Friday, July 10, 2009

CNN: “Report Has Good News about Jobs”

Wow.

The readers of Hotair.com caught some flagrant pro-Obama boosterism going on at CNN. Glenn Reynolds thinks they may be just angling for an invitation to next year’s July 4th party.

Meanwhile, others at CNN are fantasizing about a one-on-one hoops game between President Obama and George Clooney.  Sigh. It really would be terrific if these people could cover the news and leave their chumminess with the president and personal enthusiasm for his leisure time at the door.

Topics: obama, cnn, george-clooney

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Why Is Reuters Featuring this Obama Photo and Why Is Drudge Highlighting It?

Is this intended to smear Obama by catching an out of context moment and making a (not so) subtle suggestion?  More on the photo at HuffPo.

Topics: obama, drudge, reuters

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

As Andrea Mitchell Listens, Ron Insana Essentially Calls Obama a Liar on MSNBC

Topics: obama, msnbc, economy, ron-insana, andrea-mitchell

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Bernstein: It’s Time for the Press to Stop Whining

Famed White House reporter Carl Bernstein Thursday claimed “the press needs to stop whining” during an MSNBC’s Morning Joe segment on Wednesday’s heated exchange between columnist Helen Thomas and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Topics: obama, msnbc, chuck-todd, helen-thomas, carl-berstein

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

AC360: One Good Thing about Iraq? It Got Obama Elected

During a segment on AC360 on Tuesday night CNN correspondent Tom Forman ran through the costs and the benefits of the Iraq War. The “costs” portion of the segment was balanced enough. But check out the “benefits.” There’s a picture of President Barack Obama standing in front of an American flag.  “And there is this, not only did the war’s unpopularity lay the groundwork for Barack Obama’s election …” yadda yadda yadda.  That was a “benefit” of the Iraq War. 

Topics: obama, anderson-cooper, iraq

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Did Chuck Todd Roll His Eyes When Talking About Republican Press Releases?

Take a look at this clip of Chuck Todd chatting with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.  Pay no attention to Gibbs’ non-answer to Todd’s question; deflecting questions is his job. Rather, take a look at Todd’s expression when asking Gibbs about Christina Romer’s comments from yesterday, which I wrote about here, in which she claimed no one ever thought the stimulus would, you know, actually stimulate the economy ...

Topics: obama, msnbc, stimulus, republicans, matthews, economy, todd, romer, gibbs

Monday, June 29, 2009

Read My Lips Redux (Without the Media Scrutiny)

So the top advisor to the President of the United States refuses to rule out middle-class tax increases to pay for health care reform—in complete contradiction to the foundational argument behind his candidacy—and cable news chat shows respond with … silence?  Well, yeah, if you get your news from CNN or MSNBC.

Topics: obama, health-care, axelrod, tax-increase

Monday, June 22, 2009

Neda’s Martyrdom and the Pitfalls of Obama’s Chronic Pragmatism

I’ve praised President Obama’s discipline and focus, his calm demeanor. He is a thinker, reflective. He considers all angles of a problem. And he is chronically pragmatic. There’s nothing wrong with pragmatism - it’s a precious commodity in a tumultuous world - but like anything else, too much of it can be a bad thing. Especially at such an inflection point in history, with climate change threatening our existence, violence and human rights abuses and hunger and disease rampant, weapons of mass carnage in the hands of despots and terrorists, and the global economy teetering on the brink of disaster while the super-rich get super-richer. Yes, pragmatism is admirable, but give me some idealism too, give me some deep-seated moral conviction and the powerful, ground-shaking words to express it.

Topics: obama, iran, neda, human-rights

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Ignoring the Bad Optics of Obama’s Ice Cream Break

What purpose does it serve if progressives have one set of standards for a Republican president and another for a Democrat? Dan Froomkin has been in the news lately (for losing his Washington Post slot), and one reason he is respected on the left is that he’s been subjecting Obama to the same scrutiny as Bush. Perhaps the ice cream story is frivolous and we should focus more on transgressions like this, but either way, intellectual consistency is a cornerstone of moral authority.

Topics: obama, iran

Oh Look: Puppy Pops!

Blogger Patterico followed a couple Twitter feeds yesterday; one from Change for Iran, an Iranian student protester, and another from CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller.  What he found, and what he helpfully laid out for his readers, will help answer the question, “Why is the mainstream media dying?”

Topics: obama, cbs