Question During Debate: 'What Do You Dislike Most About America?' --5/4/2007

1. Question During Debate: 'What Do You Dislike Most About America?'
In a debate packed with silly questions and ones matching left-wing attack points on GOP candidates, in the first "Interactive Round" of questions submitted by the public on Politico.com, a co-sponsor of the debate, Mitt Romney got the most bizarre. The Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei, a Washington Post political reporter before jumping to The Politico earlier this year, found this one worth posing: "Daniel Dekovnick [sp phonetic] from Walnut Creek, California wants to know, 'What do you dislike most about America?'" Romney responded: "Gosh, I love America. I'm afraid I'm going to be at a loss for words..." AUDIO&VIDEO

2. Time Mag's 'Top 100' Most Influential List Snubs George W. Bush
Time magazine's annual "100 People Who Shape Our World" list, the cover story of the May 14 edition out today (Friday), included Raul Castro among the "Leaders and Revolutionaries," George Clooney in the "Heroes and Pioneers" section, Rosie O'Donnell in the "Artists and Entertainers" list and, at the top of the "Scientists and Thinkers" section, Al Gore whom the magazine touted: "Al Gore understands the science of global warming better than anyone else in the world of politics." But left all the lists making up the 100 most influential: The President of the United States, who still has some influence, as seen just this week in his veto of congressional efforts to set withdrawal deadlines from Iraq. Time, however, put Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the "Leaders and Revolutionaries" list.

3. NPR's Totenberg Takes on John Edwards' Daughter as Summer Intern
Here's another sign that public broadcasters aren't worried about the appearance of Democratic favoritism. National Public Radio reporter Nina Totenberg -- legendary (or infamous) for championing Anita Hill's unsubstantiated sexual harassment charges against Clarence Thomas, and then yawning at all harassment claims against Bill Clinton -- is hiring the daughter of liberal Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards as a summer intern, and her NPR bosses "gave the green light, since the election is still 18 months away."

Question During Debate: 'What Do You
Dislike Most About America?'

[Drudge on Thursday night linked to the NewsBusters version of this item, which was posted with video. That audio/video will be added to the posted version of this CyberAlert. But in the meantime, to listen or watch the clip of VandeHei posing the "what do you dislike most about America?" question and Romney's response, go to: newsbusters.org ]

The "Interactive Rounds" at the Republican presidential debate, from the Ronald Reagan Library in California and carried live on MSNBC, became an opportunity to raise hostile questions from a left-wing agenda or meant to embarrass the candidates (What's the difference between Shia and Sunni?, How many have been killed or injured in Iraq? etc.)

Some of the other questions VandeHei chose to ask during the same round, about 25 minutes into the debate, in which he posed the whopper to Romney: To Rudy Giuliani, "Bradley Winter of New York would like to know if there's anything you learned, or regret, during your time as Mayor in your dealings with the African-American community?"; to Mike Huckabee, "Thousands of reputable scientists have concluded, with almost certainty, that human activity is responsible for the warming of the Earth. Do you believe global warming exists?" Later, to Tom Tancredo: "Will you work to protect women's rights, as in fair wages and reproductive choice?"

Time Mag's 'Top 100' Most Influential
List Snubs George W. Bush

Time magazine's annual "100 People Who Shape Our World" list, the cover story of the May 14 edition out today (Friday), included Raul Castro among the "Leaders and Revolutionaries," George Clooney in the "Heroes and Pioneers" section, Rosie O'Donnell in the "Artists and Entertainers" list and, at the top of the "Scientists and Thinkers" section, Al Gore whom the magazine touted: "Al Gore understands the science of global warming better than anyone else in the world of politics." James Hansen, a leading global warming fanatic, wrote the piece: www.time.com

But left all the lists making up the 100 most influential: The President of the United States, who still has some influence, as seen just this week in his veto of congressional efforts to set withdrawal deadlines from Iraq. Time, however, put Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the "Leaders and Revolutionaries" list.

For Time's "list of the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world," go to: www.time.com

Barbara Walters penned the tribute to O'Donnell in which she championed the woman who used The View to express conspiracy theories about how fire could not have melted steel at the World Trade Center: "Her views are not necessarily my views, but in her heart, she dearly hopes to be a force for good, a voice for people like her who are vulnerable and perhaps neglected." See: www.time.com

For the MRC's collection of O'Donnell quotes, many illustrated with video. "The Full Rosie: Daytime Host's Long Record of Mean-Spirited Left-Wing Ravings," check: www.mrc.org

NPR's Totenberg Takes on John Edwards'
Daughter as Summer Intern

Here's another sign that public broadcasters aren't worried about the appearance of Democratic favoritism. National Public Radio reporter Nina Totenberg -- legendary (or infamous) for championing Anita Hill's unsubstantiated sexual harassment charges against Clarence Thomas, and then yawning at all harassment claims against Bill Clinton -- is hiring the daughter of liberal Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards as a summer intern, and her NPR bosses "gave the green light, since the election is still 18 months away."

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

The Washington Post gossip column that broke the story couldn't even get word from NPR as to whether Cate Edwards will stop making campaign appearances during the internship. Here's what the May 3 "Reliable Source" column by Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger passed along:

NPR legal correspondent Nina Totenberg narrowed hundreds of summer intern applications to a dozen promising candidates and began phoning the finalists, but swears it wasn't until after she interviewed Harvard Law School's Catharine Edwards that she realized the 25-year-old -- better known as Cate-- is the daughter of presidential candidate John Edwards.

"I said to myself, 'Oh, you idiot,' " said Totenberg, who wanted to offer Edwards the job and appealed to her bosses; they gave the green light, since the election is still 18 months away. Totenberg's new intern starts later this month; no word on how much time she'll spend in Washington and how much on the campaign trail.

END of Excerpt

That's online at: www.washingtonpost.com

Now that's one way to get in good with major sources in the rare chance that there's a President John Edwards.

-- Brent Baker