Free Republic

The health care debate began for real in June when ABC devoted an entire hour to Obamacare in a special edition of ABC's Prime time hosted anchor Charlie Gibson and (now incoming anchor) Diane Sawyer. Called "Questions for the President: Prescription for America" the special aired on June 24, 2009, from the East Room of the White House. Basically Obama was given solo airtime to pitch his health care agenda both in prime time and later that evening on Nightline. To make matters worse, Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR) a group that opposes Obamacare tried to air commercials giving the...

Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz presented quite a paradox in a Charlie Gibson profile Monday. The retiring ABC World News anchor said that "it’s time to move on" since objectivity is "less of a marketable commodity." But Kurtz also underlined how Gibson dared to keep airing live coverage of Ted Kennedy’s funeral until they were able to broadcast the reading of Ted Kennedy’s letter to Pope Benedict. These passages came late in the article: Gibson worries whether broadcast networks will be able to support sizable editorial staffs in an era of declining audiences, when cable news channels are louder...

Michelle Obama was even more fascinating than her presidential husband in 2009, according to Barbara Walters. Walters named the first lady the year's most fascinating person, in her one-hour special "Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People," which aired last night on ABC.

Psalms 109:8, Anti-Obama Web Cry: 'Let His Days Be Few; and Let Another Take His Office' A nice sentiment? Maybe not. The psalm reads, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office." Presidential criticism through witty slogans is nothing new. Bumper stickers, t-shirts and hats with "1/20/09" commemorated President Bush's last day in office. But the verse immediately following the psalm referenced is a bit more ominous: "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow." The slogan comes at a time of heightened concern about antigovernment anger. Earlier this year, the president's senior adviser, David...

ABC’s Good Morning America finally picked up on the deep bow President Obama performed for the Emperor of Japan over the weekend. Co-host Diane Sawyer ran through how other U.S. Presidents have greeted either Emperor Akhito or his father, the late Emperor Hirohito over the years — some bowing, some not. Sawyer claimed that Americans are “not trained to greet royalty” and “it’s just too confusing.” Actually, the government employs lots of experts on culture and protocol to make sure that our presidents are fully “trained” on what to do when they represent our government overseas — which is not...

Investigators are digging up a rural Missouri property looking for notes they say six children buried in glass jars documenting years of nightmarish sexual abuse allegedly at the hands of their grandfather, father and three uncles. The children reportedly wrote the notes between 1988 and 1995 because they claim they were told doing so would make their memories go away, police said. Police who are excavating the 55 acre property said they are also looking for bodies, although they would not say whether they were looking for bodies of adults or children. The five men, three of whom were lay...

Robert Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol opens today to a chorus of negative reviews and a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A particularly harsh assessment comes from Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal: To put it bluntly, if Scroogely, Disney’s 3-D animated version of “A Christmas Carol” is a calamity. The pace is predominantly glacial—that alone would be enough to cook the goose of this premature holiday turkey—and the tone is joyless, despite an extended passage of bizarre laughter, several dazzling flights of digital fancy, a succession of striking images and Jim Carrey’s voicing of Scrooge plus half a dozen...

“I know it wasn’t rape-rape. It was something else but I don’t believe it was rape-rape. He went to jail and and when they let him out he was like ‘You know what, this guy’s going to give me a hundred years in jail I’m not staying,’ so that’s why he left.” (video clip at link)

Here is unbelievable audio that ABC News Anchor Charlie Gibson saying he has not even heard about the ACORN undercover video scandal! He was asked about it this morning on radio station WLS-AM Chicago. Gibson laughed when asked and said "I don't know about it." He then said condescendingly, "Maybe that's just one you leave to the cables." . . . (AUDIO)

Republicans Distance Themselves From Heckler Who Shouted "You Lie!" During Obama's Speech President Obama said he accepts the apology of Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who interrupted the president's speech last night to yell, "You lie!" after a line about how health insurance would not be provided to illegal immigrants. Share The president brushes off Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during health care speech. "I'm a big believer that we all make mistakes," the president told reporters today following a meeting with his Cabinet members. "He apologized quickly and without equivocation, and I'm appreciative of that."

ABC's World News on Tuesday night bemoaned the impact of conservatives and citizen journalists in derailing President Barack Obama's agenda. Pivoting from the reaction to Obama's address to students, anchor Charles Gibson observed “today's speech was really the latest target of some conservative groups taking on the President” and “their tactics are having an impact.” Reporter Dan Harris asserted “the conservative echo chamber is not new, but,” he fretted, “this White House is operating in a vastly accelerated media environment where you no longer need to be in the presence of reporters to make news, as we saw with the...

The following is a memo from ABC News president David Westin to ABC News staff today: Today, Charlie Gibson announced to his colleagues at World News that he has decided to step down as anchor effective at the end of this year. I attach below Charlie's full email. I have asked Diane Sawyer to serve as the next anchor of World News, and she will assume that position in January. -snip-

ABC News Exclusive: National Security Adviser Says President Obama Is Having Greater Success Taking Terrorists Out of Commission Than Bush Did August 31, 2009 6:00 PM Responding to criticism from former Vice President Cheney that President Obama is making the nation more vulnerable to terrorism, the president’s National Security Adviser, Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.), told ABC News in an exclusive interview that actually the reverse is true: President Obama’s greater success with international relations has meant more terrorists put out of commission. “This type of radical fundamentalism or terrorism is a threat not only to the United States but to...

When George W. Bush was President, ABC and Charles Gibson, like most media members, couldn't get enough of anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan. Now that Barack Obama is in the White House, the host of "World News Tonight" is no longer interested in Sheehan, even telling WLS radio in Chicago, "Enough already." I guess she served her purpose as reported by the Washington Examiner's Byron York Thurday: In an appearance August 18 on WLS radio in Chicago, ABC News anchor Charles Gibson was asked about anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan's plans to travel to Martha's Vineyard next week, where she will protest...

Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Tex.) will be back in the spotlight this fall, but not because of political involvement. The conservative Texan will be a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars." ABC announced this season's cast today on Good Morning America. DeLay will join the likes of singer Macy Gray, former supermodel Kathy Ireland, former NFL star Michael Irvin, and Donny Osmond. This should be….weird.

Experts who track hate groups across the U.S. are growing increasingly concerned over violent rhetoric targeted at President Obama, especially as the debate over health care intensifies and a pattern of threats emerges.

In an open letter sent today to ABC President David Westin, Media Research Center President and NewsBusters.org Publisher Brent Bozell questioned the ethics of ABC as a "news" network and wondered "how in the world can anyone take ABC seriously" after it was announced that ABC News has hired Democrat donor Dr. Richard Besser to be their new Senior Medical Editor. The letter appears in its entirety below the fold.

I heard ABC News report on the radio at 2:00 PM today that made me sick. They had "sources" that stated that the "Neda" video of her being shot and dying on the street "was definitely not from an Iranian security force" and "appeared to be staged to get international attention". I guess I can't be too surprised. The liberals at ABC News are running propoganda broadcasts for Obama, so why not for the Iranian dictators? Besides, that fight for freedom in Iran is none of our business. ABC and the rest of the American left need to squelch it...

Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer popped up on Sunday's Reliable Sources and swore that ABC's much-scrutinized health care special with President Obama "won't be an infomercial." She also seriously touted the objectivity of the network, cheering, "I know that our network has worked very, very hard to be completely-completely responsible and fair and serious about big issues."

June 17, 2009 ABC You Later J.C. Arenas With their decision to broadcast a primetime special that will highlight the Democrats' relentless pursuit towards government-ran health care and exclude the views of those whom oppose their effort, ABC has signaled they no longer believe in the concept of press independence and the public's right to choose. Once upon a time the press wasn't simply an advocate for a particular brand of politics, it was their responsibility to be a watchdog of our government and report the facts and subsequently the general public could weigh those facts and form some sort...

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm! Highlights on the agenda: ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House. The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on...

Earth 2100 on ABC. What a sky-is-falling fearfest. Cast of usual charachters: Academia, Media, etc going year-by-year on how "climate change" is leading to total destruction of everything as we know it. Of course the "American way of life" is to blame.

So, the full-frontal-nudity-enviro proganda assault begins. Are we really surprised by such a one-sided propaganda flick? If an alternative docu-drama was made, care to guess what lame excuse(s) ABC would give not to show it?

“Imagine a judicial nominee said ‘my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman,’” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., blogged today. “Wouldn't they have to withdraw? New racism is no better than old racism. A white man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.” He also tweeted similar comments, in so doing joined the ranks of conservative voices such as Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh accusing Judge Sonia Sotomayor of being a racist for her 2001 comments. The conservatives are decrying a comment made by Judge Sotomayor in 2001,...

ABC’s “Good Morning America” program on Wednesday led their 7 am Eastern hour with three positive reports about Judge Sonia Sotomayor, highlighting her judicial background and personal story. Anchor Diane Sawyer began the program with a promo of this coverage: “The battle begins: How will President Obama’s Latina powerhouse handle the opposition?...And we also go home to bring you personal details about the girl from the housing projects, nominated for the Supreme Court.” Correspondent Claire Shipman went so far as to play up trivial details from the nominee’s personal life: “She’s also an avid Yankees fan, a mean guacamole maker,...

"Good Morning America" co-host Diane Sawyer worried on Thursday that Barack Obama backtracked "on his pledge to release pictures of U.S. soldiers allegedly torturing terror suspects," fretting that this might be a "cave-in to Dick Cheney and the political right." Later in the show, former Democratic aide-turned journalist George Stephanopoulos appeared on the program to put the best possible spin on the Obama administration's decision to appeal a court decision ordering pictures of alleged abuse released. Talking to co-host Robin Roberts, he offered talking points that could have come straight from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

In the midst of conservative criticism that President Barack Obama, at the summit in Trinidad over the weekend, joked around with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and was uncritical of a 50-minute anti-American screed from Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, ABC decided to defend Obama's foreign-policy mettle -- with his only failure coming where he has followed Bush's policy. Martha Raddatz began by trying to undermine the pictures of a jovial Obama with Chavez: "Today, cell phone video images emerged of a stern and serious President Obama during a brief encounter with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. The image counters the cordial hand shake with...

A video tape smuggled out of the United Arab Emirates shows a member of the country's royal family mercilessly torturing a man with whips, electric cattle prods and wooden planks with protruding nails. A man in a UAE police uniform is seen on the tape tying the victim's arms and legs, and later holding him down as the Sheikh pours salt on the man's wounds and then drives over him with his Mercedes SUV. In a statement to ABC News, the UAE Ministry of the Interior said it had reviewed the tape and acknowledged the involvement of Sheikh Issa bin...

Meghan McCain, blogger and daughter of Senator John McCain, has scored a book deal. Ms. McCain’s book will tackle “what it means to be a progressive Republican in the party today,” according to a release from Hyperion, the Disney-owned publishing group that signed the 24-year old. The book, scheduled to be released in spring 2010, will use “an appealing and light-hearted voice” to delve into how the Republican Party can improve its use of technology and attract younger voters, topics Ms. McCain has already examined in her blog on The Daily Beast.

In the brief "Closing Arguments" segment on Wednesday's "Nightline," ABC's Terry Moran credulously repeated the White House contention that Barack Obama didn't bow to the King of Saudi Arabia last week at the G-20 summit. As video of the incident played, Moran narrated, "He sees King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Goes in for the hello. There's a hand shake. Obama bends at the waist. But was it a bow?" [Audio available here.] He then recited, "The White House called it a lean, pointing out the King's shorter than the President." Inviting people to respond on his Twitter page, Moran wondered,...

John McCain's 24-year-old daughter Meghan has a book deal! Sources say Hyperion has prevailed over at least three other publishers in an auction that began earlier this week, following a round of meetings during which the in-your-face young conservative and the literary agent she shares with her father, Sterling Lord Literistic president Flip Brophy, discussed a number of possible approaches to the book with editors around town. Several sources said the advance Ms. McCain will receive from Hyperion, which is owned by the Disney Company, is in the high six figures.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dropped a verbal bombshell in the middle of an interview on Good Morning America April 7, and surprisingly, neither the press nor a majority of gun rights activists seemed to notice. Responding to a question from ABC’s Robin Roberts, Pelosi said that while Congress apparently does not want to take anyone’s guns away, “We want them registered.” Roberts: Under the Bush administration, you pretty much said the ball was in their court when it came to reinstating the ban. Now, it's a Democratic President, a Democratic House. So, is the ball in your court where...

There's more than one way to skin a foot. In his beauty salon wedged between a pizza parlor and a taco shop in a strip mall here, John Ho is letting small fish eat dead skin off his customers' feet. "Feels like a bunch of ants running across your feet," said Bill Piatt, a Marine gunnery sergeant from nearby Fort Belvoir, after dipping his feet in a Plexiglas tank for 15 minutes of a fish-assisted pedicure. His wife, Leah, reclining on an adjacent chair, said the nibbling tickled -- "a very odd feeling."

A new study shows that the states that consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption.

During our family’s recent vacation to sunny Florida, my wife and I had the opportunity to enjoy the magic of Disney’s Epcot park without our children. We enjoyed the rides and shows and the variety of cultural experiences to be found there. There was one show, however, that irritated me not a little. It was a movie billed as the “Circle of Life-an Environmental Tale” and was hosted by those lovable characters from the Lion King, Simba, Pumba and Timor. Al Gore himself might have nominated it for his Oscar. The film begins with our three heroes enjoying their little...

Elite Obama Donors Receive Early Gifts and Privileges from Obama While Under Senate Investigation and After Accepting Millions in Taxpayer Paid Bailout So many of the Elite Obama Donors arrived at Dulles International Airport in their personal private jets that an active runway at Dulles International Airport had to be shut down and then converted into a make-do parking lot. * * * * * Surprisingly no PETA, Global Warming, nor Code Pink protesters are seen as the Elite Obama Donors arrive in chauffeur driven stretch limousines dressed in their finest furs. * * * * * Their gilded...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxmz4DPv7dw&feature=channel_page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqbQWxHIn4U&feature=channel_page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8czPXxwbg5U&feature=channel_page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIVgMvuCM_k&feature=channel_page

The weekend edition of Good Morning America found a fellow that decided to try and live for one year "like Jesus would” but what host Bill Weir found keenly interesting is that this guy voted for Barack Obama because he felt that living like Jesus compelled him to do so. Weir also wondered if the Jesus emulator had to "forgive" his Christian community for any reaction they might have had over the fact that he voted for Barack. Former pastor Ed Dobson of Grand Rapids, Michigan appeared on the weekend edition of GMA to briefly discuss his year of living...

NEW YORK (AP) — You're standing in line at a deli behind two day laborers fumbling with cash and struggling with English, when the clerk begins spewing hatred. Go back to your country, he says, or go eat at Taco Bell. What would you do? Stand in uncomfortable silence, hoping simply to leave as quickly as possible? Tell the clerk to shut up? Or join in with the bigotry, kicking the men while they're down? When ABC News set up that scenario in a New Jersey deli, hiring actors to portray the clerk and laborers and hiding cameras to record...

In its opening half-hour, Good Morning America told us--twice--that Pres.-elect Obama choked up with emotion as he was packing up his old house. But somehow ABC couldn't find time to mention that a possible pay-to-play scheme was behind Bill Richardson's bye-bye as Commerce Secretary nominee. After the show-opening roll in which the president elect was shown heading to DC, Robin Roberts literally bounced in her co-anchor's chair: "so excited, so excited, so excited . . . It's a new day, new year, new everything going on." Added Diane Sawyer helpfully: "And a president-elect." "Yes," concurred Robin, as if it wasn't...

Looks like ABC News is starting out 2009 with a partisan bang. On its main page, ABC News is hosting a slide show featuring what it is calling the "All Time Dumb Quotes." Now, these are not all strictly political dumb quotes, to be sure. They also have the empty headed Christina Aguilera, that sharp as a tack Jessica Simpson and other denizens of the Hollywood Mensa club among the 16 featured quotes -- and some of them are doozies, too. But, there are six political quotes five by Republicans and one by Tina Fey making fun of a Republican...

On the night before Thanksgiving, just an hour after Rosie O'Donnell had publicly belly-flopped with a horrible attempt at an old-time variety show on NBC, Barbara Walters made a fool of herself interviewing Barack and Michelle Obama. The toughest questions dealt with whether there was enough "change" in his cabinet picks, and whether he was "waffling" on tax hikes for the rich -- questions his (and ABC's) liberal base would enjoy. Let's go back eight years. On the Friday before the Inauguration, Walters interviewed then-President-elect George Bush and his wife Laura. But it was only one part of a routine...

If you had any questions about how differently the economy will be covered with Barack Obama in the White House they were answered by George Stephanopoulos on Sunday when he credited the president-elect with causing the recent stock market rally as well as better than expected sales the day after Thanksgiving.

Less than 12 hours after George Stephanopoulos, on Good Morning America, glowed that “we have not seen this kind of combination of star power and brain power and political muscle this early in a cabinet in our lifetimes,” he popped up on World News to hail how Barack Obama's team recognized the Bush administration's “vacuum” and so decided to “step in and fill” it by showing “the President-elect taking action on the economy” day after day. Anchor Charles Gibson set up Stephanopoulos by marveling: “George, I don't think I've ever seen a President-elect getting so involved in policy so early....

I know we have had several calls for boycotts of papers and of MSM stations, and those calls have extended to boycotting of advertisers. I am wondering if we had a place to post those advertisers we are targeting in an organized way, as well as a place to post an alternative to the product/company being advertised, it might have more impact on the advertisers and be easier for us remain in an active boycott of a product. I don't post many vanities, this may be my second on in 3 years. Sorry if it's annoying.

Behar, Hasselbeck Take Things Backstage PopEater posted: 15 MINUTES (Oct. 23) -- Sure, there's always fireworks on 'The View,' and most recently, there have been a lot between hosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. The newest blowup seems to have carried over from the show to backstage. According to a Defamer source, Behar and Hasselbeck "went at it backstage" following Wednesday's taping. The crux of the brawl was apparently related to recent political arguments that have been made on the show. What Happened Next? The source tells Defamer that after Hasselbeck told Behar she couldn't plug non-'View' appearances because they...

West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him, according to current and former members of his staff who have been briefed on the settlement, which involved Mahoney and his campaign committee. Mahoney, who is married, also promised the woman, Patricia Allen, a $50,000 a year job for two years at the agency that handles his campaign advertising, the staffers said. A Mahoney spokesperson would not answer questions about the alleged affair...

ABC's Kate Snow from New York: There's a battle going on right now over how the networks will be allowed to cover Sarah Palin's big day of visits in NY with world leaders. Palin is scheduled to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai shortly, followed by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and then with McCain advisor, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The networks had arranged for a "pool" camera- one camera to cover the meetings, whose video would be pooled or shared with all networks. Such arrangements are standard when dealing with intimate high-level meetings between leaders and candidates. But...

In her first post-nomination interview, Governor Sarah Palin was confronted by ABC's Charlie Gibson with the following question: "You said recently, in your old church, 'Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from G-d.' Are we fighting a holy war?" The record after this is a little confusing because ABC has edited the video and their transcripts several times, before and after it first aired. ..... Some commentators have noted that Gibson's question and quote were "out of context," but they do not point out the obvious intellectual dishonesty at play. In all likelihood most...