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ABC Hypes Michelle Obama’s ‘Lush,’ Luxurious’ Spanish Vacation, Hit Extravagance of Laura Bush

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Good Morning America’s Yunji de Nies on Friday touted Michelle Obama’s “five-star,” “luxurious” vacation to Spain, skipping any discussion of controversy over the $148,000 trip. In January of 2009, however, the very same program chided Laura Bush for introducing new presidential dinnerware, despite the fact that the bill was being paid by a private organization. De Nies gushed, “They toured the plaza in old Marbella. Cooled off with chocolate gelato and bought matching sun dresses. Michelle and Sasha Obama are making a splash in Spain.” News reader Juju Chang vaguely hinted at criticism, allowing, “Michelle Obama may be taking heat for her luxury vacation with her nine-year-old daughter, but as Yunji de Nies shows us, the Spanish can’t get enough of her.” What that “heat” was, exactly, went unsaid. Good Morning America certainly hasn’t reported on it. ( CBS News reported that the”6.5 hour flight to Spain would run $73,781.50 – double for the round trip.”) ABC brought on reporter Ann Compton to defend the vacation: “Whether they’re sitting on a beach or meeting with a king in a palace. It is bringing forth the American culture, the American people, representing the United States of America. It’s never really just vacation.” Yet, on January 7, 2009 , the same Compton worried, “So, why is Laura Bush introducing new Bush china two weeks before they move out?” Co-host Robin Roberts warned about the “brewing brouhaha” and alerted, “President and First Lady Laura Bush are leaving behind a new set of dinnerware when they leave the White House in two weeks.” At the very end of the segment, Compton explained that the $485,000 cost was being paid by the private White House Historical Association. DeNies has a history of fawning over Michelle Obama. On October 1, 2009 , she predicted that the First Lady’s pitch for the 2016 Olympics in Chicago would leave not “a dry eye in the house.” On April 29, 2009 , she lauded Mrs. Obama as the “belle of the ball.” A transcript of the August 6 segment, which aired at 8:03am EDT, follows: JUJU CHANG: And the First Lady’s summer in Spain . Michelle Obama may be taking heat for her luxury vacation with her nine-year-old daughter, but as Yunji de Nies shows us, the Spanish can’t get enough of her. YUNJI DE NIES: They toured the plaza in old Marbella. Cooled off with chocolate gelato and bought matching sun dresses. Michelle and Sasha Obama are making a splash in Spain . UNIDENTIFIED SPANISH WOMAN [through translator]: She’s very beautiful. Very nice. I couldn’t see more, though, because the whole world is waiting. DE NIES: Wherever they go, the press follows. [Montage of Spanish reporters saying “Michelle Obama.] DE NIES: They’re traveling with old friends from Chicago. All staying at this five-star resort. Its website boasts lush gardens and luxurious suites. ROBERT GIBBS: It’s a private trip and is being paid for that way. DE NIES: She’s not the first first mom to jet set with her daughter. Hillary Clinton brought Chelsea around the world. Jenna Bush joined her mother in Africa. ABC’s Ann Compton covered it all. And says, there’s value to these visits. ANN COMPTON: Whether they’re sitting on a beach or meeting with a king in a palace. It is bringing forth the American culture, the American people, representing the United States of America. It’s never really just vacation. DE NIES: America’s littlest ambassadors have toured Russia’s Kremlin, Rome’s Coliseum. Even met with Queen Elizabeth. On Sunday, mother and daughter will lunch with the Spanish king and queen, a royal finish to this summer vacation. For Good Morning America, Yunji de Nies, ABC News, the White House. CHANG: I just love the way the Spanish say Michelle Obama.

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ABC Skips Label for Liberal Media Matters During Shootout With ‘Conservative’ Andrew Breitbart

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart and Eric Boehlert of the liberal organization Media Matters debated each other on Wednesday’s Good Morning America, but ABC only identified the ideology of the right-leaning guest. Boehlert was simply the ” senior fellow with the watchdog group Media Matters for America .” [MP3 audio here. ] Yet, Breitbart’s website was described in a previous segment as “conservative.” In a follow-up piece, news anchor Juju Chang labeled him “a conservative blogger.” Breitbart and Boehlert were appearing to discuss the firing of USDA employee Shirley Sherrod, following the posting of a tape of her on Breitbart’s website. A number of topics not usually highlighted on network television were discussed. Host George Stephanopoulos actually allowed Breitbart to raise the 2008 case of voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party, a story previously ignored on GMA. He also explained how the mainstream media ignored factual challenges to the assertion that African American congressmen were called the N-word during protests in Washington. After pointing out that videos of the day’s events don’t back up the Democrats’ claim, Breitbart challenged, “When I showed four exculpatory videos that it did not happen, the mainstream media would not show it, because the lie is so massive, it was meant to hurt the Tea Party.” An odd moment at the end of the segment occurred when Stephanopoulos turned to Boehlert and wondered, ” Why not show the four videos he’s talking about? ” Boehlert simply replied, “You can show them.” George Stephanopoulos hosts a two hour, daily program on a major network. If he was interested in the subject, he certainly could have shown the videos at some point in the past. A transcript of the July 21 segment, which aired at 7:33am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And joining us now to debate all this fallout, Andrew Breitbart, publisher of BigGovernment.com, which started this firestorm by posting that video of Shirley Sherrod. Also, Eric Boehlert, senior fellow with the watchdog group Media Matters for America . You guys are on different sides, obviously, of this issue. But, Andrew, let me begin with you. After seeing the whole tape, White House calls Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He’s now reconsidering this firing. Any second thoughts for you? ANDREW BREITBART: I have no second thoughts regarding the course that Vilsack took. I have no idea why a video that was posted to draw attention between the conflict of the Tea Party and- the Tea Party- and the Democratic party, are trying to attack- STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me stop you there. Because, your original column said that the video lays out, in stark detail, that her, Shirley Sherrod’s federal duties, are managed through the prism of race and class distinction. When you see the whole video, that’s clearly not true. BREITBART: No, she does talk about race and class distinctions in it. But this was always- STEPHANOPOULOS: But, not in the context of her job as a federally appointed executive bureaucrat, which is what you say in the column. BREITBART: What this video clearly shows is a standard that the Tea Party has not been held to. The NAACP shows people in the audience there, applauding her when she discriminates against a white farmer. That was the point that I was trying to make. Because what the NAACP is arguing about the Tea Party is that there are people in- STEPHANOPOULOS: But, you said she did this as a federally appointed bureaucrat. BREITBART: Let me finish my point. There are people in the crowds of tea parties. And they’re rebuking the tea party on that behalf. And I’m telling you, that this is a standard. If you want to talk about people clapping racist behavior, that’s exactly what you see in the video. STEPHANOPOULOS: Eric? ERIC BOEHLERT: Well, Andrew had no idea what the context of the comments were. But that didn’t stop him from launching the smear campaign. That’s what Andrew Breitbart and Fox News and the right-wing media does. And they’ve been doing it for a long time. And it’s sort of ugly and contemptible. If he had decency, he would apologize to Shirley Sherrod. And he would also stop with the race-bating that we’ve seen all summer. BREITBART: He talked about race-baiting here. The context is laid out here by an icon within the civil rights movement. Mary Francis Berry, who was appointed by both Clinton- STEPHANOPOULOS: Former head of the Civil Rights Commission- BREITBART: Civil Rights Commission- said this. Appointed by Clinton and Carter said this: “Tainting the Tea Party movement with the charge of racism is proving to be an effective strategy for Democrats. There’s no evidence that Tea Party adherents are any more racist than any other Republicans and, indeed, many other Americans. But getting them to spend their time purging their ranks and having candidates distance themselves should help Democrats win in November. Having one’s opponents rebut charges of racism, is far better than discussing joblessness.” An ally as you described, Think Progress, has been at the forefront of pushing out false videos, which you didn’t show here, in which they take infiltrators of the Tea Party, who put up artificial racist signs, to improperly taint the racist- STEPHANOPOULOS: False videos? BREITBART: Yes or no? Yes or no? Yes or no? Yes or no? BOEHLERT: Andrew gets very excited about this charge of racism. I think he knows Mark Williams. Mark Williams is a national spokesperson for the Tea Party, who was expelled for making racist comments. The NAACP called out the Tea Party for racist elements. There are clearly racist elements. If you look at the Tea Party media, Glenn Beck is saying Barack Obama is orchestrating a race war. Rush Limbaugh is saying Obama is keeping unemployment artificially high to exact revenge on white America. There’s elements that the race-baiting is out of control. And Andrew’s smear on Shirley Sherrod is- BREITBART: This was never about Shirley Sherrod. BOEHLERT: So, apologize to her. BREITBART: This was not about Shirley Sherrod. STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you did say- BREITBART: This was not about the Tea Party. This was not about Shirley Sherrod. It’s about the smears that have gone about the Tea Party. Including the primary one that led the charge that got reinstigated by the NAACP, condemning the Tea Party by saying the N-words were hurled at congressmen Carson, Lewis and Eldridge Cleaver. That did not happen. When I showed four exculpatory videos that it did not happen, the mainstream media would not show it, because the lie is so massive, it was meant to hurt the Tea Party. STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s get into this. Because, this was during the health care debate. BREITBART: Yes. The day before. STEPHANOPOULOS: And you say that you have videos of the members of Congress showing that they were not- BREITBART: They were walking down the steps. They said- Congressman Carson said as he was walking down the steps that the N-word was said 15 times by 15 different people. 400 People gathered around him. He thought there would be rocks being thrown at him. The police finally interceded. When they isolated that it happened on those steps, we found four videos that show them walking down briskly. Cleaver, who says that he was with them, is not in the video. But Congressman John Shadegg from Arizona, is walking behind them. And you can hear, “kill the bill. Kill the bill” and “you arrogant bastards.” But, there was no N-word. And it became the basis- STEPHANOPOULOS: So, what’s your response? BOEHLERT: My response is this is sort of a he said/he said, between Andrew and John Lewis. I’ll take John Lewis any day over Andrew Breitbart. John Lewis is an American icon. Andrew Breitbart is a propagandist. BREITBART: Four videos that nobody would show. Four videos tell the story. And the thing is, once they were out there, camera-hogging, saying the event happened, the second we said we had four videos and we offered $100,000 to try and show that this was- this was concocted, the people hogging the cameras wouldn’t take response, even from Associated Press. Jesse Washington from the Associated Press, could not get responses from Carson, Lewis or Cleaver. STEPHANOPOULOS: How about the broader point- BREITBART: This is the basis of the smear against the Tea Party movement. It’s a massive smear. If we can prove that three Congressmen were participants in a hoax of that proportion, that’s why we’re here today. And I was trying to make a huge point here. If they’re going to create a false argument against the Tea Party-

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ABC’s Claire Shipman Laments Lack of Political Will to Extend Unemployment Benefits Beyond 99 Weeks

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Good Morning America’s Claire Shipman on Tuesday delivered a one-sided report on unemployment benefits and the fact that they end after 99 weeks. Reporting on those who have reached the limit, the so-called “99ers,” she asserted, “… There’s no hope in sight right now .” Shipman featured three clips of those who are at the cap and one of Democrat Debbie Stabenow, who is advocating for an extension. However, the ABC morning show found no time for anyone with the opinion that nearly two years of unemployment benefits is enough. Instead, Shipman offered only stories of struggling people who have reached the 99 week limit: “We found a demoralized construction worker at loose ends at home for four years, while his wife works. A school a administrator who was rejected for a job at McDonald’s. And an accounts specialist, unemployed for two years, now living in a shelter with her four children.” The only mention of opposition came in a brief mention at the end of the segment. Shipman fretted, “But with Republicans arguing so strongly that even this bill is fiscally irresponsible, there’s no political consensus right now on helping the 99ers.” A transcript of the July 20 segment, which aired at 7:12am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to turn to the jobs crisis . As we said, the Senate is expected to vote to extend unemployment benefits later today. And after three failed attempts, it looks like Senate Democrats should get the legislation passed this time. But that is little comfort to the long-term unemployed who have passed the maximum time to receive benefits . Claire Shipman has their story. And, Claire, they’re called the 99ers because all benefits run out after 99 weeks. And their ranks are growing. CLAIRE SHIPMAN: George, their ranks are growing. And their anger and frustration is growing, because while this bill will help unemployed- extend the 26 weeks of benefits [sic], if you’ve been out of work for two years or more, if you’re a 99er, there’s no hope in sight right now. President Obama, in a Rose Garden offensive, surrounded by unemployed Americans. BARACK OBAMA: They’re not looking for a handout. They desperately want to work. Just right now, they can’t find a job. SHIPMAN: Almost 15 million Americans are out of work. But most striking, almost half of that number are the long-term unemployed. A level that hasn’t been seen since the Great Depression. The hardest-luck cases, the so-called 99ers, who exhausted the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. Today’s legislation does not extend that limit. [Walking with Senator Debbie Stabenow] Is there a solution for the 99ers? Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow has become a tireless advocate for the unemployed. SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): These are people who paid their taxes and followed the rules. They are in a situation not of their making. To say, well, we’re tired of this. We think we’ll, you know, not do it anymore. It is outrageous to me. SHIPMAN: And the 99ers offer a distinctly new demographic portrait of the unemployed. Many are professional, middle-aged, and totally unprepared for this turn . We found a demoralized construction worker at loose ends at home for four years, while his wife works. A school a administrator who was rejected for a job at McDonald’s. And an accounts specialist, unemployed for two years, now living in a shelter with her four children. MIGNON VEASLEY-FIELDS: We are sinking. We are dying now. We’re losing everything we have. And now I may lose my home because I have no money. MICHAEL OVERHOLT: The wife comes home and I’m sitting here. You feel like you’re not worth anything. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I’m about as low as I can get. SHIPMAN: Now, their numbers are growing so quickly, some economists argue, George, that without helping them, that will hurt economic recovery. But with Republicans arguing so strongly that even this bill is fiscally irresponsible, there’s no political consensus right now on helping the 99ers.

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ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Spins for Obama: ‘Set Aside’ Last Two Terror Attacks

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Monday lobbied that if one were to “set aside” the Fort Hood terror attack and the botched Christmas bombing, there haven’t been successful attacks on America in the last few years. Stephanopoulos was talking to William Arkin, the co-author of a new Washington Post  investigation into the top secret agencies created in the wake of 9/11. The GMA host began by asserting, “I spoke with an administration official early this morning.” Putting a positive spin on Obama’s first 18 months, he trumpeted, ” And that if you set aside the Fort Hood bombing in Texas and the failed Christmas bomber, there has not been a major attack that’s been anything close to successful on American soil. ” Arkin dryly responded that it’s “always good to set aside the things that are most significant” in order to focus on good news. After the Washington Post journalist mentioned the problems that led up to the Fort Hood slaughter, Stephanopoulos again defended Obama: “That’s been conceded by the administration. But, the President came out, ordered a review and they’ve now have addressed those problems, haven’t they?” The ABC anchor did challenge Arkin on whether or not it’s right for the Post to reveal such secret information. However, Stephanopoulos seemed more interested in defending the Obama administration’s handling of terrorist incidents. As for the reference to his “administration official,” NewsBusters readers will remember the 2009 revelation that the journalist has daily chats with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. A transcript of the July 19 segment, which aired at 7:12am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to turn now to a revealing new national security investigation into the government’s efforts to prevent another major terror attack o American soil. The Washington Post begins a three-part investigation today into the national security system set up in response to the 9/11 attacks. And what they discovered it startling. The series is called Top Secret America and its co-author William Arkin joins us now. And, Bill, thanks for joining us this morning. What I was most struck by in reading your piece in the Washington Post is how vast this apparatus has become, more than 850,000 people working across 1200 government agencies. 1,900 private companies in 10,000 locations. You know, that’s a lot for people at home to absorb. So, for everyone trying to get a handling on this, what the single most important thing they need to know about this top secret America? WILLIAM ARKIN (Washington Post): Well, George, thank you for having me on. I think that the reality for Americans is we’ve done exactly what America does best. But, now, ten years after 9/11, we ask to ask ourselves whether or not this gigantic system that we’ve created for counter-terrorism provides us both value in terms of money and also makes us safer. And one of the things we’ve learned in the two-year investigation is that the evidence shows that no one is really in a position of confidence to say that we are safer today than we were ten years ago. STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you say that. Yet, I spoke with an administration official early this morning who pointed out that, number one, at least half of al Qaeda’s top 20 have been taken out since 9/11. And that if you set aside the Fort Hood bombing in Texas and the failed Christmas bomber there has not been a major attack that’s been anything close to successful on American soil. ARKIN: Well, I think it’s always good to set aside the things that are most significant in terms of countering what is that the government would like to put out as the good news. The evidence shows that, in fact, in the case of Major Hasan in Fort Hood last year, that the vast apparatus of counterintelligence and force protection on the part of the military completely and you utterly failed to detect someone who was right inside the ranks of the U.S. Army. And I think that’s a massive failure. So I’m not comforted at all by that. STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s been conceded by the administration. But, the President came out, ordered a review and they’ve now have addressed those problems, haven’t they? ARKIN: Well, I’m not sure I could say they’ve addressed those problems. One of the things that we’ve learned in this investigation, George, in getting on the record interviews with Secretary Gates, the Secretary of Defense, with Panetta, the head of the CIA, with the top two intelligence officials of the U.S. government. On the record they’ve all basically conceded this is a system which has grown so fast that no one really has a full handle on it, no one really is fully charge of it. And they basically agreed with our conclusions that they themselves, even within their agencies are not able to determine all of the redundant work that’s being done and whether or not it can be done in better ways. STEPHANOPOULOS: Although Dennis Blair, who’s head of intelligence, was head of intelligence, said that this is not redundancy, it’s actually tailored intelligence. But, I want to get to a separate point. You also reveal the existence of several secret sites in places like shopping malls. And one other problem the administration has with your report is that they say the very existence of this database that you’ve created is troubling, that it’s a road map, could be a road map, to our adversaries that could be very easily altered as well. ARKIN: Well, George, we’ve been working on this project for two years. We’ve been through months now of negotiations with the government. I don’t think that there’s anything in here that would do harm to U.S. national security. And, frankly, I’m an American as well. And I don’t want to do any harm to American national security. The reality is, that for people to really have an understanding of the system that’s been created since 9/11, they need to have the facts. And one of the things that we were able to do in this investigation is both write stories that explain to people this incredibly complex system. But, also, at the same time, show them so they can somehow be vested in the decision about either going to war or continuing the war or what their government is doing.

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ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Spins for Obama: ‘Set Aside’ Last Two Terror Attacks

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NBC Offers Additional 35 Seconds to Story of Controversial Medicare Appointment, ABC, CBS Still Silent

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams became the first evening news broadcast to cover the recess appointment of Donald Berwick to run Medicare. Anchor Brian Williams asserted that “Republicans are angry, claiming it’s antagonistic.” He also observed, ” Berwick has spoken about the need to ration medical care to control costs.” NBC has offered the most reporting on Berwick: 20 seconds during the Today show on Wednesday and 35 seconds on Thursday’s Nightly News. Those 55 seconds are still more than ABC and CBS’s morning and evening news programs. Their total remains at zero. Yet, the same morning shows (on July 7 and 8) devoted 52 minutes to the important topic of Lindsay Lohan’s sentencing. Although Williams blandly explained that Berwick has “spoken about the need to ration medical care,” he offered no quotes. While talking to a British audience in 2008, he promised, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care, the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.” For more, see CNSNews.com . A transcript of the July 8 segment, which aired at 7:17pm EDT, follows: BRIAN WILLIAMS: In this country, a new political skirmish in Washington over health care. It’s about an appointment President Obama made while Congress was out for the July Fourth break, a so-called recess appointment naming Harvard professor Dr. Donald Berwick to manage Medicare and Medicaid, skipping the usual Senate confirmation process. Republicans are angry, claiming it’s antagonistic. One top Democrat called the recess appointment troubling, but the administration fired back, saying this was one of many appointments being blocked by the Senate. Berwick has spoken about the need to ration medical care to control costs.

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NBC Offers Additional 35 Seconds to Story of Controversial Medicare Appointment, ABC, CBS Still Silent

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MRC-TV: Brent Bozell on Hannity’s ‘Media Mash;’ Discusses Coverage of Oil Spill, Kagan Hearings, and Obama Agenda

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Appearing on FNC’s “Hannity” on Thursday, Media Research Center President and NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell discussed the media’s left-wing slant on the latest issues during the weekly “Media Mash” segment. The first topic was NBC’s Matt Lauer fretting that Americans would not learn the “proper message” from the oil spill and curb their “appetite for oil.” Mr. Bozell pointed out that the media had learned nothing from the ClimateGate scandal and noted their determination to bring an end to offshore oil drilling. Another topic of discussion was the media’s fawning coverage of Elena Kagan, particularly by ABC’s Claire Shipman, who spoke of the Supreme Court nominee’s “personal charm” Bozell observed that he had never seen such a one-sided profile of someone in his life. The segment wrapped up with a look at NBC’s Chris Matthews and a panel of liberal pundits all describing President Obama’s left-wing policies as a “positive” in the November elections. Host Sean Hannity remarked “How about negative?” Bozell joked that the liberal panelists might be working for the RNC because of their encouragement for Obama to continue down such an unpopular road.   For the full segment, watch the video above or listen to the audio here .

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Networks Mostly Skip Tense Kagan Exchange Over Abortion Memo, Downplay Hearings

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| 1 Comment

Wednesday’s evening news shows and Thursday’s morning programs continued to minimize or leave out important moments of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings. ABC’s Good Morning America, for instance, has offered only 67 seconds of coverage over three days. Today and The Early Show each provided a single 10 second news brief on Thursday. It’s not as though the second day of testimony lacked interesting developments. The New York Times on July 1 reported the intense questioning by Senator Orrin Hatch on an abortion memo written by then-Clinton White House Counsel Kagan. Hatch demanded, “Did you write that memo?…But did you write it? Is it your memo?” Kagan’s memo worried that a American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) report on abortion could be a “disaster” for the Clinton administration. None of the morning shows on Thursday mentioned the exchange between Hatch and Kagan. On Wednesday, only CBS’s Evening News raised the subject. Reporter Jan Crawford observed, “But when Senators tried to pin her down on other specific issues, she sidestepped. On whether she helped craft strategies supporting partial-birth abortion-” She then broke off and featured a clip of Hatch grilling. Crawford herself allowed that “over three days, there were plenty of tense and testy moments.” Apparently these examples were not interesting enough for ABC. In addition to only allowing 67 seconds on GMA, World News skipped the hearings completely. NBC’s Nightly News provided a more generalized account of the second day on hearings. Ignoring the abortion issue, correspondent Pete Williams explained that Kagan appeared “to back away from the position she expressed last year on gay marriage.” On another issue, Williams added, “But she very clearly rejected something she once wrote as a student. In a college paper, she had said judges have ‘authority to make social changes,’ power that ‘becomes irresistible.'” Nightly News, as well as the morning shows, also ignored ignored a clip of Kagan telling senators, “I’ve been a Democrat all my life. I’ve worked for two Democratic Presidents, and those are, you know, that’s what my political views are.” Only the Evening News noted the remark.  For more on Kagan’s abortion memo, see a CNSNews.com article on the topic: Three years after ACOG released its statement on partial-birth abortion — that included verbatim the words that had been the handwritten notes in Kagan’s White House files — the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Stenberg v. Carhart, which declared Nebraska’s ban on partial-birth abortion unconstitutional. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the Court’s decision in the case, quoting verbatim the passage from the ACOG statement on intact dilatation and extraction abortion that had originally appeared in the handwritten notes in Elena Kagan’s files released by the Clinton Presidential Library. Breyer wrote: “The District Court also noted that a select panel of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists concluded that D&X ‘may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman.’” “The picture that’s emerging,” says National Right to Life Legislative Director Douglas Johnson, reflecting on Kagan’s Clinton White House files, is that “it appears that Kagan was perhaps the key strategist in blocking enactment of the partial-birth abortion ban act.” Johnson also said he believes that Kagan had “her hands on this from the beginning to the end.” A transcript of the Evening News segment, which aired at on June 30, follows: SCOTT PELLEY: On Capitol Hill today, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan parried her way through her last day of confirmation hearings. Back in the 1990s when Kagan was an assistant law professor, she complained that such Senate hearings are, quote, “a vapid and hollow charade” because the nominees refuse to say anything of substance. Oh, how things change when you’re sitting in the witness chair. Here’s our chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford. JAN CRAWFORD: Over three days, there were plenty of tense and testy moments. SENATOR JON KYL (R-AZ): I absolutely disagree with you about that. SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER (D-PA): Apparently I’m not going to get an answer there, either. CRAWFORD: She defended her record on military recruiting at Harvard. SENATOR JON CORNYN (R-TX): It strikes me that the sole result and impact was to stigmatize the United States military on the campus. ELENA KAGAN: It certainly was not to stigmatize the military. And every time I talked about this policy and many times besides I talked about the honor I had for the military. CRAWFORD: But when Senators tried to pin her down on other specific issues, she sidestepped. On whether she helped craft strategies supporting partial-birth abortion. SENATOR ORRIN HATCH (R-UT): Did you write that memo? KAGAN: Senator, with respect, I don’t think that that’s what happened. HATCH: But did you write it? Is it your memo? KAGAN: The document is certainly in my handwriting. CRAWFORD: On gay marriage. SENATOR CHARLES GRASSLEY (R-IA): Do you believe that marriage is a question reserved for the states to decide? KAGAN: There is, of course, a case coming down the road, and I want to be extremely careful about this question. CRAWFORD: But on some things, Kagan was blunt. KAGAN: I’ve been a Democrat all my life. I’ve worked for two Democratic Presidents, and those are, you know, that’s what my political views are. SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): And would you consider your political views progressive? KAGAN: My political views are generally progressive, generally- CRAWFORD: She also showed real savvy, deftly deflecting Democrats’ criticisms of the Roberts court. KAGAN: I’m not agreeing to your characterizations of the current court. I think that that would be inappropriate for me to do- SENATOR SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): I understand that. KAGAN: -and I’m sure that everybody up there is acting in good faith. CRAWFORD: And mixed with the serious exchanges was humor, something nominees typically are cautioned to avoid in case a joke backfires. SENATOR TOM COBURN (R-OK): I’m 12 or 13 years older than you. KAGAN: Maybe not after this hearing. COBURN: No, I’m sure I’m older. GRAHAM: Where are you at on Christmas Day? KAGAN: You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant. (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER) CRAWFORD: But without a misstep, Kagan seemed headed for easy confirmation. SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): If you were confirmed – and I believe you’re going to be- CRAWFORD: One reason Republicans are unlikely to put up a fight is that she’s replacing a liberal. She won’t change the balance of the court. GRAHAM: So I wish you well and I know your family is proud of you and I think you’ve acquitted yourself very well. CRAWFORD: So is this a charade, Scott? Well, even Kagan herself admitted there’s no real upside to answering specific questions. It’s a successful strategy not to, and it looks like it’s going to work in her case as well.

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Networks Mostly Skip Tense Kagan Exchange Over Abortion Memo, Downplay Hearings

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Buzz Break: Here’s Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy

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Morning Shows Spare a Scant Two and a Half Minutes for ‘Landmark’ Gun Ruling

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Despite referring to it as “landmark” and “huge,” the network morning shows on Tuesday mostly ignored Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, which declared the Second Amendment a fundamental right that cannot be violated by state governments. Good Morning America, The Early Show and Today devoted just two minutes and 34 seconds to discussing the important decision. ABC’s GMA offered 21 seconds with a single Juju Chang news brief during the two hour program. This didn’t stop the show’s hosts from covering crucial topics, such as spending eight and a half minutes dissecting whether Michael Douglas’ ex-wife deserves residuals from his upcoming Wall Street sequel. CBS’s Early Show allowed 25 seconds for Jan Crawford to explain the significance of the decision. Host Chris Wragge rushed, “Now what’s the importance, if you can just tell us quickly, of this 5-4 decision?” Crawford exclaimed, “Chris, this was a huge ruling that basically extended gun rights nationwide.” Apparently, it wasn’t as compelling as the five minutes and 15 seconds the same show devoted to cooking flank steak for the Fourth of July. NBC provided the most coverage, one minute and 48 seconds. This included an anchor brief by news reader Nancy Morales and a full report by Pete Williams. Morales described the decision as “landmark.” Williams actually included a brief clip of NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre promising more lawsuits against cities and states that don’t follow the court’s instructions. The lack of coverage follows the same pattern from 2008 when the Supreme Court overturned Washington D.C.’s gun ban. On June 27, 2008 , all three morning shows gave a total of three minutes and 33 seconds to the story. Early Show, instead, focused four minutes on the extremely relevant subject of how to Feng Shui your house for pets A transcript of the coverage can be found below: GMA 06/29/10 7:14 JUJU CHANG: Chicago’s mayor is vowing to rewrite the city’s ban on handguns, after a Supreme Court decision made it unenforceable. The high court ruled Americans have a basic right to own a handgun for self-defense , wherever they live. Chicago may instead demand that gun owners buy insurance, register guns with local police and equip them with traceable bullets. Today 06/29/10 7:17 NATALIE MORALES: Major cities across the U.S. are bracing for new challenges to their gun control laws. On Monday the Supreme Court’s ruling on Chicago’s handgun ban said an individual right to keep and bear arms is among the fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty. 8:02 NATALIE MORALES: Some big cities in the U.S. are bracing for new battles over gun laws, following a landmark ruling Monday by the Supreme Court. NBC’s justice correspondent Pete Williams has more. Pete, good morning. PETE WILLIAMS: Natalie, for the first time in the nation’s history, the court said the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, limits what state and local governments can do in restricting gun ownership. POLICE VIDEO: We have got shots fired over here. WILLIAMS: The ruling means the end of a 38-year-old Chicago law strictly banning handguns, challenged by city residents who wanted to have a gun at home for self-defense. By a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court said the nation’s founders considered the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms among the fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty. Chicago officials said they might now try requiring gun registration or training courses. But, advocates of gun rights vow to fight any city that tries to raise barriers to gun ownership. WAYNE LAPIERRE (NRA): I think the action goes to wherever the politicians make it so hard for average citizens to qualify, make the process so intimidating, so restrictive, citizens never get the guns. WILLIAMS: The next legal battles are already brewing over carrying guns in public or taking them into bars and restaurants. But advocates of gun control say the court’s ruling applies only to the right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. PAUL HELMKE (Brady Handgun Control): It doesn’t mean anybody can have any gun any place, anytime. You are allowed to have reasonable restrictions in the middle on who gets guns. WILLIAMS: Local governments can still impose some restrictions on owning a gun but this ruling sparks a new round of legal challenges on what’s reasonable, Natalie. Early Show 06/29/10 7:15 CHRIS WRAGGE: And quickly, on a separate note here, I want to talk about this Supreme Court ruling. They ruled that had state and local governments cannot ban guns. Now what’s the importance, if you can just tell us quickly, of this 5-4 decision? JAN CRAWFORD: Chris, this was a huge ruling that basically extended gun rights nationwide. It said cities and states across the country cannot flatly outright ban handguns, that you have a fundamental right to own a gun in your own home to protect yourself.

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Morning Shows Spare a Scant Two and a Half Minutes for ‘Landmark’ Gun Ruling

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NBC and ABC Barely Touch Kagan Hearings, CBS Promotes Her As ‘Very Agile’

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

While ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today spent little time on the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on Tuesday, the CBS Early Show featured a report from legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who cheered Kagan finally being able respond to Republican “attacks” in a “very agile” way. Good Morning America devoted only a single news brief early in the 7AM ET hour to the hearings as news reader JuJu Chang noted how Kagan “will be questioned by Republicans who say she is too liberal and too political.” Chang added: “Kagan promised to take a modest approach to judging.”   On Today, correspondent Kelly O’Donnell offered only a brief 7:09AM report on the hearings: “Weeks after her nomination, seated in silence for hours, finally Elena Kagan gets to make her case….[she] describes herself as a daughter of the American dream.” O’Donnell described the arguments from both sides of the aisle: “No surprise, Democrats praised her intellect and the chance to broaden the Supreme Court….Saying they would be respectful, Republicans did not hesitate to get tough. From abortion rights to immigration, they found various ways to call her liberal.” In an 8:04AM news brief, news reader Natalie Morales declared: “Republicans portrayed Kagan as a liberal activist with no judicial experience. Kagan promised an even-handed approach to the law.” In contrast, the Early Show devoted a full 7:10AM segment to Kagan, as fill-in co-host Chris Wragge proclaimed: “Day two of Elena Kagan’s Senate confirmation hearings get underway this morning and the gloves are expected to come off.” Crawford began the report that followed by observing: “After nearly two months of public silence while Republicans attacked her, Elena Kagan was sworn in and answered back. She vowed to uphold the law fairly.” Crawford previewed Tuesday’s hearings: “…today the questions and the fireworks begin. Republicans say the questions won’t be easy, as they try to paint her as a liberal activist.” Wragge asked about the tone of the hearings: “…every word yesterday from Elena was just so measured and so deliberate. Can we expect more of that today with every response from the questions she’ll be fielding?” Crawford replied: “No, it’s going to have a very different tone today….they’re really going to start pressing her on all these issues….what we’ll see today is how agile and how effective she is at answering those and responding to those, engaging these senators without saying anything that can be held against her.” Wragge concluded the segment by asking Crawford to predict Kagan’s performance. Crawford responded by gushing: “I think she’s going to do, actually, very, very well. I’ve seen her argue before the Supreme Court. She’s very agile , she spars with those conservative justices very well, so I don’t think these Republicans are going to have too much of an easy time, you know, pressing her on some of these issues.” Here is a full transcript of Crawford’s June 29 report: 7:10AM CHRIS WRAGGE: Day two of Elena Kagan’s Senate confirmation hearings get underway this morning and the gloves are expected to come off. CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford is on Capitol Hill with a look at today’s session. Jan, good morning. JAN CRAWFORD: Good morning, Chris. Well, you know Elena Kagan really stayed out of the public eye for two months and Americans finally got a glimpse of her, but today, she’s going to face a lot of questions from the Republicans on this side of the aisle and they’re going to see if she can handle the heat. After nearly two months of public silence while Republicans attacked her, Elena Kagan was sworn in and answered back. She vowed to uphold the law fairly. ELENA KAGAN: I will listen hard to every party before the court and to each of my colleagues. CRAWFORD: And she told a bit of her life story. KAGAN: My parents lived the American dream. They grew up in immigrant communities. My mother didn’t speak a word of English until she went to school. But she became a legendary teacher and my father a valued lawyer. CRAWFORD: Kagan sat stoically for hours while senators gave their opening statements, but today the questions and the fireworks begin. Republicans say the questions won’t be easy, as they try to paint her as a liberal activist. JEFF SESSIONS: It’s not a coronation, as I’ve said, but a confirmation process. Serious and substantive questions will be asked. CRAWFORD: But Democrats will be ready to come to her defense. CHARLES SCHUMER: She is brilliant, she is thoughtful, and I think she is straight out of central casting for this job. SESSIONS: But proving that to the senators is what Elena Kagan is going to have to do and it all starts, Chris, in just a couple of hours. WRAGGE: Jan, the last thing I would ever do is sit here and say this has got to be pretty easy on someone, but every word yesterday from Elena was just so measured and so deliberate. Can we expect more of that today with every response from the questions she’ll be fielding? CRAWFORD: No, it’s going to have a very different tone today, Chris. You know, yesterday, her face – I mean, she really showed no expression all day, she just sat there and listened to these senators deliver these long opening statements. So today they’re really going to start pressing her on all these issues that they’ve got ready. So what we’ll see today is how agile and how effective she is at answering those and responding to those, engaging these senators without saying anything that can be held against her. WRAGGE: And quickly, on a separate note here, I want to talk about this Supreme Court ruling. They ruled that had state and local governments cannot ban guns. Now what’s the importance, if you can just tell us quickly, of this 5-4 decision? CRAWFORD: Chris, this was a huge ruling that basically extended gun rights nationwide. It said cities and states across the country cannot flatly outright ban handguns, that you have a fundamental right to own a gun in your own home to protect yourself. WRAGGE: Can I ask you real quickly, you know Elena Kagan very well. How do you think she’ll perform today? CRAWFORD: I think she’s going to do, actually, very, very well. I’ve seen her argue before the Supreme Court. She’s very agile, she spars with those conservative justices very well, so I don’t think these Republicans are going to have too much of an easy time, you know, pressing her on some of these issues. WRAGGE: Alright, Jan Crawford, thank you very much. We look forward to your report later on today. CRAWFORD: Thanks, Chris.

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NBC and ABC Barely Touch Kagan Hearings, CBS Promotes Her As ‘Very Agile’

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