Media Cheerleaders for Anti-Capitalist Sit-In
"Good evening. We begin tonight with what has become by any measure a pretty massive protest movement. While it goes by the official name 'Occupy Wall Street,' it has spread steadily and far beyond Wall Street, and it could well turn out to be the protest of this current era."
— Anchor Brian Williams leading off the October 5 NBC Nightly News.
Correspondent Cecilia Vega: "It is a crowd that grows daily in size and diversity. Today, thousands of union workers marched in solidarity in joining a common cause, blaming bank greed for the country's economic woes....Observers of social history say the protesters' growing presence could be a major issue in the coming presidential election year."
Fordham University Professor Heather Gautney: "If you can influence the conversation in the 2012 election, then you've done something pretty amazing."
— ABC's World News, October 5.
"We're here, just a few blocks from Wall Street. I mean, this is really the epicenter of what seems to have become a national movement....The marchers come from all walks of life, young and old, male and female, hoping their lawmakers are listening."
— Correspondent Bigad Shaban on CBS's The Early Show, October 10.
"With little organization and a reliance on Facebook, Twitter and Google groups to share methods, the Occupy Wall Street campaign, as the prototype in New York is called, has clearly tapped into a deep vein of anger, experts in social movements said."
— New York Times reporters Erik Eckholm and Timothy Williams, October 4.
"This Occupy Wall Street movement is multiplying not only in cities across this country, but now around the world. Look at the images coming in tonight, spelling out the anger. This sign in New York, 'The rich get bailed out, the poor get sold out.'"
— ABC anchor David Muir on World News, October 9.
"Back on September 17th, very few people had heard of the protest movement called Occupy Wall Street, but they did and they sure have since then....Even though this protest doesn't look the same or take the same shape exactly any two days in a row, it's on the move. The players change. But the center of the message is increasingly resonating. The crowds tell us that. Now the polls tell us that."
— Brian Williams on the October 13 Nightly News.
So Popular, It's Spread to "More Than 1,000 Countries"
"We thought we'd bring you up to date on those protesters, the Occupy Wall Street movement. As of tonight, it has spread to more than 250 American cities, more than a thousand countries — every continent but Antarctica."
— Diane Sawyer on ABC's World News, October 10. On a later edition, Sawyer corrected her still-absurd hype: "...more than a thousand cities around the world." [Audio/video (1:22): Windows Media [1] | MP3 audio [2]]
Tea Party Haters Now Yearn for One of Their Own
"The revolution is being televised — and Tweeted, and Facebooked! The Occupy Wall Street protests are suddenly all that Washington can talk about. Are we witnessing the birth of a new kind of Tea Party?"
— Host Christiane Amanpour on ABC's This Week, October 9.
Just a Cheerful Village Filled With Cookies, Bagels and Yoga
"This is a surprisingly functional little city. Let me give you a little tour. It starts here with the information desk for people newly arrived. Behind that this whole area back here, this is the media area. It's filled with bloggers and other people getting the word out and powered by donated generators. And this is the food station. It's all free and all donated — including some cookies that came in today from a grandmother in Idaho."
— ABC's Dan Harris showing off the protesters' camp on World News, October 3.
"The Occupy Wall Street protesters have set up a camp with a food court, newspaper, medical unit, Internet café — even yoga practice."
— Correspondent Jim Axelrod on the October 10 CBS Evening News.
"What began as protest has morphed into a self-operating mini-community in lower Manhattan, with a complimentary breakfast buffet of fresh fruits and bagels. Twenty-nine-year-old Amy Hamburger manages the meals. She's an out-of-work teacher's aide who's been here from the start — 25 days and counting — with food donations from around the world....The 1960s feel of music and dance brought her in. But it's the deep frustration over the economy, she says, that's kept her here."
— CBS correspondent Bigad Shaban on The Early Show, October 11.
Reading From the "Occupy Wall Street" Protest Script
"Three years after the financial meltdown, Main Street continues to suffer. People have lost their jobs, they've lost their homes, they've lost their faith in the future. But Wall Street is thriving. The banks not only got bailed out by the government, they have made huge profits, they've paid themselves huge bonuses. Do you think it's right that no Wall Street executives have gone to jail for the damage they did to the economy?"
— Washington Post reporter Karen Tumulty to Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann at the October 11 Bloomberg/Washington Post debate.
Time to Bash Romney as "One of the Pigs on Wall Street"
"I know the people in the White House are thinking about this. How do they beat Mitt Romney?...Suppose they make him Gordon Gekko? Suppose they say, he's one of the pigs on Wall Street, one of the big investment bankers, one of the equity people who's been making tons of money through lobbying in Washington and keeping their taxes from having to be paid?"
— Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball, October 11.
Blame Republican Budget Cutters for Cantaloupe Carnage
"John Boehner and his Republican majority decided to gut the FDA's food safety and inspection service. First, slashing $87 million from its budget and then another $35 million from the USDA for good measure. Cut, cut, cut. And now the results are in. Sixteen people have lost their lives. Close to 100 are sick. Republicans in Congress talk proudly of their commitment to laissez-faire economics, where government gets out of the way and everything works perfectly. You try telling that to those who ate melon with a side of listeria."
— Host Martin Bashir on MSNBC's Martin Bashir, September 30.
Callous Fox Viewers Need to Learn From a Muppet
"As Republicans in Congress push to slash subsidies for home heating oil and work with all their might to cut off unemployment benefits, perhaps they'd do well to change the channel just for a moment from Fox News to PBS this Sunday night....There, on Sesame Street, they will see the sad face of a hungry doll whose family doesn't have enough money to buy food, a fictional take on a factual reality for millions of children in modern America. And then they can go back to Fox News and the finest Bollinger that money can buy."
— MSNBC's Martin Bashir October 5, talking about PBS's Sesame Street introducing a character aimed at raising awareness of children living in poverty.
Scorning Alabama's Immigration Law: "Arizona on Steroids"
"Crackdown: The toughest new immigration law in America, even questioning the status of school children. Tonight, opponents say they'll fight it...."
— Brian Williams starting off the NBC Nightly News, September 29.
"And now, we turn to the toughest anti-immigration law in America that went into effect today in Alabama, a crackdown so severe it's been described as the Arizona law on steroids...."
— ABC's Diane Sawyer on the September 29 World News.
Reporter Steve Osunsami: "Across Alabama today, demonstrators were furious, calling this the Arizona law with an Alabama twist."
Unidentified Man: "To me, it says that our government promotes racism."
— ABC's World News, September 29.
Exploiting Steve Jobs' Death to Bash Sarah Palin
"Today, we've marked two important stories: The tragic and sad passing of a true creative genius at the age of just 56 and, hopefully, the end of a charade that's been going on for three years. One individual represents the very best of American exceptionalism: Brilliant, determined, creative. The other represents the very worst form of American opportunism: Vacuous, crass, and according to almost every biographer, vindictive too....Although the death of Steve Jobs coincided with Sarah Palin's announcement, it has been a helpful accident of fate, because it allows us to realize and commemorate the greatness of one individual's contribution and the utility of the other."
— MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir on his 3pm ET program Martin Bashir, October 6.
Let's Supersize Our Taxes to Fix "Disgusting" America
"Hold the cheeseburgers. Across the pond in Europe, Denmark is becoming the first country in the world to impose a 'fat tax'...Whatever Denmark's approach, it works. Danes are downright skinny compared to us Americans....As a nation, we get fatter and fatter every day, and quite frankly, it's disgusting. Plus, it's not like we couldn't use the extra tax revenue, right? Anyway, here's the question: Should there be a tax on foods high in saturated fats?"
— CNN's Jack Cafferty on The Situation Room, October 4.
Republicans Are Racists
"Overtly racist bulls*** thinly painted over. Honestly, could anyone have written a better metaphor for for the modern Republican Party?"
— Bill Maher on HBO's Real Time, October 7, referring to a rock with a racist term, on property leased by Perry's family.
Electing Obama = America's "Greatest Accomplishment"
Host Piers Morgan: "Did you think then, when Martin Luther King was assassinated, did you think in your lifetime, you would see a black President in America?"
Singer Tony Bennett: "I think it's the greatest accomplishment that the United States ever came up with. I think it's magnificent because he's not only an African-American, but he's, you know, I've always respected intellectual people, and he's an intellect....He's more than intelligent. He's very bright, highly bright, and I love the fact that this great country — it's a great step for humanity."
— CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, October 10.
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