Russert challenged Democrats -- but not McCain -- about 2002 Iraq intel "caveats"
On the May 13 "Meet the Candidates" edition of NBC's Meet the Press, host Tim Russert asked Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ), "In hindsight, was it a good idea to go into Iraq?" but did not challenge McCain's reply that the invasion of Iraq "was certainly justified" because "[e]very intelligence agency in the world, not just U.S., believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction." Yet on two separate "Meet the Candidates" editions of Meet the Press, Russert did challenge former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) for their 2002 votes giving President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq, citing the "caveats" in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concerning
the purported existence of an Iraqi nuclear weapons program. The NIE was made available to all members of Congress before the vote, according to The Washington Post. Russert did not challenge McCain with either a general question about the contrary evidence in the NIE or a question about the basis for his explicit assertion one day before the war resolution vote that "[t]o wait for Saddam Hussein to threaten imminent attack against America would be to acquiesce to his development of nuclear weapons." Read more
Ignoring polling, Liasson claimed on Fox News Sunday that all Republicans beat Clinton
On the May 13 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Fox News contributor and NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson asserted that former New York City mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is "trying to argue" that he is "the only one who can beat a Democratic nominee -- [Sen.] Hillary Clinton [D-NY]." Liasson added, "But I don't think the polls support that. I think the polls show that in head-to-head matchups, for whatever that's worth now, they all do." However, while some recent polling has been less favorable to Clinton, two polls released in May show her leading not only Giuliani, but also the other top Republican candidates in head-to-head contests. Read more
Media pounced on Edwards' haircuts, but ignore Giuliani's Iowa farm snub
As Media Matters for America documented, the media recently devoted extensive coverage to a report -- first "broken" by Politico senior political writer Ben Smith on April 16 -- that Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards' (NC) campaign spent $800 on two haircuts. The story was covered by major print, broadcast, and cable outlets, and often featured characterizations of Edwards as "pretty" and the "Breck girl" -- echoing Republican and
conservative attacks on Edwards dating back to 2004. These same media outlets, however, have shown almost no interest in recent reports that the presidential campaign of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) scheduled -- and then abruptly canceled -- a campaign rally at the home of two Iowa farmers because they were not wealthy enough to be affected by the estate tax. Read more
Sunday Shutout: The Lack of Gender & Ethnic Diversity on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
Not only are the Sunday morning talk shows on the broadcast networks dominated by conservative opinion and commentary, the four programs -- NBC's Meet the Press, ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday -- feature guest lists that are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male. Read more
Murdoch to achieve carbon neutrality with credits, but Fox employees call them a sham
In a recent article, London-based magazine Environment Finance reported that Rupert Murdoch will take steps "to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from his media empire" -- which includes Fox News Channel -- "to zero by 2010." However, in addition to Fox News' Sean Hannity and John Gibson, FoxNews.com posts have directly attacked the purchasing of carbon credits to offset one's "carbon footprint" and have mocked Al Gore's reported use of them.
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Wash. Post's Weisman "won't believe" impeachment polls, even those conducted by his own paper
During the May 11 edition of the Post Politics Hour online discussion at washingtonpost.com, Washington Post White House correspondent Jonathan Weisman replied to a question -- "How is Washington handling the news that almost 40 percent of Americans support impeachment of
[President] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney?" -- by stating: "We're not. I haven't seen the polling that you are referring to, and until I do, I won't quite believe it." A recent InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion poll, however, found that 39 percent of Americans favor the impeachment by Congress of Bush and Cheney, and polling conducted over a year ago for the Post indicated that one-third of Americans would support Bush's impeachment and removal from office. Read more
Boortz accuses Media Matters of trying to manipulate "some whimpering old woman executive somewhere"
On the May 14 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Neal Boortz accused Media Matters for America -- which he referred to as "Media Myrmidons" and "Brocksters," a reference to Media Matters President and CEO David Brock -- of "waiting for one little statement that you can take out of its total context and just go on a rampage with, with your Web postings and see if you can pull that Don Imus thing off all over again, see if you can find some whimpering old woman executive somewhere that'll just [say], 'Oh! Oh, my God! We've got to do something now.' " Boortz also said, "And it's not just me, you're doing the same thing to [right-wing radio hosts] Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and the rest of them." Read more
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