Hooray for Hillary, “One of America’s Greatest Creations”
“Hillary Clinton is not familiar. She is revolutionary. Not radical, but revolutionary: the distinction is crucial. She is one of America’s greatest modern creations. Her decades in our public life must not blind us to the fact that she represents new realities and possibilities. Indeed, those same decades have conferred upon her what newness usually lacks: judgment, and even wisdom.”
— Laurene Powell Jobs writing the tribute to Clinton after Time chose the presidential candidate as one of the world’s “100 Most Influential People,” April 27-May 4 double issue.
Journalists Act Like They’ve Joined Hillary’s Legal Defense Team
“The Clinton book was widely dismissed — about the money that goes into the CGI [Clinton Global Initiative]. And then — you know, the left is pushing back hard on this book — saying, there’s nothing there....Examples that have come out so far in your paper were not that impressive.”
— CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo on the April 23 edition of New Day, talking to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Patrick Healy.
“It’s been the week that was and Hillary Clinton had a tough time with the Cash book. But truth be told, having gone through it last night once we got the book yesterday, there are a lot of holes....”
— NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell anchoring MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, April 24.
“Before we get into some of the details, let’s put it bluntly. Are you hoping that this book and the issues you raise in it torpedo her candidacy?...A lot of your critics say, ‘Look, you are a conservative and that this is a right-wing hit job.’”
— Co-host Savannah Guthrie interviewing Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer on NBC’s Today, April 27.
“Your book is questions. I just wonder, how does that not be interpreted as clearly political? There’s nothing here that’s evidence of illegality.”
— Co-host Mika Brzezinski to Schweizer on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, April 28.
George Revives His Role as the Clinton Family Spin Doctor
“As you know, the Clinton campaign says you haven’t produced a shred of evidence that there was any official action as secretary that supported the interest of donors. We’ve done investigative work here at ABC News, found no proof of any kind of direct action. And an independent government ethics expert at the Sunlight Foundation, Bill Allison, wrote this: ‘There’s no smoking gun. No evidence that the changed policy based on donations to the foundation. No smoking gun.’ Is there a smoking gun?”
“As you know, the Democrats have said this is indication of your partisan interest. They say you used to work for President Bush as a speechwriter. You are funded by the Koch brothers. How do you respond to that?”
— Two of the questions posed by George Stephanopoulos, who served as a top aide during Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign and subsequently a senior White House advisor, to Schweizer on ABC’s This Week, April 26.
The Clintons Have Always Been 100% Not Guilty
“We have a lot of credulous hand-waving about this new book. Conservative [sic] sharpen their knives, liberals sweat bullets that it’s all over. But very few people stop to think: [Hillary] Clinton has been in our faces for 20-plus years. Where is any evidence of real corruption?...Cattle futures, billing records — it’s all the same. Thousands of people, people who hate her and want to see her thrown in jail, have been over and over and over these things. I know the fact that she walks freely among us suggests to many people that she and Bill are so brilliantly devious that they always knew exactly how to get away with it. But just maybe Occam’s Razor applies here, and she’s never done anything illegal.”
— The Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky in an April 22 article, “The Clintons Still Aren’t Corrupt.”
“Intolerant” GOP Driven by “White Resentment Politics”
“The Republican field still looks like an intolerant field....One of the reasons why the GOP continues to struggle to win the general election is because they keep holding on to this image and politics of discrimination and exclusion and not inclusion.”
— CNN commentator LZ Granderson on ABC’s This Week, April 19.
“Part of their base is driven by, you know, a sort of white resentment politics, and how do you overcome that in a country increasingly diverse, while at the same time keeping the folks in your party energized?”
— New York Times political reporter Jonathan Martin on CNN’s Inside Politics, April 19.
CBS Host Lectures Conservative: You’re Lucky We Even Let You Appear
“I’m going to start with probably the most vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, and that is Tony Perkins, he is the president of the Family Research Council. And Mr. Perkins, I’m going to say this to you up front: You and your group have been so strong in coming out against gay marriage that the Southern Poverty Law Center has branded the Family Research Council an anti-gay hate group. We have been inundated by people who say we should not even let you appear because, in their view, you don’t speak for Christians. Do you think you have taken this too far?”
— Host Bob Schieffer starting out his interview of Perkins on CBS’s Face the Nation, April 26.
Baltimore Riots Are Justifiable “Uprisings” Against Racist America
“There shouldn’t be calm tonight. Black people are dying in the streets. They’ve been dying in the streets for months, years, decades, centuries....I’m not calling these people ‘rioters.’ I’m calling these ‘uprisings’ and I think it’s an important distinction to make. This is not a riot. There have been uprisings in major cities and smaller cities around this country for the last year because of the state violence that’s been waged against black female and male bodies forever....I think we should be strategic in how we riot.”
— CNN contributor Marc Lamont Hill during live coverage of the rioting in Baltimore, April 27 CNN Tonight.
“Baltimore’s violent protesters are right: Smashing police cars is a legitimate political strategy.”
— Headline over an April 28 posting by Benji Hart at Salon.com.
Returning Veterans = Generation of Cops “Ready to Do Battle”
“We talk about [police] training, we talk about having officers....And a lot of these young people — I mean, I’ve been talking about this so much. A lot of young people — and I love our nation’s veterans, but some of them are coming back from war, they don’t know the communities, and they’re ready to do battle.”
— CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) on CNN Newsroom, April 28. The next day, Baldwin apologized on CNN: “I was so wrong to speak the way I did....to perpetuate this false narrative.”
Mayor’s Biggest Blunder Was Calling Looters and Rioters “Thugs”?
Co-host Gayle King: “You were criticized for calling some of the protesters ‘thugs.’ You know, a lot of people look at these people, saying ‘these are people in pain, they’re striking out because they don’t have any options in their city.’ Do you regret using that word?”
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake: “I regret it, and I’ve apologized several times.”
— Exchange on CBS This Morning, April 30. In the interview, Rawlings-Blake was not asked about her statement that authorities “gave those who wished to destroy space to do that.”
MSNBC Becomes a Parody of Political Correctness
Host Alex Wagner: “Usage of the word ‘thug’ spiked on Monday — appearing in roughly 50,000 tweets....The word’s ubiquity has, this week, led to re-examination of the origins of the word ‘thug,’ and the debate over its racial connotations....Some people are saying the ‘T’ word is the new ‘N’ word. Give us your take.”
Salon contributor Brittney Cooper: “Sure. It’s rooted in a racialized understanding of black people. So, for instance, no one is calling the police who put this kid in a van and snapped his spine and crushed his voicebox ‘thugs’ — right?...When are we going to have a language to talk about the systemic violence that white folks do in the name of anti-blackness and white supremacy in this country?”
— Exchange on MSNBC’s Now with Alex Wagner, April 29.
Do You Ever Get Tired of Being Wonderful?
“You are no longer Speaker, but still in a strong fighting mood. Do you ever get tired of fighting for what you believe in?”
— Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi during his network’s live coverage prior to the start of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 25.
Let’s Force ’Em to Hear Campaign Finance Reform Speech
“I’ve got a good idea for Congress and the Capitol Police. Instead of charging this guy on the helicopter, the gyrocopter, why don’t you give him community service? And his community service could be one hour. And his one hour should be spent addressing a joint session, a joint meeting of the Congress. He should walk in there and tell them why he did that. And they must all be there to watch. And that could be his community service, and we can all watch. If they put this guy in jail, what a bunch of clowns that would be to do that.”
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, April 16.
“Mean-Spirited” Kansas Says You Can’t Buy Lingerie with a Welfare Check
Anchor Alex Witt: “Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed into law a welfare bill that critics are calling the most restrictive in the country. The wide ranging law limits ATM withdraws to $25 a day and goes so far as banning recipients from using their welfare cards at places like the movies, swimming pools, concerts and even to buy lingerie. Governor Brownback is defending the law against those who are calling it mean-spirited....”
Washington Post reporter Elahe Izadi: “There’s a whole laundry list of items that benefit recipients are barred from using their TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] dollars on and they get very, very specific, nail salons, cruise ships, that sort of thing, and a lot of people feel like this law is mean-spirited.”
— Exchange on MSNBC’s Weekends with Alex Witt, April 18.
Nothing Like a Little Anti-Semitism to Spice Up Twitter
“Did you ever consider that maybe Israel is heading to Nepal to learn from the earthquake how to kill better?”
— April 26 tweet from left-wing journalist Rania Khalek, who has written for Al Jazeera America, The Nation and Salon, reacting to an article about how Israel was airlifting 25 babies from the earthquake zone.
Saluting the Bias of Pro-Amnesty Anchor
“Univision’s audience knows that Jorge is representing them. That he is not asking the questions to be celebrated as a fair and balanced journalist. He’s asking the questions to represent them. He’s going to ask the person whatever is necessary to push the agenda for a more fair society, for a more inclusive society and for the Hispanic community to be better.”
— Univision News President and Fusion CEO Isaac Lee talking about anchor Jorge Ramos in an event held at the University of Texas at Austin, April 18.
“Jorge Ramos is silver-haired and gray-eyed, but inside that ring of steel beats a heart of gold....To Democrats and Republicans he says Hispanics are ‘truly tired’ of what he has dubbed their ‘Christopher Columbus syndrome.’ ‘They discover us during the presidential campaigns and then they forget about us,’ he says. With another presidential election coming up, if anyone can move this needle, Jorge Ramos can — and he must.”
— CNN’s Christiane Amanpour writing about Ramos in Time’s “100 Most Influential People” issue, April 27-May 4.
Mocking Marco Rubio: “He Could Be Hillary Clinton’s Pool Boy”
“Another week, another candidate. This week: Everybody ready for Marco Rubio of Florida? Yeah, they’re all saying he’s fresh, he’s new. I’ll say — he looks like he could be Hillary Clinton’s pool boy.”
— Host Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, April 17.
PUBLISHER: L. Brent Bozell III
EDITORS: Brent H. Baker, Rich Noyes, Tim Graham
DEPUTY RESEARCH DIRECTOR: Geoffrey Dickens
RESEARCH ANALYST: Mike Ciandella
NEWS ANALYSTS: Scott Whitlock, Kyle Drennen, Matthew Balan, Jeffrey Meyer and Curtis Houck
INTERN: Bryan Ballas