Networks Forward Obama's ABC-Enabled Defense of His Wife --5/20/2008

1. Networks Forward Obama's ABC-Enabled Defense of His Wife
Monday provided a great example of a network correspondent advancing Barack Obama's political cause by treating him as a victim of a nefarious GOP attack, thus allowing him to appear virtuous in his reply, an answer the other networks then highlighted to enhance the victimization theme. ABC, CBS and NBC on Monday night showcased Obama's scolding of the Tennessee Republican Party for posting a video on You Tube contrasting Michelle Obama's February admission that "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country," with people declaring their pride in the U.S. On Monday's Good Morning America ABC's Robin Roberts asked if he is "prepared" for "more and more" such attacks. Obama called the ad "low class" and ominously warned his opponents should "be careful" in making his wife an issue "because that I find unacceptable." Monday night, CBS's Dean Reynolds played the February clip before relaying how Barack Obama "blasted a Republican Internet ad which uses a controversial statement she made about her husband's campaign to question her love of country." Lee Cowan, on NBC, related Obama's "Rule Number One: lay off his family. When asked on ABC's Good Morning America about this Republican ad criticizing his wife for saying that 'this was the first time' that she'd been 'proud of her country,' he fired back."

2. ABC's Robin Roberts to Obama: Ready for the Nasty GOP?
Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts conducted a syrupy, softball interview with Michelle and Barack Obama on Monday's program, mostly free from any discussion of substantive policy issues. Instead, Roberts played a clip from a Tennessee State Republican Party ad that attacked Michelle Obama for saying the '08 campaign marked the first time she's been proud of America. The GMA host empathetically wondered: "Should you get through this process and you have the general election ahead of you, that this is what you can expect more and more of. Are you prepared for that?" Now, readers will remember that liberals (many in the media) were outraged over ABC's April 16 Democratic debate for focusing on allegedly unimportant topics and not "the issues." But Roberts did the exact same thing during her interview, discussing political "horse-race" subjects such as Hillary Clinton for VP and an extensive debate on whether the Obama family will be getting a dog. As an example of the not-so tough queries the candidate's wife faced, the ABC host at one point cooed, "What have you learned about yourself since that night in Iowa?"

3. NBC's Engel to Bush: War on Terrorism Has Not Made World Safer
During an exclusive interview with George W. Bush conducted in Egypt and excerpted on Sunday's NBC Nightly News and on Monday's Today show, NBC's Richard Engel seemed to blame all of the Middle East's problems on the President's policies as he charged that "Iran's position in the world is rising because of your actions in Iraq," and the war on terrorism "has not made the world safer, that it has created more radicals, that, that there are more people in this part of the world who want to attack the United States."

4. CNN's Martin Slams 'War Hero' McCain While Speaking for Obama
CNN contributor Roland Martin, asked about Democrats' low poll results concerning national security on Friday's 8pm EDT Election Center program, answered using his best Barack Obama impression. "...John McCain, you're a war hero. You served. But you also voted for the war that's led to the death of 4,000 Americans. We have spent billions of dollars and, frankly, it has not stabilized the Middle East....He's [Obama] going to put the cost of the war and how it has not done what it was supposed to on his back and say, you know what? Explain that, Mr. War Hero."

5. ABC's Latest Gas Price Victim Can 'No Longer Take Joy Rides'
Six days after ABC's World News fretted over a New Jersey woman who said she must skip breakfast to put $4 a day toward gas, Monday's newscast featured an even more hapless woman, a Massachusetts resident who to afford gas sacrifices a "much needed" $45 prescription, says she can "no longer take joy rides on my days off" and, horror of horrors, has been forced into "buying store brands instead of name brands." Now, Rosaria Giamei complained in a soundbite: "I don't get out and enjoy things anymore. I just kind of sit at home and only go to and from work and, like, grocery shopping and that's it." How about taking a walk or riding a bike? "Tonight, gas and diesel hit another record," anchor Charles Gibson teased his lead story, "people tell us they're sacrificing food, health, and their lifestyle just to fill the tank." Dan Harris reported: "The pain is being felt all over the country. We here at ABC News are getting flooded with messages from people like Rosaria Giamei, who says, 'I even stopped filling a much needed monthly prescription that costs $45 so I will have more money for gas.' We found Rosaria in Massachusetts today fuming at the oil companies and bemoaning the changes she's had to make in her personal life."

6. ABC's Bianna Golodryga Wages Class Warfare on 'Super Rich'
On Friday's Nightline, ABC reporter Bianna Golodryga filed a segment on the "super rich" who are untainted by the tough economic times and once again highlighted left-wing investor Warren Buffett's calls for more taxation. Without ever labeling Buffett as liberal (he has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for President), Golodryga cheerfully proclaimed that the billionaire is "concerned about the burgeoning wealth gap." The ABC reporter then parroted Buffett's claim that his cleaning lady is paying more in payroll taxes then he does on capital gains. "She doesn't have a lobbyist," the investor complained. Of course, neither Buffett nor Golodryga pointed out that the top one percent of earners pay 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes.

7. CNN Anchors Fawn: Ted Kennedy Is 'American Royalty'
During Saturday's "Breaking News" coverage of Senator Edward Kennedy's hospitalization for a seizure, CNN anchors Fredericka Whitfield and T. J. Holmes sycophantically referred to the Kennedy family and the Senator himself as "political royalty" and "American royalty," as if all Americans -- or even all in Massachusetts -- bend their knee before the throne of Camelot. While the Bush family, for example, has produced a Senator, two Presidents and a Governor, it's impossible to imagine that CNN (or any other network) would allow its on-air personnel to casually refer to the family as "royalty." And while many Americans certainly have high regard for the Kennedys, conservatives and many others staunchly oppose their liberal policies and avoid the kind of hero-worship exhibited by liberals.

8. Matthews: Thou Shalt Not Compare Politicians to Jesus, Unless...
On Monday's Hardball, Chris Matthews scolded the Georgia Republican Party State Chair for comparing John McCain to Jesus ("Let's cool it with those comparisons"), but back in 2007 the MSNBC host declared of Bill Clinton: "There are times when he sounds like Jesus..."

Networks Forward Obama's ABC-Enabled
Defense of His Wife

Monday provided a great example of a network correspondent advancing Barack Obama's political cause by treating him as a victim of a nefarious GOP attack, thus allowing him to appear virtuous in his reply, an answer the other networks then highlighted to enhance the victimization theme. ABC, CBS and NBC on Monday night showcased Obama's scolding of the Tennessee Republican Party for posting a video on You Tube contrasting Michelle Obama's February admission that "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country," with people declaring their pride in the U.S.

As detailed, with video, in #2 below, on Monday's Good Morning America ABC's Robin Roberts asked if he is "prepared" for "more and more" such attacks. Obama called the ad "low class" and ominously warned his opponents should "be careful" in making his wife an issue "because that I find unacceptable."

Monday night, ABC's David Wright reported that "Obama tried to subtract one potential issue from the general election -- his wife." But without playing the February Michelle Obama soundbite to remind viewers what she said, Wright asserted "certain Republicans have already questioned her patriotism." As if the concern is baseless. On CBS, Dean Reynolds played the February clip before relaying how Barack Obama "blasted a Republican Internet ad which uses a controversial statement she made about her husband's campaign to question her love of country." Lee Cowan, on NBC, related Obama's "Rule Number One: lay off his family. When asked on ABC's Good Morning America about this Republican ad criticizing his wife for saying that 'this was the first time' that she'd been 'proud of her country,' he fired back."

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

Key portion of the exchange on Good Morning America:

ROBIN ROBERTS: You know what's going on in Tennessee with the GOP there. And their Web campaign about taking the remarks that you made earlier about being first time in your adult life being proud of the U.S.
MICHELLE OBAMA, IN FEBRUARY: For the first time in my adult lifetime I'm really proud of my country.
BOB S., REALTOR, IN THE AD: Boy, I've been proud to be an American since I was a kid.
JUAN B., POLICE OFFICER, IN THE AD: I'm proud of this country each and every day.
ROBERTS: Should you get through this process and you have the general election ahead of you, that this is what you can expect more and more of. Are you prepared for that?

Posting on YouTube of the four-minute video, a pretty low-quality production that is only on the Web: www.youtube.com

Back in February, the networks didn't consider Michelle Obama's remarks anything to be embarrassed by or ashamed of -- to the extent they bothered to report them.

The Wednesday, February 20 NewsBusters item, "Burden on Cindy McCain Over Michelle Obama's Lack of U.S. Pride," recounted:

Michelle Obama proclaimed that "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country," but instead of putting the burden on the Obama campaign to defend her admission of a lack of pride in her nation, NBC on Tuesday night framed its coverage around Cindy McCain's "rhetoric" in issuing a "political jab" over the remark and concern over whether that "was a knock at Michelle Obama?" But at least NBC highlighted the comment from Monday. ABC's World News didn't utter a word about it while CBS's Jim Axelrod pointed out how the Obama "campaign says don't slice apart the quote to infer she's not a patriot."

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams set up the story: "For the Republicans, the rhetoric today was also largely about words. And today it involved the wife of the frontrunner, Cindy McCain." Kelly O'Donnell relayed how "the most memorable political jab of the day did not come" from John McCain but from Cindy McCain who declared "I'm proud of my country." O'Donnell treated that as an attack which required justification: "Asked directly if this was a knock at Michelle Obama, John McCain steered clear."

For the previous CyberAlert in full: www.mrc.org

The Thursday, February 21 CyberAlert post, "ABC Spikes Michelle Obama's Gaffe, Then Declares It Unimportant," reported:

ABC's World News, which on Tuesday skipped Michelle Obama's comment that "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country," on Wednesday finally got to it, but only minimally as George Stephanopoulos praised her "good damage control" and declared: "I don't think it's going to be a huge deal." Hard for it to become "a huge deal" when a broadcast network's most-watched news program doesn't bother to report it. On Wednesday, the World News campaign stories again ignored the remark and the newscast only arrived on the story in anchor Charles Gibson's last question to Stephanopoulos.

Gibson played the comment, then explained: "Now she said today what she was talking about, or meant to say, was that she was proud of how many people are now taking part in the political process. Is this a big deal? Is it a tempest in a teapot?" Stephanopoulos was pleased by her explanation: "Ah, well that was good damage control by Michelle Obama." He acknowledged "her first comment was a mistake," but "as long as this isn't repeated, as long as they don't dig the hole deeper -- she did start to dig out today -- I don't think it's going to be a huge deal."

For the complete rundown: www.mrc.org

Coverage, of Barack Obama's comments, on the Monday, May 19 broadcast network evening newscasts:

# ABC's World News:

DAVID WRIGHT: Today, on Good Morning America, Obama tried to subtract one potential issue from the general election -- his wife. Certain Republicans have already questioned her patriotism.
BARACK OBAMA, ON GMA: If they think that they're going make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful because that I find unacceptable. These folks should stay off my wife. All right? Just in case they're watching.

# CBS Evening News:

DEAN REYNOLDS: In addition to defending his views, Obama today defended his wife.
MICHELLE OBAMA: For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.
REYNOLDS: He blasted a Republican Internet ad which uses a controversial statement she made about her husband's campaign to question her love of country, contrasting it with statements from average Americans.
JUAN B, POLICE OFFICER, IN THE TENNESSEE REPUBLICAN PARTY VIDEO: I am proud of this country each and every day.
BARACK OBAMA, ON GMA: If they think that they're going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful, because that I find unacceptable. [edit jump] But I also think these folks should lay off my wife, all right?
REYNOLDS: Just a taste of what to expect this fall.

# NBC Nightly News:

LEE COWAN: Obama is already laying the ground rules for the general election. And Rule Number One: lay off his family. When asked on ABC's Good Morning America about this Republican ad criticizing his wife for saying that "this was the first time" that she'd been "proud of her country," he fired back.
BARACK OBAMA, GMA: It is just low class. [edit jump] But I also think these folks should lay off my wife.

ABC's Robin Roberts to Obama: Ready for
the Nasty GOP?

The GMA host empathetically wondered: "Should you get through this process and you have the general election ahead of you, that this is what you can expect more and more of. Are you prepared for that?" Now, readers will remember that liberals (many in the media) were outraged over ABC's April 16 Democratic debate for focusing on allegedly unimportant topics and not "the issues." But Roberts did the exact same thing during her interview, discussing political "horse-race" subjects such as Hillary Clinton for VP and an extensive debate on whether the Obama family will be getting a dog. As an example of the not-so tough queries the candidate's wife faced, the ABC host at one point cooed, "What have you learned about yourself since that night in Iowa?"

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

Much of the interview appeared to be designed so that the Obamas could put forth talking points. Regarding a May 10 Robert Novak column which alleged that Michelle Obama has vetoed Senator Clinton as a running mate, Roberts allowed the candidate's wife to go on at length over how much she respects and admires the former first lady. Following the Novak question, the co-anchor approvingly repeated a quote from Mrs. Obama: "I like how you said people make things up and things that you go, like, huh?"

Roberts, to her credit, did raise the American flag pin issue and why the Democratic contender has started wearing one again. However, she also essentially turned the last section over to the Obamas as they went on and on over the important subject of getting a dog:

BARACK OBAMA: And we also have a year to test whether [the children] are sufficiently responsible [enough to have a dog].
MICHELLE OBAMA: They are responsible. Malia is responsible.
BARACK OBAMA: To actually, they're responsible for a nine and a six-year-old, they are responsible. But whether they're going to be responsible for-
ROBERTS: That's a daddy right there. That is a daddy right there.
BARACK OBAMA: Whether they'll be responsible in the middle of the winter to go walk that dog-

Roberts simply stopped speaking for much of the dog discussion. Now, cutesy, humanizing elements are part of most political profiles. But they should also be accompanied by tough discussions of actual issues.

A transcript of the May 19 segment, which aired at 7:02am, follows:

ROBERTS: But we begin with the race for '08 and our exclusive interview with Senator Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. I caught up with the Obamas in Portland, Oregon. Just seems like a few hours ago there, Sunday, in Portland just before the senator drew this massive crowd. 75,000 people were there in Oregon to see him and his final push to tomorrow's primary there. He says he expects this week to be unlike any other thus far.
GRAPHIC: Obama Looks at General Election: "Lay Off My Wife"
BARACK OBAMA: We will have a majority of the pledged delegates. Obviously we won't have completed the nomination process, but I think it's an important milestone for our campaign.
ROBERTS: What have you learned about yourself since that night in Iowa?
MICHELLE OBAMA: I've just been proud of how we've handled this as a family.
BARACK OBAMA: She's, she's done really good. She's put up with me much more than I expected.
ROBERTS: You know what's going on in Tennessee with the GOP there. And their Web campaign about taking the remarks that you made earlier about being first time in your adult life being proud of the U.S.
MICHELLE OBAMA: For the first time in my adult lifetime I'm really proud of my country.

[Clip from Tennessee GOP ad]:
BOB S., REALTOR: Boy, I've been proud to be an American since I was a kid.
JUAN B., POLICE OFFICER: I'm proud of this country each and every day.

ROBERTS: Should you get through this process and you have the general election ahead of you, that this is what you can expect more and more of. Are you prepared for that?
BARACK OBAMA: You know, let me just interject on this. The GOP, should I be the nominee, I think can say whatever they want to say about me, my track record, if they think that they're going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful. Because that I find unacceptable. The notion that you start attacking my wife or my family -- Michelle is the most honest, the best person I know. She is one of the most caring people I know. She loves this country and for them to try to distort or to play snippets of her remarks in ways that are unflattering to her, I think is, is just low class and I think most of the American people would think that, as well. Whoever is in charge of the Tennessee GOP needs to think long and hard about the kind of campaign that they want to run and I think that's true for everybody, Democrat or Republican.
MICHELLE OBAMA: We're trusting that the American voters are ready to talk about the issues and not talking about the things that have nothing to do with making people's lives better.
BARACK OBAMA: But I also think these folks should lay off my wife. All right? Just in case they're watching.
ROBERTS: The Washington Post today was talking about how the two campaigns, your campaign and Senator Clinton's campaign, have already begun discussions about merging. Have there been any discussions between the two campaigns about an exit strategy for Senator Clinton?
BARACK OBAMA: No. Senator Clinton is running as she has run throughout this process. She's running a vigorous campaign and we don't anticipate that there will be discussions until the contests are over, but one thing I certainly believe and I get a sense that Senator Clinton believes as well, is that this party is going to be unified.
ROBERTS: Have you talked to Senator Clinton recently?
BARACK OBAMA: I spoke to her briefly on the floor right after West Virginia, or right before West Virginia, the day of the West Virginia primary, and congratulated her on running a good campaign.
ROBERTS: Nothing about vice president?
BARACK OBAMA: No.
ROBERTS: Will you have a voice in the vice president? You know something that Robert Novak wrote in saying that in discussing Hillary Clinton that you were like, no way. Did you say anything like that?
MICHELLE OBAMA: Absolutely not. You know, that's one of those sort of huh? I think that-
BARACK OBAMA: Folks make stuff up. That's one of the interesting lessons that you learn as you're running for president.
MICHELLE OBAMA: People really make stuff up.
BARACK OBAMA: People just make stuff up.
MICHELLE OBAMA: Well, first of all, what I think people should understand is that, you know, I think the world of Hillary Clinton. Particularly as a woman, having watched her go through a lot of what I might be going through and doing it with a level of grace and raising a phenomenal daughter, which I have two girls, and I know how hard just in the little bit of exposure I've had to this what she's had to deal with and what she's accomplished. So that being said, you know, there's no way that I would say absolutely not to one of the most successful and powerful and groundbreaking women on this planet. What I have said is that I think one of the things that the nominee has earned is the right to pick the vice president that they think will suit them. And to that end, I don't want to have any say in it.
ROBERTS: I like how you said people make things up and things that you go, like, huh? Let's try to do a little lightning round.
BARACK OBAMA: Lightening round of stuff folks have made up.
ROBERTS: Okay. Are you a Muslim?
BARACK OBAMA: No. Made it up. They made it up. This is -- and this started back in Iowa. I am a Christian and have never been a Muslim. It's an example of the power of the internet these days, people tend to just believe what they receive. So that one would be false. I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and that has been the faith that we are raising our daughters to believe, as well.
ROBERTS: The flag pin?
BARACK OBAMA: Yes.
ROBERTS: You had said before that you didn't need to wear it to prove that you're patriotic. You have been wearing it recently. Why?
BARACK OBAMA: Right. You know, I've had so many supporters, a lot of them veterans, who have been handing me flag pins saying Barack, we know how patriotic you are and do us a favor, we would appreciate if you wore it. Partly just, not because, I think, they wanted proof of patriotism, but they wanted the issue taken off the table. I'm happy to wear a flag pin. It's something that I'm proud to do.
ROBERTS: On the campaign trail this weekend, a rare treat for the candidate, the entire Obama family together. What's it like having your family on the road with you?
BARACK OBAMA: It, I'm always just in a great mood when they're around.
ROBERTS: And a final lightning round question. Have the girls Malia and Sasha, have they gotten their dog?
BARACK OBAMA: No dog yet.
MICHELLE OBAMA: The deal on dog is a year from now because what we know about raising a dog is that you have to be pretty stable.
ROBERTS: Right.
MICHELLE OBAMA: So you don't drive your dog crazy. So we had a conversation around the dinner table about a month ago because this came up, when is the dog coming? So we figured a year from now in the spring we would be settled, one way or another, and we shook on it.
BARACK OBAMA: And we also have a year to test whether they are sufficiently responsible.
MICHELLE OBAMA: They are responsible. Malia is responsible.
BARACK OBAMA: To actually, they're responsible for a nine and a six-year-old, they are responsible. But whether they're going to be responsible for-
ROBERTS: That's a daddy right there. That is a daddy right there.
BARACK OBAMA: Whether they'll be responsible in the middle of the winter to go walk that dog-
MICHELLE OBAMA: I'm going to take -- We're getting a dog.
BARACK OBAMA: -when it's cold outside.
MICHELLE OBAMA: The dog is a done deal. You guys are getting a dog. Don't let dad-
BARACK OBAMA: Who is walking the dog, that's what we're concerned about.
DIANE SAWYER: Dog days.
ROBERTS: You think they've talked about this a time or two? And all the husbands here are going, yes, uh-huh. See? Walking the dog like that.

NBC's Engel to Bush: War on Terrorism
Has Not Made World Safer

During an exclusive interview with George W. Bush conducted in Egypt and excerpted on Sunday's NBC Nightly News and on Monday's Today show, NBC's Richard Engel seemed to blame all of the Middle East's problems on the President's policies as he charged that "Iran's position in the world is rising because of your actions in Iraq," and the war on terrorism "has not made the world safer, that it has created more radicals, that, that there are more people in this part of the world who want to attack the United States."

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

This exchange was typical of the tone of the entire interview where virtually all of Engels' questions to the President were from the left.

RICHARD ENGEL: If you look back over the last several years, the Middle East that you'll be handing over to the next president has, is deeply problematic. You have Hamas in power, Hezbollah empowered, taking to the streets, Iran empowered, Iraq still at war. What region are you handing over?
GEORGE W. BUSH: Richard, Richard those folks were always around. They were here. What we're handing over is a, is a Middle East that one recognizes the problems and the world recognizes them. There's, there's clarity as to what the problems are.
ENGEL: The war on terrorism has been the centerpiece of your presidency. Many people say that it has not made the world safer, that it has created more radicals, that, that there are more people in this part of the world who want to attack the United States.

The following is the full interview as it was aired on the May 19 Today:

MEREDITH VIEIRA: And now to an exclusive interview with President Bush, who arrived back home last night after a five-day swing through the Middle East, where he received a largely frosty reception. Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the President sat down for an exclusive interview with NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel. Richard, good morning to you.
RICHARD ENGEL: Good morning, Meredith. I started by asking the President about his controversial comments he made in Israel, which Democratic candidates interpreted as a political attack. You said that negotiating with Iran is pointless and then you went further. You're saying, you said that it was appeasement. Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama? He certainly thought you were.
GEORGE W. BUSH: You know, my policies haven't changed, but evidently, the political calendar has.
ENGEL: Negotiations with Iran. Is that appeasement? Is that like appeasing Adolf Hitler?
BUSH: No my, my, my position, Richard, all along, has been that if the Iranians verifiably suspend their enrichment, which will be a key, key measure to stop them from gaining the know-how to build a weapon, then they can come to the table and the United States will be at the table.
ENGEL: A lot of Iran's empowerment is a result of the war in Iraq.
BUSH: Yeah.
ENGEL: How do you feel that Iran is, its position in the world is rising because of your actions in Iraq?
BUSH: See, see, I'm not so sure I agree with that. That's, that's, that's, that's a premise I don't necessarily agree with. As a matter of fact, I think Iran is troubled by the fact that a young democracy is growing in Iraq. I, you know, this notion about somehow, if Saddam Hussein were in power, everything would be fine in the Middle East is, is a ludicrous notion.
ENGEL: Do you intend to finish your term in office with a military action of some kind against Iran?
BUSH: Oh Richard, that's highly speculative. I've, I've always made it clear that options are on the table, but you know, the biggest weapon we have against those who can't stand freedom is the advance of freedom.
ENGEL: If you look back over the last several years, the Middle East that you'll be handing over to the next president has, is deeply problematic. You have Hamas in power, Hezbollah empowered, taking to the streets, Iran empowered, Iraq still at war. What region are you handing over?
BUSH: Richard, Richard those folks were always around. They were here. What we're handing over is a, is a Middle East that one recognizes the problems and the world recognizes them. There's, there's clarity as to what the problems are.
ENGEL: The war on terrorism has been the centerpiece of your presidency. Many people say that it has not made the world safer, that it has created more radicals, that, that there are more people in this part of the world who want to attack the United States.
BUSH: This, this the beehive theory. We should have just let the beehive sit there and hope the bees don't come out of the hive? My attitude is, the United States must stay on the offense against al-Qaeda. Two ways.
ENGEL: What happens if you smash the bees, the hive and let them spread?
BUSH: Excuse me for a minute Richard. Two ways. One, find them and bring them to justice, what we're doing, and two, offer freedom as an alternative to their vision. And somehow, to suggest that bees would stay in the hive is naive. They didn't stay in the hive when they came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

ENGEL: Despite a cold reception in the Arab world, the President reiterated his goal of reaching an Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement by the end of the year, although many analysts in this region say that, for now, that appears unrealistic. Meredith.
VIEIRA: Richard Engel, thank you very much. And you can see Richard's full interview with the President on our website at todayshow.com.

CNN's Martin Slams 'War Hero' McCain
While Speaking for Obama

CNN contributor Roland Martin, asked about Democrats' low poll results concerning national security on Friday's 8pm EDT Election Center program, answered using his best Barack Obama impression. "...John McCain, you're a war hero. You served. But you also voted for the war that's led to the death of 4,000 Americans. We have spent billions of dollars and, frankly, it has not stabilized the Middle East....He's [Obama] going to put the cost of the war and how it has not done what it was supposed to on his back and say, you know what? Explain that, Mr. War Hero."

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

Election Center host Campbell Brown, prior to Martin's answer, played a clip of Senator McCain criticizing Obama's stance that if the Illinois Senator became President, he "would meet unconditionally with some of the world's worst dictators and state sponsors of terrorists." She then referenced a ABC News/Washington Post poll, conducted May 8-11, in her question to Martin. "Roland, I want to go to a point that we ended on a moment ago with Gloria. John McCain knows national security is the Democrats' weak spot. In a poll this week, McCain beat Obama on the question of who do you trust to deal with terrorism 55 percent to 34 percent. How does Obama begin to make up that gap, when he's running against a war hero?"

Martin's full answer:

MARTIN: Well, first of all, what he is going to do is, he is going to say, okay, John McCain, you're a war hero. You served. But you also voted for the war that's led to the death of 4,000 Americans. We have spent billions of dollars and, frankly, it has not stabilized the Middle East. He's going to say, you aligned with the Bush administration, who went before Congress and who said, hey, our gas prices are going to go down because of the war in Iraq. We're not going to spend as much money. He's going to put the cost of the war and how it has not done what it was supposed to on his back and say, you know what? Explain that, Mr. War Hero.

Martin made the remark as part of a panel discussion, which included CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger and former Mitt Romney campaign press secretary Kevin Madden. Later, Madden commented that he was "very struck by how Barack Obama immediately reacted to President Bush's remarks at the Knesset, even though he was never mentioned. There's an old saying in politics that... if you throw a rock over the fence, the dog that barks is the one that you hit."

Madden's comment provoked Borger to reply, "Kevin, he was clearly talking about Obama," thus continuing CNN's sensitivity towards President Bush's "appeasement remark." Brown then asked Borger, "This discussion started when the President made his speech in Israel, saying there is no room for appeasement. And, of course, as Kevin pointed out, the White House is today saying that they don't know what this fuss is all about, that the President wasn't even talking about Obama. You buying it?"

May 16 CyberAlert item on CNN's day-long hypersensitivity towards President Bush's "appeasement" remark: www.mrc.org

Before the CNN senior political analyst could respond, Martin quipped sarcastically, "Oh, so cute." Borger then voiced her adamance about the President's remark. "Oh, of course not. Of course not. There is not one word in a President's speech that isn't carefully considered, and they were talking about all Democrats, perhaps, who are now led by Barack Obama, who is the likely presidential nominee. And so, of course they were talking about Barack Obama."

ABC's Latest Gas Price Victim Can 'No
Longer Take Joy Rides'

Six days after ABC's World News fretted over a New Jersey woman who said she must skip breakfast to put $4 a day toward gas, Monday's newscast featured an even more hapless woman, a Massachusetts resident who to afford gas sacrifices a "much needed" $45 prescription, says she can "no longer take joy rides on my days off" and, horror of horrors, has been forced into "buying store brands instead of name brands." Now, Rosaria Giamei complained in a soundbite: "I don't get out and enjoy things anymore. I just kind of sit at home and only go to and from work and, like, grocery shopping and that's it." How about taking a walk or riding a bike?

"Tonight, gas and diesel hit another record," anchor Charles Gibson teased his lead story, "people tell us they're sacrificing food, health, and their lifestyle just to fill the tank." Dan Harris reported: "The pain is being felt all over the country. We here at ABC News are getting flooded with messages from people like Rosaria Giamei, who says, 'I even stopped filling a much needed monthly prescription that costs $45 so I will have more money for gas.' We found Rosaria in Massachusetts today fuming at the oil companies and bemoaning the changes she's had to make in her personal life."

Of course, from the view of the left, aren't "joy rides" a wasteful, carbon-producing abuse of the planet?

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

As Harris outlined Giamei's lifestyle changes, ABC displayed on screen an e-mail from her to ABC News in which she rued: "I no longer take joy rides on my days off. I have switched to buying store brands instead of name brands when possible. I even stopped filling a much needed monthly prescription that costs $45 so I will have more money for gas."

The May 14 CyberAlert item, "ABC Showcases Hapless Woman Who Skips Breakfast to Afford Gas," recounted:

A week after ABC focused a story on two pitiable Minnesota families living in the dark because higher energy and food prices mean they "can no longer afford to pay for electricity," Tuesday's World News highlighted the replies from sad case stories solicited on ABCNews.com, starting with a woman who says she must skip breakfast to put $4 a day toward gas. ABC displayed "FEELING THE PAIN" on screen as Charles Gibson set up the story that David Muir started by fretting about "the price of a gallon of gas jumping more than a dime in just the last week" -- which is a piddling $2 more to fill a 20-gallon tank. Nonetheless, he asserted "the e-mails we've received show the pain is being felt far and wide. Single mother Caroline Saunders wrote to us from New Jersey." He read aloud from her e-mail with her quote on screen: "I now skip breakfast to save the extra $4 per day. That gives me an extra $20 added to my gas budget."

For the entire article: www.mrc.org

The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcript of the top story on the Monday, May 19 World News on ABC:

CHARLES GIBSON, IN OPENING TEASER: Welcome to World News. Tonight, gas and diesel hit another record. People tell us they're sacrificing food, health, and their lifestyle just to fill the tank.

...

GIBSON: Good evening. Another week, another record price for gas. The average price of a gallon went up seven cents in just the past week. The average price of a gallon, $3.79. And you've heard the outrage from drivers.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I feel powerless, I feel helpless.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: I'm really pissed off.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: It's insane.
GIBSON: Now, those are comments from drivers three years ago when we began this broadcast with a report the average price of a gallon had just reached $2.35. Since then, what Americans pay for gas has gone up $4 billion a week. ABC's Dan Harris is here with more. Dan?

DAN HARRIS: Charlie, good evening. You can blame this latest gas price record on the rise in oil prices. In fact, oil hit another record today -- $127 a barrel. And this situation may get worse before it gets better. According to today's numbers, gas is now officially over $4 a gallon in Chicago, and it's pretty darn close in Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Cleveland, and New York City. The angst and anger over these prices has the politicians in Washington on high alert, hauling big oil executives before the judiciary committee this Wednesday. Today the oil industry was playing defense.
JOHN FELMY, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE: There's no question it's a burden on consumers, and what the industry is doing is working very hard to find more energy, working very hard to supply energy as cheaply as possible.
HARRIS: Also today, the White House criticized Congress for not doing enough to ease the pain.
SCOTT STANZEL, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Going from band aid to band aid that they think will have an impact but really won't.
HARRIS: The pain is being felt all over the country. We here at ABC News are getting flooded with messages from people like Rosaria Giamei, who says, "I even stopped filling a much needed monthly prescription that costs $45 so I will have more money for gas." We found Rosaria in Massachusetts today fuming at the oil companies and bemoaning the changes she's had to make in her personal life.
ROSARIA GIAMEI: I don't get out and enjoy things anymore. I just kind of sit at home and only go to and from work and, like, grocery shopping and that's it.
HARRIS: In this email, Brenda Hensley told us the price of diesel fuel is putting her husband's excavating business in peril. "We can't raise our hourly rates enough to break even," she says, "and realizing a profit is no longer an option." When we tracked her down in Indiana today, she said they may simply close up shop after 32 years in business.
BRENDA HENSLEY: If things continue as they are, it means that we're not going to have a business much longer.
HARRIS: So, when will the price of gas come down? Well, one analyst told me today, maybe July or August, toward the end of the summer driving season, but the price will probably never go back down to the $2.35 that made so many people so angry three years ago, as we saw at the top of the broadcast. Many of those people would probably celebrate that price now.
GIBSON: And angrier today, they are. All right, Dan Harris, thanks.

ABC's Bianna Golodryga Wages Class Warfare
on 'Super Rich'

On Friday's Nightline, ABC reporter Bianna Golodryga filed a segment on the "super rich" who are untainted by the tough economic times and once again highlighted left-wing investor Warren Buffett's calls for more taxation. Without ever labeling Buffett as liberal (he has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for President), Golodryga cheerfully proclaimed that the billionaire is "concerned about the burgeoning wealth gap." The ABC reporter then parroted Buffett's claim that his cleaning lady is paying more in payroll taxes then he does on capital gains. "She doesn't have a lobbyist," the investor complained.

Of course, neither Buffett nor Golodryga pointed out that the top one percent of earners pay 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes. See the Tax Foundation's report: www.taxfoundation.org

In fact, Golodryga has touted Buffett's liberal economic policies before. On November 15, 2007, on Good Morning America, she lauded the investor for coming out "on behalf of fairness in taxes," in relation to his calls to retain the estate tax and (liberally) reform capital gains tax policy. She rhapsodized to viewers that Buffett was on "your side over taxes and fairness." See a November 16, 2007 CyberAlert posting for more on Golodryga: www.mrc.org

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

On Friday's Nightline, Golodryga also surveyed the lifestyle of investor Paul Parmar and attempted to deride wealth creators as out of touch: "As many Americans watch personal investments like their homes go belly up, many of the super rich have seen their fortunes only grow." After noting the gourmet tastes of Parmar's dogs, she whined, "What about people that may be looking at you and saying how is it fair that I'm supporting a family of five and this guy's five dogs live better?"

Golodryga talked with Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank, author of "Richistan," about the current economic situation. She allowed him to deride the "super rich" and dismiss the idea that they create wealth by spending. After asking her one tough question, what's wrong with the wealthy enjoying their money, Frank condescendingly responded this way:

ROBERT FRANK (Author, "Richistan"): If you're a self-made guy and you made your money honestly, then you should enjoy it. What's wrong about it is when you say, well, I'm buying this to benefit the larger economy. Or look at all the jobs I support. Forget it. You know, trickle down has its limits. And if you're living in a 45,000 square foot house, you're doing it for yourself, not for the rest of us.

Becoming more extreme, Frank later speculated that the rich should be "concerned" about revolution. He alarmingly speculated, "If you don't want a revolution in America, you should be quiet about your wealth." Of course, Nightline spent much of the segment touring investor Parmar's mansion, so maybe that criticism should be directed at ABC.

A partial transcript of the May 16 segment:

CYNTHIA MCFADDEN: Good evening, I'm Cynthia McFadden. We begin tonight with a question. Do you think the country is in a recession? Ask economists and CEOs and you'll get a lot of different answers. But if you put the question to the people, how are you doing, well, according to a new ABC News poll of consumer confidence out just this week the people are pessimistic, more so than at any time in the past 15 years. Lots of people are struggling to keep their homes and fill their gas tanks. But not all people. Bianna Golodryga reports.
PAUL PARMAR [Taking Golodryga around his house.]: That ceiling was done maybe three times. These are all one of a kind made.
GOLODRYGA: Wow. That is quite some fish tank. Wait a minute here. What about all this recession talk? Are you affected at all by the current economic times that we're facing right now?
PARMAR: Not really.
GOLODRYGA: You probably don't recognize this man. His name is Paul Parmar and he is one of the fresh new faces of the super rich.
PARMAR: We're selling to all their doctors.
GOLODRYGA: How often do you check your own net worth?
PARMAR: It's because I'm so invested in private equity it's very difficult to check it.
ROBERT FRANK (WALL STREET JOURNAL): Since the 1930s, more than half of America's wealth came from inherited wealth. So we all know about the Rockefellers and the Astors and the DuPonts. But in the last ten years, it's all new money.
GOLODRYGA: Robert Frank is the personal wealth columnist for the Wall Street Journal and the author of 'Richistan.'
FRANK: The super rich are unaffected. They truly live in their own world or their own country that I call Richistan. And even I underestimated the degree to which the wealthy are almost oblivious to the fact that we are in a recession.
GOLODRYGA: Paul Parmar is an example of this modern-day multimillionaire. He lives a life many of us can only dream of. [Referring to bowling alley.] How much does this cost to put in?
PARMAR: It's not that bad. I designed it like a Roman ruins.
GOLODRYGA: And how often do you come here?
PARMAR: To this bedroom?
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
PARMAR: Probably never.
GOLODRYGA: Parmar's fortune is spread across a diverse portfolio of investments, from finance--
PARMAR: My private equity fund, we haven't raised anybody's money so it's my own wealth that I have invested in companies.
GOLODRYGA: -to aviation-
PARMAR: We have a very large charter company.
GOLODRYGA: -and movies. Both Bollywood and Hollywood. Most recently, he produced the movie "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."
["BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD" clip)
GOLODRYGA: His new area of investment - healthcare.
PARMAR: What segment can we make a major impact in? And if you look at healthcare, it's completely broken. It's fragmented. It's inefficient. So we see us as somebody that can -- if we can make an impact on that inefficiency-
GOLODRYGA: We tagged along on a recent weekend with Parmar and his girlfriend Amanda. A whirlwind trip, both business-
PARMAR: You need to, like, have fun with your business and stuff.
GOLODRYGA: -and pleasure. His private jet took us to Orlando. We were picked up by a Rolls Royce. And stopped at an exotic car club where you can rent a car so rare you can't even fill it up with regular gasoline.
PARMAR: You can definitely put jet fuel in these cars and you'll be fine.
GOLODRYGA: Then it was off to Anguilla for a two-hour business meeting, all before returning back home to New York. As many Americans watch personal investments like their homes go belly up, many of the super rich have seen their fortunes only grow. FRANK: The median income in America is still around $48,000 and that's been flat for about the last ten years. Meanwhile the top one percent of Americans own $17 trillion in wealth, which for perspective is greater than the GDP's of Japan, Germany, the U.K. and France combined.
GOLODRYGA: Even the top one percent's dogs live well. Parmar's five pure-breds are fed chicken and steak. What about people that may be looking at you and saying how is it fair that I'm supporting a family of five and this guy's five dogs live better?
PARMAR: I just think it comes back to core fundamentals of how I invest. I didn't go rob a bank. But you have somebody that has immense wealth and he keeps growing and then somebody that has, let's say, $100,000 and it keeps shrinking. The guy that has immense wealth is very confident about himself and knows what they're doing. So they will not put it into savings. The $100,000 guy, his best investment is a savings account. So he's trying to protect it while it shrinks.
GOLODRYGA: But even the world's richest man is concerned about the burgeoning wealth gap.
WARREN BUFFETT: My tax rate is courtesy of the United States Congress. And the people that pay very - the high taxes, like my cleaning lady who pays more on her payroll tax than I pay on capital gains. She doesn't have a lobbyist.
GOLODRYGA: Warren Buffett's estimated wealth hovers around $60 billion.
BUFFETT: This has been a prosperity that's been great for the super rich and it's been bad for the middle class. And, you know, I think that should be changed.
GOLODRYGA: So Buffett has lived in the same modest house for more than 50 years and has pledged to give most his fortune to charity. Here is someone who is giving his money away at the end of the day, most of it.

CNN Anchors Fawn: Ted Kennedy Is 'American
Royalty'

During Saturday's "Breaking News" coverage of Senator Edward Kennedy's hospitalization for a seizure, CNN anchors Fredericka Whitfield and T. J. Holmes sycophantically referred to the Kennedy family and the Senator himself as "political royalty" and "American royalty," as if all Americans -- or even all in Massachusetts -- bend their knee before the throne of Camelot.

While the Bush family, for example, has produced a Senator, two Presidents and a Governor, it's impossible to imagine that CNN (or any other network) would allow its on-air personnel to casually refer to the family as "royalty." And while many Americans certainly have high regard for the Kennedys, conservatives and many others staunchly oppose their liberal policies and avoid the kind of hero-worship exhibited by liberals.

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

Of course, such fawning displays are nothing new when it comes to coverage of the Kennedy family. During 1999 coverage of the plane crash that killed John F. Kennedy, Jr., then-CBS anchor Dan Rather promoted the Camelot myth: "It's just been one tragedy after another for the Kennedy family. Well, you say, every family has its tragedies. True enough. But this family, which is as close as America comes to having royalty...this family has had so much public tragedy." See: www.mrc.org

At about 12:27pm EDT on Saturday, T. J. Holmes claimed the Kennedy name was "synonymous with political royalty" as he noted the statement released by Kennedy's choice for President, Barack Obama:
"As people are seeing there at the bottom of the screen, the quote we're getting from Senator Obama, who has received the endorsement of Ted Kennedy, 'He is one of my favorite people. My thoughts and prayers are with Teddy.' We will keep an eye on this story. Again, Senator Ted Kennedy, the liberal lion of the U.S. Senate, the last name synonymous with political royalty, really, in this country, rushed to the hospital with symptoms of a stroke. We have our eyes on this story, we are all over it, working our sources. Quick break, we'll be right back."

Then, about 20 minutes later, Holmes' co-anchor Fredericka Whitfield asked reporter Dan Lothian to assess the importance of the Kennedy family in Massachusetts: "Dan [Lothian], you're a resident there in Boston. You know what the Kennedy name means there, in Massachusetts as a whole, and certainly there in Boston. You know this, you know, an icon, this is, you know, a political royalty, American royalty residing there in Boston. Give me an idea of the importance of this man, Ted Kennedy, and the importance of the Kennedy name as a whole."

Matthews: Thou Shalt Not Compare Politicians
to Jesus, Unless...

On Monday's Hardball, Chris Matthews scolded the Georgia Republican Party State Chair for comparing John McCain to Jesus ("Let's cool it with those comparisons"), but back in 2007 the MSNBC host declared of Bill Clinton: "There are times when he sounds like Jesus..."

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

First up, during the "Sideshow" segment of the May 19 show, Matthews delivered the following critique of Georgia Republican Party Chair Sue Everhart: "Now to the most absurd analogy of the day. In praising John McCain for his stoicism while he was tortured in Vietnam, Georgia Republican Party Chair Sue Everhart had this to say about her candidate, quote, 'John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross.' Well I think John Lennon made that mistake when he said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Let's cool it with those comparisons."

However, last year Matthews compared Bill Clinton to Jesus and actually won "Quote of the Year" for it at the MRC's 2008 DisHonors Awards. The following quote is from the February 28, 2007 edition of Hardball: "When I watched him [former President Bill Clinton] at Mrs. King's funeral, I just have never seen anything like it....There are times when he sounds like Jesus in the temple."

More and video in the March 2, 2007 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org

Click and play video in the "How We Adore Clinton-Gore Award" at our 2008 DisHonors Awards: www.mrc.org

For video of the audience picking the "Quote of the Year," go to: www.eyeblast.tv

-- Brent Baker