PDT, 8 PM CDT/MDT. The May 22 Journal article, "Making a Mockery of Being Green -- The creator of 'Beavis and Butt-Head' and 'King of the Hill' has a new target: environmentalists," observed: "Much as Mr. Judge's series King of the Hill finds humor in the dramas of a working-class Texas family, Goode lampoons a liberal Midwestern household. In Goode, the characters are often mocked for being green just to fit in with their friends and neighbors." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] ABC.com has preview with commentary from Judge and his collaborators: abc.go.com DebbieSchlussel.com, "Can't Wait for This: New Animated ABC Mike Judge Series Mocks Liberal Enviro-Crazies," has gathered in one post three YouTube clips from the show: www.debbieschlussel.com May 22 Wall Street Journal article: online.wsj.com
Flashback: Couric to Mr. & Mrs. Edwards, 'One Frosty, Two Straws?' Nearly five years ago, when compliant journalists were touting then-vice presidential candidate John Edwards and admiring his supposed idyllic marriage to Elizabeth Edwards, Katie Couric celebrated the happy couple's annual wedding anniversary "romantic ritual" of eating at Wendy's, wondering as all three laughed together: "What do you say, 'One Frosty, two straws?'" Pretty ridiculous in retrospect. In the taped interview aired on the Thursday, July 15, 2004 Today show, Couric cued up the couple: "I know you'll be celebrating your 27th wedding anniversary. And I understand you go through a romantic ritual every year to commemorate that date. Share it with us will you?" John Edwards answered that "we go to Wendy's for our anniversary" before his wife provided her take, prompting a delighted Couric to marvel: "So every year for 26 years so far?" As John Edwards quipped "you could question our sanity," Couric jumped in: "I was gonna say, what do you say, 'One Frosty, two straws?'" [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Saturday night, with video, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The MRC's Karen Hanna tracked down the videotape of the exchange, recounted in the July 16, 2004 MRC CyberAlert, and created the clip. At another point in the session, Couric reminded Mrs. Edwards of her husband's sexiness: "Let me ask you, when your husband was voted Sexiest Politician by People magazine were you like bleah? Or were you like, 'Hey! That's my man!?'" Not just her man.
New MRC Web Site, So New Online Location for CyberAlerts The MRC launched a new Web site on Friday, so for a few days there will be a disconnect between the links in CyberAlerts for the online posting of each CyberAlert and where you can see screen shots and videos that illustrate each CyberAlert item. As always, you can click on the links to the NewsBusters posts to access the pictures and/or video. Individual CyberAlert items are now posted online under the "Daily BiasAlerts" heading. The CyberAlert e-mails will continue, but only the e-mail will be called "CyberAlert." Sometime this week, I hope, the CyberAlert will begin to deliver a compilation of the newest BiasAlerts posts, usually all those posted during the preceding 24 hours. The HTML version of the "new" CyberAlert will feature all the content previously available only online: Pictures/screen shots, images which will link you directly to online video playback, and embedded links. Don't worry, we will continue to have a plain text version sans anything but the text. Whichever version you now receive is the one you will continue to receive. To read online any of the items in today's CyberAlert, go to the "BiasAlert" page on our new site which is populated with the latest posts: www.mrc.org Oh, and to check out the new Media Research Center Web site: www.mrc.org
-- Brent Baker
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