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2. AP: 'Far Right' Realizes McCain Judicial Nominees Anti Roe v Wade
3. ABC Adds to Parade of Hapless Economic Victims,Now No Electricity
4. ABC's Claire Shipman Gushes Over Democratic Super Spouses
5. CNN Panel Discusses Hillary's Apparent 'Move to the Right'
6. 'Top Ten Reasons Hillary Clinton Loves America'
The rant from Matthews: "I have to offer a Keith-style special comment on that. Anyone who voted to screw up the political system of this country with the purpose of mischief should carry that with them the rest their lives. What a ridiculous way to use the vote for which people fought and died, to use that vote to make mischief. I hope you're proud of yourself." That followed the contention of guest Michelle Bernard, of the Independent Women's Forum, that Limbaugh did "something positive" which helped Barack Obama "because he's said to African-Americans, ask the Democratic Party 'what have they done for you lately?'" and encouraged African-Americans to force "Republicans and Democrats to compete for the black vote." For that, she concluded, "I say to Rush Limbaugh: good job." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night, with audio, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [1] ] The April 17 CyberAlert article, "Matthews: What Kind of 'Klutz' Takes Orders from Rush Limbaugh?" reported: Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" has ticked off Chris Matthews. On Wednesday's Hardball, Matthews insulted Limbaugh's listeners, who are voting in the Democratic primary, as he questioned: "What kind of klutz do you have to be to take orders on how to vote from Rush Limbaugh and to change your party identity so that you can vote against, for somebody to screw the other party?" For more: www.mediaresearch.org [2] The exchange from MSNBC's live North Carolina and Indiana primary night coverage at about 11:42 PM EDT Tuesday, May 6:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about this Limbaugh factor. If Hillary Clinton wins this squeaker in Indiana, which is probably the best bet right now before we get the results in from Lake County, many could say that the margin of error -- the couple of votes that she won by, the percentage or two -- was generated by a mischief-making by a radio talk show host, a talk jock. That certainly does take some of the thrill out of it, doesn't it?
[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [3] ] An excerpt from the top of "McCain castigates Obama on judges," posted at 6:39 PM EDT on Yahoo, to which the MRC's Justin McCarthy alerted me: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Republican John McCain criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for voting against John Roberts as U.S. chief justice, reaching out to the Christian right on one of their chief concerns: the proper role of judges in government. Conservatives contend that federal judges have upset the constitutional balance of power among the courts, the Congress and the presidency by making far-reaching decisions, such as one in 2005 that let cities seize people's homes to make way for shopping malls. "My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power, and clear limits to the scope of federal power," McCain said Tuesday in a speech at Wake Forest University. McCain, the eventual GOP nominee, promised to appoint judges in the mold of Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, saying they would interpret the law strictly to curb the scope of their rulings. While McCain didn't mention abortion, the far right understands that such nominees would be likely to limit or perhaps overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.... For the AP story in full: news.yahoo.com [4]
Referring to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Stone acknowledged that "there's federal assistance for people who can't afford their utility bills," but she ominously intoned, "the number of applicants reached the highest point in 16 Years." ABC then aired a soundbite from Mark Wolfe of the National Energy Assistance Director's Association, an advocacy group for LIHEAP spending. The group's April 25 press release hyping "the number of households receiving LIHEAP funds this year is the highest in 16 years" also, however, disclosed a fact ABC didn't mention -- that increase is merely 3.8 percent over fiscal year 2007 with the number of households on the dole in Minnesota rising from 120,765 to 126,500, hardly a huge jump. The press release (PDF): www.neada.org [5] NEADA's home page: www.neada.org [6] [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [7] ] The National Energy Assistance Director's Association (NEADA) always sees the sky falling. Check out its press release page for some of the dire headlines from long before the economy turned slower and well before the current increase in energy prices: # July 11, 2007: "NEADA Study: 1.2 Million Households Disconnected from Utility Service" # June 19, 2006: "States Report Highest Level of Households Receiving Energy Assistance in 13 Years" # December 22, 2005: "Applications for Energy Assistance Expected to Reach 5.6 Million Households; Some States Begin to Run Out of Funds"
# September 8, 2005: "Home Heating Costs Projected to Hit Record Levels this Winter; Grim Forecast for Low Income Families" The press release page: www.neada.org [8] Anchor Charles Gibson set up the "Closer Look" segment by highlighting the public's downbeat outlook: "More evidence tonight of how severely Americans are feeling the economic pinch. Consumer confidence, measured in the weekly ABC News poll, fell to its lowest point in 15 years. That's near its all-time low. People's assessment of their personal finances is its lowest since 1993." Maybe that's because of the incessantly-negative media coverage focusing on a "recession" while the economy continues to grow. The May 5 CyberAlert item, "Dire NBC: Seniors Forced to Live in Van as Golden Years 'Tarnished,'" recounted: On the day the government reported a tenth of a point drop in the unemployment rate and two days after news of a second straight quarter of 0.6 percent GDP growth proved the nation is not in a recession, Friday's NBC Nightly News delivered a ridiculously shallow story, based on two anecdotes and a couple of advocates, to prove rising prices are forcing the elderly out of their homes and into vans and soup kitchens. Anchor Brian Williams promised "an interesting look...at the toll that rising prices, of things like gas and food, is taking on Americans living on fixed incomes."
But it got worse: "And now high food costs have meant, for first time in their lives, the Bishops have gone hungry." Jansing cited no source for her claims as she asserted: "Soup kitchens and food banks are seeing record numbers of seniors asking for help for the first time in their lives," but "now donations here are down as middle class donors struggle to feed their own families." For the entire posting: www.mrc.org [9] That posting noted that food costs are only expected to rise five percent this year. Gibson's tease before the first ad break Tuesday night: "Still ahead in the news, dark days and nights for more Americans. More and more have their power cut because they can't pay the bills. It's our 'Closer Look.'" Transcript of the subsequent story on the Tuesday, May 6 World News:
GIGI STONE: Julie Tkachuck is living in the dark. She can no longer afford to pay for electricity.
Discussing the campaigning being done by the Senator's wife in Indiana and North Carolina, the correspondent enthused: "More, more, more. Michelle Obama's straight style has always been an asset." (Shipman made no mention as to whether Mrs. Obama's claim that the 2008 campaign marked the first time she was proud of America was an example of this "straight style" or if that comment was an asset to the campaign.) As for Bill Clinton, Shipman declared that all had been forgiven for previous verbal gaffes: "And what's most interesting is this campaign has gone on for so long, we've seen one spouse go from asset to liability, to asset again." Marveling at the ex-president's exuberance, she applauded, "No event is too early, no schedule too full, no front porch too small." [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [11] ] Before proclaiming Clinton's events like "old times," Shipman reiterated her seeming happiness over the former commander in chief's ability to (lately) not make an error: "Bitter, finger-pointing Bill has been replaced by a come-back spouse full of rosy remembrances." A transcript of the May 6 segment, which aired at 7:05am, follows:
ROBIN ROBERTS: That is something to keep an eye on. Jake, thanks so much. The candidates are not the only ones enduring grueling days out there on the campaign trail. Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton have shifted into warp speed to help their spouses. GMA senior national correspondent Claire Shipman has all the details for us. Good morning, Claire.
Each member of the panel, all contributors to CNN, had a slightly different answer to the question. Jack Cafferty quipped "it's another attempt to pander to voters, to, you know, to sound tough on national security." CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger thought "she's really running a classic Republican campaign against Barack Obama" and that Hillary "feels she has a real opportunity here, if she turns Obama into a liberal." And CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin labeled her comments "more populist than right-wing." Blitzer also made an uncharacteristic move by quoting from the conservative publication, The Weekly Standard. [This item, by Matthew Balan, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [12] ] The discussion, which began just after the bottom of the 6 pm Eastern hour of the CNN program, immediately followed a report by Suzanne Malveaux concerning Hillary's Iran comments. After Blitzer made his "move to the right" comment, he characterized the debate between Clinton and Obama over a response to a hypothetical nuclear attack on Israel by Iran as a quibble over her use of the word "obliterate." When he asked Cafferty for his take on the issue, the CNN commentator gave one of his typically cynical answers. "I don't think the Iranians are under any illusions. I'm sure they're fully cognizant that some sort of a naked act of aggression against Israel would rain hell on Earth down on their heads, regardless of whether John McCain, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama was sitting in the Oval Office." He then made his "sound tough on national security" remark. Blitzer then addressed Borger, and quoted from a recent article by Noemie Emery in The Weekly Standard.
BLITZER: Is she running to the right already, Gloria? I'll read to you a quote from an article that's in the issue -- the new issue of 'The Weekly Standard,' a conservative publication: 'Against an opponent who shops for arugula, hangs out with ex-Weathermen and says rural residents cling to guns and to God in unenlightened despair at their circumstances, she has rushed to the defense of religion and firearms, while knocking down shots of Crown Royal and beer.' A pretty good quote. But what do you think? Borger responded to Toobin by focusing on Hillary's possible motive in making this move. "Well, it's also an effort to attract those independent voters who may be voting in Indiana; also, those Republicans who could cross over. I think she feels she has a real opportunity here, if she turns Obama into a liberal, to kind of get that middle that he has been doing well with." Hillary turning the already left-wing Obama into more of a liberal?
From the May 5 Late Show with David Letterman, as read via satellite by Hillary Clinton, the "Top Ten Reasons Hillary Clinton Loves America." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com [13] 10. We have more Dakotas than every other country combined 9. Canadian Bacon: soggy and chewy; American Bacon: crisp and delicious! 8. Thanks to the Internet, I can order new pantsuits 24/7 -- there's your pantsuit joke, Dave. Are you happy? 7. 232 years and not one cookie shortage 6. TiVo 5. Did I mention the soup? MMM, soup 4. Did you know former President Teddy Roosevelt was an American? 3. Where else can you get a car painted for $29.95? 2. Is this the part where I say, "Live from New York it's Saturday Night Live!"? 1. Apparently anyone can get a talk show -- Brent Baker
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Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos," the effort to urge conservatives and Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in order to prolong the Democratic nomination battle, certainly annoys MSNBC's Chris Matthews who, during primary coverage Tuesday night, denounced the "mischief-making" by "a talk jock." In the 11:30 PM EDT half hour, Matthews offered a "Keith [Olbermann]-style special comment" about how "anyone who voted to screw up the political system of this country with the purpose of mischief should carry that with them the rest their lives." He called it "a ridiculous way to use the vote for which people fought and died," sarcastically remarking: "I hope you're proud of yourself." 
Those opposed to the Roe v Wade abortion decision are "the far right" in the vernacular of the Associated Press. In a dispatch datelined from Winston-Salem, North Carolina where John McCain delivered an address Tuesday castigating Barack Obama for voting against the confirmations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, as he pledged to name non-activist judges, reporter Libby Quaid wrote: 
Four days after NBC centered a story around an elderly couple forced to move "into their van, sleeping on a mattress in the back" while "high food costs have meant" they've "gone hungry," ABC's World News caught up Tuesday night with a nearly as silly anecdotal report on how families in Minnesota can no longer afford electricity. In the first of two families she showcased, reporter Gigi Stone relayed Julie Tkachuk's plight: "After paying for more expensive gas and groceries, Julie had no money for the heating bills left over from the winter." Then Stone described the predicament of a family whose father "says business at his moving company is down 35 percent this year. There just wasn't enough money for the power bill." 
Chris Jansing traveled to Northridge, California, just north of Los Angeles, where she found 82-year-old Betty Weinstein, stunned by a water bill, turning to a second reverse mortgage to stay in her home. But she at least still has a home. Jansing then highlighted an even sadder case: "Rising rents forced Scott and Kate Bishop to move out of this blue house and into their van, sleeping on a mattress in the back." 
CHARLES GIBSON: More evidence tonight of how severely Americans are feeling the economic pinch. Consumer confidence, measured in the weekly ABC News poll, fell to its lowest point in 15 years. That's near its all-time low. People's assessment of their personal finances is its lowest since 1993. 
TKACHUCK: There's something wrong with this picture. I work hard. I come home. I take care of my kid. Why am I in this situation? 
MARK WOLFE, NATIONAL ENERGY ASSISTANCE DIRECTOR'S ASSOCIATION: Energy is becoming unaffordable to people and families. And we don't have a good solution in place to help them. 
In 2007, ABC reporter Claire Shipman enthused that the race between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was one of "fluid poetry" versus "hot factor." On Tuesday's Good Morning America, she rhapsodized about the spouses of these two Democratic candidates. According to Shipman, "...I think it says it all that [Michelle Obama's] Secret Service code name is renaissance." See a January 19, 2007 CyberAlert posting for more on Shipman's glowing coverage: 
CNN's Wolf Blitzer, introducing a panel discussion on Monday's The Situation Room, asked concerning Hillary Clinton's "obliterate Iran" comments, "[I]s Senator Clinton's tough talk against Iran part of a larger move to the right?" The chyron or graphic on the screen that accompanied the discussion seemed to give Blitzer's question an air of certainty: "Inside Her Move to the Right: How Clinton's Redefining Herself." 