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CNN’s Tuchman Hints O’Donnell is a Totalitarian Due to Anti-Media Remark

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on CNN’s Tuchman Hints O’Donnell is a Totalitarian Due to Anti-Media Remark

CNN’s Gary Tuchman blasted Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell on Tuesday’s AC360, suggesting that the Republican was like the leader of a totalitarian regime, after she dared to say that the media should be left out of certain campaign events: ” I think, for most Americans, that gives you a little chill. When we go to places like Cuba and Iran and North Korea and China, we’re often kept out ” . Anchor Anderson Cooper led the 10 pm Eastern hour of his program with the latest on O’Donnell’s candidacy, particularly her interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity the previous hour. Tuchman, who was reporting live from Wilmington, Delaware, raised the issue of her finances, and after reporting on two recent local events which the Republican attended, went into his lamentation over her stab at the media: TUCHMAN: One final thing we should mention is that, during this program, she said that the media was pushing and shoving at that particular event. I will tell you- I have been covering politics for almost 30 years, and it was nothing out of the ordinary. They were coming up to her. That’s what happens with any high-profile political campaign. And she also mentioned that, perhaps, it would be good if the media was kept out of certain events. And frankly, I think, for most Americans, that gives you a little chill. When we go to places like Cuba and Iran and North Korea and China, we’re often kept out. The media is kept out. There’s no free reporting, and it’s just something that we really don’t like to hear in the United States of America- to keep the media out . Here we have the CNN correspondent attacking a candidate who hold no office at the moment, when highest officeholder in the country, President Obama, and his Democratic allies in Congress, teamed up to break his campaign promise to “broadcast health care negotiations on C-SPAN.” Even Tuchman’s own colleague, Jack Cafferty, attacked Obama and the congressional leaders for their lack of transparency during a January 6, 2010 commentary . One wonders if he would have held those politicians to the same standard he’s holding O’Donnell. Just under two minutes later, Cooper raised the Senate candidate’s slam on the media with guest Erick Erickson. The conservative called out Tuchman for his remark: COOPER: I get the hatred of the media and stuff and stuff , but to hear a major candidate for U.S. Senate saying like- well, you know, they’re hurting my campaign by asking me questions, and they’re taking pictures of my dad on the lawn- I’m certainly sympathetic to that. ERICKSON: Right. COOPER: Someone’s family shouldn’t be bothered and stuff. But if she actually made herself available to the media, rather than run away and refuse to ask questions – ERICKSON: You know, Anderson- COOPER: I mean, it just seems odd . ERICKSON: Frankly, that’s the issue there. She doesn’t care about the national media, and she doesn’t really need to. It’s kind of the Rand Paul strategy in Kentucky. He’s raising a lot of money. He’s up on the air in Kentucky. He’s now 20 points ahead- although, admittedly, she’s behind. But they’re focused on local media, and the national media attacks- to have Gary bring up the point about Christine saying maybe there’s some events that the media shouldn’t go to, and then jumping to this is like in China and Korea and Cuba- I mean, when you hear- conservatives hear that, they’re thinking, obviously, this is biased, whether it is or not. I mean, she’s playing to her base, and the media’s just helping her .

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CNN’s Tuchman Hints O’Donnell is a Totalitarian Due to Anti-Media Remark

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Time Interviewer Timidly Questions Daily Kos Founder’s Extremist Rhetoric About Conservatives

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Time Interviewer Timidly Questions Daily Kos Founder’s Extremist Rhetoric About Conservatives

In his 7-question September 22 Q&A with Markos Moulitsas , Time magazine’s Ishaan Tharoor timidly challenged the left-wing blogger on his extremist rhetoric about how conservative Americans, particularly religious ones, are the “American Taliban.” Moulitsas was interviewed as part of his publicity tour for his new book, “American Taliban: How War, Sex, Sin and Power Bind Jihadists and the Radical Right” which “takes aim at what Moulitsas thinks is animating this right-wing revival,” Tharoor noted.   “You refer to a whole swath of U.S. conservatives as American Taliban. Is that really helpful?” Tharoor began meekly.    Moulitsas, of course, cranked it up to eleven and let loose with a boilerplate screed about how evil and subversive American conservatives are: Since 9/11, I’ve been hearing accusations over and over again that liberals like me want the terrorists to win. I have no love for fundamentalist Muslims — I think they’re basically hard-right Christians. There’s a shared intolerance. Liberals like me don’t want the terrorists to win just like we don’t want the American Taliban to win. I don’t think there’s any reason to say it nicer. It’s a two-word way to bring home just how dangerous these people are. In response, Tharoor then asked: But we don’t see these Americans blowing up statues of the Buddha or riding around in pickup trucks with AK-47s. More importantly, you don’t see Americans stoning adulterers or gays, but I see what Tharoor is getting at. Nonetheless, Moulitsas doubled down on his harsh rhetoric: The fact is that their movement is predicated on the notion that violence is a viable alternative. Abortion doctors have been killed; there’s an ammunition shortage across the country because some of these people are hoarding stores for the coming apocalypse. Sharron Angle [a Republican running for the Senate in Nevada] has warned that if voters don’t elect the right candidates, they may have to resort to “Second Amendment remedies.” The American Taliban may be more constrained by American society and laws than their Middle Eastern counterparts, but that’s not a function of tactics, more just the society they live in. Their goals are the same. This time Moulitsas gave a concrete example, fair enough, but one loopy statement by one candidate is hardly an accurate picture of the entire conservative movement. What’s more, Moulitsas unfairly associated all pro-lifers with the tiny violent fringe who are not representative of the peaceful pro-life movement.    All the same, Tharoor failed to suggest that Moulitsas might be more interested in writing a best-selling leftist screed than giving an accurate critique of his political opponents. Indeed, for the rest of the interview, Tharoor treated Moulitsas as a qualified expert to write on the conservative movement, including how Ronald Reagan would allegedly be treated as an apostate from conservatism were he alive and running for office today.    Complained Moulitsas: I also think it’s laughable that they keep on talking about Ronald Reagan as the patron saint of modern conservatism. I have sections of the book where I discuss how he would now be drummed out of the Republican Party because he was pro-amnesty, he met with our enemies, he wasn’t rabidly anti-gay, he raised taxes. He was a downright left-wing radical compared to the current bunch. Of course, various other lefty bloggers have been making similar complaints, namely Cenk Uygur, a recurring guest host on left-leaning cable news network MSNBC. But Tharoor failed to raise any skeptical notes about these talking points.   Photo credit: Alex Wong of Getty Images via Time.com website.

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Rick Sanchez: Fox News ‘Essentially the Voice of the Republican Party’

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

On Tuesday’s Rick’s List, CNN’s Rick Sanchez again bashed Fox News and the conservative media, two of his favorite subjects of ire. Sanchez stated that President Obama was being “dogged” and blamed ” conservative talk radio hosts … lambasting this man 24/7 …. [and] Fox News, which is essentially the voice of the Republican Party, whose job it is to make this man look bad no matter what he does ” . The CNN anchor brought on political correspondent Jessica Yellin at the bottom of the 3 pm Eastern hour to discuss the President’s town hall meeting on Monday. After playing a clip of Velma Hart, an Obama supporter who bluntly told the chief executive that she was “exhausted of defending” him, Sanchez asked Yellin for her take on whether “others out there are thinking in many of the ways that she [Hart] expressed herself.” The liberal correspondent spouted the current administration talking point that “clearly, President Obama inherited this terrible economy and we’re still working our way out of it,” but continued that “the White House, at some point, has to be looking back and questioning their strategy both within Washington and their larger communication strategy outside, and how they’re messaging to the broader public. And it would seem that they’ve made crucial missteps on both fronts, and they have to take some blame for that.” Later, Yellin looked to the last Democratic president as a possible example for the current administration: YELLIN: [Y]ou’ve got to ask, is he messaging correctly? And, you know, with Bill Clinton out on the scene so much lately, it’s a reminder of how effective he is at hitting emotional chords, using anecdotes to help you relate to where he’s coming from, and help you understand his approach to policy. Whereas, President Obama tends to focus on these little examples or- you know, brass tacks sort of technician-type details of what he’s done, instead of giving you this overarching emotional frame. So you don’t end up connecting to it, and that’s one of the ways he seems to be misfiring on this message. Sanchez responded to this with his attack on his regular foes: SANCHEZ: All right- good stuff. It’s an interesting conversation, and I bet you it’s the kind of stuff that people are talking about. And then, of course, there’s the fact that- you know, he is dogged. There’s no question. You’d have to be a fool to not look at the landscape and see conservative talk radio hosts- YELLIN: Of course- SANCHEZ: Literally lambasting this man 24/7. And then, there’s Fox News, which is essentially the voice of the Republican Party, whose job it is to make this man look bad no matter what he does. So, you know, it’s a difficult thing that- YELLIN: Well, this is the time for political jujitsu. SANCHEZ: What’s that? YELLIN: It’s the time for political jujitsu. SANCHEZ: Yes (laughs)- YELLIN: You know, use it against them, right? So, effect- if he could do that- right. SANCHEZ: It all depends on how well he’s able to fight that. And, you know what? He’s got to do it, if he wants to survive in this, certainly up until November. Good conversation, Jessica. Exactly a year ago, on September 21, 2009, the anchor hinted that Fox News wasn’t a “real news organization,” and questioned his competitor’s legitimacy on August 2 of this year. On August 18 , Sanchez labeled Fox News ” way, way, way to the right ,” while putting his own network in the ” middle .” Earlier this summer, the CNN personality, along with guest Roland Martin, targeted Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh .

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EPA Nixes External Adaptors from Energy Star Program

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

Photo via alistairas The Environmental Protection Agency decided that external power adapters aren’t eligible for inclusion in the Energy Star Label program, the reason being that they’re doing too good a job meeting qualifications anyway. Since most external adapters meet qualifications, there’s no point in wasting resources putting them through the labeling process. On the one hand, it makes perfect sense to streamline the program where possible (after all, Energy Star is

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FNC’s O’Reilly, Huddy Discuss MRCer Bob Parks’s Video from 9/12 Rally

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Sunday, NewsBusters contributor and Media Research Center video producer Bob Parks attended the 9/12 rally in Washington, D.C., where he interviewed some black attendees to bust the liberal media meme that the Tea Party movement is a practically all-white affair. You can find that story by clicking here . Well, last night, Fox News’s Juliet Huddy picked up on Bob’s video and featured it in her “Did You See That?” segment on “The O’Reilly Factor.” Great work, Bob! You can access the MP3 audio of the O’Reilly segment by clicking here . You can download the WMV video by clicking here or by clicking play on the embed above.

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CNN’s Sanchez Hesitant to Blame Left for Discovery Channel Terrorist, Says ‘Most’ Think He Went ‘Too Far’

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

CNN’s Rick Sanchez, who was quick to blame Fox News for the 2009 murders of three police officers in Pennsylvania , treaded much more carefully on Wednesday’s Rick’s List as he covered the eco-terrorist who brought guns, explosives, and took hostages at Discovery Channel’s headquarters. Sanchez stated that Lee may have been ” well-meaning ,” but ” most watching this would argue he may have taken [his cause] way too far on this day ” . Most? The breaking news about James Lee’s standoff at the educational channel’s Silver Spring, Maryland dominated Sanchez’s broadcast. Twenty-five minutes into the 3 pm Eastern hour, during an interview of former hostage negotiator Tom Fuentes, the anchor summarized Lee’s manifesto: “He apparently wants the Discovery Channel…[to] broadcast certain commitments to save the planet…He’s apparently anti-war….He’s concerned about global warming, talks about Malthusian sciences, continues to come back to saving the planet.” He then asked Fuentes, “So…if you get my drift, Tom, he’s very concerned. He’s an activist, may be very well-meaning, but he’s now put himself in a situation where he, the police officers and his hostages’ lives are endangered . What do you do?” Later that hour, Sanchez again described the eco-terrorist as a mere “activist” but also added that he was a ” very dangerous man .” He also asked correspondent Josh Levs, ” How can a man claim to be for saving the planet, apparently a peace activist, so to speak, while at the same time be threatening to blow himself and other people up and carrying a handgun? ” Nine minutes into the 4 pm Eastern hour, the CNN anchor skirted giving a definitive statement on the criminality of Lee’s actions: “For those of you just now joining us, we’ve got a pretty good bead on who this guy is. We understand what his concerns have been for some time. He’s a bit of an activist, a guy who truly believes, seemingly, in his heart that he needs to do all he can to save the planet. Most watching this would argue he may have taken it way too far on this day by endangering the lives of people in this building, as he seems to be doing right now .” Eleven minutes later, Sanchez did go so far to give a negative label of the eco-terrorist’s views: SANCHEZ: You have a right to believe whatever it is you want to believe, no matter how strange. There’s people who still say that they believe that there’s all kinds of stuff going on out there that may not be true. That doesn’t lead one to believe that any- on any given day, they’re going to take a gun or explosives and walk into a building and threaten the lives of people- although, I guess you must admit that even back then, you must have been taken aback. I mean, those theories seem- I’ll just say it- weird . Just before the bottom of the hour, the anchor went even further about Lee’s manifesto: “Police are trying to talk the guy out of the building by negotiating with him, by trying to reach some conclusion with him- that he’s achieved his goal of letting the world know what his concerns are about saving the planet, which are his concerns – albeit extreme – but those are his concerns and he appears to want to make sure that those concerns are heard.” During the last ten minutes of his program, it seems that Sanchez couldn’t make up his mind about Lee. At one point, he gave the following statement: “You hear of a lot of people who have causes. This particular person’s cause is saving the planet. But it’s how he goes about it, in a very unique way – even beyond what he’s doing here today, by endangering the lives of people stuck in a building with explosives, waving a handgun with hostage s- but what he actually says in his writings, in his manifesto that have certainly perked our curiosity and yours as well.” After Levs gave more background on the eco-terrorist’s views, he replied that it was a ” paradoxical theory, while it may be, and certainly, on this night, a dangerous one as well .” Sanchez was much more definitive on April 8, 2009, after three Pittsburgh police officers were shot and killed by a crazed gunman: ” That weekend tragedy involves a man who allegedly shot and killed three police officers in cold blood. Why? Because he was convinced, after no doubt watching Fox News and listening to right-wing radio, that quote, ‘Our rights were being infringed upon .'” When several congressmen asked for extra security after threats were made against them around the time of the vote on ObamaCare in March 2010, the CNN anchor repeatedly insinuated that Republican leaders and conservative media were to blame : ” Is there a possibility that that message isn’t getting out to the American people because these crazy talk show hosts that are so right-wing are out there using the most heated language and the most heated rhetoric that does, in fact, incite people to hate? “

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CNN’s Sanchez Hesitant to Blame Left for Discovery Channel Terrorist, Says ‘Most’ Think He Went ‘Too Far’

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Jack Cafferty’s Latest Rant Against Catholic Church: Ordain Women

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Tuesday’s Situation Room, CNN’s Jack Cafferty revisited one of his favorite subjects of ire, the Catholic Church, and this time called for the ordination of women. Cafferty highlighted the advertising campaign of a British organization which demands that Pope Benedict XVI allow for such simulations of ordination, and mocked a Catholic priest’s defense of the all-male priesthood. The commentator devoted his 6 pm Eastern hour Cafferty File segment to the issue of women’s ordination: “‘ Pope Benedict: ordain women now ‘- that’s the message that will be plastered on London buses when the pontiff heads to England’s capital in a couple of weeks. A group called Catholic Women’s Ordination is spending $15,000 for 15 buses to carry posters with that message around London for a month.” Cafferty then moved to the opposing viewpoint, and wasted little time before bashing it and one of its defenders: “Father Stephen Wang says women are not barred from the priesthood because of sexism….Wang says that Jesus chose 12 men, and no women, to be his apostles, and he adds that men and women are equal in Christianity, but that gender still matters. Wang compares the role of a priest to an actor, saying no one would be surprised if he wanted a male actor to play King Arthur. He then admits the analogy is weak. That’s the most startling and profound thing he said in the message so far- terrible! ” CNN’s “belief” blog (yes, the network has one) ran an article on Monday which gave further excerpts from Father Wang’s recent column on the priesthood : “Men and women are equal in Christianity, he continues, but ‘ this does not mean that our sexual identity as men and women is interchangeable. Gender is not just an accident .’ He [Father Wang] compared the role of a priest to that of an actor playing King Arthur…’No one would be surprised if I said I wanted a male actor to play the lead,’ he said, admitting the analogy was ‘weak.’ But, he said, ‘ it shouldn’t surprise us if we expect a man to stand in the person of Christ as a priest, to represent Jesus in his humanity – a humanity that is not sexually neutral .'” Cafferty later noted that “in addition to the bus campaign, the women’s group plans to hold a vigil the day before the Pope’s visit, and they plan to demonstrate outside the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.” That may seem a bit off, as the Archbishop of Canterbury, as he is the honorary chief cleric of Anglicanism, but the commentator didn’t explain that the planned protest will take place when Pope Benedict is meeting with the archbishop. He added that “in 1994, then-pope, John Paul II, declared the Catholic Church has no authority to ordain women , and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now pope, agreed with him.” After reading his “Question of the Hour,” the CNN personality remarked to anchor Wolf Blitzer that ” you could probably find people if you tried, Wolf, or even if you didn’t try very hard, who would tell you it’s way past time .” Blitzer replied, ” I know a lot of people agree with you on that, Jack- a lot of people out there .” Just before the top of the 7 pm Eastern hour, Cafferty read some of his viewer replies. Only one defended the Catholic position: CAFFERTY: Joanne in Pennsylvania writes, ‘It’s past time! There is a great need for priests, especially in the United States. We don’t know for sure that Jesus only choose 12 men, since it was men who decided what texts went into the New Testament. I think it is tradition, and not doctrine, that has kept women from becoming priests .’ Guillermo writes, ‘ I completely agree with Father Wang . Similar to babies being born from women only, the role of the priesthood was established for men only. As simple as Father Wang indicates it, the priest represents Jesus- a man.’ ‘Y’ writes, ‘If I were a woman, I’d tell the Catholic Church to take a hike. Why be obsequious to these clowns? The golden days of white male dominance are over .’ Joe in Houston writes, ‘As an ordained minister of the Church of Apathetic Agnostics, I don’t believe there’s any way I could care any less.’ Anthony in New Jersey: ‘ As a disavowed Catholic, I think the Church should just take down its shingle and declare moral bankruptcy. They demonize homosexuals, abuse children, and treat women like second-class citizens. They’re still in the Middle Ages, as our friends, the Islamic radicals. If a religion can’t teach tolerance and acceptance as their main precept, then they ought to just disband, and get out of the way of progress .’ Barker writes, ‘ The Anglican Church is basically the Catholic Church, except you can have women priests and the priests can marry . It seems to have worked fine for the Anglicans and the Episcopalians for the last few centuries, and you don’t see all the scandals with them that you see with the Catholic priests .’ And Dick writes, ‘Oh my goodness, no! The only things that remain the way the Almighty intended are the Catholic Church and the white male-only country clubs in South Carolina .’ Cafferty has long had an axe to grind against the Catholic Church. During a March 19, 2009 commentary, he attacked the pope’s comment against the effectiveness of condoms in reducing the spread of HIV in Africa: ” It’s time- it is past time for the Catholic Church to enter the 21st century, or at least try to drag itself out of the 13th century .” Earlier in 2010, Cafferty devoted five commentaries over the course of 20 days to blasting both Benedict XVI and the Church. Overall, CNN fares no better, with consistently slanted coverage against the Church . For example, during a March 26, 2010 segment , anchor Kyra Phillips endorsed the agenda of three guests who agitate for politically-correct changes inside the Catholic Church, including women’s ordination and the acceptance of homosexual behavior: ” I think all three of you need to head to the Vatican and institute some change .”

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Rick Sanchez Apologizes After Labeling Obama the ‘Cotton-Picking President’

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

CNN’s Rick Sanchez quickly apologized on his Rick’s List program on Monday after inadvertently labeling Barack Obama the ” cotton-picking president of the United States .” Sanchez used the racially-tinged term in response to the President recently addressing the significant percentage of American population who believe he is Muslim or was born outside the U.S. The anchor raised President Obama’s recent comment about his birth certificate with correspondent Jessica Yellin 21 minutes into the 3 pm Eastern hour. Yellin explained that “this is the first time he’s talked about it since the polls showing how many Americans believe him to be Muslim came out” and that “you get the sense that he’s been sort of through this. He wants to set the record straight, but he really does seem to accept that he’s not going to convince everyone, and he’s not going to spend a lot of time and energy on something that’s not going to change.” Sanchez replied to Yellin full of frustration: ” I’m just sitting here just shaking my head. He is the cotton-picking president of the United States! ” He continued with another slighter gaffe: ” If the president of the United States doesn’t have enough of a bully pulpit to convince people of a lie- that a lie is a lie, I should say, then- you know, where are we? What kind of planet are we living on? What the hell is going on here? ” To her credit, the CNN correspondent brought up the many people on the left who refused to believe Obama’s predecessor: “The assumption is there are a certain number of people that just don’t buy it. You know, there are people who didn’t think George Bush was telling the truth. You know, there are all those bumper stickers that said, ‘George W. Bush is a liar.’ ” Even with this, Sanchez continued with his frustration: “Here’s the point. I can understand 5%. I can maybe understand 10%. I can maybe understand 15%. We’re talking about- what was the latest number? A third of the American people or more?” Moments later, after taking a commercial break, Sanchez came back with an apology, crediting his Twitter followers for spotting his error: SANCHEZ: This is great. This is what works about having a conversation with my viewers throughout this newscast, because you know that I’m here on Twitter and I read what you write during the commercial breaks. And many of you are pointing out a fault that I just- a faux pas that I just made, and I want to apologize for it, because I obviously didn’t mean any disrespect or anything when I said that . But I was having that conversation with Jessica Yellin, and I think I said something to the effect- it’s so frustrating that people are lying about the president of the United States, that people are saying these things and it seems like he is defenseless to try and deal with it- although this weekend, the President came out and defended himself . And we had a very ample conversation about what it is that the President did, what he didn’t do, what his detractors say about him and what he can or can’t do. In the middle of that conversation, at one point, I said, why can’t the president of the United States seem to figure this out? After all, he is the cotton-picking president of the United States. Well, soon after I said that, I started getting some Tweets from some of you, saying, you just said ‘cotton-picking president of the United States’ about the first black president of the United States? Without even realizing it? I’ve was just saying ‘cotton picking’ because it’s a term that I’ve used because I grew up in the South. It’s a point that’s often used to illustrate frustration- not in any way shown to use- used to show any kind of disrespect. However, I apologize nonetheless for using it, in case it was taken by anyone as an act of disrespect . So, there you go. And, by the way, thank you! I got about ten Tweets right away from people on Twitter saying- hey, be careful using comments like that. So I do, and I apologize for it. This isn’t the first time Sanchez had to apologize for something he said on the air. On October 16, 2009, the CNN anchor gave an on-air apology for running an unconfirmed quote attributed to Rush Limbaugh earlier that week . As for other on-air gaffes, just during the course of 2010, Sanchez wasn’t sure who was protesting at the annual March for Life , misidentified the Galapagos Islands as Hawaii , “joked” that it was “too cold” in Iceland “to have a volcano there,” and incorrectly guessed that the Nixon/Kennedy debate took place in 1962 . The transcript of the relevant portion of the segment from Monday’s Rick’s List: SANCHEZ: Take us now through what is being described as the President becoming defensive this weekend in that interview with NBC. I mean, not only did he talk about- look, what do I have to do? Go around with my birth certificate on my fore- pinned to my forehead, to get people to stop believing that I’m a Muslim? JESSICA YELLIN: Right- SANCHEZ: And then he also addressed the Glenn Beck rally- YELLIN: Right. SANCHEZ: This group of people who got together for Glenn Beck up in Washington. What did he say about that? YELLIN: Well, first of all, on the Muslim question, this is the first time he’s talked about it since the polls showing how many Americans believe him to be Muslim came out. And so, these are the first comments from him. He is right. It came up a lot during the campaign. I was covering him and there were endless e-mails voters were getting from- you know, a friend who was e-mailing something that another friend had sent, saying that he’s Muslim, and people would come up to me and ask me about it on the trail. So you get the sense that he’s been sort of through this. He wants to set the record straight, but he really does seem to accept that he’s not going to convince everyone, and he’s not going to spend a lot of time and energy on something that’s not going to change- SANCHEZ: But that- you know that- YELLIN: There’s a certain amount of the American public that’s going to believe- go ahead. SANCHEZ: I’m just sitting here just shaking my head. He is the cotton-picking president of the United States- YELLIN: Right- SANCHEZ: If the president of the United States doesn’t have enough of a bully pulpit to convince people of a lie- that a lie is a lie, I should say, then- you know, where are we? What kind of planet are we living on? What the hell is going on here? YELLIN: Well, there will be a certain, I suppose- the assumption is there are a certain number of people that just don’t buy it. You know, there are people who didn’t think George Bush was telling the truth. You know, there are all those bumper stickers that said, ‘George W. Bush is a liar.’ SANCHEZ: Yeah. YELLIN: So maybe there’s a certain amount of the population- they accept- that just, you’re never going to reach them and that’s how it is. SANCHEZ: But- you know, but- but here’s the point. I can understand 5%. I can maybe understand 10%. I can maybe understand 15%. We’re talking about- what was the latest number? A third of the American people or more? YELLIN: I think- there’s- it depends who you ask. I think our polling had 18%. Look, we keep reporting- he keeps saying, it’s something that you’ve got to just sort of accept at some point is, and move on. We tell the facts. We’ll continue to tell the facts like they are. SANCHEZ: Yeah, yeah. Well and- look, it’s- as much as it is our job, it’s also the White House’s job, right? I mean- I guess it comes down to this question, and this is just a matter, I suppose, of common sense that people can figure out. I don’t know. I’ve never been the president of the United States. (Yellin laughs) I know what it’s like to be lied about. People lie about me every single day, and it just comes with being a public figure. But if I was the president of the United States and someone was just making a bald-faced lie like that one about me, would my impetus be to have a news conference to stand on top of the highest mountain, as my Mom and Dad always used to say, and just tell the truth? And it’s frustrating- as Americans, as we look at all of these things, whether it’s a lie about a Republican or a Democrat or whoever the heck this is going on about, it’s difficult to look at it and say what a shame that it can’t be remedied, that it can’t be fixed. You get my drift? YELLIN: I do. I do. You know, they blame us for talking about it so much. So go figure. (laughs)

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Rick Sanchez Apologizes After Labeling Obama the ‘Cotton-Picking President’

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Labeling Contrast: Glenn Beck = ‘Controversial Conservative;’ Al Sharpton = ‘Civil Rights Leader’

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Just like NBC and ABC this morning, CBS’s The Early Show had a hostile take on Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally scheduled for Saturday on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Correspondent Whit Johnson labeled Beck a “controversial conservative,” event speaker Alveda King (a niece of Martin Luther King, Jr.) a “longtime advocate for conservative causes,” and suggested that the fact that some attendees “will get there on Tea Party-sponsored buses” contradicted the idea that this would be a non-political event. Yet talking about liberal rabble rouser and onetime Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton, Johnson offered no ideological labels or even a tag that Sharpton might be “controversial.” Instead, Sharpton’s event was described as a rally “hosted by civil rights leaders,” and showcased his slam: “The things that Beck stands for are antithetical to the civil rights movement.” For good measure, Johnson brought in a second Beck critic, Daily Beast writer and frequent CNN talking head John Avlon. “Where Martin Luther King was a uniter,” Avlon slammed, “Glenn Beck is a professional divider.” CBS’s labeling double-standard made it a clean sweep for the broadcast networks. In their Friday morning show coverage, as documented by NewsBusters’ Geoff Dickens and Scott Whitlock, NBC and ABC also refrained from labeling Sharpton as a liberal (NBC called him an “activist,” while ABC offered no description), while both assigned the “conservative” label to Beck (ABC: “conservative talk show host;” NBC: “conservative host”). Here’s how The Early Show covered the topic during their 8am ET news segment: NEWS ANCHOR JEFF GLOR: TV and radio host Glenn Beck is hosting a rally in Washington tomorrow, and it’s taking place on the same day as the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson is in Washington this morning with the latest on that. Whit, good morning. WHIT JOHNSON: Jeff, good morning. Well, one rally will be hosted by civil rights leaders, one by controversial conservative talk show host Glenn Beck. But Beck insists the scheduling of his event — on the very same day — is nothing more than a coincidence. CLIP OF GLENN BECK: This is a historic event- JOHNSON: Glenn Beck’s “Restore Honor” rally Saturday will take place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the same place where 250,000 people watched Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1963. CLIP OF MLK: And I have a dream today   JOHNSON: The Fox News personality’s event will be a highly-publicized tribute to America’s troops. Sarah Palin will be one of the keynote speakers, along with MLK’s niece, Dr. Alveda King, a longtime advocate for conservative causes. DR. ALVEDA KING: We need unity. We have to rebuild America, and we’re gonna have to have unity to do it. JOHNSON: Beck maintains his rally is non-political, but many of the thousands expected to be in attendance will get there on Tea Party-sponsored buses. And the event’s timing has touched a nerve: The Rev. Al Sharpton, who will lead a separate march the same day, criticized Beck, saying [words on screen] “the things that Beck stands for are antithetical to the civil rights movement.” JOHN AVLON, THE DAILY BEAST: He uses the classic tools in the talk radio arsenal: conflict, tension, fear and resentment. Where Martin Luther King was a uniter at the end of the day, Glenn Beck is a professional divider. JOHNSON: Beck’s rally is expected to be much larger than Sharpton’s — he says maybe tens of thousands of people. It’s possible both events and counterdemonstrations could cross paths tomorrow on the National Mall. Jeff. GLOR: Alright, Whit Johnson in Washington. Whit, thank you very much.

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Labeling Contrast: Glenn Beck = ‘Controversial Conservative;’ Al Sharpton = ‘Civil Rights Leader’

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CNN Joins Media Speculation on NYC Stabbing’s Connection to Mosque Debate

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

CNN’s Deborah Feyerick joined the media guessing game as to the motivation behind the stabbing of Muslim taxicab driver in New York City, emphasizing the possibility it may have been ” connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we’re hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment .” Feyerick raised this hypothesis during reports on Thursday’s Rick’s List and The Situation Room. The correspondent’s first report on the attack aired 12 minutes into the 4 pm Eastern hour of Rick’s List. Anchor Rick Sanchez played a clip from victim Ahmed Sharif’s press conference on Thursday before introducing Feyerick. She began by stating that when “Michael Enright, the suspect, was arrested, he had numerous journals and notebooks on him, all of them filled with writings, some of it completely illegible. That is now with authorities, all of that being vetted and looked through to see whether, in fact, there was anything indicating that he had undergone some sort of a mental or emotional change.” Feyerick did mention that Enright “ironically…was a volunteer working for a non-profit organization that promotes peace,” but didn’t mentioned that the organization, Intersections International, actually supports the planned mosque near Ground Zero . She continued with the speculation over the possible motivation of the attack, including the “anti-Muslim” charge: FEYERICK: So, there are two very, very different pieces of the puzzle that investigators are now trying to figure out. Was this simply a crime that occurred because of some emotional stress, like PTSD, or i s it connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we’re hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment? Was that the trigger? The CNN correspondent gave a more thorough report on the stabbing over two and a half hours later during the bottom half of the 6 pm Eastern hour of The Situation Room. Feyerick interviewed a representative from Intersections International, whose affiliation was identified on-screen, but again didn’t explicitly mention the organization by name or its support for the planned mosque. She twice raised the possibility of “anti-Islamic sentiment” during this second report: FEYERICK: The executive director of your group said- quote, ‘The transformative experience an impressionable mind can have in five short weeks- there are intense emotions surrounding that.’ Did anyone see a change in him? JOSEPH WARD, INTERSECTIONS INTERNATIONAL: Michael has been a responsible volunteer for our organization, and he was very consistent in that, in the whole year that we worked with him. FEYERICK (voice-over): Enright volunteered for a non-profit group promoting peace between different races and religions . He helped soldiers deal with the trauma of returning home. But what caused Enright to snap? The death of a soldier he met, maybe- or, perhaps, growing anti-Islamic sentiment fueled by controversy over the proposed Islamic center and mosque? Maybe it was something else entirely. Sharif says Enright asked if he was Muslim, seconds before allegedly shouting, “Salaam aleikum [Arabic for, ‘Peace be upon you’]- consider this a checkpoint,’ then stabbing the defenseless cab driver. AHMED SHARIF: Of course, it was for my religion. FEYERICK: Prosecutors have charged the attack as a hate crime, but are investigating what caused Enright to allegedly snap. FEYERICK (live): Now, investigators are looking into a number of personal journals that Enright was carrying when he was arrested after this assault. They also say that inside his backpack was an empty bottle of Scotch. He was intoxicated when he was arrested. Now, as for Enright’s attorney, we placed some calls to him- we are waiting to hear back. He does face a long sentence if convicted of this hate crime, and that’s what this is being charged as. Suzanne? MALVEAUX: And Deborah, is- does anybody say that he snapped? Is he saying that, or his attorneys, or- where is that coming from? FEYERICK: It seems so out of character- what he did; why he did it; this, sort of, mounting need or desire. So it’s unclear whether he saw something when he was- you know, in the theater of war, or- there’s so much, sort of, anti-Islamic sentiment now because of this mosque- a lot of authorities are saying it’s- people have to be very, very careful, because it’s the kind of hate speech that could lead people to do things. So they’re really monitoring very closely whether there is a rise in hate crimes, and this is considered a hate crime. Just over a month earlier, on July 21, Feyerick actually conducted a hardball interview of mosque developer Sharif el-Gamel, where she asked, “Why not have a prayer space for Buddhists or Jews or Christians…why must it be Muslim?” When el-Gamel initially replied, “There are Jewish community centers all over the country,” the correspondent interrupted, “But the Jews didn’t take down two towers.” The developer continued that “there are YMCA’s all over the country,” but she gave a similar reply: “But the Christians didn’t take down two towers.”

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CNN Joins Media Speculation on NYC Stabbing’s Connection to Mosque Debate

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