Awed by “Multitasking” Pelosi
“For the first time in the 218-year history of the Congress, a woman was voted by her colleagues to be Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California, took the gavel. But in a picture perhaps even more symbolic, the new Speaker was on the floor for a time, holding her 6-year-old [6-month-old] grandson, all the while giving directions on how events were to proceed. It seemed the ultimate in multitasking: Taking care of the children, and the country.”
— ABC World News anchor Charles Gibson, January 4. (With WMV video [1]/MP3 audio [2])
Nancy Pelosi, the Exciting Pioneer
“Look, it’s a very historic day on Capitol Hill. Nancy Pelosi the first woman to become Speaker of the House. I’m excited as a woman to see that happen.”
— NBC’s Meredith Vieira on Today, January 4.
“We can’t let this historic day pass without mentioning Susan B. Anthony who fought so hard for the right of women to vote....Now there are a record 90 women in this new Congress, including for the first time ever, the Speaker of the House. Wouldn’t Susan B. Anthony be proud? Or maybe she’d ask, ‘What took so long?’”
— Katie Couric ending the January 4 CBS Evening News.
Reporter Dana Bash: “A moment to savor — Nancy Pelosi seized the gavel and, with it, power for the Democrats. An ambitious agenda, but today, history — the first female Speaker, second in line to be President.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “For our daughters and our granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling.”
— CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, January 4.
Democrats Too Wimpy for Jack
“They’ve already said they won’t impeach President Bush. They’ve already said they won’t cut funding for the war.... It’s time for the Democrats to walk the walk, and there’s some early signs they might be coming down with leg cramps. This country’s being ripped apart by an ill-advised war that’s failing, and an executive branch that’s run amuck. If the Democratic Party refuses to confront this administration in a meaningful way on the issues that are threatening the very survival of our nation, then they’re no better than the people committing these crimes. So here’s the question: ‘How much faith do you have that the Democrats can stop the war and rein in President Bush?’”
— CNN’s Jack Cafferty on The Situation Room, January 4. (With WMV video [3]/MP3 audio [4])
Rushing to Tout Ford’s Critique
“Gerald Ford hits the Bush administration with a broadside. Before he died, he called the war in Iraq, ‘a big mistake’ made by some of the men he brought into power.”
— Charles Gibson opening ABC’s World News, Dec. 28.
“The last word: President Gerald Ford opposed the war. Why did he keep it a secret until after his death?”
— Substitute anchor Campbell Brown on the December 28 NBC Nightly News.
Co-host Matt Lauer: “Good morning. ‘A big mistake.’ That’s what the late President Gerald Ford called the Bush administration’s justification for going to war in Iraq, in a revealing interview held until his death.”
Former President Gerald Ford [audio tape]: “And I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.”
Lauer: “And his criticism didn’t stop there...”
— Opening NBC’s Today, December 28.
Ford’s Silence “Unpardonable”
Host George Stephanopoulos: “What struck me about Ford is not only did he not speak up, but according to [Bob] Woodward, at least, he never spoke to Cheney or Rumsfeld or the President even privately about this.”
Time Washington bureau chief Jay Carney: “That is unpardonable, and it reminds me also that there were figures — because had Gerald Ford, whether or not movement conservatives respected him — had he spoke out at the time, it would have had an impact.”
— Exchange on ABC’s This Week, December 31.
Impeach Entire Administration?
Former Nixon White House aide John Dean: “[The Democrats are] going to have to stand up and find their spine and go toe to toe with these people, or they’re not going to be back in 2008.”
Keith Olbermann: “The far end of what you suggest, obviously, would be impeachment, but the merits of that are at best arguable. I think we can probably both recall an occasion in which impeachment actually bolstered a President’s popularity. But you wrote recently about impeaching not a President or a Vice President, but members of the Cabinet. How would that work? And is it a practical thing?”
— MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Jan. 3.
“Hooray” for Al Gore
“Al Gore, who is now in contention as a possible presidential candidate and who is leading a campaign to recognize the potential danger of global warming. Hooray that he is back.”
— Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift announcing her choice for “Best Comeback” in The McLaughlin Group’s “2006 Year-End Awards” program, December 24.
Warm Day: “Are We Gonna Die?”
“So I’m running in the park on Saturday, in shorts, thinking this is great, but are we all gonna die? You know? I can’t, I can’t figure this out....There were record breaking temperatures across the, 72 in New York City, 69 in Boston on Saturday. A lot of people wondering is it global warming or something much simpler?”
— Co-host Meredith Vieira on NBC’s Today, January 8. (With WMV video [5]/MP3 audio [6])
One Poll, Two Spins
“Looking ahead, optimism reigns. Seventy-two percent of Americans feel good about what 2007 will bring for the country, and an even larger 89 percent are optimistic about the new year for themselves and their families, according to the poll.”
— AP writer Nancy Benac in a December 30 dispatch headlined “AP Poll: Americans Optimistic for 2007.”
vs.
“Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster. These are among Americans’ grim predictions for the United States in 2007....Six in 10 people think the U.S. will be the victim of another terrorist attack next year....An identical percentage think it is likely that bad guys will unleash a biological or nuclear weapon elsewhere in the world.”
— AP’s Darlene Superville in a December 31 dispatch, “Poll: Americans see gloom, doom in 2007.” Both reports were based on the same AP-AOL survey of 1,000 adults conducted in mid-December by the Ipsos polling firm.
Bob Wants His Tax Increase
“President Bush said last week that he wanted to work with the Congress to balance the budget in five years. But he also rejected any tax increases, and obviously he’s not in a mood to reduce spending on the war. Is it possible to balance the budget under those conditions?...Can you do it without raising taxes?...President Bush seems to almost be daring Democrats to not fool with his tax cuts, to leave his tax cuts in place. Do you see it that way?”
— Host Bob Schieffer questioning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on CBS’s Face the Nation, January 7.
Andrea Can’t See Any Bias
Host Bill O’Reilly: “I just look at all your on-the-air talent, and the Today show, and I love those guys, all right, they’re all liberal, every one of them, all right.”
NBC’s Andrea Mitchell: “I disagree....That’s not the way we approach the news....I can’t tell you one liberal thinker.”
O’Reilly: “You can. It’s Chris Matthews. Chris Matthews.... He’s on the Today show and on the Nightly News. He’s your main political commentator.”
Mitchell: “As an analyst....I don’t think he’s a liberal thinker.”
O’Reilly: “He’s not? He worked for [Democratic Speaker] Tip O’Neill. How much more liberal can you get?”
Mitchell: “He worked for Tip O’Neill how many years ago?...I don’t think that it is fair to describe journalists as liberals or conservatives....I have to tell you that I don’t feel that there is bias in what we do at NBC News. And I don’t think there’s bias in CBS or ABC.”
— Exchange on FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor, January 5. (With WMV video [7]/MP3 audio [8])
Keith’s Marxist War Analysis
“[You] have taken money out of the pockets of every American, even out of the pockets of the dead soldiers on the battlefield and their families, and have given that money to the war profiteers. Because if you sell the Army a thousand Humvees, you can’t sell them any more until the first thousand have been destroyed, can you? The service men and women are ancillary to the equation. This is about the planned obsolescence of ordnance, isn’t it, Mr. Bush? And the building of detention centers? And the design of a $125 million courtroom complex at Gitmo, complete with restaurants. At least the war profiteers have made their money, sir. And we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.”
— MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann in a Special Comment directed at President Bush, January 2 Countdown. (With WMV video [9]/MP3 audio [10])
Get Brolin’s Tin Foil Hat
Actor James Brolin: “Hey, we’ve got to start wondering. We all used to hate each other, and you gotta start — I mean, we all used to get along. We were Americans. Now we’re split and arguing. So who’s fault is that, and what’s going wrong, and think about the issues.”
Rosie O’Donnell: “Good point, Mister.”
Joy Behar: “We know whose fault it is. Let’s not pretend.”
Brolin: “And for starters, can I tell you to have a look at www.911weknow.com [11]? And then wait until I see you next time.”
— Exchange on ABC’s The View, December 6. The Web site Brolin touted claims the World Trade Towers were not destroyed by hijacked airplanes. (With WMV video [12]/MP3 audio [13])
PUBLISHER: L. Brent Bozell III
EDITORS: Brent H. Baker, Rich Noyes, Tim Graham
MEDIA ANALYSTS: Geoffrey Dickens, Brad Wilmouth, Megan McCormack, Mike Rule, Scott Whitlock and Justin McCarthy
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE: Michelle Humphrey
CIRCULATION MANAGER: Holly Schnitzler