Free Republic

The Benghazi scandal is easy to understand, and that’s what makes it so dangerous for the White House. Simply, the Obama administration’s narrative — that al-Qaeda was on the run, that Hosni Mubarak had to go, and that the Arab Spring was a good thing — was proven false when four brave Americans were killed. Because the administration was a slave to their own narrative, rather than aggressively fighting al-Qaeda, rather than recognizing the $50 billion investment in Mubarak’s stability, and rather than realizing that the upheaval they sponsored in the Middle East empowered Muslim Brotherhood radicals, they lied repeatedly...

CBS released information on the Benghazi 9-11 massacre today that could potentially bring down the Obama Administration. Buried in their report (down in paragraph eight) CBS reported, “Throughout the night, sources say Americans on the ground in Libya at times felt helpless and abandoned… But they were told immediate help wasn’t available.” But, counterterrorism sources and internal emails reviewed by CBS News express frustration that key responders were ready to deploy, but were not called upon to help. CBS reported: Throughout the night, sources say Americans on the ground in Libya at times felt helpless and abandoned. “We relied on...

"Where there's smoke, there's fire." That's the message CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson says she gets from the constant evasion, stonewalling and flat-out non-response from the Obama Administration and Sttate Department when she pursues questions about the September 11th attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi.

For the first time in over a week, CBS covered the murder trial of abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell on Wednesday’s CBS This Morning. But instead of a full report, as on April 15, Norah O’Donnell read a news brief that lasted just 13 seconds on the trial judge dismissing three of the murder charges against the Philadelphia physician [audio available here; video below the jump]. ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today on Wednesday failed to cover this noteworthy development in the case. Neither broadcast network has aired one second of reporting on the Gosnell trial on their morning and...

CBS lined up gun control supporters on Wednesday's CBS Evening News and Thursday's CBS This Morning. Chip Reid and Major Garrett played 11 soundbites from President Obama and other Democrats, as well as family members of the Newtown massacre victims. The only gun rights supporter that the two correspondents could find was Chuck Grassley. Reid played two clips from the Republican senator during his reports. Reid led his second report by hyping how "forces opposed to gun control proved that they are still in control here in Washington". Garrett sounded like a stenographer for the White House as he reported...

He brutally killed unborn babies by jamming medical scissors in the back of their necks, but the major network television stations have engaged in a blackout of coverage of his murder trial. To response, 20 prominent leaders of the conservative movement have joined Media Research Center President Brent Bozell in demanding the broadcast networks stop censoring coverage. They are also upset at the lack of coverage of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates lobbyist who testified in favor of allowing the killing of children who survive botched abortions. MRC’s Culture and Media Institute finds that ABC, CBS, and NBC...

CBS opened Sunday night's episode of "The Amazing Race" with an apology to veterans offended by the previous week's installment, which took place in Vietnam. "Parts of last Sunday's episode, filmed in Vietnam, were insensitive to a group that is very important to us -- our nation's veterans," host Phil Keoghan read in a statement from producers and the network. "We want to apologize to veterans -- particularly those who served in Vietnam -- as well as to their families and any viewers who were offended by the broadcast. All of us here have the most profound respect for the...

The popular CBS reality show "The Amazing Race” is under fire for featuring an episode set in Hanoi, Vietnam, where contestants go to a B-52 Memorial, which is the wreckage of an American bomber plane shot down during the Vietnam War, to find the next clue in their televised round-the-world journey. In the episode, the twisted metal of the downed plane is treated as any other prop, with a bright ‘Amazing Race’ ‘Double-U-Turn’ signed planted in front of it, signifying to contestants the next phase of their scavenger hunt. The show also had contestants learn a song that was performed...

Sources say some network execs want to launch with Olympics in February; exec producer Lorne Michaels might want more time. It has become clear that Jimmy Fallon is going to become the host of The Tonight Show, but sources say an internal debate among key players is underway regarding the timing.According to these sources, some top executives at NBCUniversal are leaning toward a February launch to take advantage of the promotional platform of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Others, including Late Night executive producer Lorne Michaels, are said to have concerns about rushing the transition.STORY: Sources: NBC Discussing...

(Fox News excerpt of AP) VATICAN CITY – Thousands of people are pouring into St. Peter's Square to witness the official start of the papacy of the first pope from the New World. (snip) The installation Mass is simpler than the 2005 ceremony for Pope Benedict XVI in keeping with Francis' style, but still grand enough to draw 132 official delegations and religious leaders from around the world, including the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians who is attending for the first time since the two branches of Christianity split 1,000 years ago. (Bold print above not in the...

CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson on Tuesday night reported that the Obama administration has turned over documents relating to the Benghazi terrorist attack to the Senate Intelligence Committee. She made a number of revelations that don’t bode well for the White House via her official Twitter account. “One source who viewed the docs says someone in federal agency ‘press shop’ was involved in changing the talking points to remove al Qaeda,” Attkisson wrote. She also reported that an “official familiar with the docs” said there were advanced warnings in the days leading up to the attack, including ones that...

Since CBS News learned that the Obama administration delivered Benghazi documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee last Thursday, a source who has viewed the documents is telling the network that someone “in a federal agency ‘press shop’ was involved in changing the talking points to remove al-Qaeda.” In fact, CBS’s source says the docs say that there were warnings from Libya that were sent to Washington days before the deadly attack on the U.S. mission that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens that specifically alerted the administration about an imminent attack on the U.S. consulate.

CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson delivered her promised update on Benghazi tonight, via Twitter. Attkisson says that CBS these questions to the White House back in October. She tweeted them a month ago, promising an update. Tonight’s update deals both with the questions that have been answered and those that have not.

CBS's Bill Plante: Obama Administration 'Undercutting First Amendment,' 'It's State-Run Media' By Noel Sheppard Created 02/24/2013 - 4:01pm Bill Plante, CBS News Senior White House Correspondent, made a rather shocking statement Sunday about the Obama administration's media strategy. Appearing on CNN's Reliable Sources, Plante said that to the extent the White House is able to "put out their own material" without the Washington press corps, "they're undercutting the First Amendment...it's state-run media" (video follows with transcript and commentary): HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Bill Plante, you've been patrolling that building since Ronald Reagan. Does the White House press look a little self-involved,...

A television movie like An American Story couldn't get greenlit today. In fact, it's still surprising the Hallmark Hall of Fame and CBS joint production actually got broadcast back in 1992.  Yet this fictionalization of the Battle of Athens, the last and best modern example of American citizens forcefully asserting their Second Amendment rights, was actually shown only 21 years ago. The telepicture earned two Primetime Emmy nominations, one for music and another for cinematography.This well made TV movie, starring Brad Johnson and directed by John Gray, depicted the last time in modern American history when a large group of...

The 55th Annual Grammy Awards air tonight on CBS. Very much to its credit, the network has struck a blow this year for family viewing by issuing a wardrobe advisory to female attendees encouraging them to dress more like ladies – not named Gaga – and less like wannabe porn stars. “Please be sure,” the advisory stated, “that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered. Thong type costumes are problematic. Please avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack.” And this: “Bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic. Please avoid sheer see-through...

President Obama will give a live interview to CBS before it airs the Super Bowl on Sunday. At 4:30 pm, Obama will field questions from CBS´s Scott Pelley, continuing a long-standing tradition of providing interviews to the network airing the NFL championship, usually the most-watched television event of the year. Last year, Obama spoke with Matt Lauer before NBC broadcast the big game. Pelley told The New Orleans Times-Picayune that he will talk pigskin with the president, but also has a range of "serious questions" to tackle.

More than nine out of 10 voters in three states support closing the loophole that allows people to buy guns at gun shows without a background check, according to a series of Quinnipiac surveys conducted this month. In the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last month, President Obama has made the implementation of universal background checks one of his top gun control priorities. Currently, gun buyers are subject to criminal background checks when purchasing guns from federally licensed gun dealers, but unlicensed sellers are not required to do background checks. This...

On February 1, 2003, seven astronauts on board Space Shuttle Columbia died during re-entry as they returned to Earth from the STS-107 mission. Friday was the 10th anniversary of the disaster, but none of the Big Three networks morning newscasts marked this somber occasion. ABC's Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and NBC's Today understandably devoted considerable broadcast time to the upcoming Super Bowl on Sunday. However, this coverage contained segments to frivolous, celebrity-driven stories that could have been whittled down to air even a mere brief on the anniversary of the tragedy. Here are examples from each morning show:...

Legendary quarterback Dan Marino fathered a secret lovechild with a junior network employee and paid her millions of dollars to keep it quiet, it emerged today. The former Miami Dolphins star cheated on Claire, his wife of 28 years, with Donna Savattere, a production assistant at CBS Sports.