ABC Giddy Over Prospect of a “Royal” Clinton “Dynasty”
“The next generation of the Clinton dynasty is on the way....One Clinton child grew up before our eyes in the White House. Could there soon be another?”
— Correspondent Cecilia Vega on ABC’s World News, April 17.
“Move over, Prince George. This morning, Americans have their own royal, or, rather, presidential baby, to look forward to.”
— Correspondent Bianna Golodryga on ABC’s Good Morning America, April 18.
“Prince George is doing wonders for the royal family’s popularity. Look at those cheeks. This morning, speculation abounds: Could Chelsea Clinton’s own baby announcement have a similar impact on an American dynasty?”
— Correspondent Susan Saulny on ABC’s Good Morning America, April 20.
“Chelsea Clinton’s surprise announcement. Has a Clinton dynasty begun?”
— Announcer teasing an upcoming segment on ABC’s This Week, April 20.
“Very important question: What do you think Hillary Clinton should be called as a grandma?...I say maybe ‘Glam-Ma.’ Maybe ‘Glam-Ma?’”
— Fill-in host Martha Raddatz to the roundtable, later on the same show.
If Chelsea Ever Runs, We Know How the Media Will Vote
Co-host Willie Geist: “Everyone says, ‘Oh, she’s gonna run for office.’”
Co-host Natalie Morales: “She’s very busy right now. She’s helping with the Clinton Global Initiative, of course....”
Geist: “She is a very, very impressive woman.”
News reader Tamron Hall: “Yes.”
Morales: “She is.”
Geist: “And she’ll do whatever she wants to do in life.”...
Hall: “She’s lived such a wonderful life and a responsible life, giving to others....”
Morales: “But I think she really wants to help and give back. And I think that’s what she wants to do.”
Hall: “Yeah, and it’s proof in her actions that’s what she’s doing. Yeah.”
— Discussion during the 9am ET hour of NBC’s Today, April 17, before Clinton’s pregnancy was announced.
What Passes for an Objective Lede at the New York Times
“Few doubt that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s nomination for President would be good for women....”
— Opening sentence of New York Times correspondent Jennifer Steinhauer’s April 22 “Political Memo” on how a Clinton candidacy might affect other prominent Democratic women.
Tax Day on MSNBC: Three Cheers for the IRS!
“Without the IRS, or something like it, we wouldn’t have a government. In fact, it’s the cornerstone upon which the entire edifice of the federal government is built. And that is precisely the reason conservatives have so consistently taken a sledgehammer to it....For almost a year, they’ve gone to war with ex-IRS official Lois Lerner, over allegations the IRS improperly targeted conservative groups....Conservatives recognize that one of the only things standing between us and a genuine plutocracy are thousands of anonymous bureaucrats doing the basic work of enforcing our nation’s laws.”
— MSNBC host Chris Hayes on All In, April 15.
Let’s Get Loud and Proud in Support of ObamaCare
“Do you think it’s time for Democrats to start campaigning loudly and positively on the benefits of ObamaCare? And will you lead that charge?”
— Politico’s senior White House reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere to President Obama at his April 17 press conference.
“We know, after the disastrous rollout, they got the enrollment numbers up — above seven million, plus Medicaid. Where is the Democratic super PAC to run this message you see on the screen? To say, ‘Hey, Republicans were wrong — we got the enrollment up. It’s not as expensive as we thought.’...Conservative super PACs are running ads, essentially saying the bad weather is ObamaCare’s fault, the traffic jam is ObamaCare’s fault....If you don’t try to change it, you won’t change it.”
— CNN’s John King on New Day, April 15.
Sinister Conservatives Don’t Want Anyone to Have Insurance
“Since when do these Tea Party congressmen care about people being uninsured? The whole point of repeal is to make sure more people are uninsured.”
— Guest host Ari Melber on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, April 23.
Democrats Should Tell Health Care Losers: “Just Deal With That”
“The same [Democratic] party that passed and defended and implemented the most sweeping social policy in decades, who can say that millions of people now have affordable health insurance that they didn’t have before — and they’re not even owning it! No confidence, no swagger, no ‘yeah, you can’t keep your crappy plans. Just deal with that!’”
— Host Melissa Harris-Perry on her eponymous MSNBC show, April 20.
Getting Thrills Up Their Legs Over “Firebrand” Elizabeth Warren
Anchor Diane Sawyer: “Back here at home, a firebrand is back in the news with a big alert for middle class Americans, the bedrock of the nation....”
Correspondent David Muir: “It’s long been part of the American dream. Families hoping to secure their spot in America’s cherished middle class. And she is the firebrand who’s made a name fighting for them.”
Clip of Senator Elizabeth Warren: “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.”...
Muir: “She says she’s not running for president, Diane, but she’s clearly campaigning for the middle class tonight.”
— ABC’s World News, April 21.
Co-host Norah O’Donnell: “You have been known as a champion for the middle class. Why have you made that your calling?”...
Co-host Gayle King: “People are already thinking, ‘Buzz, buzz, buzz; president, president, president.’ I have heard you say no. I’ve heard you say no. But you have said no to many things. Why would you not even consider this, with the passion that you have?”
— Among the questions to Senator Elizabeth Warren on CBS This Morning, April 22.
“What is it about Elizabeth Warren that people love so much?”
— Host Chris Hayes to Esquire’s Charles Pierce on MSNBC’s All In, April 23.
“Some people have been calling you a — the future president. And some people say, ‘Oh, she’s Hillary Clinton’s nightmare.’ You have said you do not want to run now — you didn’t say ‘now,’ you said you do not to want run. What about the future? In the back of your mind, do you think maybe?”
— ABC’s Barbara Walters to Warren on The View, April 23.
I Have to Ask — Why Do Republicans Oppose Equality?
“Let me ask you about this debate over equal pay for women. There was a lot of debate on that last week, finally Republicans blocked it in the Senate. Are Republicans against equal pay for women? And is that going to be a good political issue in these coming midterm elections?”
— Host Bob Schieffer to Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn on CBS’s Face the Nation, April 13.
Pulling Back the Curtain on CBS’s Biased Approach
“You know, it’s fairly well discussed inside CBS News that there are some managers recently who have been so ideologically entrenched that there is a feeling and discussion that some of them, certainly not all of them, have a difficult time viewing a story that may reflect negatively upon government or the administration as a story of value....They never mind the stories that seem to, for example — and I did plenty of them — go against the grain of the Republican Party....I didn’t sense any resistance in doing stories that were perceived to be negative to the Bush administration — by anybody, ever. I do — I have done stories that I perceived were not received well because people thought they would reflect poorly upon this [the Obama] administration.”
— Former CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson on CNN’s Reliable Sources, April 20.
Why Won’t Liberals Ever “Go After” Rush Limbaugh?
“My question for liberals, Ed, is when do more boycotts of Rush Limbaugh’s sponsors come? You know, there’s been some racist garbage over the years. He’s been racist on any number of occasions. And so, you get a little bit of a boycott or a little bit of a sense that, you know, the sponsors should be challenged as they would be on the other side of the spectrum, if the shoe, so to speak, were on the other foot, on the foot of a Democratic talk show host. But you don’t see any sustained organization on the part of liberals to go after Limbaugh. We’ll see if that takes place in the future.”
— Longtime Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter, now an MSNBC political analyst, on MSNBC’s The Ed Show, April 15.
Is America Ready to “Dance in the Moonlight” With “Hard-Right” Candidates?
“Have Republicans on the right given up on beating Hillary Clinton in the center? Have they given up on beating her altogether? Or could they truly believe that the voters of this country are angry enough to follow them across the political spectrum from Barack Obama all the way to the ticked off-outskirts home to libertarian Rand Paul and hard-right Ted Cruz? Do they really think America is ready for a dance in the moonlight with one of those guys?”
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, April 14.
None of the Networks as Tough on Obama as Joke Show Host?
“I think if you look back at 2012 and the series of interviews that the sitting President of the United States gave, probably the toughest interview he had was with Jon Stewart. Probably the most substantive, challenging interview Barack Obama had in the election year was with the anchor of The Daily Show.”
— White House press secretary Jay Carney to CBS News White House correspondent Major Garrett at a George Washington University forum, April 17.
“Breaking News” — from 1912
“BREAKING NEWS: Titanic sunk 102 years ago tonight.”
— On-screen headline shown on CNN Tonight, April 14.
“Perverse” How More Criminals in Prison = Less Crime
“As far as the percentage of people thrown into prison, Russia is eighth and America is number one....And there’s something very perverse about that, because not only is that a horrifying statistic in itself, but the fact is that crime in the last 20 years is down, constantly plummeting, and yet the prison population keeps going up.”
— Host Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, April 11.
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PUBLISHER: L. Brent Bozell III
EDITORS: Brent H. Baker, Rich Noyes, Tim Graham
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