ABC’s Brian Ross: Sikh-Killer is Right-Wing

-By Warner Todd Huston

ABC News is at it again, misidentifying a mass murder as part of the “right” in America today. And, naturally, it was Brian Ross who did the dirty deed claiming the man responsible for killing several Sikh temple goers in Wisconsin is a member of the “right-wing.”

Ross appeared on ABC on the morning of August 7 to say that shooter Wade Michael Page has “links to these right-wing, neo-Nazi groups.”

The left has succeeded for years linking conservatives and people on the American right to the Nazis by claiming they are all “right-wingers.” But the claim is simply untrue.

It should be remembered that Hitler’s Party was called the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei which in English means the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Yes, that’s right, socialist.
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ABC’s Brian Ross: Sikh-Killer is Right-Wing”


ABC News Chief: Our Colorado Coverage Was Great… Except for That Brian Ross Business

-By Warner Todd Huston

ABC News President Ben Sherwood held a conference call of staffers on July 24 and told them that he felt his network’s coverage of the shooting at a Colorado theater was topnotch work, well, except for that whole smearing of the Tea Party indulged by ABC News chief investigative reporter Brian Ross, that is.

Only hours after the shooting occurred, Brian Ross took to an ABC news broadcast to announce that he’d found a man with a similar name as the shooter’s on a Colorado Tea Party site thereby illicitly linking this innocent man and the Tea Party to the mass murderer. Calls for Ross to be fired over his lack of journalistic ethics have been heating up the Internet and talk radio airwaves ever since giving ABC a black eye.

But this week, on a daily morning editorial conference call participated in by top staffers across the country, Sherwood praised his team on its coverage of the shooting in Colorado. Even so he was forced to admit that the unproven allegations made by Ross that the murderer *might* be a member of a Colorado Tea Party group hurt the network’s credibility.
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ABC News Chief: Our Colorado Coverage Was Great… Except for That Brian Ross Business”


After Days Big Networks/CNN Finally Notice Obama’s ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Remarks

-By Warner Todd Huston

Strangely enough it took four to five long days for CNN and the big three networks to notice that Obama told his audience at a Virginia campaign rally that business owners and other successful Americans aren’t responsible for their own success. Worse, it took advisors for Mitt Romney to comment before these news organizations deigned to report on the incident.

In Roanoke, Virginia on Friday, July 13, the President said to business owners, “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen,” causing an uproar on both sides of the aisle as Republicans expressed shock at Obama’s comments and liberals defended the President’s anti-business remarks.

Obama’s off-script comments, alternately considered a gaffe and his true feelings emerging, quickly became the talk of the Internet and talk radio. But ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN don’t seem to have uttered a word about the controversy until days later.
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After Days Big Networks/CNN Finally Notice Obama’s ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Remarks”


ABC’s Kimmel Calls Palin ‘Crazy Moose Lady’

-By Warner Todd Huston

From the mouth of Jimmy Kimmel, the late night comedian that said it was impossible to make fun of President Obama because he was too “cool,” comes the hilarity that Sarah Palin is a “crazy moose lady.” This was so hilarious that CBS This Morning had to replay it hours later on its morning show.

Not only did Kimmel slam Palin — who really has not been much in the news of late and is not a factor in this presidential campaign — he also used his joke to slam GOP candidate Mitt Romney as somehow worse than Palin, a claim that no one is making, not even Obama’s people. This shows how extreme Kimmel is, really.

Adding to a news account of Mitt Romney’s release of tax returns during his 2008 run for the GOP nomination, Kimmel joked, “Romney actually did back in 2008. McCain took one look at him and said, you know what? I’m going with the crazy moose lady instead.”
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ABC’s Kimmel Calls Palin ‘Crazy Moose Lady’”


Brian Ross of ABC ‘News’ Politicizes Colorado Shooting, Illicitly Blames Tea Party

-By Warner Todd Huston

The awful crime in Colorado was only hours old when Brian Ross, a so-called “journalist” from ABC News, immediately began to politicize the shooting attempting to blame the crime on the Tea Party, conservatives, Republicans, and anyone from the right side of the political aisle with whom he disagrees quite despite the fact that he really had no information that might point to his political enemies.

On ABC’s Good Morning America, anchor George Stephanolpoulos took a “report” from ABC’s Chief Investigator Brian Ross who was supposedly investigating the crime. Here is what Ross said,

There’s a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last year. Now, we don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes. But it’s Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado.

First of all the name James Holmes is not a very exotic name. Many, many James Holmes live in the Aurora area. A quick search of the White Pages online finds at least five James Holmeses in Aurora and at least a half dozen in Denver and over thirty in the state.

Yet, Brian Ross immediately stampedes to a Colorado Tea Party webpage in hopes of finding the name James Holmes, then, finding one, he runs to the camera to blame the Tea party without taking even a second to ascertain if the James Holmes on the Tea Party website is, or even could be the Colorado theater murderer.

This is how the left-wing, anti-American, anti-truth Old Media works. Lies pass for “facts,” political agendas replace the news, and hate for anything they disagree with guides their every thought and action. You go out, you lie about your enemies allowing the narrative to take hold in order to hurt your political opposites, then, when it inevitably turns out that your supposition is wrong, you put a “correction” somewhere in the back of a newspaper where no one will ever see it. Your lies are now out there and believed by many apparently to spite the truth. That is how Democrats and the left work.
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Brian Ross of ABC ‘News’ Politicizes Colorado Shooting, Illicitly Blames Tea Party”


Colorado County Officials: ABC Took Colorado Fires/Terrorism Comments Out of Context

-By Warner Todd Huston

On June 28, Undersheriff Paula Presley of El Paso County, Colorado was interviewed by ABC News’ Alex Perez. After that interview aired, government officials say ABC News took comments out of context and falsely made it seem as if the Undersheriff was saying the massive Colorado forest fires were a result of terrorist arsonists.

The segment that appeared on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, misled viewers into imagining that the fires were started by arsonists when no determination has yet been made about how the fires started.

As Anchor Sawyer opened the segment, she said, “Tonight ABC News has learned that arson could be to blame.”

Reporter Perez then went on to say, “The FBI and local authorities have yet to pinpoint what started the wild fire, but in an exclusive interview the county undersheriff tells us investigators believe this was arson.”

The report then showed Undersheriff Presley walking with reporter Perez and saying, “this in many ways is a type of terrorism where somebody is trying to destroy you know, an entire city, essentially.”
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Colorado County Officials: ABC Took Colorado Fires/Terrorism Comments Out of Context”


Diane Sawyer Again Links Tea Party and Sarah Palin to Rep. Giffords’ Shooting

-By Warner Todd Huston

In her exclusive interview with Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D, AZ), ABCs Diane Sawyer began with a retrospective of the terrible crime committed against the Congresswoman by a mentally disturbed, a-political gunman. But true to her left-wing agenda, Sawyer could not resist illicitly linking Tea Party activists, anti-Obamacare sentiment, and even Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to what was perpetrated against Rep. Giffords on that terrible day.

Yes, even though these calumnies against conservatives and Sarah Palin have been thoroughly discredited, Sawyer links them anyway to the shocking crime that took the lives of six people, injured others, and delivered a debilitating head wound to Representative Giffords.

It was only hours after the shooting occurred on January 8, 2011, that left-wing activists, purported journalists, and Democrat operatives alike began blaming the shooting of Rep. Giffords on “Tea Party hate” and the “violent rhetoric of the right.”

The false narrative was picked up by nearly every Old Media outlet and disgorged from their talking points sheets over and over again. It was days before everyone learned that the killer, one Jared Lee Loughner, had been stalking Giffords for several years before the Tea Party, Obamacare or Sarah Palin became national news.
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Diane Sawyer Again Links Tea Party and Sarah Palin to Rep. Giffords’ Shooting”


ABC’s Diane Sawyer: ‘Protests Have Spread to 1,000 Countries’… Ooops, there’s only 195 Countries

-By Warner Todd Huston

Showing that the people that sit in front of the cameras at the Networks aren’t really journalists, but are merely pleasant looking readers of Teleprompters, Diane Sawyer of ABC News sonorously informed readers that the Occupy-Whatever protests have now “spread to 1,000 countries.”

Speaking of Wall Street, we thought we’d bring you up to date on those protesters, the Occupy Wall Street movement. As of tonight, it has spread to more than 250 American cities, more than a thousand countries — every continent but Antarctica.

Only there’s a small problem with that claim. There’s only 195 countries in the world.

The coverage of these disjointed, hollow, and pointless Occupy-Whatever protests have received is far more positive and extensive than the Tea Party protests ever got. This particular report is a perfect example of this bias.
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ABC’s Diane Sawyer: ‘Protests Have Spread to 1,000 Countries’… Ooops, there’s only 195 Countries”


ABC’s Joy Behar: Historical Illiterate

-By Warner Todd Huston

Sadly, ABC’s The View is what passes for as “intelligent” conversation on TV, these days. The View yacker Joy Behar’s blather is also indicative of the historical illiteracy of the far left in this country.

Herman Cain made an appearance on the coffee klatch show today and genius Behar had this comment about the history of the Republican Party for him:

The Republican Party hasn’t been black friendly over the many centuries in this country.

This comment is ignorant in a million ways.
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ABC’s Joy Behar: Historical Illiterate”


Dancing With The Haters: DWTS Slam on Tea Party

-By Warner Todd Huston

Even Dancing is not safe from left-wing attacks on Tea Partiers, sadly. Tonight on the venerable dance show, fashion makeover maven Carson Kressley thought it would be a hoot to make fun of over half the voters in America with an attack on how he thinks Tea Party activists smell.

On tonight’s Dancing With The Stars, funny guy Carson Kressley hit the screen wearing a gorilla mask. Taking it off he snarked, “It still smells like a Tea Party.”

So, what are we to make of this nonsense? Is Kressley saying that Tea Party activists smell like gorillas?

Are we supposed to be laughing at that, now?

So, what do Democrats smell like? Maybe Europeans? How about reds?

I wonder what dance partner Anna Trebunskaya, who was born in Russia, thinks about that? I wonder how ABC will take attacking so much of its audience?

Whatever Anna or ABC thinks of it the bigger questions is, what do you Tea Partiers think? Maybe you can ask ABC yourself?

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Dancing With The Haters: DWTS Slam on Tea Party”


Obama’s Illegal Alien Uncle Busted for Drunk Driving, Hits Police Car, Media Silent

-By Warner Todd Huston

Kerry Picket had an interesting report in the Washington Times on the 28th. Apparently President Obama’s uncle Omar, an illegal alien living in Massachusetts, was arrested for drunk driving after smashing into a police car in Framingham.

Picket also reports that the 67-year-old uncle Omar tried to, or at least wanted to, call the White House to get Barack’s help with the charges after he was arrested.

Picket writes, “I spoke to Framingham Public Information Officer Lieutenant Delaney who told me that when Onyango Obama was asked at booking if he wanted to make a telephone call to arrange for bail, the Kenyan immigrant replied: ‘I think I will call the White House.'”

The president’s uncle, O. Onyango Obama, was mentioned in his book “Dreams From My Father” where Barack says that uncle Omar moved to the USA “25 years ago and never came back.” He’s been here for decades, living illegally the whole time.

It seems that uncle Omar’s time has run out, though. He’s now being held on an ICE warrant. Let’s see if he gets deported.
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Obama’s Illegal Alien Uncle Busted for Drunk Driving, Hits Police Car, Media Silent”


CBS’ Norah O’Donnell: Dan Rather Was One of ‘The Very Best Journalists in American History’

-By Warner Todd Huston

The latest issue of Capitol File magazine has a glowing feature on CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell. In it she claims that past journalists that have filled the role of chief White House correspondent for a major network have been “legendary” and “the very best” in the field. Of this “very best” she laughably elevates discredited CBS News anchor Dan Rather into that pantheon.

Capitol File is a magazine that focuses on D.C. elites, the movers and shakers, the bight lights in the City On The Hill. In it’s pages you will see all the beautiful people of Washington D.C. It is, we are told, “a place for power and politics, CAPITOL FILE chronicles and celebrates the most influential players, cultural connoisseurs, fashion sophisticates, and philanthropic leaders in the Washington, DC metropolitan region.”

Apparently Norah O’Donnell is an “influential player” now that she’s been raised up to the role of chief WH correspondent of a major network… even as those same networks have lost so much of their once all encompassing national influence.
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CBS’ Norah O’Donnell: Dan Rather Was One of ‘The Very Best Journalists in American History’”


Amanpour Fails to Understand History, Says Political Climate Just Like the 1960s

-By Warner Todd Huston

The inch deep analysis that we get from the illiterati in the left-media shows that they have agendas, sure, but no grasp of history, logic, or facts. No better example of the facile nature of the Old Media can be had than Christiane Amanpour and on ABC News she strutted her imbecilic excuse for historical analysis once again.

In a January 20 interview with the sister of John F. Kennedy, Amanpour attempted to equate the “political atmosphere” of today with that of 1963 when President Kennedy was murdered as well as 1968 when his brother Bobby was shot. But her empty attempt to analyze either era does not rise to the level of common sense much less a serious political discussion.

Over some video clips of JFK and Bobby Kennedy and the funerals for both, Amanpour sonorously tried to say that today is somehow “just like” the “political atmosphere” of those days decades ago. Simply put, nothing could be further from the truth.
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Amanpour Fails to Understand History, Says Political Climate Just Like the 1960s”


Obama’s Mouthpiece? ABC’s Cokie Roberts Says Voters Will Make Republicans Compromise in 2011??

-By Warner Todd Huston

ABC News talking head Cokie Roberts was shilling for the Obama administration once again on Good Morning America during an interview with former Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos. She wasn’t just shilling for Obama but tying to mold the news and public opinion to her left-wing druthers instead of giving an honest review of today’s political climate.

Like the rest of the Old Media establishment, Roberts was filled with praise for the great success that Obama had in this lame duck Congress. “It was incredible,” she gushed.

Of course, Roberts interpreted the Lame Duck session to mean that the Republicans are the ones that came to Obama as opposed to the truth that he had to come to them for the first time in his political career. This lame duck session was the first time in Obama’s life he was forced to actually compromise with Republicans as opposed to merely giving compromise lip service but otherwise sticking to his hard-left agenda — and even at that he barely compromised at all here.
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Obama’s Mouthpiece? ABC’s Cokie Roberts Says Voters Will Make Republicans Compromise in 2011??”


Bill Gates Buys Attention of ABC News?

-By Warner Todd Huston

On the heels of this Summer’s Old Media attack of News Corp’s donation of $1 million to the GOP, we discover that billionaire Bill Gates of Microsoft fame has given $1.5 million directly to ABC News so that they’ll cover his personal “news” issue; health conditions of the poor.

Gates has been spreading his money around in more traditional media buys over the last year or so, too. He spent $3.5 million to start a TV production company that is working with PBS to report on global health issues and he’s also spent millions buying newspapers to keep them afloat. Additionally Gates has donated money to journalism schools and other media operations.

But this direct donation to ABC News is a different animal than the other media related spending that Gates has done. This is a direct donation of money to ABC News to buy their attention for Bill Gates’s personal interests. ABC is supposed to be a self contained, independent news agency that funds its own reports governed under its own authority. Gates’s donation really brings this status into question.
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Bill Gates Buys Attention of ABC News?”


Whoopi Says Without Abortion Parents Just Kill Kids Later

-By Warner Todd Huston

I think Whoopi Goldberg has as much hair inside her head as she has outside it. What else explains the harebrained thinking she exhibited (again) on her coffee klatcher’s show The View on May 4?

Goldberg attempted to explain why she supports abortion. It’s because, you see, if parents can’t kill their kids in utero she thinks parents will just kill their kids later on in their lives.

The discussion centered around a new law in Oklahoma that required abortion patients to view their in vitro babies via a new 3-D ultrasound before they make the final decision to undergo the abortion procedure.

Goldberg was against the new law and in her muddled thinking this was her reason to oppose it:
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Whoopi Says Without Abortion Parents Just Kill Kids Later”


Ohio ABC TV Station Presents Democrat Press Release as News Story

-By Warner Todd Huston

Many of us on the right like to claim that the Old Media is just an arm of the Democrat Party. Of course some of that on our part is bombast, but incidents like this tend to make conservative’s complaints seem more like right-on-target truth than over-the-top complaining.

On February 23, ABC TV Channel 7, WTRF News (Wheeling, West Virginia/ Steubenville, Ohio), posted on its website what was originally credited as a story written by reporter Bob Westfall. Unfortunately, though, this posting was only posing as a news story as it was nothing but a word-for-word re-posting of Democrat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s latest press release. There was little to no difference between Brown’s press release and the “story” as posted on the ABC 7 news site.

The story was up for most of the day, but was taken down in the early evening of February 23. (Originally seen here) One can only assume that WTRF got a bit embarrassed at its schilling for a Democrat Senator.

Here is a screen shot of the Google search page that showed WTRF’s original posting.
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Ohio ABC TV Station Presents Democrat Press Release as News Story”


Cokie Roberts Proves She is a Liar

-By Warner Todd Huston

I am finding it increasingly impossible to discuss current politics without pointing out that Democrats and liberals are simply a pack of liars and “journalist” Cokie Roberts fits quite neatly into this category for what she said about the healthcare debate on ABC’s This Week Sunday morning talk show.

As Brent Baker of Newsbusters reported on December 20, Cokie Roberts was all aflutter over the “Christmas gift” that is the Senate healthcare bill. But her characterizing this anti-American piece of legislation as a “Christmas gift” isn’t the lie. After all, when you want America destroyed like Cokie obviously does, then this bill is, indeed, a sort of gift.

No, here is what made her out to be a liar.
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Cokie Roberts Proves She is a Liar”


Journalist Tells of Harrowing Protest Experience in… Israel?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Over the last few weeks dozens of Iranians yearning for a more democratic government, striving to beat back the oppressive Mullahs, desperate to live free, have been killed in the streets of Iran during democratic protests. In China Uighurs and members of the religious sect Falun Gong are constantly attacked, imprisoned, tortured and killed for their ethnicity or beliefs by Chinese officials. Not long ago Buddhist Monks were killed by police for their protests in the streets of Myanmar. And on a nearly daily basis, members of the Taliban are killing villagers for not observing their oppressive rule in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We live in times of violent protests tearing at some of the most oppressive governments in the world. And so, Australia’s ABC fielded a report about one “violent” protest experienced by one of its own reporters. Was it murderous Islamists attacking villagers? How about Chinese thugs killing ethnics? Perhaps it was an Iranian Mullah ordered massacre of citizens wanting democracy that frightened her so much?

Uh, no. It was Orthodox Jews that spit on her.

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Journalist Tells of Harrowing Protest Experience in… Israel?”


ABC to Air Obama Healthcare ‘Special,’ Former ABC Staffer Now Obama Comm. Chief. Coincidence?

-By Warner Todd Huston

ABC has made the unprecedented move of giving prime-time programing air time to President Barack Obama for a “Healthcare Reform Special” to be aired next week. Uncommonly a major TV Network has turned over its airtime to what is essentially a White House infomercial on an important upcoming legislative effort.

But, perhaps it is not too surprising that Obama has landed himself some prime viewing time on ABC. After all, former ABC News correspondent Linda Douglass is now the Director of Communications for the Obama White House Office of Health Reform. Coincidence? One would be excused to suspect it.

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ABC to Air Obama Healthcare ‘Special,’ Former ABC Staffer Now Obama Comm. Chief. Coincidence?”


ABC: Scaring Parents About Kid’s Friend’s Gun Owning Parents

-By Warner Todd Huston

Wait a minute Mom. Don’t let little Johnny go to his buddy Tommy’s house. Tommy’s parents are psychos that own — **gasp** — GUNS! This is the message that ABC is telling parents in an April 10 piece headlined, “Before Arranging Playdates, Ask About Guns.”

Here ABC attempts to make every gun owner seem like a lunatic just ready to blow and encourages parents to be deathly afraid of anyone that owns a gun. It encourages parents to pry into the lives of family members of their kid’s friends and bases it all on the lies passed off as scary gun violence statistics.

Naturally, ABC’s back up for this anti-gun screed is by a supposedly “non partisan” anti-gun group called PAX USA, an organization with board and advisory councils filled with left-wing Hollywood actors such as Richard Belzer, Tim Robbins, and Rob Reiner among many others.

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ABC: Scaring Parents About Kid’s Friend’s Gun Owning Parents”


ABC News: Conservatives Are Biggest Porn Consumers?

-By Warner Todd Huston

ABC News is excited about porn. At least excited by the “fact” that conservative and religious states have the highest levels of porn usage in the country. This, ABC says, is according to a study by Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School. Yes, it’s another one of those dime-a-dozen studies.

ABC trumpets the bare “facts” in its February 28 piece titled, “Porn in the USA: Conservatives Are Biggest Consumers.” In its first few paragraphs the report claims that, “Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious” than states in the more liberal areas of the country. But there is a problem with ABC’s heavy-handed claim. Even the Harvard researcher doesn’t put too much emphasis on the “conservative states” aspect because his data doesn’t show a very wide gulf between states, conservative or not.

In fact, professor Edelman takes pains to say, “When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different.” This tends to relay that the rates from state to state really aren’t that notable. Edelman also says later in the piece that, “The differences here are not so stark,” where it concerns the data he compiled.

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ABC News: Conservatives Are Biggest Porn Consumers?”

ABC: What Would Jesus Do? Why He’d Vote Obama, Of Course

-By Warner Todd Huston

The weekend edition of Good Morning America found a fellow that decided to try and live for one year “like Jesus would” but what host Bill Weir found keenly interesting is that this guy voted for Barack Obama because he felt that living like Jesus compelled him to do so. Weir also wondered if the Jesus emulator had to “forgive” his Christian community for any reaction they might have had over the fact that he voted for Barack.

Former pastor Ed Dobson of Grand Rapids, Michigan appeared on the weekend edition of GMA to briefly discuss his year of living like Jesus in a segment called “What Would Jesus Do?” Dobson talked about how hard it was to walk in Christ’s path and was shaken by having to forgive and bless the terrorists in Iraq that took the life via a roadside bomb of a soldier friend of his son.

But, Dobson’s vote for Barack Obama was an issue that GMA host Bill Weir was very interested in.

Continue reading “ABC: What Would Jesus Do? Why He’d Vote Obama, Of Course”

ABC News Shocker: The ‘All Time Dumb Quotes’ Are All From Republicans

-By Warner Todd Huston

Looks like ABC News is starting out 2009 with a partisan bang. On its main page, ABC News is hosting a slide show featuring what it is calling the “All Time Dumb Quotes.” Now, these are not all strictly political dumb quotes, to be sure. They also have the empty headed Christina Aguilera, that sharp as a tack Jessica Simpson and other denizens of the Hollywood Mensa club among the 16 featured quotes — and some of them are doozies, too. But, there are six political quotes five by Republicans and one by Tina Fey making fun of a Republican (Palin, naturally), yet there are no “All Time Dumb Quotes” from any Democrats. Not a one. Apparently ABC doesn’t think there’s ever been a dumb Democrat?

Even more absurdly, all these “dumb quotes” are from the last year or so. Apparently, ABC also is not aware of anything “dumb” that was ever said before contemporary history. Yet, even as all these supposedly “All Time Dumb Quotes” are recent, they have one quote…. just one… from farther back in time than just recently. And guess who it’s from? Amazingly, the ONLY “All Time Dumb Quote” ABC can find from before the year 2008 is a 1988 quote by… drum roll please… Dan Quayle!

Continue reading “ABC News Shocker: The ‘All Time Dumb Quotes’ Are All From Republicans”

Congrats to Jake Tapper: Now Senior White House Correspondent for ABC!

-By Warner Todd Huston

A richly deserved promotion goes to one of the fairest folks in the Old Media and hearty congratulations from Publius today. Jake Tapper from ABC has been given the plum assignment of Senior White House Correspondent as of this week.

What a great pick by ABC. They couldn’t have found a better guy. Tough, fair minded, on top of the story, web savvy. He has it all. And, at the risk of sounding like I’m playing for the “other team,” not a bad lookin’ fella. OK, that last bit was over the top… but you know. I go caught up in the moment.

So, congrats to Jake Tapper. Imagine, being assigned to the role of Senior White House correspondent at such a time in history! What an opportunity.

Now, some advice, Jakster. Remember how Obama liked to throw people off the plane, how he loved to chuck them under the bus. Remember how Joe Biden punished reporters for their sins during the campaign? Don’t be intimidated, man. We’ve got your back here at Publius. So, if you end up in Obama’s new journalist jail, we’ll try to scrape together some bail money.

And now, we probably just made every other member of the Old Media decide you’re persona non grata because of our praise. Just tell ’em we were off our meds.

Continue reading “Congrats to Jake Tapper: Now Senior White House Correspondent for ABC!”

ABC Reignites ‘Troopergate’: Officer Portrayed as Victim, Palin as Guilty

-By Warner Todd Huston

ABC Still Attacking Gov. Palin

On its Blotter from Brian Ross Blog, ABC News is trying to re-ignite the “Troopergate” issue by portraying Alaska state trooper Mike Wooten as a victim of “threatening phone calls.” And, in reporting this new aspect of the story, ABC waits until the last sentence of the story to mention that Governor Palin was deemed innocent of charges of ethics violations in trying to be rid of Trooper Wooten even as 90% of the story pounds home what the supposed charges against the Governor were. Further, ABC misrepresents the charges against Wooten as a simple “she said” argument by Palin and fails to mention that he was actually found guilty of many of them.

In fact, this whole report subtlety makes Governor Palin look like the bad actor in this situation and garners sympathy from the reader for Trooper Wooten. In the first paragraph, the piece talks of Palin’s “harsh allegations” and states that he has been “taken off patrols recently for his own safety” because of “threatening phone calls.” The report mentions that both Wooten and his union are whining that he cannot get over time pay since he’s stuck on a desk job “for his own safety.” Looks like ABC thinks Trooper Wooten is a victim here.

Continue reading “ABC Reignites ‘Troopergate’: Officer Portrayed as Victim, Palin as Guilty”

ABC’s Stephanopoulos Calls Dick Morris a ‘Liar’ About Rahm Emanuel on WLS Radio

-By Warner Todd Huston

**UPDATE*** With Audio Link

WLS AM 890 in Chicago hosted an in studio visit from ABC newser George Stephanopoulos this morning in the 8:30 segment. Host Don Wade played an interesting Dick Morris sound clip for Stephanopoulos and then asked for his response. That is when Stephanopoulos came right out and said “Dick is a liar.” There was no equivocation, no weasel words, just a straight out “liar.”

The discussion was focusing on Obama’s request to Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-Illinois), a former Bill Clinton senior advisor, to become the new Obama chief of staff. Host Wade was questioning Stephanopoulos as to how the candidate of “change” could go back in time to an old Clinton hack and asked if Emanuel was a good choice for the position.

First, however, Wade played a clip of Dick Morris. In the clip, Morris was recounting a time when President Clinton called him on the phone and yelled at him for the fact that a Clinton focus group had become news when the group was supposed to be a secret. Morris claimed that Clinton demanded to know who Morris had told of the group. Morris claimed that he only told Stephanopoulos and Rahm Emanuel and no one else. Morris said that he asked Clinton, “Can’t I trust you senior staff”? Morris then claimed on the sound clip that Clinton said he couldn’t and that if he told Stephanopoulos and Emanuel he may as well have sent out a press release about it.

After the clip was over, host Wade asked Stephanopoulos if, in light of the tape of Morris claiming that Emanuel was untrustworthy, if Emanuel was still a good choice for Obama’s Chief of Staff?

To that Stephanopoulos said the “L” word, outright calling Dick Morris a liar.

Continue reading “ABC’s Stephanopoulos Calls Dick Morris a ‘Liar’ About Rahm Emanuel on WLS Radio”

Charlie Gibson: ‘It’s Important to Expose’ Sarah Palin

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, instead of merely reporting the news, now reporters are the news? Apparently Charlie Gibson thinks he is, anyway. He gave an interview to the Toledo Blade on October 5 as if his opinions of the race for the White House are somehow more important than the news of the candidates. You remember the candidates, don’t you Chuck? You know, those guys who are actually going to be elected, the ones that you are supposed to be reporting on?

Gibson spoke to the Toledo Blade’s TV beat reporter Kirk Baird about an upcoming visit to Ohio’s Bowling Green State University and he said a few pretty revealing things to the Blade about how the media are treating the campaign.

Like many of his ilk, he appears in this interview to show a disdain for small town America, he obviously pretends not to see any bias among his comrades, he excuses that bias he does see and interestingly he claimed it was the duty of the media to “expose” Sarah Palin — an interesting choice of words, for sure.

Continue reading “Charlie Gibson: ‘It’s Important to Expose’ Sarah Palin”

Did ABC & Gibson Use Camera Trickery To Belittle Gov. Palin?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Did ABC use particular camera tricks to make Governor Palin look small and powerless in their Charlie Gibson interview? I’ve been pointed to a blog that makes a compelling case that they did just that. Using still shots of the Gibson interview with Palin compared to similar Gibson interviews with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, it seems this blogger has proven it to be an open and shut case of manipulation of the viewer. The writer shows how ABC used special camera placements and lenses to make Governor Palin seem small and Charlie Gibson seem overpowering and large by comparison.

By now, just about everyone is aware of Hollywood’s special effects and camera techniques. There have been so many TV shows explaining them, so many DVD extras laying out the techniques that most Americans are at least a little familiar with the effects and techniques that filmmakers use to heighten and enhance their work. The anonymous blogger is familiar with these special effects, claims to work in the business in Hollywood himself, and does a great job explaining and pointing out where such effects were used to belittle Governor Palin.

Citing the anti-conservative, Hollywood hatemongering we are all familiar with our blogger remains anonymous. He says he doesn’t want to hurt his career any more than he already has being a conservative in Hollywood. So, with deference to “HollywoodTrench’s blog,” I’ll lay out his argument for you all to decide if he has hit the spot or if he is a bit too conspiratorial for your tastes.

Continue reading “Did ABC & Gibson Use Camera Trickery To Belittle Gov. Palin?”

UPI Charges ABC With Biased ‘Double Standard’ in Palin Interview

-By Warner Todd Huston

Dontcha ya hate it when Old Media outlets beat up on other Old Media outlets? (Well, maybe you don’t hate it, exactly) It’s like Old Media on Old Media violence. In this case we have the United Press International (UPI), struggling lesser known news wire service, giving the big smack-a-roo to ABC. UPI is warning that Charlie Gibson’s gruff handling of Governor Sarah Palin may “backfire,” and that the interview revealed a “double standard” of harsh treatment for Republicans compared to the softballs they’ve thrown to Democrats in past interviews.

Who can disagree with that assessment?

UPI’s Martin Sieff’s one sentence assessment of the interview seems to be the general consensus of all dispassionate observers. “There were no surprises, no knockout zingers,” Sieff says, “but also no bloopers Thursday night in Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s first TV interview since becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee.”

But, Sieff also noted that Gibson obviously intended to hurt Palin if he could and also noted that “double standard.”

Continue reading “UPI Charges ABC With Biased ‘Double Standard’ in Palin Interview”