Couric: Deadly Storms 'Have Anything to Do with Global Warming?' --3/2/2007

1. Couric: Deadly Storms 'Have Anything to Do with Global Warming?'
After leading with the terrible toll of deadly "super-cell" storms with tornadoes which struck Missouri and Alabama on Thursday, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric's mind turned to global warming as the potential cause. She asked "CBS News weather analyst" Bryan Norcross, working out of the network's Washington bureau: "Bryan, I understand people have been asking you this all day" -- probably CBS News staffers in the DC bureau -- "Does this have anything to do with global warming?" Norcross, a "hurricane specialist" for the CBS-owned Miami station WFOR-TV channel 4, rejected the premise.

2. Chris Matthews: Bill Clinton 'Sounds Like Jesus in the Temple'
Explaining how Hillary Clinton isn't as popular with African-American voters as Bill was, MSNBC's Chris Matthews pointed to the former President's verbal skills as one of the reasons why when he proclaimed on Wednesday's Hardball: "There are times when he sounds like Jesus in the temple." Matthews made that observation during a discussion with the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson where both cited Bill Clinton's performance at Coretta Scott King's funeral as a prime example of Slick Willie's oratory abilities. AUDIO&VIDEO

3. Cal Thomas: Ex-Sen. Allen Exonerated of Bogus Charges; Media Yawn
A couple of weeks ago, the Senate Ethics Committee exonerated former Virginia Senator George Allen on charges that he failed to report stock options he earned during the time he served as a director of a biotech company. As Cal Thomas throughly documented in his current column, this determination of innocence has gone little noticed by the mainstream media. The accusations, however, which were made last October during Allen's heated, and ultimately unsuccessful, re-election campaign, were heavily covered.

4. 'Cold Cash' Jefferson's Personal Katrina Truck Trip Left Out
Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton reported Thursday that House Republicans will move for an unusual vote protesting the new committee assignment of Democratic Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, the Congressman still under investigation for the $90,000 in bribe money found in his home freezer. After removing Jefferson from the powerful Ways and Means Committee last year as the Democrats ran against a "culture of corruption," Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi now wants to place him on the Homeland Security Committee. Layton's story highlighted Jefferson's role as a "vocal critic of FEMA's performance" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans as a rationale for his Homeland Security appointment. But the Post left out Jake Tapper's September 2005 scoop on Jefferson using the government to check on his personal property in the hurricane aftermath.

5. Dennis Miller Debates Patriot Act with Rosie O'Donnell
Right of center comedian Dennis Miller appeared on Thursday's The View and after discussing John McCain's announcement and the recent feud between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Miller joked about Nancy Pelosi's rapidly blinking eyes, leading Barbara Walters to defend her as "terrific." Miller also debated Rosie O'Donnell on the finer points of the Patriot Act. "No I don't," Miller retorted when O'Donnell proposed: "Don't you believe democracy demands dissent? Don't you believe that like the Patriot Act has robbed us of us our civil liberties in this country, that fear has taken over from faith in democracy, in the Constitution?"

6. Couric Stuck in NBC Mode? She Calls Letterman's Show by NBC Name
Late Night with David Letterman hasn't aired since August of 1993, when Letterman moved his show to CBS, where it was re-named Late Show with David Letterman. But in reporting on Thursday's CBS Evening News about how John McCain announced on Letterman's show Wednesday night that he is running for President, Couric led into a clip of McCain by relating: "John McCain is in. As first reported here last night, the Senator made it official during the taping of Late Night with David Letterman."

Couric: Deadly Storms 'Have Anything
to Do with Global Warming?'

After leading with the terrible toll of deadly "super-cell" storms with tornadoes which struck Missouri and Alabama on Thursday, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric's mind turned to global warming as the potential cause. She asked "CBS News weather analyst" Bryan Norcross, working out of the network's Washington bureau: "Bryan, I understand people have been asking you this all day" -- probably CBS News staffers in the DC bureau -- "Does this have anything to do with global warming?"

Norcross, a "hurricane specialist" for the CBS-owned Miami station WFOR-TV channel 4, rejected the premise: "No, I don't think so. This is just part of this extreme situation we've had this winter -- very warm, very cold -- and so the extreme weather continues and it turns out the United States is just about the only spot in the world that has a lot of these kinds of super-cells, just not normally this time of year."

[This item was posted Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

WFOR-TV's bio page for Norcross: cbs4.com

Chris Matthews: Bill Clinton 'Sounds
Like Jesus in the Temple'

[This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Thursday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The following exchange took place about 30 minutes into the February 28 Hardball:

Eugene Robinson: "I mean, it's the one memorable speech from, from that funeral."
Chris Matthews: "And everybody else gave some written speech, and he said, 'There's a woman in there!'"
Robinson: "'A woman in there!'"
Matthews: "Oh!"
Robinson: "He just captured the moment-"
Matthews: "And cut to it!"
Robinson: "It was just amazing. It was amazing. But she didn't do that. She spoke next, and it just went completely flat."
Matthews: "I hate to pass on his lifestyle and questions like that, but there are times when he sounds like Jesus in the temple. I mean, amazing ability to transcend ethnicity, race, we call it, it's really ethnicity, in this country and, and speak to us all in this amazingly primordial way. And that's the only good thing I'll say about him tonight. Okay."

The following is the full discussion:

Chris Matthews: "A new poll by The Washington Post and ABC News shows that black voters are abandoning Hillary Clinton to support Barack Obama. How's that, how bad is that for Clinton? Let's bring in the Hardballers. Today's Hardballers are Kate O'Beirne, I just love that phrase, Hardball, political analyst and Washington editor of the, I`m sorry, the Washington editor of The National Review. That was John McLaughlin's old job. And Gene Robinson is a columnist for the Washington Post itself. Your poll came out, sir, today. It showed that Hillary Clinton was beating, among African-Americans, Obama 60 to 20, beating him like a drum, and now he's beating her by about 10 points. What's happening?"
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: "Well, you know I thought this would happen. People-"
Matthews: "Look at, look at how fast it moved! She was beating him three to one. Now he's up by 10 and he`s got the hot hand, it looks like."
Robinson: "Yeah, well, he, he's getting around, and, and African-Americans are getting to know Barack Obama. I mean, he was, he was you know, a two-year senator from Illinois."
Matthews: "He's passed the test?"
Robinson: "She, Hillary Clinton, has been around forever. And, and look, you know, it may be true, as Chris Rock said, that Bill Clinton was our first black president, but nobody every said that-"
Matthews: "I thought it was the poet who said that. What's her name?"
Robinson: "It could have been."
O'Beirne: "Maya Angelou."
Matthews: "Not Angelou the other woman, Toni Morrison."
O'Beirne: "Toni Morrison."
Matthews: "Toni Morrison."
Robinson: "Yeah, I guess it was. But in any event, they never said-"
Matthews: "Toni Morrison is correct."
Robinson: "They never said that Hillary Clinton was our first black first lady, I mean, and, and you know, you and I were sitting here during the Coretta King funeral-"
Matthews: "I don't think she has the advantage he has. I'm not black, obviously, but she had, he had the advantage of growing up in a black environment in the deep South where-"
Robinson: "And he had, he has this ability to speak to and really for black America that, that few people have, few white guys from Arkansas would have. But, but she doesn't have that, so."
Matthews: "He's alone in that way, isn't he?"
Robinson: "Yeah he is. He's quite something."
Matthews: "Jimmy Carter had a different kind of connection, but I mean, he strikes me as a guy that could, well, when I watched him at Mrs. King's funeral, I just have never seen anything like it."
Robinson: "You and I were sitting right here. It was the most amazing thing."
Matthews: "I have never seen anything like it."
Robinson: "I mean, it's the one memorable speech from, from that funeral."
Matthews: "And everybody else gave some written speech, and he said, 'There's a woman in there!'
Robinson: "'A woman in there!'"
Matthews: "Oh!"
Robinson: "He just captured the moment-"
Matthews: "And cut to it!"
Robinson: "It was just amazing. It was amazing. But she didn't do that. She spoke next, and it just went completely flat."
Matthews: "I hate to pass on his lifestyle and questions like that, but there are times when he sounds like Jesus in the temple. I mean, amazing ability to transcend ethnicity, race, we call it, it's really ethnicity, in this country and, and speak to us all in this amazingly primordial way. And that's the only good thing I'll say about him tonight. Okay."

Cal Thomas: Ex-Sen. Allen Exonerated
of Bogus Charges; Media Yawn

A couple of weeks ago, the Senate Ethics Committee exonerated former Virginia Senator George Allen on charges that he failed to report stock options he earned during the time he served as a director of a biotech company. As Cal Thomas throughly documented in his current column, this determination of innocence has gone little noticed by the mainstream media. The accusations, however, which were made last October during Allen's heated, and ultimately unsuccessful, re-election campaign, were heavily covered.

As noted by CNSNews.com, the charges, first reported by the AP, were picked up and editorialized in several prominent Virginia papers. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee even used the claims in an ad for Allen's Democratic opponent James Webb. (See above picture added to the posted version of this CyberAlert and with the NewsBusters posting.) Not so coincidentally, Senator Allen ended up losing his pivotal Senate seat by around 9,000 votes. So the question is, now that it turns out the media hyped faulty accusations, where does Senator Allen go to get his reputation back?

[This item, by Scott Whitlock, was posted Thursday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

In his March 1 column, Cal Thomas commented on the shoddy coverage by the liberal media:

Last October, the Associated Press ran a story that said Allen had failed to report his CBI stock options and hinted at possible wrongdoing by Allen when he was governor because the company had done business with the state. This was all that Allen's challenger, now Sen. James Webb, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headed by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer needed. They prepared an attack ad, alleging that Allen's stock options were worth $1.1 million and were not worthless, as he had claimed. The ad also made the connection between CBI and the state, charging Allen tried to "steer government contracts to a company that paid him in stock options." AP did not report anything about Allen trying to steer government contracts to the state, but Jim Webb "approved this message" anyway.

An analysis of the negative ad by AP political writer Bob Lewis revealed its inaccuracies. One must conclude that, since the information was available to Webb and Schumer, the two deliberately used factual inaccuracies in the negative ad. But why let truth get in the way of an effective election strategy? The damage was done and since the ad fit nicely into the Democrats' theme of "the culture of corruption" in the Republican majority, the desired result was achieved. Allen lost the election by 9,000 votes.

The Allen camp asked for a formal ruling by the Senate Ethics Committee and on Feb. 16, it came. In a letter to Allen, signed by committee chairman Barbara Boxer, California Democrat and committee vice chair John Cornyn, Texas Republican, Allen was exonerated of any wrongdoing: "The committee has determined that your ownership of CBI stock options did not constitute deferred compensation during the relevant reporting periods." Therefore, they said, Allen was not required to amend the reports.

Allen made his share of mistakes during his re-election campaign, but this was not one of them. His opponent and Sen. Schumer, neither of whom has apologized or retracted their accusations, unfairly smeared him.

In commenting on the Senate Ethics Committee letter and the incorrect negative ad that contributed to Allen's defeat, a Richmond Times Dispatch editorial asked a question familiar to many public figures who have been unfairly slimed, "So where does George Allen go to get his reputation back, never mind his job in the Senate?" See: www.timesdispatch.com
Where, indeed? The AP printed a story on Feb. 21 correcting the errors in its earlier story that were used in the Allen attack ad, but it came nearly four months too late.

This saga is important for a number of reasons. First, it cost a good man an important job. Second, it significantly contributed to a change in the balance of power in the Senate. Third, it again exposed an unholy alliance between liberal politicians and the leftist big media who are quick to attack someone whose policies and party they don't like, but rarely correct errors of their own making, or investigate bogus charges when they help the policies and party the media prefer.

END of Excerpt

For the column in full: www.townhall.com

CNSNews.com covered how the Democrats seized on the story and quickly cranked out an ad attacking Allen:

Allen's opponent in the campaign, Webb, then released a television advertisement saying Allen had "tried to steer government contracts to a company that paid him in stock options," and that he had "hid those options for years."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) stated in its campaign ads that the Virginia Republican had "a dark side," was "distracted by scandals" and "failed to report stock options worth over $1 million and intervened for the same company on a federal contract."

Newspapers including the Washington Post, the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk and the Richmond Times-Dispatched also editorialized about the matter and the "serious ethical questions" it raised about Allen.

END of Excerpt

For the CNSNews.com story in full: www.cnsnews.com

It only seems fair that outlets such as the Washington Post, which attacked Allen at every turn, should devote some major coverage to the news of the ex-Senator's innocence. George Allen and conservatives, however, probably shouldn't hold their breath. For more on the media's obsessive coverage of Allen last fall: www.mediaresearch.org

'Cold Cash' Jefferson's Personal Katrina
Truck Trip Left Out

Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton reported Thursday that House Republicans will move for an unusual vote protesting the new committee assignment of Democratic Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, the Congressman still under investigation for the $90,000 in bribe money found in his home freezer. After removing Jefferson from the powerful Ways and Means Committee last year as the Democrats ran against a "culture of corruption," Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi now wants to place him on the Homeland Security Committee.

[This item, by Tim Graham, was posted Thursday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Layton's story highlighted Jefferson's role as a "vocal critic of FEMA's performance" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans as a rationale for his Homeland Security appointment. But the Post left out Jake Tapper's September 2005 ABC scoop on Jefferson using the government to check on his personal property in the hurricane aftermath: "Amid the chaos and confusion that engulfed New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck, a congressman used National Guard troops to check on his property and rescue his personal belongings -- even while New Orleans residents were trying to get rescued from rooftops, ABC News has learned."

Tapper added: "The water reached to the third step of Jefferson's house, a military source familiar with the incident told ABC News, and the vehicle pulled up onto Jefferson's front lawn so he wouldn't have to walk in the water. Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour." The original truck got stuck during the wait, and another truck had to be dispatched to pull it out. A helicopter was also dispatched to the scene, but Jefferson refused to board it.

March 1 Washington Post article: www.washingtonpost.com

Tapper's take: www.abcnews.go.com

Will the networks return to the William Jefferson story, or is the "culture of corruption" story only a good angle when it leads to liberal-pleasing election results?

Dennis Miller Debates Patriot Act with
Rosie O'Donnell

Right of center comedian Dennis Miller appeared on Thursday's The View and after discussing John McCain's announcement and the recent feud between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Miller joked about Nancy Pelosi's rapidly blinking eyes, leading Barbara Walters to defend her as "terrific." Miller also debated Rosie O'Donnell on the finer points of the Patriot Act. "No I don't," Miller retorted when O'Donnell proposed: "Don't you believe democracy demands dissent? Don't you believe that like the Patriot Act has robbed us of us our civil liberties in this country, that fear has taken over from faith in democracy, in the Constitution?"

Last October, O'Donnell equated the Patriot Act with South Africa's apartheid. The October 25 CyberAlert recounted how O'Donnell equated the brutal tactics used against the people of South Africa by its own government with the Patriot Act: "They were seeking out terrorists, which is what they called the people in South Africa who actually lived there, who were the majority. The blacks in South Africa, who were trying to fight for their own civil rights, were called terrorists and the government was allowed to arrest them at will and interrogate them, no matter what they did, just on the suspicion. Very similar today to what we have in the United States, thanks to the Patriot Act." See: www.mrc.org

[This item is adopted from a Thursday posting, by Justin McCarthy, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The relevant exchanges on the March 1 The View:

Joy Behar: "How about Nancy Pelosi, what do you think of her?"
Dennis Miller: "Well, listen. If they pick her as the VP, I'm not going to be able to watch State of the Unions. Because if she is back there like, with the blink- it looks like she was signaling the Carpathia that she hit an iceberg or something."
Barbara Walters: "I think she's terrific."
Miller: "Yeah I know she is because you both like those Hermes scarfs that, you know, that they wear."
Walters: "That's not why, watch it buddy. That's not why I think she's terrific."

Then:
Dennis Miller: "Now I'm for George Bush right now, and guess what, if Hillary Clinton's our next President I'm for her. We're in a bad bind right now. We have to get behind our guy. [Applause] We got to stop all this fighting."
Joy Behar: "Even if he's delusional and wrong?"
Miller: "Listen it is a beau- it's a tough job. I might think Hillary's delusional if she gets in and decides to pull out. All I'm saying is I'm on this country's side right now and I'm behind our guy."
[Applause]
Behar: "So are we."
O'Donnell: "But Dennis, do you believe, wait a minute."
Behar: "We're all on this country's side."
Rosie O'Donnell: "Don't you believe democracy demands dissent? Don't you believe that like the Patriot Act has robbed us of us our civil liberties in this country, that fear has taken over from faith in democracy, in the Constitution?"
Miller: "No I don't."
O'Donnell: "I do."
Elisabeth Hasselbeck: "In terms of war don't you think it should be a little different, Dennis?"
Miller: "You know, the whole thing about the library books that they don't want people checking library books, I swear to God, Rosie, just research this so the next time we talk, I don't think that statute has been used once."
O'Donnell: "The Patriot Act?"
Miller: "No, no, the looking in to people's library record. Now listen when Woodward and Bernstein looked into Howard Hunt's library records, it was thought to be one of the seminal moments in American democracy. It's thought to be a benchmark moment of what this country's about. Now listen, if we want to Ramzi al Kaboom because he took four bomb cookbooks out in a month, all of a sudden it's wrong? We've got to stop the acrimony."
O'Donnell: "If we sacrifice liberty for perceived security-"
Miller: "We're not Rosie."
O'Donnell: "-you don't deserve either."
Miller: "You know what? Listen, I'll agree with you up to a point but if you're asking me if I don't want to check phone calls between here and Saudi Arabia and Iraq, just to be free and blown up, I don't agree with you."
O'Donnell: "You can check anything. It's not just Iraq. They can check anything. And it's un-American. But, anyway we like you still."

Couric Stuck in NBC Mode? She Calls Letterman's Show by NBC Name

Late Night with David Letterman hasn't aired since August of 1993, when Letterman moved his show to CBS, where it was re-named Late Show with David Letterman. But in reporting on Thursday's CBS Evening News about how John McCain announced on Letterman's show Wednesday night that he is running for President, Couric led into a clip of McCain by relating: "John McCain is in. As first reported here last night, the Senator made it official during the taping of Late Night with David Letterman."

[This item was posted Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The Late Night show title remains the property of Couric's employer for nearly two decades ending last year, NBC, with Conan O'Brien's name attached for the past 13-plus years -- as in Late Night with Conan O'Brien. BTW: CNN's Anderson Cooper will be one of O'Brien's guests Thursday night and ABC's Bob Woodruff will be on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Late Show's home page: www.cbs.com

Late Night's page: www.nbc.com

-- Brent Baker