NBC Turns Mourning Into 'Voices of Dissent' Growing 'Angrier' --4/25/2007

1. NBC Turns Mourning Into 'Voices of Dissent' Growing 'Angrier'
While Tuesday's NBC Nightly News commendably devoted a story to mourning in the Fort Bragg community after the loss of nine 82nd Airborne soldiers in Iraq, a loss to the division anchor Brian Williams described as "the largest since June of 1969," reporter Bob Faw pivoted from sadness over the deaths to how "even here, where support for the war has been unswerving, the latest round of casualties raised new doubts about the American military presence in Iraq." Faw included the views of those in the Fayetteville, North Carolina community who praised the soldiers and still support the war, but stressed, based on a few anecdotal quotes from people on the street, how "on this day, publicly, the voices of dissent grew louder and angrier -- even here." Viewers then heard a woman declare: "It's senseless. All they're doing is going over there and dying for nothing, absolutely nothing."

2. Liberal CBS Groupthink: 'Embarrassed' by Anti-Abortion Commentary
Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer story on the troubles at the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric -- a story bulging with anti-Couric quotes from anonymous CBSers -- included a revealing window into the news network's intolerant liberal mindset, with the newsroom in "an uproar" after the father of a slain high school student was given roughly 60 seconds to condemn the lack of morality in public schools and said the culture of abortion devalues human life. "'There's a difference between free speech and responsible speech,' an embarrassed correspondent says," according to Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Gail Shister.

3. ABC's GMA Spins Crow Toilet Paper Comments as 'Quirky Solution'
Considering that Good Morning America has repeatedly adopted left-wing solutions to environmental issues, it's not surprising that the program acted as a press agent for singer Sheryl Crow on Tuesday's program. (After all, ABC allowed Crow to kick off her global warming tour on GMA.) Anchor Chris Cuomo claimed that Crow's assertion (she called for a limit to the amount of toilet paper Americans can use), was meant as a "comment about the environment." Reporter Bianna Golodryga alternated between calling the statement, which has been widely mocked in much of the country, a joke and also a "quirky solution." In a brief interview, the ABC correspondent, who mostly covers celebrities, took all of Crow and "eco-activist" Laurie David's comments at face value. After making the requisite joke about toilet paper, Golodryga threw a few softballs to Crow and David as they sat in the "Stop Global Warming" bus.

4. Goldberg Slams Rosie O'Donnell Types, 'Bush Derangement Syndrome'
Former CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg appeared on Tuesday's Today show to promote his new book and in the process took several jabs at wimpy Republicans who don't stand by conservative principals and the "Rosie O'Donnells of the world" who suffer from "Bush Derangement Syndrome." While Goldberg wasn't a 100 percent conservative, he criticized the Iraq war and supports embryonic stem cell research, it was still refreshing to hear a former member of the liberal media criticize liberals on their own airwaves.

5. Hume Picks Up on ABC Spiking How Culture Blamed for Gun Violence
You read it here first. Matching a CyberAlert item, FNC's Brit Hume reported, in his Tuesday "Grapevine" segment, how "ABC devoted nearly two minutes," during Monday's World News to a new ABC News poll on guns, "but never mentioned one of the most interesting results. When asked the primary source of gun violence, 40 percent said popular culture, and 35 percent said the way parents raise their children. Only 18 percent blamed the availability of guns."

NBC Turns Mourning Into 'Voices of Dissent'
Growing 'Angrier'

While Tuesday's NBC Nightly News commendably devoted a story to mourning in the Fort Bragg community after the loss of nine 82nd Airborne soldiers in Iraq, a loss to the division anchor Brian Williams described as "the largest since June of 1969," reporter Bob Faw pivoted from sadness over the deaths to how "even here, where support for the war has been unswerving, the latest round of casualties raised new doubts about the American military presence in Iraq." Faw included the views of those in the Fayetteville, North Carolina community who praised the soldiers and still support the war, but stressed, based on a few anecdotal quotes from people on the street, how "on this day, publicly, the voices of dissent grew louder and angrier -- even here." Viewers then heard a woman declare: "It's senseless. All they're doing is going over there and dying for nothing, absolutely nothing."

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

The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video for the April 24 NBC Nightly News story:
Brian Williams: "And now for the 82nd Airborne, this latest loss was the largest since June of 1969, back when 12 men from that division were killed in Vietnam. NBC's Bob Faw reports on this tough day for the Fort Bragg community."

Bob Faw: "At the home of the legendary 82nd Airborne, paratroopers often first to be sent into harm's way, where they're taught sacrifice is necessary. Today all this base and a community nearby could do was come together in sadness and resolve."
Major Tom Earnhardt, Fort Bragg: "We're in mourning here, but now it's time for us to rally around our families and, you know, squeeze each other tight and get through this."
Faw: "Here they learned how to deal with death, 106 soldiers from this division killed in combat since 9/11, and will deal with it again, says the wife of a military chaplain now serving with the 82nd in Iraq."
Kara Honbarger, wife of military chaplain: "-and using more resolve to say let's get it cleaned out, let's get it taken care of over there."
Faw: "But on this day, even here, where support for the war has been unswerving, the latest round of casualties raised new doubts about the American military presence in Iraq."
Man, at an outside location: "You got to do what you have to do, but we're losing too many men. That's my opinion."
Woman, outside: "Send them home, send them home, pull them all out."
Faw: "And for everyone here who argues 'stay the course'-"
Second man, outside: "I'm sorry to hear about it, and sorry for the families, but happy that we have those kind of people to serve our country."
Faw: "-on this day, publicly, the voices of dissent grew louder and angrier -- even here."
Second woman, outside: "It's senseless. All they're doing is going over there and dying for nothing, absolutely nothing."
Faw: "Next month, memorial services are scheduled at this base where they brace themselves for days like today, but never really can. Bob Faw, NBC News, Fayetteville, North Carolina."

Liberal CBS Groupthink: 'Embarrassed'
by Anti-Abortion Commentary

Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer story on the troubles at the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric -- a story bulging with anti-Couric quotes from anonymous CBSers -- included a revealing window into the news network's intolerant liberal mindset, with the newsroom in "an uproar" after the father of a slain high school student was given roughly 60 seconds to condemn the lack of morality in public schools and said the culture of abortion devalues human life. "'There's a difference between free speech and responsible speech,' an embarrassed correspondent says," according to Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Gail Shister.

The revelation of how staffers were revolted by the short conservative comment came deep in the story about CBS's troubles, much of which recounted the clashes between the celebrity Couric and CBS News veterans. But, Shister noted, "for many CBS News staffers, the nadir was a 'Free Speech' segment Oct. 2," following the murders of five Amish schoolchildren. Brian Rorbaugh, the father of a student killed at Columbine High School in 1999, was granted a minute of CBS's airtime to blame the "moral free-fall" of today's society.

[This item, by Rich Noyes, was posted Tuesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Here's part of what Rorbaugh said that night:

When my son Dan was murdered on the sidewalk at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, I hoped that would be the last school shooting. Since that day, I've tried to answer the question, "Why did this happen?"

This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value.

We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.

END of Excerpt

CBS staffers were apparently infuriated -- even though Rorbaugh's segment was clearly his own personal commentary, and other FreeSpeech segments on CBS featured liberal commentators like the far-left The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel and liberal Illinois Senator Barack Obama or featured liberal points of view, like Bob Schieffer's September 13 editorializing against the Bush administration's "secret prisons" saying the U.S. has adopted "the methods of our enemies." (No "uproar" over that?) See: www.mrc.org

Shister revealingly wrote:

One of the early casualties was "Free Speech," a segment in which ordinary people as well as celebrities sounded off on various issues.

For many CBS News staffers, the nadir was a "Free Speech" segment Oct. 2, the day five Amish schoolgirls were murdered in Lancaster County.

The father of a child killed in Colorado's Columbine High School massacre in 1999 blamed the Amish tragedy, in part, on the teaching of evolution in public schools and on abortion.

Despite CBS's avowed intention to include all viewpoints in "Free Speech," the segment caused an uproar in the newsroom, according to CBS insiders.

"There's a difference between free speech and responsible speech," an embarrassed correspondent says.

It was another significant misstep in Couric's uphill climb to legitimacy, a trek that seems to grow steeper by the day.

END of Excerpt

For Shister's article in full, "CBS evening blues: Katie Couric hasn't redeemed the No. 3 newscast. Can she survive as anchor?", go to: www.philly.com

If CBS's cadre of correspondents is mad because a few seconds of airtime was given over to a social conservative point of view, then the problems at CBS News go so deep that it may not matter who sits in the anchor chair.

ABC's GMA Spins Crow Toilet Paper Comments
as 'Quirky Solution'

Considering that Good Morning America has repeatedly adopted left-wing solutions to environmental issues, it's not surprising that the program acted as a press agent for singer Sheryl Crow on Tuesday's program. (After all, ABC allowed Crow to kick off her global warming tour on GMA.) Anchor Chris Cuomo claimed that Crow's assertion (she called for a limit to the amount of toilet paper Americans can use), was meant as a "comment about the environment."

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

Reporter Bianna Golodryga alternated between calling the statement, which has been widely mocked in much of the country, a joke and also a "quirky solution." In a brief interview, the ABC correspondent, who mostly covers celebrities, took all of Crow and "eco-activist" Laurie David's comments at face value. After making the requisite joke about toilet paper, Golodryga threw a few softballs to Crow and David as they sat in the "Stop Global Warming" bus:

Bianna Golodryga: "...But tell us how this happened."
Sheryl Crow: "Actually there's an empty roll in there."
Laurie David: "We've run out of toilet paper."
Crow: "Yeah, We have ran out of toilet paper. We're just so happy that people are talking about global warming today, even if it is brought about by a joke."
Golodryga: "And for Sheryl Crow and Laurie David, their message is everything."
Crow: "We're definitely going to be back. We haven't finished. This is going to be a topic that's going to be around for a long time."

In closing, Golodryga briefly mentioned Crow and David's verbal sparring with White House advisor Karl Rove at this past weekend's correspondent dinner. With a straight face, the GMA correspondent reported that for the two women, "this is not a political issue at all":

Golodryga: "Now, the press also picked up on Crow's run in with Karl Rove at the White House correspondent dinner over the weekend. But, they really wanted to stress that this, for them, is not a political issue at all. So, you know, they took with a grain of salt. They had a good humor about it."

Considering ABC's collusion with David and Crow ("GMA's Champion Promotes Leftist Celebrity's Global Warming Tour," see: www.mrc.org ), it's not surprising that Cuomo, during the transition to the weather, appeared to be offering a wink over the connection between weatherman Sam Champion and the environmentalists: "Well, it is now time for the weather. There will be no segue. I will go right to Sam Champion and leave the topic alone. Sam?"
Sam Champion [laughs]: "Morning, Chris. Yeah, it was a lot of fun hanging out with them too at the very beginning. They, again, they have people talking."

A transcript of the brief segment, which aired on April 24 at 7:31am:

Chris Cuomo: "But first, Sheryl Crow's recent comments about the environment. They took an odd turn, in direction of her bathroom, specifically how much toilet tissue we should all be using. She meant for it to be a comment about the environment. It became something else and ran afoul of some critics and caused even more foul humor. I put that the right way?"
Bianna Golodryga: " I think you did, Chris, just hit the right notes there. Sheryl Crow and her side kick Laurie David wrapped up a two week global warming tour, which they started right here on Good Morning America. Well, it's been quite a trip and it ended with a swipe at naysayers, literally. It all started with a joke. Wrapping up a nationwide global warming tour, singer/song writer Sheryl Crow posted a quirky solution online about a new way to save the environment. She wrote, '€˜I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting.' She told the joke to get people's attention, and boy did it work."
Jay Leno: "One square of toilet paper? Thank you, I'm not going to be shaking hands anymore."
Tucker Carlson: "She wants a federal law, apparently, on toilet paper use."
Rosie O'Donnell: "All wannna' to do is have some fun. One little thing?"
Michelle Lee, Executive Editor, In Touch Weekly: "Seems like Sheryl was trying to be a little bit cheeky, no pun intended with her statements."
Golodryga: "Maybe Crow was inspired by her friend eco activist partner, Laurie David. After all, her husband Larry David of Seinfeld fame, once wrote this:"
[Seinfeld clip where Elaine yells at a woman from across a stall to "spare a square."]
Golodryga: "So, I got on the bus and sat down with Sheryl and Laurie to clear the air, so to speak. I wanted to go by and see if I could spare a square in your bathroom, but tell us how this happened."
Sheryl Crow: "Actually there's an empty roll in there."
Laurie David: "We've run out of toilet paper."
Crow: "Yeah, We have ran out of toilet paper. We're just so happy that people are talking about global warming today, even if it is brought about by a joke."
Golodryga: "And for Sheryl Crow and Laurie David, their message is everything."
Crow: "We're definitely going to be back. We haven't finished. This is going to be a topic that's going to be around for a long time."
Golodryga: "Now, the press also picked up on Crow's run in with Karl Rove at the White House correspondent dinner over the weekend. But, they really wanted to stress that this, for them, is not a political issue at all. So, you know, they took with a grain of salt. They had a good humor about it."
Cuomo: "Well, she said it. She wanted people talking about global warming and now they are. Now did it go on college campuses? What's the reception?"
Golodryga: "Well, you know, I asked how they were received there, if there were any hecklers at the campuses. And they said there was one group of hecklers and they were jokesters. They just said, you know what? They do support global warming 'cause it helps them on their tans. So, overall people did receive them very well."
Cuomo: "Good. At least they're talking. Bianna Golodryga, Thank you very much for bringing this to us. Well, it is now time for the weather. There will be no segue. I will go right to Sam Champion and leave the topic alone. Sam?"
Sam Champion, laughs: "Morning, Chris. Yeah, it was a lot of fun hanging out with them too at the very beginning. They, again, they have people talking."

Goldberg Slams Rosie O'Donnell Types,
'Bush Derangement Syndrome'

Former CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg appeared on Tuesday's Today show to promote his new book and in the process took several jabs at wimpy Republicans who don't stand by conservative principles and the "Rosie O'Donnells of the world" who suffer from "Bush Derangement Syndrome." While Goldberg wasn't a 100 percent conservative, he criticized the Iraq war and supports embryonic stem cell research, it was still refreshing to hear a former member of the liberal media criticize liberals on their own airwaves.

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

First up, NBC's Matt Lauer opened the segment by deriding Goldberg's new employer Fox News as out of the mainstream: "In the world of the media Bernard Goldberg used to bat lefty now he bats righty. He sold millions of books taking swings at liberals in the press. Now a regular on the Fox News Channel, Goldberg used to be a card-carrying member of the mainstream media establishment."

Then in the set-up piece before the interview Lauer took another shot when he identified Goldberg, who works with Bryant Gumbel on HBO's Real Sports, as "more than just a right wing talking head."

However the highlight of the interview came when Lauer prompted him to criticize the GOP: "Then you're, were kind of married to the Republican Party and now by your own definition that marriage is on the rocks. Is this a, a long brewing conflict or one fight that got you sleeping on the couch?"
Goldberg: "You're right, I did start out on the left and I was a liberal like most people and I started noticing things that I didn't like. I mean I didn't like the anger and I didn't like what I called the craziness. The, the, the Rosie O'Donnells of the world who say that radical Christians are as threatening as radical Muslims. I don't even know what radical Christians are."
Lauer: "But there as many crazies on the far right as well."
Goldberg: "Well, you know what, the mainstream liberals and the far left liberals are coming together. There's something called Bush Derangement Syndrome. I go out to dinner with my liberal friends. These are, these people are as normal as you."
Lauer chuckles: "Okay."
Goldberg: "And they're having, we're having a good, well-"
Lauer: "Is that an insult right off the bat?"
Goldberg: "And we're having a good time and we're talking and we're eating and 'how's the kids?' And, and you say George Bush-"
Lauer: "Yeah."
Goldberg: "And they start foaming at the mouth. So these are regular. Now on the right I don't have a problem with conservatives I have a problem with Republicans who don't have the guts to stand up for their conservative principles."

The following is the full segment as it occurred on the April 24th Today show:

Matt Lauer: "In the world of the media Bernard Goldberg used to bat lefty now he bats righty. He sold millions of books taking swings at liberals in the press. Now a regular on the Fox News channel Goldberg used to be a card-carrying member of the mainstream media establishment."

[On screen headline: "Between 2 Parties, Crazies, Wimps and Goldberg"]

Lauer: "He spent almost three decades as a reporter for CBS News winning six Emmy Awards. But these days Bernard Goldberg is better known for his blistering critiques of the news business."
Prof. Robert Thompson, Syracuse University: "There's a street cred that comes from having been on the inside that I think a lot of other people don't have."
Lauer: "In 1996 he wrote an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal accusing network news divisions of promoting a liberal agenda. The fallout from that column eventually led to his leaving CBS News and to his first book, Bias, which became a bestseller. Goldberg followed that up with Arrogance, referring again to the media. And more recently he took aim at a wide range of targets in 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America."
Bernard Goldberg, from August 2005, Today show appearance: "The people in the middle of the country get the central message of the book, that the culture has gotten too angry, too mean and too vulgar."
Thompson: "It looks like he was sent down by central casting to play elite, East Coast media guy. At the same time he then has turned around and every time he opens his mouth he's playing, you know, Mr. Populist against the elitism of the media."
Lauer: "But Goldberg is more than just a right wing talking head. He's distinguished himself with award-winning work on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. As described in the title of his new book, Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right, Goldberg has staked out his own unique perspective on the intersection of media and politics. Bernard Goldberg, Bernie good to see you. Good morning."
Bernard Goldberg: "You know that youtube kid?"
Lauer: "Yeah?"
Goldberg: "I called him and he hung up on me."
Lauer: "He did? You just cost him another 50 cents apparently. You were married to the Democratic Party, that broke up, okay?"
Goldberg: "Right."
Lauer: "Then you're, were kind of married to the Republican Party and now by your own definition that marriage is on the rocks. Is this a, a long brewing conflict or one fight that got you sleeping on the couch?"
Goldberg: "You're right, I did start out on the left and I was a liberal like most people and I started noticing things that I didn't like. I mean I didn't like the anger and I didn't like what I called the craziness. The, the, the Rosie O'Donnells of the world who say that radical Christians are as threatening as radical Muslims. I don't even know what radical Christians are."
Lauer: "But there as many crazies on the far right as well."
Goldberg: "Well, you know what, the mainstream liberals and the far left liberals are coming together. There's something called Bush Derangement Syndrome. I go out to dinner with my liberal friends. These are, these people are as normal as you."
Lauer chuckles: "Okay."
Goldberg: "And they're having, we're having a good, well-"
Lauer: "Is that an insult right off the bat?"
Goldberg: "And we're having a good time and we're talking and we're eating and 'how's the kids?' And, and you say George Bush-"
Lauer: "Yeah."
Goldberg: "And they start foaming at the mouth. So these are regular. Now on the right I don't have a problem with conservatives I have a problem with Republicans who don't have the guts to stand up for their conservative principles."
Lauer: "You're getting increasingly difficult to label, that's for sure because you talk about specifics. For example you say, talking about Republicans, 'They sold out on illegal immigration.' You call them, 'sniveling wimps,' for not opposing affirmative action more strongly-"
Goldberg: "Right."
Lauer: "And yet you think the gay marriage ban, unnecessary. You criticize the Republican Party as a party that panders to fundamentalists who think evolution is a fairy tale. And by the way you're all for embryonic stem cell research. So where are you now?"
Goldberg: "I, I'm, I'm on the right. My friends, my liberal friends say I've gone over to the dark side."
Lauer chuckling: "Yeah."
Goldberg: "You know? They and they actually say to me, 'You're not a conservative.' And I say, why not? They say, 'Well you're not a bigot, you don't drool on yourself, you're not married to your sister.' You know? That's how liberals see conservatives. And I am conservative. Let's put it this way. Maybe my liberal friends moved so far to the left that they just left me on the right. But, but I am conservative. I like conservative ideas. I like the optimism of conservatives. I don't like the wimpiness of Republicans."
Lauer: "And, and you bash Republicans. You also bash some Democrats in the book. Let me talk about the war in Iraq because so many people are talking about it. You were opposed to it from the very beginning."
Goldberg: "Yeah."
Lauer: "You're convinced that no matter what happens Democrats are gonna blame George Bush but about Republicans you say, 'Make no mistake-'
Goldberg: "Yeah."
Lauer: "'-if Bill Clinton had dragged us into this war the same conservatives who impeached him for lying about sex with an intern would have impeached him all over again. This time, this time for being a reckless commander-in-chief who went too far for all the wrong reasons.' So why aren't there stronger conservative voices right now speaking out against George Bush and this war?"
Goldberg: "I think there's a loyalty to a Republican president and it's, it's, this is one of the things wrong with the culture. If I agree with somebody on the left I'm giving ammunition to the enemy and if some liberal gives, agrees with, with somebody on the right they're giving, you know, ammunition to the enemy."
Lauer: "But at what cost loyalty?"
Goldberg: "Oh I think it's gone too far. I think, I think this war is a mess and I think the hypocrisy on both sides is overwhelming. On the right the hypocrisy is they would never support Bill Clinton or Al Gore or John Kerry or Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton if they got us into this mess. And on the left my liberal friends, you know, they're against torture, they're for womens' rights. They can't give George Bush two seconds, just two seconds of visceral, unadulterated joy that he shut down the state-sponsored torture chambers. That kids and their fathers aren't getting shot in the head by, by the government. That women aren't being raped to get information from their husbands. The hypocrisy on the left is pretty bad too. They can't give him just, give him credit for that much, at least."
Lauer: "And by the way you write eloquently and passionately about race in this country, something that's a topic of conversation, again following the whole Imus situation. It's an interesting book Bernie. Always good to have you."
Goldberg: "Matt always a pleasure talking to you, thanks."
Lauer: "Good seeing you. The book is Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right. And you can read some excerpts on our Web site."

Hume Picks Up on ABC Spiking How Culture
Blamed for Gun Violence

You read it here first. Matching a CyberAlert item, FNC's Brit Hume reported, in his Tuesday "Grapevine" segment, how "ABC devoted nearly two minutes," during Monday's World News to a new ABC News poll on guns, "but never mentioned one of the most interesting results. When asked the primary source of gun violence, 40 percent said popular culture, and 35 percent said the way parents raise their children. Only 18 percent blamed the availability of guns."

The April 24 CyberAlert recounted: ABC News polling chief Gary Langer, in a posting buried on ABCNews.com, revealed that a poll taken Sunday discovered that when "asked the primary cause of gun violence, far more Americans blamed the effects of popular culture (40 percent) or the way parents raise their children (35 percent) than the availability of guns (18 percent)." ABC's World News on Monday devoted nearly two minutes to results of ABC's survey, but didn't get to that finding which shows the public does not share the media assumption that gun availability is to blame for the murders at Virginia Tech. Although George Stephanopoulos did point out how "a strong majority of Americans, 52 to 29, prefer enforcing existing laws to passing new laws," anchor Charles Gibson led with a widely-held view, how "a new ABC News poll finds 83 percent of Americans say states should do more to report mentally ill people to the federal gun sales registry." He went how to highlight that "61 percent of the people in this country say they favor stronger gun control laws, although people are split right down the middle as to whether stricter gun control laws would actually curb any kind of violence..."

Hume's first "Grapevine" item on the April 24 Special Report with Brit Hume:
"If you're wondering why the apparent popular support for gun control does not seem to translate into legislative action, there is ample illustration in the latest ABC News poll taken after the Virginia Tech shootings. 61 percent of the respondents said they favor stronger gun control laws, but as to whether they would do any good, 49 percent said yes, 50 percent said no. And by a 52-to-29 margin, respondents said they prefer enforcing existing gun laws to passing new ones. ABC devoted nearly two minutes to the poll during last night's evening newscast -- but never mentioned one of the most interesting results. When asked the primary source of gun violence, 40 percent said popular culture, and 35 percent said the way parents raise their children. Only 18 percent blamed the availability of guns."

-- Brent Baker