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Pardon the interruption: Tony Kornheiser has been benched from "Pardon the Interruption." ESPN has banned the print, radio and TV personality from its popular "PTI" show for biting on-air comments he made last week about SportsCenter host Hannah Storm's wardrobe. Kornheiser, who has built a persona on caustic shots at a wide swath of sports figures, couldn't get away with turning his sights into ESPN's house – saying Storm dressed "like she has sausage casing wrapped around her body" and calling the 47-year-old anchor "a Holden Caulfield fantasy," referring to the protagonist in J.D. Salinger's book "The Catcher in the...

On Tuesday’s CBS "Early Show," host Hannah Storm exclaimed that Fred Thompson "has received a lot of criticism...for being underwhelming so far out on the campaign trail." This just hours before Thompson’s participation in his first GOP debate. The segment began with a report by Nancy Cordes who observed that Thompson’s "...been trying to keep expectations low."Storm then invited on guests Arianna Huffington and Michael Smerconish for political analysis, both of whom bashed Thompson. Smerconish began the attack: Well, unfortunately, I think the delivery probably matters over substance in this case because he is getting a reputation on the stump...

Would someone please let Andrea Mitchell know that John McCain is competing for the Republican presidential nomination? He's not going up against Obama, Hillary et al. in a race to determine who can surrender in Iraq fastest.Giving her expert analysis on this morning's "Today" of John McCains lackluster fundraising results, Mitchell claimed that John McCain is "hurt by his support for the Iraq war."Could Andrea possibly be more wrong? McCain's support for President Bush's Iraq policy is the only thing keeping him alive, if barely, in the GOP race. Opposition to the war would put McCain in Chuck Hagel territory...

Having participated in an anti-war march in NYC at the time of the 2004 GOP convention, there's been little doubt as to where Meredith Vieira stands on Iraq. Even so, it was something of a shock to hear the "Today" co-host express her opposition in the first person plural this morning. Discussing the war with Sen. John McCain [R-AZ] at about 7:05 AM ET this morning, she said: "Six out of ten Americans don't agree [with you]. They want a pull-out from Iraq. So what are we missing? When you say we are succeeding, based on what?" Give credit to...

by Mark Finkelstein October 11, 2006 - 08:17 A phalanx of Democrats, led by Hillary Clinton, claims the Bush administration is to blame for the N. Korean nuclear test. John McCain responds, pointing out that it was the Clinton administration's failed "agreed framework" that let Kim Jong Il merrily go about his bomb-and-missile-making ways. So how does Hannah Storm of CBS' Early Show frame the state of play? "Sen. John Kerry said that you must be trying to burnish your credentials for the nomination process, he's referring of course to your presidential aspirations. I mean, what do you say to...

by Mark Finkelstein February 22, 2006 When it comes to the controversy surrounding the UAE port operations deal, left is right, right is left and the MSM seems caught somewhere in the middle, trying to balance its cultural instincts against its political interest. Last night's Scarborough Country thus treated us to the odd spectacle of Barbara Boxer doing her best Tom Tancredo impersonation, opposing the deal because "two of the 9/11 hijackers came from the UAE." Then, on this morning's Early Show, Dan Bartlett sounded more like a multi-cultural sensitivity trainer than the presidential counselor he is when he declared:...