CNN: Now, Literally, the Clinton News Network

Let's see now:

The longstanding definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth (by that definition, there never was a recession -- see for yourself).
The economy has had positive economic growth in every quarter (23 of 'em) since 9/11 (again, see for yourself).
Growth in the second quarter was an annualized 3.8%, and third quarter growth will undoubtedly come in positive (I estimate 2.5%-3%).
The economy is therefore objectively NOT in a recession.

Not to worry -- If you're CNN, you don't need any real evidence of a recession, you can just decide that there is one (bolds are mine):

"This is the latest CNN-Opinion Research poll, between October 12th and 14th. Get this: 46 percent of Americans think the economy is in a recession - 46 percent. Nearly half of all Americans think that we're in a recession," Velshi said.
However, Velshi told viewers the economy isn't in recession by textbook definition.
"[T]his is interesting, because by official standards, we're not in a recession," he said. "Recession is a sustained decline in economic growth. We haven't seen any decline in economic growth. We've seen some decline, but not a sustained decline."
That doesn't matter according to Velshi. He has incorporated the left-of-center mantra that suggests "how you feel" trumps facts - in this case, basic economic fundamentals.
"But, the bottom line is to most Americans, a recession is what it feels like to you," he said. "Whether it comes to your expenses, what you're earning, how secure are you about your job, the value of your house - things like that."

Y'know, 46% of people could say the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, and that won't change the fact that it rises in the east and sets in the west.

If the CNN broadcast quoted above sounds like a Hillary Clinton campaign commercial, there's a reason (excerpt is at end of this previous BizzyBlog post):

A separate question that warrants a thorough vetting is why InfoUSA, led by "Friend of Bill" (Vinod) Gupta, went out and bought Opinion Research Corporation (ORC), a leading polling firm with a large government and business consulting subsidiary.
On January 12, 2007, a little more than a month after infoUSA acquired ORC, it established a very interesting relationship (link is to a PDF):
Opinion Research Corporation will become CNN's new polling partner as the network moves toward the 2008 elections. Beginning in 2007, polls released by the network will be identified as CNN/Opinion Research Corporation surveys.
..... Clinton-friendly CNN and its new partner appear to have the opportunity, and motivation, for manipulating its polling topics and results.

I'd say the manipulation has begun.

Here's some info about Vinod "Friend of Bill" Gupta (from the same link):

..... The relationship between Bill Clinton and Vinod "Vin" Gupta, InfoUSA's CEO and chairman, is longstanding and deep.
A frequent donor to Bill's campaigns, Gupta stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom in the Clinton years. He admits donating $1 million to the Clinton Library and in 1999 gave $2 million for Hillary Clinton's Millennium New Year's Eve bash. He has raised over $200,000 for Hillary's Senate campaigns and given thousands to other Democratic funds.

It's fair to say that CNN is now literally "the Clinton News Network."

A briefer version of this entry is part this BizzyBlog post (last item at link).