2.29.2008

Equal time for McCain

From Media Matters, 28 February 2008 (LINK):

Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?

“On February 27, MSNBC devoted significant coverage to an exchange from the most recent Democratic presidential debate in which NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned Sen. Barack Obama about praise he received from controversial minister Louis Farrakhan, whose statements Obama has denounced.

“The same day, Pastor John Hagee - who has made controversial comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism and women - endorsed Sen. John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support. Hagee's endorsement and McCain's response to it raise the question of whether MSNBC will report on them as extensively as it did on Farrakhan's praise.”

Will be interesting to see if MSNBC’s pro-Obama, anti-Clinton stance shifts once the Democratic nominee is established. Stay tuned.

9 a.m. update: MSNBC's Alex Witt interviewed Mike Huckabee about Hagee's endorsement of McCain. Huckabee said he was "shocked" because of McCain's record on matters of importance to evangelicals. Huckabee seemed disappointed he did not get Hagee's endorsement. There was NO mention of Hagee's past statements.

“I See My Dreams” today: “Quite a leap”

2.08.2008

Another MSNBC mea culpa

Lots of guffaws on Obama Broadcasting Company yesterday over Chelsea Clinton’s phone calls to the gals on “The View.”

David Schuster, whose reporting and objectivity are unassailable, issued a sincere apology on today’s edition of “Morning Joke” for having suggested Chelsea was being “pimped.” Schuster, without repeating the word said he used “jargon” and did not mean to offend anyone.

People are just getting fed up with this mean-spirited crap against all things Clinton.

Apparently, there was another public outcry such as the one against Chris Matthews’ sexist mouth.

What crossed my mind, when these folks were laughing it up over the videotape from “The View:” these people don’t want to meet Bill Clinton in a dark alley.

Next post: ‘Gushing pundits’ goof again

2.06.2008

'Gushing pundits' goof again

From Craig Crawford's Trail Mix, Congressional Quarterly (LINK):

Media Gets It Wrong Again

By Craig Crawford February 6, 2008 12:45 AM

If I were Barack Obama I would tell my flaks in the news media to shut up in the final days before elections. The chattering crowd's frenzy for this man only raises expectations that he cannot meet.

As a result, what was otherwise not too shabby a night for Obama on Super Tuesday came across like a public relations defeat because so much more had been expected. Still, those who predicted a bigger night for Obama are invested in downplaying what actually happened, and will surely gin him up for the next contests.

Before Super Tuesday, gushing pundits predicted that the Kennedy family endorsements would, at a minimum, deliver Massachusetts. Didn’t happen. Feverish news reports of rising momentum for Obama led to hints that Obama could win New Jersey. Didn’t happen.
And, oh yeah, California’s returns were supposed to keep us up all night because the "force of nature" that is Obama had erased Clinton’s lead in the state. Oops, it turned out that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s lead was so substantial that the networks could call the state for her just after midnight.

The California surprise promoted a bit of mea culpa from former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who has actually been a voice of reason as so many of his colleagues have lost their minds for Obama.

“Once again,” Brokaw said on MSNBC as Clinton’s early California win was announced, “in all of our conventional and collective wisdom, we were wrong.” -END-

“I See My Dreams” today: Best rebuttal to Hillary-bashing