Today's Headlines Tuesday, May 04, 2010
US Citizen From Pakistan in Custody Over Times Square Bomb Plot
(CNSNews.com) – The fast-moving investigation into Saturday's attempted car bombing in Times Square netted its first suspect overnight Tuesday, when a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen was arrested at JFK airport as he tried to leave the country for the Middle East...
After Oil Spill, Obama Uncertain on Offshore Drilling Policy
Washington (CNSNews.com) – Whether President Obama's plan for limited expansion of domestic offshore drilling continues or is scrapped will depend on the findings of an Interior Department investigation into the oil spill in the Gulf Coast, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday...
Democrat Arizona Congresswoman: Deputy's Shooting a 'Wake Up Call,' Border 'Out of Control,' 'Immediately Deploy National Guard'
(CNSNews.com) – Declaring that the shooting of a Pinal County, Ariz., sheriff's deputy by suspected illegal-alien drug traffickers should be a "wake-up call" for politicians in Washington, D.C., Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) said the "border region is out of control" and called for immediate deployment of the National Guard there...
ABC's Joy Behar: Obama Is Not Sarah Palin, 'Do Not Drill, Baby, Do Not Drill!'
(CNSNews.com) – Emmy award winner Joy Behar, a co-host of ABC's The View, told CNSNews.com that she does not know why President Barack Obama "feels like he has to be nice to Republicans" by supporting an offshore oil-drilling plan. She also referenced Sarah Palin with Obama on the issue, saying, "Do not drill, baby, do not drill!"...
ABC's Sherri Shepherd: 'I Don't Care' About Report on Drugs from Mexico, Arizona Law on Illegal Immigration 'Very Unfair'
(CNSNews.com) - When asked, in the context of Arizona's new immigration law, about a Justice Department report showing that one-out-of-five Amreican teenagers uses illegal drugs and that most of those drugs come out of Mexico, Sherri Shepherd, a co-host of ABC's "The View," said she did not care. Arizona's new law against illegal immigration is "very unfair," she said, and America has got to do better....
Kim Jong-il Visit to China Raises Hopes, Skepticism
(CNSNews.com) – A rare trip by Kim Jong-il beyond North Korea's borders has stoked speculation in the region that Pyongyang's remaining ally, China, will pressurize him to return to multilateral nuclear talks, possibly in return for economic assistance...
CNSNEWS.COM VIDEO
ABC's Joy Behar: Obama is Not Sarah Palin, 'Do Not Drill, Baby, Do Not Drill!'
Emmy award winner Joy Behar, a co-host of ABC's The View, told CNSNews.com that she does not know why President Barack Obama "feels like he has to be nice to Republicans" by supporting an offshore oil-drilling plan.
OTHER CNSNEWS.COM HEADLINES
Americans Are Fatter Than in 2008; Poor People More Likely to be Fat than Middle Class or Wealthy
Attack Highlights Unrelenting Plight of Iraq's Christians
Factory Orders Strengthen, Home Sales Contracts Up
Gulf Coast Watches, Waits for Path of Oil Spill
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COMMENTARY
Aborting Facts for Political Purposes
By Judie Brown
A couple of recent studies that reflect negatively on abortion have come to our attention. We in turn want to make you are aware of them—not because they are shocking, but rather because the secular "news" media has once again found it not in their best pro-death interest to report them objectively. For the most part, there has been no mention of them...
Black Americans and Liberty
By Walter E. Williams
Having recently reached 74 years of age, if one were to ask me what's my greatest disappointment in life, a top contender would surely be the level of misunderstanding, perhaps contempt, that black Americans have for the principles of personal liberty and their abiding faith in government...
Catholic Teaching on Immigration
By Rev. Michael P. Orsi
There is no scriptural injunction regarding immigration policy other than the Torah's admonition to treat the resident alien living among you fairly. The Gospels and other New Testament writings simply adjure Christians obey the laws of the state and to be good citizens of the cities in which they live...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Fwd: US Citizen From Pakistan in Custody Over Times Square Bomb Plot
Fwd: Stay Single and Save 15 Percent or More on Health Insurance
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May 4, 2010
Stay Single and Save 15 Percent or More on Health Insurance
No, this isn't a Geico commercial. Come 2013, America's bachelors may want to think twice before popping the question. Thanks to Obamacare, some couples can save thousands on health insurance just by opting to cohabit rather than marry.
How? The subsidy system erected in the complicated new health law manages to create a brand new "marriage penalty."
Under the law, individuals who earn between 133 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level and can't get health coverage through their employers qualify for generous subsidies to buy insurance in the government-run exchanges. These subsidies decrease with need, so the more you make, the less you get.
But, as Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the Hudson Institute recently remarked, the subsidies are structured so that two people can get more government as singles rather than as a married couple.
Furchtgott-Roth gives the example of two people making $43,000 each. As singles, they both qualify for subsidies, but if they marry, their combined earnings of $86,000 far exceed the $58,000-cut-off for aid to a couple.
Heritage analyst Robert Rector raised a red flag about this problem back in January in an analysis of the Senate-passed version of Obamacare. He showed that for two young individuals making a combined $35,000, marriage would result in a loss of $3,451 in government aid. For older couples, the effect is more pronounced: two individuals in their sixties making a combined $60,000 would receive an additional $10,425 to purchase insurance if they become or remain single. The reconciliation bill made slight modifications to the subsidy system, but the marriage penalty remains substantially intact.
Who suffers most from marriage penalties? Single mothers. They head up 45 percent of all families living in poverty. For the sake of these women and their children, Washington should be embracing policies that encourage marriage, rather than punish it. As Furchtgott-Roth notes: marriage promotes a stable society; penalizing it will "increase the number of fatherless families, leading to more poverty and a lower quality of life."
To help low and middle-income families purchase insurance, Congress should have created an equitable and universal tax credit. To learn more, click here.
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Fwd: Morning Bell: Defending Freedom is a Choice
05/04/2010
In April 2009 in Strasbourg, France, President Barack Obama was asked at a press conference if he "subscribe[d], as many of your predecessors have, to the school of American exceptionalism that sees America as uniquely qualified to lead the world, or do you have a slightly different philosophy?" President Obama then responded: "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."
In other words, the President does not see anything unique about America's role in history or the world. Some of our past Presidents have seen it differently, including President Ronald Reagan who once explained to Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev:
When World War II ended, the United States had the only undamaged industrial power in the world. Our military might was at its peak, and we alone had the ultimate weapon, the nuclear weapon, with the unquestioned ability to deliver it anywhere in the world. If we had sought world domination then, who could have opposed us? But the United States followed a different course, one unique in all the history of mankind. We used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravished economies of the world, including those of the nations who had been our enemies.
Fwd: MRC Alert: CBS Frets Illegal Aliens 'No Longer Feel Welcome' -- and the Problem Is?
A daily compilation edited by Brent H. Baker, CyberAlert items are drawn from daily BiasAlert posts and distributed by the Media Research Center's News Analysis Division, the leader since 1987 in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.
Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Tuesday May 04, 2010 @ 09:48 AM EDT1. CBS Frets Illegal Aliens 'No Longer Feel Welcome' -- and the Problem Is?
Most support Arizona's impending immigration enforcement law and a solid 78 percent think the federal government should do more to keep illegal immigrants from getting into the U.S. where, Katie Couric noted in citing the new poll numbers, "hundreds of thousands of them now live in Arizona." So, how did CBS take these hardly surprising findings? Couric fretted "many" of those illegals "no longer feel welcome." Instead of seeing that as good news which will lessen the problem, CBS empathized with the plight of a reproductively profligate law-breaker. "On a dusty block in Phoenix, 15 years of the Quintana family's possessions are for sale," reporter Kelly Cobiella despaired over video of teddy bears before translating for the mother, Manuela, who managed to churn out ten kids who are now U.S. citizens, but hasn't bothered to learn English.
2. CBS's '60 Minutes' Highlights Illegal Immigrant 'Carnage' in All-American Canal
In wake of Arizona's new immigration law, CBS 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley fretted over illegal immigrants entering the United States by swimming across California's All-American Canal: "a national moat on our southern border, and hundreds of people have perished in its waters. It is a carnage that has gone mostly unnoticed because many of the victims are buried without their names." It did not take long to for Pelley place blame for drownings, not on those crossing the border illegally, but on those operating the canal: "The water is 225 feet across, 20 feet deep, with almost no rescue lines or climb-out ladders, safety devices that you would find in some other canals....management is controlled by a regional authority called the Imperial Irrigation District....They've taken votes, commissioned studies, but done almost nothing."
3. Time Editor Thrills Over Obama Performance, Compares it to the Beatles
The hosts and guests of a special Sunday edition of Morning Joe fawned over Barack Obama's May 1 performance at the White House Correspondence Dinner. Time managing editor Richard Stengel appeared and knocked host Jay Leno by comparison: "I think that's one of the things that undermined Jay's routine is that it's like coming after the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show."
4. Obama Draws Rave Reviews from Today Show's Cast
Barack Obama's performance at the Washington Correspondent's Dinner drew rave reviews from the Today show cast on Monday, as everyone agreed with Al Roker's assessment that the President was "on fire." While Today co-anchor was impressed by Obama's "fantastic timing" NBC's Norah O'Donnell, in her story filed for Today, praised Obama, even at the expense of fellow NBC employee Jay Leno: "After the President's comedic tour de force Tonight Show host Jay Leno had a hard act to follow."
5. CBS Features NY Mayor Bloomberg Speculating Bomber Was Mad About ObamaCare
With Katie Couric drawing him out, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed the Times Square car bombing was likely "homegrown" as he proceeded, in an interview excerpt run on Monday's CBS Evening News, to speculate it could have been placed by "somebody with a political agenda who doesn't like the health care bill or something. It could be anything."
CBS Frets Illegal Aliens 'No Longer Feel Welcome' -- and the Problem Is?
Most support Arizona's impending immigration enforcement law and a solid 78 percent think the federal government should do more to keep illegal immigrants from getting into the U.S. where, Katie Couric noted in citing the new poll numbers, "hundreds of thousands of them now live in Arizona." So, how did CBS take these hardly surprising findings? Couric fretted "many" of those illegals "no longer feel welcome."
Instead of seeing that as good news which will lessen the problem, CBS empathized with the plight of a reproductively profligate law-breaker. "On a dusty block in Phoenix, 15 years of the Quintana family's possessions are for sale," reporter Kelly Cobiella despaired over video of teddy bears before translating for the mother, Manuela, who managed to churn out ten kids who are now U.S. citizens, but hasn't bothered to learn English. Cobiella explained how she decided to leave Arizona (for Colorado) because of the new law which has yet to go into effect.
Cobiella cited how over the past two years about 100,000 illegals have left Arizona and after sharing the complaint of a landlord who has lost tenants, Cobiella raised the sympathy quotient, relating how the 12-year-old daughter's "best friend left to California with her family on Saturday," asking the crying tween: "Did you get to see her yesterday before she left?"
Cobiella cued up mom to deny she's a criminal: '"No,' she says, 'a criminal is someone who kills. I just want to work." Over video of the kids piling into a SUV, Cobiella concluded: "The family packed up before dawn today and headed north to Colorado. Manuela says she's lost hope in this state. She thinks she'll find it again in another."
Under-reporting support for the new Arizona law:
Setting up Cobiella's piece, Couric noted that a new CBS News/New York Times survey determined "slightly more than half said the law is quote, 'about right.'" CBS put "51%" on screen, without pointing out only 36 percent answered "goes too far" and 9 percent said it "doesn't go far enough" – putting the pro v con disparity at a wide 60 to 36 percent.
Earlier:
- "Saturday night: "Nets Celebrate May Day Pro-Illegal Immigrant Protests, Barely Mention Shot Deputy"From the Monday, May 3 CBS Evening News:
- Friday night: "NBC Promotes May Day Anti-Arizona Protests While CBS Finally Notices Crime that Fueled New Law"
- Thursday night: "CBS Trumpets Opposition to 'Notorious' Arizona Law from One Cop and Linda Ronstadt, Already Finds 'Chilling Effect'"
- Wednesday night: "Couric Touts San Francisco as Proof of 'Backlash Against Arizona's New Immigration Law'"
- Tuesday night: "ABC and NBC Champion 'Growing National Backlash' Against 'Laughing Stock' Arizona"
- Monday night, April 26: "CBS Again Focuses on Victims in Arizona: 'Many Feel the Sting of Racism in New Law'"
- Friday night, April 23: "CBS Frames Arizona's Anti-Illegal Alien Law Through Eyes of Opponents: 'Veto Racism'"
KATIE COURIC: We asked about Arizona's new immigration law which empowers the police to demand anyone show proof he or she is in this country legally. Slightly more than half said the law is quote, "about right" [51%]. Nearly two out of three Americans see illegal immigration as a "very serious" problem [65%]. More than three quarters say the U.S. should do more to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the border [78%]. Hundreds of thousands of them now live in Arizona. But as Kelly Cobiella reports, many no longer feel welcome.CBSNews.com version of this story.
KELLY COBIELLA: On a dusty block in Phoenix, 15 years of the Quintana family's possessions are for sale.
COBIELLA TO MANUELA QUINTANA: When did you decide to leave?
COBIELLA, TRANSLATING FROM SPANISH: "When the governor signed the immigration law," Manuela Quintana says, "I knew we had to move."
COBIELLA: For years their family thrived with jobs in restaurants and construction. Their ten [!] children were born here and are U.S. citizens. But she and her husband are undocumented and currently unemployed.
COBIELLA TO MANUELA QUINTANA: What is your biggest fear?
COBIELLA, TRANSLATING: "I'm afraid I will be put in jail," she says. "and my children will be taken away from me."
COBIELLA: Just the thought of moving scares 12-year-old daughter Graciela.
GRACIELA COBIELLA: I think it's gonna be my worst day.
COBIELLA, AT EMPTY PARK: Two years ago this park was filled with families like the Quintanas every weekend. Arizona was home to more than half a million illegal immigrants. Since then at least 100,000 have left.
KYLE KESTER: On this block alone we have 20 vacancies at least.
COBIELLA: Kyle Kester is the Quintana's landlord. He's lost seven tenants in the past week.
KYLE KESTER: This is hurting not just illegals. I was born and raised in the United States and it's hurting me now.
COBIELLA: Graciela's best friend left to California with her family on Saturday.
COBIELLA TO CRYING GRACIELA WITH HEAD IN ARM: Did you get to see her yesterday before she left, Graciela? No?
COBIELLA: Manuela knows she broke the law when she came here 15 years ago.
COBIELLA TO MANUELA QUINTANA: Do you see yourself as a criminal?
COBIELLA, TRANSLATING: "No," she says, "a criminal is someone who kills. I just want to work."
COBIELLA: The family packed up before dawn today and headed north to Colorado. Manuela says she's lost hope in this state. She thinks she'll find it again in another. Kelly Cobiella, CBS News, Phoenix.
— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
CBS's '60 Minutes' Highlights Illegal Immigrant 'Carnage' in All-American Canal
In wake of Arizona's new immigration law, CBS 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley fretted over illegal immigrants entering the United States by swimming across California's All-American Canal: "a national moat on our southern border, and hundreds of people have perished in its waters. It is a carnage that has gone mostly unnoticed because many of the victims are buried without their names." [Audio available here]
Pelley began the story by proclaiming: "In the California desert, in a field of mud, is a graveyard that is hard to imagine in America. Bricks mark the final resting place of hundreds of human beings, identities unknown. They died traveling to America in search of a life better than their home countries could offer." Moments later, Pelley explained: "While the canal is a death trap, it is also a lifeline for the nation....Two thirds of our winter fruits and vegetables are grown with this water. But half of the people who pick those crops are illegal immigrants. To get the jobs created by the canal, they cross the canal, usually at night on makeshift rafts or using plastic jugs for flotation."
It did not take long to for Pelley place blame for drownings, not on those crossing the border illegally, but on those operating the canal: "The water is 225 feet across, 20 feet deep, with almost no rescue lines or climb-out ladders, safety devices that you would find in some other canals....management is controlled by a regional authority called the Imperial Irrigation District....They've taken votes, commissioned studies, but done almost nothing."
Pelley grilled one of the authority directors, Stella Mendoza: "I wonder whether you feel the canal is safe?" Mendoza began to explain: "The canal is intended to convey water to the Imperial Valley via – from the – from the Colorado River. It's not intended as a – as a recreation and – and so we-" Pelley indignantly retorted: "We're not talking about recreation here. We're talking about people desperate to come into the United States and who are losing their lives in your canal."
Mendoza again attempted to express common sense: "When an individual decides to cross the desert, decides to cross the mountains, decides to jump into the canal to swim across, they're taking their life in their own hands. They have to be accountable for their actions." A brief time later, Pelley continued to portray Mendoza as uncaring: "There doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency here, if you see what I mean."
Early in the piece, Pelley found a token "life-long Republican" to bolster his case: "Dr. John Hunter showed us the hydroelectric dams, or drops, that catch most of the bodies. Hunter is an unlikely activist. He is a physicist and life-long Republican who has spent much of his career designing weapons for the U.S. government." Hunter declared: "I'm a very right-wing guy. I'm not a – an open border kind of person. I just don't believe we should let – be letting people drown in our backyards. It's – it's inhuman."
Pelley waited until the end of the story to reveal Hunter's full identity:
...in the 1990s, after scenes like this of immigrants rushing border stations, Congress beefed up the border, and a California congressman led the charge to build a better fence in San Diego....The fence channeled illegal immigrants away from the cities and rerouted them to the desert and the remote canal. Drownings rose rapidly from 6 in 1994 to more than 30 in 1998. That county cemetery we showed you earlier had to expand....Former Congressman Duncan Hunter says the fence is a success and now the canal should be made safer. The Congressman's brother, John Hunter, feels the unintended cost of the fence has been too high.
After springing that family connection on viewers, Pelley asked John Hunter: "I wonder whether any of this is family guilt that motivates you?"
Pelley concluded the segment by again talking to Mendoza and again portraying her as insensitive:
SCOTT PELLEY: The Imperial Irrigation District has recently started a year-long test of a single safety line. If the board votes to install the system that it's testing, it will still cover only a short stretch of the canal that's lined with concrete. So three-quarters of the canal would have no safety features?
MENDOZA: Correct.
PELLEY: And there's no plan for putting in safety features?
MENDOZA: Not at this time.
PELLEY: So it's not likely people are going to stop drowning in the canal?
MENDOZA: Probably.
Here is a transcript of relevant portions of the story:
7:04PM—Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.
SCOTT PELLEY: For the first time beginning this summer, police in Arizona will be able to stop anyone they like and order a check of their ID to determine whether the person is in the U.S. illegally. The new powers – just recently signed into law – have reignited the national debate on immigration. Since 9/11, getting into the United States has become a good deal harder and for some much more dangerous. With border enforcement increasing, many illegal immigrants are now attempting to cross one of this country's most important irrigation projects, called the All-American Canal. The canal has become sort of a national moat on our southern border, and hundreds of people have perished in its waters. It is a carnage that has gone mostly unnoticed because many of the victims are buried without their names.
In the California desert, in a field of mud, is a graveyard that is hard to imagine in America. Bricks mark the final resting place of hundreds of human beings, identities unknown. They died traveling to America in search of a life better than their home countries could offer. They rolled the dice in the underworld of human smuggling and lost. Their families back home never learned that their journey ended here in the All-American Canal. Where do they find the bodies?
JOHN HUNTER: Typically, they'll find them at the drops. And so for example, there's five of these big hydro drops here. Drop one, they found over a hundred bodies at drop one. Drop two, they had 60. Drop three, 60, etcetera.
PELLEY: Dr. John Hunter showed us the hydroelectric dams, or drops, that catch most of the bodies. Hunter is an unlikely activist. He is a physicist and life-long Republican who has spent much of his career designing weapons for the U.S. government.
HUNTER: I'm a very right-wing guy. I'm not a – an open border kind of person. I just don't believe we should let – be letting people drown in our backyards. It's – it's inhuman.
...
PELLEY: While the canal is a death trap, it is also a lifeline for the nation. It flows a length of 85 miles, just north of California's border with Mexico, transporting water from the Colorado River to the Imperial Valley. Two thirds of our winter fruits and vegetables are grown with this water. But half of the people who pick those crops are illegal immigrants. To get the jobs created by the canal, they cross the canal, usually at night on makeshift rafts or using plastic jugs for flotation. The water is 225 feet across, 20 feet deep, with almost no rescue lines or climb-out ladders, safety devices that you would find in some other canals. The All-American is owned by the federal government but its management is controlled by a regional authority called the Imperial Irrigation District. And for ten years, Hunter has been lobbying the elected members of the Irrigation District to add safety features. They've taken votes, commissioned studies, but done almost nothing.
...
PELLEY: One of the directors listening that day was Stella Mendoza, who's been with the Imperial Irrigation District, the IID, for 9 years.
STELLA MENDOZA: Is the IID supposed to save every individual that jumps into the canal? Is that – is that my role as a director?
PELLEY: Mendoza told us that she worries adding safety features like buoys, lines, or ladders would give illegal immigrants a false sense of security. I wonder whether you feel the canal is safe?
MENDOZA: The canal is intended to convey water to the Imperial Valley via – from the – from the Colorado River. It's not intended as a – as a recreation and – and so we-
PELLEY: We're not talking about recreation here. We're talking about people desperate to come into the United States-
MENDOZA: I – I understand that.
PELLEY: -and who are losing their lives in your canal.
MENDOZA: I understand that. When an individual decides to cross the desert, decides to cross the mountains, decides to jump into the canal to swim across, they're taking their life in their own hands. They have to be accountable for their actions.
PELLEY: In 2007, as the drownings continued, the board approved climb-out ladders along about one quarter of the canal's length. But they're spaced every 500 feet, a drowning man would be lucky to reach one.
...
PELLEY: There doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency here, if you see what I mean.
MENDOZA: I understand what you're saying.
...
PELLEY: In fact, crossing illegally is a Class B misdemeanor, same as loitering. But in the 1990s, after scenes like this of immigrants rushing border stations, Congress beefed up the border, and a California congressman led the charge to build a better fence in San Diego.
DUNCAN HUNTER: I'm Duncan Hunter. We built this double fence here at the Mexican border in San Diego, and reduced the smuggling of hundreds of thousands of people and tons of drugs by more than 90%. The fence works.
PELLEY: It did work. The fence channeled illegal immigrants away from the cities and rerouted them to the desert and the remote canal. Drownings rose rapidly from 6 in 1994 to more than 30 in 1998. That county cemetery we showed you earlier had to expand. There are now 850 bricks in the paupers graveyards, mostly people who drowned or perished in the desert. Former Congressman Duncan Hunter says the fence is a success and now the canal should be made safer. The Congressman's brother, John Hunter, feels the unintended cost of the fence has been too high. I wonder whether any of this is family guilt-
HUNTER: Well-
PELLEY: -that motivates you?
...
PELLEY: The Imperial Irrigation District has recently started a year-long test of a single safety line. If the board votes to install the system that it's testing, it will still cover only a short stretch of the canal that's lined with concrete. So three-quarters of the canal would have no safety features?
MENDOZA: Correct.
PELLEY: And there's no plan for putting in safety features?
MENDOZA: Not at this time.
PELLEY: So it's not likely people are going to stop drowning in the canal?
MENDOZA: Probably.
Time Editor Thrills Over Obama Performance, Compares it to the Beatles
The hosts and guests of a special Sunday edition of Morning Joe fawned over Barack Obama's May 1 performance at the White House Correspondence Dinner. Time managing editor Richard Stengel appeared and knocked host Jay Leno by comparison: "I think that's one of the things that undermined Jay's routine is that it's like coming after the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show."
Stengel highlighted an off-putting moment from the 2009 dinner when the President joked to the assembled journalists: "Most of you covered me; all of you voted for me." He described this as a "sour note" and admitted, "And there was kind of an awkward laughter because no one wants to reckon with that. I mean, we're in an adversarial relationship, but a respectful relationship."
Scarborough also hyped Obama's performance, praising, "The President so easily outperformed Jay Leno, it wasn't even close. It was like Secretariat against my 17-year-old dog..."
The Morning Joe host seemed to have a different interpretation than that of the Washington Post. Scarborough extolled, "And he actually started...with something that works, self-deprecation from a guy who gets knocked around by people in this room as being arrogant, aloof."
Paul Farhi of the Post disagreed, finding little self-deprecation in the routine:
Breaking with presidential punch line tradition for the second consecutive year, Obama dropped zinger after zinger on his opponents and allies alike at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Obama went all Don Rickles on a broad range of topics and individuals: Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, presidential advisers David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, the news media, Jay Leno, and Republicans Michael Steele, Scott Brown, John McCain and Sarah Palin.[Emphasis added.] A partial transcript of the May 2 segment follows:
Except for a mild joke pegged to his falling approval ratings, Obama mostly spared Obama during his 14-minute stand-up routine.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The President, listen, can we just- I know it's an NBC-owned entity, this MSNBC thing we talk about, but can we just say it? The President so easily outperformed Jay Leno, it wasn't even close. It was like Secretariat against my 17-year-old dog, Willie.—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
8:07
SCARBOROUGH: I'm telling you, he was very good. And he actually started, I thought, Jon, with something that works, self-deprecation from a guy who gets knocked around by people in this room as being arrogant, aloof. And he just went right after, talking about his ratings, everything else. I really thought that was one of the funnier performances I've seen a president perform.
8:39
RICHARD STENGEL: I'm not a historian of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, although I've been here way too many times, I don't think the President has ever preceded the comedic act before.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That was a shame.
STENGEL: I think that was the first time that ever happened and it was a very smart thing to do. Remember, he came after Wanda Sykes last year. And, again, you don't want to be after the President. I think that's one of the things that undermined Jay's routine is that it's like coming after the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: And you're the juggler after, yeah, the Beatles. And of course what a funny joke last night, the president talking about why he wanted to be before Jay because if you're after the time slot, it's always very dangerous.
...
SCARBOROUGH: You brought up a great point off camera about the President being self-deprecating. I thought, again, for a guy who is playing against type who is always accused of being aloof and smug by people in the room, he did something different this year than he did last year.
STENGEL: Yes. Yes. Because, remember last year- and it hit a little bit of a sour note in the room- where he said, "You know, I know you all loved me. I know you all voted for me." And there was kind of an awkward laughter because no one wants to reckon with that. I mean, we're in an adversarial relationship, but a respectful relationship. This year I thought he was much more self-deprecating. He talked about the highs and lows constantly. I mean, he would sometimes make fun of the lows and sometimes make fun of the highs. I mean, he was a little penitent. He'd been- It's like he had his comeuppance.
Obama Draws Rave Reviews from Today Show's Cast
Barack Obama's performance at the Washington Correspondent's Dinner drew rave reviews from the Today show cast on Monday, as everyone agreed with Al Roker's assessment that the President was "on fire." While Today co-anchor was impressed by Obama's "fantastic timing" NBC's Norah O'Donnell, in her story filed for Today, praised Obama, even at the expense of fellow NBC employee Jay Leno: "After the President's comedic tour de force Tonight Show host Jay Leno had a hard act to follow."
In the 10:00am hour Kathie Lee Gifford called Obama "brilliant" and Hoda Kotb, also taking a shot at her NBC colleague noted: "Keep in mind Jay Leno was on the stage, as was Obama, and the funniest person in the room was definitely the President."
The following is the full O'Donnell story followed by the Today show cast's reaction as they were aired on the May 3 Today show:
MATT LAUER: President Obama showing off his lighter side over the weekend at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Here's NBC's Norah O'Donnell.—Geoffrey Dickens is the Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here
NORAH O'DONNELL: It's where Washington meets Hollywood, where the Capital's best known politicians and reporters walk the red carpet with celebrities and pop stars. It's the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, a black tie gala so eagerly anticipated inside the Beltway, it's known as the Oscars on the Potomac. The real star of Saturday's dinner, the President of the United States, who wasted no time showing off his comedic chops, lampooning his Vice President.
BARACK OBAMA: And so I wasn't sure that I should actually come tonight. Biden talked me into it. He said, "Mr. President, this is no ordinary dinner. This is a big [bleep] meal!"
O'DONNELL: Mocking Wall Street.
OBAMA: By the way, all of the jokes here tonight are brought to you by our friends at Goldman Sachs. So you don't have to worry. They make money whether you laugh or not.
O'DONNELL: Tweaking his Republican opponents.
OBAMA: I hear that I'm still pretty big on Twitter, Facebook or, as Sarah Palin calls it, the socialized media.
O'DONNELL: Even taking a jab at the night's keynote speaker.
OBAMA: The only person's whose ratings fell more than mine last year is here tonight. Great to see you, Jay.
O'DONNELL: After the President's comedic tour de force "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno had a hard act to follow.
JAY LENO: You know the President has the most diverse staff in history, they represent every ward of Chicago. And I think that is fantastic, Mr. President. Fantastic. I can see the White House press corps, very excited tonight. This is about as close to a White House press conference they've had in a year. So this is it. So enjoy it while it lasts. Yeah.
O'DONNELL: A night to remember as Washington gets back to work today. For Today, Norah O'Donnell, NBC News, Washington.
MATT LAUER: We were there.
AL ROKER: He was on fire.
MEREDITH VIEIRA: Yeah.
LAUER: Small room.
ROKER: Yeah only 3,000 people. Wow.
ANN CURRY: 3,000.
VIEIRA: I know, exactly.
CURRY: That's why you lost your voice this morning, all the shouting.
LAUER: Just trying to talk over all the din in the room. Yeah.
VIEIRA: But if this White House gig doesn't work out he could go on the road, as a comedian, easily.
ROKER: Man!
CURRY: Timing was fantastic.
VIEIRA: Timing is everything.
ROKER: I bet there are a bunch of Republicans who wish he would.
VIEIRA: Exactly.
LAUER: Yeah exactly right.
...
KATHIE LEE GIFFORD: President Obama was brilliant!
HODA KOTB: He was-
GIFFORD: He was the funniest I've ever seen him.
HODA KOTB: There, just keep in mind Jay Leno was on the stage, as was Obama, and the funniest person in the room was definitely the President. Definitely!
GIFFORD: Yeah it was not the best night for old Jay. He's, he's still riding high at his old show now, but last night or Saturday night was not his night.
KOTB: But let's listen I think we have a little bit of Obama. Let's listen to President Obama.
(Begin clip)
BARACK OBAMA: I wasn't sure that I should actually come tonight. Biden talked me into it. He leaned over and he said, "Mr. President, this is no ordinary dinner. This is a big [bleep] meal!...The only person whose ratings fell more than mine last year is here tonight. Great to see you, Jay.
(End clip)
KOTB: It was a fun night.
GIFFORD: It wasn't, it wasn't real mean-spirited at all.
KOTB: No it was, it was light.
GIFFORD: It was really fun, it was really fun. And, and then do we have any sound of Jay? That's it.
KOTB: I think that's, I think that's all we have. No we just...that's all.
GIFFORD: Yeah, yeah. We don't want, yeah you don't want to see that.
KOTB: No. Yeah, you don't. But you know what's interesting. While...
(audible groans and laughter in studio)
CBS Features NY Mayor Bloomberg Speculating Bomber Was Mad About ObamaCare
With Katie Couric drawing him out, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed the Times Square car bombing was likely "homegrown" as he proceeded, in an interview excerpt run on Monday's CBS Evening News, to speculate it could have been placed by "somebody with a political agenda who doesn't like the health care bill or something. It could be anything."
Could be "anything," but the first thing Bloomberg thinks of are those who don't like ObamaCare, presumably conservatives or Tea Party activists.
Audio: MP3 clip
From part of Couric's interview with the mayor aired on the Monday, May 3 CBS Evening News:
CBSNews.com version of Couric's interview.KATIE COURIC: Law enforcement officials don't know who left the Nissan Pathfinder behind, but, at this point, the mayor believes the suspect acted alone.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: If I had to guess -- 25 cents -- this would be exactly that, somebody-
COURIC TO BLOOMBERG: A home-grown?
BLOOMBERG: Home-grown, maybe a mentally deranged person or somebody with a political agenda that doesn't like the health care bill or something. It could be anything.
— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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