Nets Show Scorn for 'Two-Pronged Republican Attack on Obama' --5/16/2008

1. Nets Show Scorn for 'Two-Pronged Republican Attack on Obama'
The broadcast network evening shows took their cues from the Obama campaign Thursday night as all framed their coverage -- of President Bush warning in Israel that "some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals" -- around angry reaction to Bush's perceived attack on Barack Obama with CBS and NBC trying to undermine Bush's argument by contending it contradicts policies of past Republican Presidents and/or Bush administration officials. CBS anchor Katie Couric, referring to Bush and John McCain, cited "a two-pronged Republican attack today on Barack Obama." Reporter Chip Reid saw a "Republican barrage" which "began in Jerusalem today where President Bush appeared to be taking aim at Barack Obama." Reid soon passed along how "Obama, who has said he would meet with leaders of Iran, Syria, and Cuba, noted that Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, and even Reagan also negotiated directly with America's enemies." Over on NBC, Brian Williams teased his lead story: "President Bush on the world stage delivers what was widely seen as an attack on Barack Obama." Williams described it as "today's political shot heard 'round the world. The concussion was instantaneous. Upon hearing the news, one Democratic Senator used a word we can't use on this broadcast."

2. Chris Matthews Scolds Bush for 'Sucker Punch' to Obama
On Thursday's Hardball Chris Matthews accused George W. Bush of delivering "a sucker punch" to Barack Obama in his speech to the Knesset. In the speech Bush warned against appeasing enemies, which Matthews took to be a cheap shot at the Illinois Senator's willingness to talk to the leaders of hostile nations like Iran.

3. CNN's Hypersensitive Reaction to Bush's 'Appeasement' Comments
Minutes after President Bush began his speech to the Israeli Knesset, CNN quickly channeled outraged Democratic reaction to his "false comfort of appeasement" remark. American Morning co-host John Roberts, in a brief on the speech, claimed the President was "suggesting that Senator Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of appeasing terrorists in the same way that U.S. leaders appeased the Nazis in the run-up to World War II," though the President did not mention any Democratic official or the Democratic Party. The graphic on the screen also reflected this belief that Democrats were being unfairly smeared: "Pres. Says Obama, Other Dems Want 'Appeasement of Terrorists" and "Pres. Bush Compares Dems' Stance on War to Appeasement of Nazis."

4. Bush Goes Left on Global Warming, But Not Left Enough for NBC
Wednesday's NBC Nightly News cheered the Bush administration's recent liberal moves on climate change -- "a very big week for those who are fighting to save the environment," anchor Brian Williams celebrated -- but NBC's "environmental affairs" correspondent Anne Thompson nevertheless trotted out an activist with the National Resources Defense Council to complain that the administration still hasn't gone far enough to the left on global warming. But Nightly News had no time for any conservative or free market spokesman who might have said that the administration had already gone too far in trying to appease environmental liberals, and that the act of placing polar bears on the threatened species would make it easier for a more liberal successor to pursue economically-punishing regulations.

5. ABC: Americans 'Soon' Paying $1,000 to Fill Up Their Gas Tank?
ABC's Nightline on Monday continued the network's trend of hyperbolically, and in this case, apocalyptically, fretting over high gas prices in America. Anchor Martin Bashir introduced a segment by wondering if $4 a gallon gas might result in some people stealing gasoline, or, as he put it, "taking some drastic measures." Speaking to a car security expert who claimed that such theft would be a misdemeanor because the total cost would be below $1,000, reporter John Donvan lost all perspective and replied: "But we may soon be paying more than $1,000 for a tank of gas." Donvan, in a snarky tone, even cited the plot of the futuristic thriller The Road Warrior to support his argument. He speculated: "And in the future, of course, they will be stealing gas and fighting over it. We know that because of the 1981 Mad Max classic 'The Road Warrior.'"

Nets Show Scorn for 'Two-Pronged Republican
Attack on Obama'

The broadcast network evening shows took their cues from the Obama campaign Thursday night as all framed their coverage -- of President Bush warning in Israel that "some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals" -- around angry reaction to Bush's perceived attack on Barack Obama with CBS and NBC trying to undermine Bush's argument by contending it contradicts policies of past Republican Presidents and/or Bush administration officials.

CBS anchor Katie Couric, referring to Bush and John McCain, cited "a two-pronged Republican attack today on Barack Obama on a key foreign policy matter." Reporter Chip Reid saw a "Republican barrage" which "began in Jerusalem today where President Bush appeared to be taking aim at Barack Obama." Reid soon passed along how "Obama, who has said he would meet with leaders of Iran, Syria, and Cuba, noted that Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, and even Reagan also negotiated directly with America's enemies." But Mikhail Gorbachev hadn't promised to nuke Israel.

Over on NBC, Brian Williams teased his lead story: "President Bush on the world stage delivers what was widely seen as an attack on Barack Obama." Williams described it as "today's political shot heard 'round the world. The concussion was instantaneous. Upon hearing the news, one Democratic Senator used a word we can't use on this broadcast." Reporter John Yang called it "the first salvo of this fall's general election campaign" and, with "THIS IS B******T" on screen, relayed how "Senator Joseph Biden characterized the President's words with a word we can't use." Yang contended Bush's admonition "would also apply to Mr. Bush's former Secretary of State" who urged engagement with Hamas. But not a personal sit-down with the President of the United States.

ABC's World News, which like CBS led with the same-sex marriage ruling in California, approached the Bush/Obama story in less hyperbolic terms as anchor Charles Gibson introduced a report from David Wright: "There was a debate today between Republicans and Democrats that spanned the Atlantic Ocean. President Bush, addressing Israel's parliament, made comments to which Barack Obama and other Democrats took offense -- and then John McCain got involved."

FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume highlighted this pledge on the Obama campaign's Web site: "Obama is the only major candidate who supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions."

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

Transcripts of the stories on the Thursday, May 15 CBS and NBC evening newscasts:

# CBS Evening News

KATIE COURIC, IN OPENING TEASER: Also tonight, President Bush jumps into the campaign fray.
GEORGE W. BUSH: Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals.
COURIC: Barack Obama calls it a false political attack on him.

....

COURIC: And if the gay marriage debate is a preview of what may come in the fall election campaign, here is another -- a two-pronged Republican attack today on Barack Obama on a key foreign policy matter: Iran. Chip Reid has that story.

CHIP REID: The Republican barrage began in Jerusalem today where President Bush appeared to be taking aim at Barack Obama.
GEORGE W. BUSH, AT KNESSET: Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals.
REID: Negotiating with terrorists today, he said, would be like trying to appease Hitler before World War II.
BUSH: We've heard this foolish delusion before as Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939-
REID: A White House spokesman denied that Obama was the target. But when John McCain jumped into the fray, there was no doubt where he was aiming.
JOHN MCCAIN CLIP #1: Why does Barack Obama, Senator Obama, want to sit down with a state sponsor of terrorism?
McCAIN CLIP #2: It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama. It shows naivete and inexperience.
REID: In a written statement, Obama said it was "sad" that the President would use the celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary to "launch a false political attack." Obama, who has said he would meet with leaders of Iran, Syria, and Cuba, noted that Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, and even Reagan also negotiated directly with America's enemies. Even Hillary Clinton came to his defense.
HILLARY CLINTON: President Bush's comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous.
REID: For McCain, the focus on Obama yet again overshadowed his own campaign, and an unusual speech today in which he imagined what the world will look like in 2013 at the end of his first term.
McCAIN CLIP #1: America has welcomed home most of the service men and women who have sacrificed terribly.
McCAIN CLIP #2: The Iraq war has been won.
REID: Democrats say McCain's crystal ball must be cloudy. Their crystal ball, they say, not surprisingly, shows a Democrat in the White House for the next four years, and the troops home from Iraq long before 2013.

# NBC Nightly News:

BRIAN WILLIAMS, TEASE: On the broadcast tonight, war of words. President Bush on the world stage delivers what was widely seen as an attack on Barack Obama.

....

WILLIAMS: Good evening tonight from Atlanta. President W. Bush today went before the Israeli legislature to deliver an important speech on Israel's 60th anniversary. In one particular paragraph he invoked the fight against the horrors of Nazi Germany and it was clear to those listening that it was, in part, to make a point about Barack Obama back home. It was today's political shot heard 'round the world. The concussion was instantaneous. Upon hearing the news, one Democratic Senator used a word we can't use on this broadcast. And so we begin here tonight with NBC's John Yang who's in Jerusalem traveling with the President. John, good evening.

JOHN YANG: Good evening, Brian. This just may have been the first salvo of this fall's general election campaign and it was fired by someone who's not even running. Speaking to Israeli lawmakers, President Bush ridiculed calls for diplomatic engagement with Iran
PRESIDENT BUSH, AT KNESSET: Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.
YANG: He compared it to attempts to placate Adolph Hitler on the eve of World War II.
BUSH: We've heard this foolish delusion before. We have an obligation to call this what it is, the false comfort of appeasement.
YANG: Mr. Bush didn't name any names. Privately, White House officials said the shoe fits the Democratic front-runner. Obama reacted sharply, calling the President's speech a "false political attack" that "does nothing to secure the American people and our stalwart ally Israel." The presumptive Republican nominee quickly echoed the President.
JOHN McCAIN, ON HIS BUS: It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naivete and inexperience and lack of judgment.
YANG: Top Democrats leapt to Obama's defense.
HILLARY CLINTON: President Bush's comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: What the President did in that regard is beneath the dignity of the office of President.
YANG: Senator Joseph Biden characterized the President's words with a word we can't use [on screen: "THIS IS B******T."] White House officials said Mr. Bush's speech wasn't political, it was just stating longstanding policy. They said the criticism also applied to former President Jimmy Carter and foreign allies. But it would also apply to Mr. Bush's former Secretary of State.
AUDIO OF COLIN POWELL ON NPR ON JULY 18: Hamas has to be engaged. I don't think you can't just cast them in outer darkness and try to find a solution to the problems of he region without taking into account the standing that Hamas has in the Palestinian community.
YANG: And current Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week unofficial contact with Iran would be a good thing, a position Pentagon officials said is in tune with the President. This may have been the first preview of the Republican line of attack against Obama if he wins the Democratic nomination and it was launched here in Israel at a time when a key U.S. voting block was paying very close attention. Brian?

Chris Matthews Scolds Bush for 'Sucker
Punch' to Obama

On Thursday's Hardball Chris Matthews accused George W. Bush of delivering "a sucker punch" to Barack Obama in his speech to the Knesset. In the speech Bush warned against appeasing enemies, which Matthews took to be a cheap shot at the Illinois Senator's willingness to talk to the leaders of hostile nations like Iran.

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

Matthews made the "sucker punch" remark on the May 15, Hardball in the following question to the Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News: "Let me ask you while you're up now Wayne, this question of the President. You've written about Bush's Brain. What was he up to in the Knesset today with that, well you'd have to call it a sucker punch over there. In the Knesset, in Israel, which was, you know, so much to do with the Holocaust, let's be honest. In terms of the world and the way it looks, the necessity of a state of Israel, a Jewish state. And to go in there and basically accuse the Democrats of selling out the Jews of Europe. I mean an amazing charge right there in, in the homeland! Incredible!

CNN's Hypersensitive Reaction to Bush's
'Appeasement' Comments

Minutes after President Bush began his speech to the Israeli Knesset, CNN quickly channeled outraged Democratic reaction to his "false comfort of appeasement" remark. American Morning co-host John Roberts, in a brief on the speech, claimed the President was "suggesting that Senator Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of appeasing terrorists in the same way that U.S. leaders appeased the Nazis in the run-up to World War II," though the President did not mention any Democratic official or the Democratic Party.

The graphic on the screen also reflected this belief that Democrats were being unfairly smeared: "Pres. Says Obama, Other Dems Want 'Appeasement of Terrorists" and "Pres. Bush Compares Dems' Stance on War to Appeasement of Nazis."

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

Ten minutes later, Roberts again read a brief on the President's remark, but this time gave a bit more detail: "President Bush, speaking before the Knesset in Israel...saying that Barack Obama, without mentioning him by name, but saying basically that Barack Obama and other Democrats favor a policy of appeasement of terrorists, in much the same way that U.S. leaders did prior to World War II....Our Ed Henry is on the story. He's just getting some of his ducks in a row here, and will be joining us in a couple of minutes with more on that."

After a short interview of a newly-elected mayor in Oklahoma, CNN correspondent Ed Henry gave a live report from Jerusalem on the President's speech. After a playing a clip of the relevant portion of the speech, Henry again clarified that "President Bush never uttered the words Barack Obama. But White House aides are acknowledging that this was a reference to the fact that Senator Obama and other Democrats have publicly said that it would be okay for the U.S. President to meet with leaders like the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

Henry then continued about John McCain's recent remarks about Obama being the favorite presidential candidate of Hamas: "...[L]ast week, Senator McCain suggested that Obama was the favorite candidate of Hamas, the terror group. Last week, Obama called that a smear." Henry thus continued CNN's omission of the fact that the political advisor to Hamas' political leader had communicated the terror group's endorsement of the Illinois Senator.

May 9 CyberAlert item on CNN's previous omission of Hamas' endorsement of Obama: www.mrc.org

American Morning continued to cover the supposed attack on Obama for the next ten minutes, asking correspondents Suzanne Malveaux and Dana Bash for the Obama and McCain camps reaction to the remark. After the commercial break, Roberts interviewed Robert Gibbs, the communication director of the Obama campaign. Roberts did bring up Obama's past comment that the Senator "would sit down with the leaders of these countries without precondition," and how that was "fairly controversial." He continued by making a fair point in his question: "So for President Bush to say that leaping immediately to the leader level might not be a policy the United States wants to follow -- does he have a point there?"

Bush Goes Left on Global Warming, But
Not Left Enough for NBC

Wednesday's NBC Nightly News cheered the Bush administration's recent liberal moves on climate change -- "a very big week for those who are fighting to save the environment," anchor Brian Williams celebrated -- but NBC's "environmental affairs" correspondent Anne Thompson nevertheless trotted out an activist with the National Resources Defense Council to complain that the administration still hasn't gone far enough to the left on global warming.

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

But Nightly News had no time for any conservative or free market spokesman who might have said that the administration had already gone too far in trying to appease environmental liberals, and that the act of placing polar bears on the threatened species would make it easier for a more liberal successor to pursue economically-punishing regulations.

Writing on The American Spectator's Web site, the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Iain Murray outlined the conservative argument that NBC ignored. An excerpt:

A sensible discussion of the polar bear requires acknowledging a simple fact: that the polar bear is merely a proxy for something else. The environmental pressure groups like the Center for Biological Diversity that have petitioned for the listing acknowledge that their reason for doing so is concern over global warming. The more warming, they argue, the less sea ice; the less sea ice, the fewer polar bears. So their hope was that the Endangered Species Act will give the federal government power to curtail sources of global warming -- such as your car or air conditioning system.

Secretary Dirk Kempthorne attempted to frustrate this desire by erecting regulatory barriers, like a statement from the Director of the US Geological Survey that melting ice in specific areas could not be tied to specific sources of carbon emissions. These barriers have all the legislative strength of tissue paper. It will take but a few moments of a new Administration to blow them away.

After that, the first effects of the now-sacrosanct listing will probably be felt not in Alaska, where America's polar bears range, but in any state thinking of adding a coal-fired power plant to its energy infrastructure. The Act will be used by the new government to intervene -- and by activists to litigate -- against new construction in any controversial permitting process.

Once that precedent is set, the Act would be used to stop uncontroversial, even popular permit applications. Electricity supplies would be constrained. Blackouts and brownouts would proliferate. Were you to buy a plug-in electric car a few years from now, you may well find you have no electricity to power it.

END of Excerpt

For Murray's May 15 post in full: www.spectator.org

Not a peep of that point of view on NBC, however, which touted the polar bear ruling as "a huge milestone" only undermined by Kempthorne's decree that the Endangered Species Act not be used to push a Gore-esque agenda. Thompson sought out Dale Bryk of the National Resources Defense Council (no "liberal" label) for a predictable soundbite: "The administration on the one hand is saying yes, global warming is the dominant threat to your survival, but at the very same time they're saying, we're going to do nothing to protect from you that threat."

Full transcript of the May 14 NBC Nightly News story:

BRIAN WILLIAMS: This has been a very big week for those who are fighting to save the environment. Yesterday in an interview, President Bush said there's no question, global warming is real. Then today, a huge milestone by the Bush administration, polar bears were declared a threatened species. But none of that apparently has changed the fight over what to do about climate change. Our report tonight from our Chief Environmental Affairs correspondent Anne Thompson.

ANNE THOMPSON: The polar bear is on thin ice and could well be on its way to extinction. Today the Bush administration acknowledged global warming is shrinking sea ice, a crucial part of the bear's habitat in Alaska. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne used satellite images to show the dramatic change in ice from 1979 to today in explaining his decision to list the bear as threatened. But he insisted this would not be a way to regulate greenhouse gases from cars and power plants.
SECRETARY DIRK KEMPTHORNE: The Endangered Species Act is not the means nor the method nor the vehicle by which you can deal with global climate change.
THOMPSON: That disappointed many environmental groups, leading some to label the listing as an empty victory.
DALE BRYK, NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: The administration on the one hand is saying yes, global warming is the dominant threat to your survival, but at the very same time they're saying we're going to do nothing to protect from you that threat.
THOMPSON: Dr. Scott Bergen of the Wildlife Conservation Society says they can always see the impact of the shrinking ice: pregnant females are lighter and fewer cubs are surviving their first year. [TO BERGEN] What role does the sea ice play in the polar bear's survival?
DR. SCOTT BERGEN: It determines the polar bear survival.
THOMPSON: The 20,000-plus bears use the ice to catch the seals they feed on. [at Central Park Zoo] The fear is without protection, this will be one of the few places polar bears exist. Last year government scientists predicted two-thirds of all polar bears will disappear by the year 2050 including every bear in Alaska. And today, a new international study confirmed man-made climate change is causing a reduction in the number of bears. More evidence that those in the wild tonight are at risk. Anne Thompson, NBC News, New York.

ABC: Americans 'Soon' Paying $1,000 to
Fill Up Their Gas Tank?

ABC's Nightline on Monday continued the network's trend of hyperbolically, and in this case, apocalyptically, fretting over high gas prices in America. Anchor Martin Bashir introduced a segment by wondering if $4 a gallon gas might result in some people stealing gasoline, or, as he put it, "taking some drastic measures." Speaking to a car security expert who claimed that such theft would be a misdemeanor because the total cost would be below $1,000, reporter John Donvan lost all perspective and replied: "But we may soon be paying more than $1,000 for a tank of gas."

Donvan, in a snarky tone, even cited the plot of the futuristic thriller The Road Warrior to support his argument. He speculated: "And in the future, of course, they will be stealing gas and fighting over it. We know that because of the 1981 Mad Max classic 'The Road Warrior.'"

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

After more conjecture about theft of $1,000-per-fill-up gas, Donvan closed the piece by ominously questioning: "But [gas costing that much], of course, would be in the distant, distant future, right?" As he spoke, another clip of The Road Warrior played onscreen. Anchor Bashir capped the report by speculating that such a nightmarish future might be "closer than we think."

Now, Donvan and Bashir might argue that they were simply exaggerating the effect of high prices for comedic, sarcastic impact. But ABC has developed quite a track record throughout the month of May. The network has massively hyped the extent to which gas prices (and the economy in general) are destroying the lives of Americans. On May 13, World News featured a woman who skipped breakfast in order to deal with the rising fuel costs. See the May 14 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org

On May 6, in a more generalized report, the same program highlighted people who had forgone electricity as a result of the economic slowdown. See the May 7 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org

A transcript of the May 12 Nightline segment:

MARTIN BASHIR: Now some more bad news, I'm afraid. Gas prices set yet another record last week. The average national price of a gallon of regular unleaded fuel now costs $3.72. In California, it's already $3.92. That ominous $4 mark now seems inescapable. And if it that goes far, might people start taking some drastic measures? For John Donvan, this is a 'Sign of the Times".
JOHN DONVAN: Random gas station talk. Do you think it's all about prices? Well, of course, some of it is.
PEDESTRIAN (FEMALE): But when I started buying gas I think it was 35 cents a gallon.
DONVAN: But who knew that lately with the price of a gallon of gasoline near $4 that some of the, can we say experts, are also talking about thieves, gasoline thieves? I have to imagine that people have been stealing gasoline from time immemorial, have they not?
RON STOUT (LAW ENFORCEMENT LIAISON): Well they have, absolutely.
DONVAN: And in the future, of course, they will be stealing gas and fighting over it. We know that because of the 1981 Mad Max classic "The Road Warrior." [Clip from "The Road Warrior."]
DONVAN: But that, fortunately, is in the distant, distant future. And it's a relief just to stand here on the drizzly morning in the present with Ron Stout who represents LoJack, the auto security and recovery firm, but what's this he's saying?
STOUT: Well there are several messages. There's the old original ways of siphoning gasoline out of gas tanks using the rubber hose.
DONVAN: But then you have to get the gas tank open.
STOUT: You have to get the gas tank open. There are those that use screwdrivers for example that will puncture the gas tank from underneath and drain the tanks into containers.
DONVAN: These numbers you are all too familiar with, but consider this one: $134 million, that's the amount of money the National Association of Convenience Stores, says that its members chalked up last year in losses to gasoline thieves. That's what happens when, as in this security camera video, a thief gases up and then drives off without paying. But Stout also tells us that a lot of the time you, the innocent gas-buying driver will be the target. The guy who starts pumping gas into his car and then wanders off.
STOUT: Meantime, somebody has pulled the hose out of the tank of the customer's car and put it in their vehicle and filled up as much gas in their vehicle as they could before the customer comes out and replace the hose.
DONVAN: The thing is, many of us make it pretty easy for this kind of gas theft scam. We saw a bunch of people follow the pattern, out of their car, nozzle into the gas tank, then they are off to shop.
COMMUTER (MALE): Oh, you're going to make an example out of me?
DONVAN: Well, no. It's up to you. You've got to be careful, apparently.
COMMUTER (MALE): If they're doing it, they deserve to be caught.
DONVAN: Well, in fact gas is not so expensive that stealing it this way is actually a felony. It is still a petty crime.
STOUT: In most jurisdictions, $1,000 is the borderline between misdemeanor and felony.
DONVAN: But we may soon be paying more than $1,000 for a tank of gas.
STOUT: We hope not.
DONVAN: And then we're in felony territory.
STOUT: We would be in felony territory.
DONVAN: But that, of course, would be in the distant, distant future, right? I'm John Donvan for Nightline in Washington.
BASHIR: Perhaps it is closer than we think. Our thanks to John Donvan.

-- Brent Baker