Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Wednesday August 10, 2011 @ 09:55 AM ET
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1. If You Thought Newsweek's Cover Photo of Bachmann Was Bad Wait Until You Read the Story...
When even the ultra-liberal National Organization for Women is attacking Newsweek's cover photo of Michele Bachmann as sexist it's clear that magazine has sunk to a new low, but the Lois Romano companion story may be even more insulting than the "Queen of Rage" photo itself. The article for the August 15 issue entitled, "Tea Party Queen, Why Michele Bachmann Is Riding High Going Into Iowa" oozes with contempt not only for the Minnesota Republican Congresswoman herself but also her Tea Party supporters.
2. NBC Gives Most Coverage to Newsweek Cover Controversy, But Uses it to Paint Bachmann as 'Extreme'
While anchor Brian Williams described Newsweek's controversial cover photo of Michelle Bachmann as "clearly a misfire" on Monday's NBC Nightly News, on Tuesday's Today, correspondent Andrea Mitchell saw an opportunity to portray Bachmann as "extreme." Meanwhile, CBS completely ignored the story and ABC only provided a news brief on the topic. On Tuesday's Today, while Mitchell described the Newsweek cover, she skipped over accusations that it was sexist. She did manage to include a defense of the cover from both Newsweek editor Tina Brown and the author of the Bachmann article, Lois Romano, both of whom argued the clearly unflattering picture somehow captured Bachmann's "intensity."
3. Flashback: Newsweek's Adulatory 2008 Obama Cover Portraits
With outrage from right to left over Newsweek’s “Queen of Rage” cover story photo of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann in which she looks crazy, or at least empty-headed, a look back at how during the last campaign the magazine, under previous ownership, made sure candidate Barack Obama always looked presidential.
4. Invoking Michael Moore, CNN Asks Panel Who to Arrest In Wake of American Credit Downgrade
Referencing Michael Moore's absurd tweet that President Obama should arrest the CEO of Standard & Poors for downgrading America's credit rating, CNN's Kyra Phillips actually asked her panel members who they would like to arrest in the fallout of the downgrade. Whether or not the question was serious, Moore's tweet was. On Monday he implored President Obama , via Twitter, to "show some guts" and arrest the CEO of Standard & Poors. "These criminals brought down the economy in 2008& [sic] now they will do it again," Moore tweeted.
5. CNN's Don Lemon: 'Is Obama More Conservative Than Most People Think?'
CNN's Don Lemon asked a guest Sunday if President Obama is "more conservative" than most would believe. Lemon referred back to his question last week when he asked a Democratic Congressman if Obama would do better running as a conservative in 2012. The CNN anchor claimed he was being facetious then, but jovially added "Someone took that seriously." Then, quoting a columnist who argues Obama is a closet moderate-conservative, he posed the question to guest Heather McGhee from Demos.org: "Is Obama more conservative than most people think?"
6. Fareed Zakaria Hosts Ground Zero Mosque Developer for Puff-Piece Interview
CNN's Fareed Zakaria made it quite clear last summer that he supported the construction of the Ground Zero mosque. He was much more neutral in an interview with the mosque's developer Sunday, but was content to let his guest tell his side of the story without any scrutiny from the CNN host. Although the once-proposed mosque is no longer making headlines, Zakaria decided anyway to feature the mosque's developer Sharif El-Gamal for a soft interview one year after the controversy was ignited. El-Gamal received fawning coverage by CBS and NBC last summer for his work.
If You Thought Newsweek's Cover Photo of Bachmann Was Bad Wait Until You Read the Story...
Early on in the story Romano depicts crowd at one of her speeches as a bunch of rubes who are falling for her "shtick," as she observed:
"Petite and prim, the 55-year-old mother of five delivers her stump speech with the earnestness of a preacher. She pulls out a huge whiteboard and for dramatic effect scrawls just how many zeros can be found in a trillion.
The elderly, the unemployed, the exasperated, and even a few disillusioned Democrats crowd her rallies and cheer her not-going-to-take-it-anymore shtick, even as they recognize some of its inherent contradictions.
'You use the word 'anger.' It's not anger,' Bachmann told NEWSWEEK. Americans aren't expressing 'unhinged anger,' she says. 'People are saying the country is not working.'
Romano goes on to use Bachmann's rise to prominence as a way to take cheap shots at a Tea Party that, according to Romano, has: "brought Washington to a standstill and the nation to the brink of default."
Just months ago, Bachmann was the butt of jokes on late-night TV for her flawed grasp of U.S. history. But all that changed one night this spring when she took the stage at the first major GOP presidential debate with the middle-aged, drab men running for the nomination, and set herself apart with poise and precision. When others meandered or waffled, she shot back with answers that reduced Washington's dysfunctional gridlock to understandable soundbites.
In Iowa, where she was raised, Bachmann has become the living embodiment of the Tea Party. She and her allies have been called a maniacal gang of knife-wielding ideologues. That's hyperbole, of course. But the principled rigidity of her position has created some challenges for her campaign.
One is overcoming the perception of hypocrisy. Democrats—and some of Bachmann's Republican opponents—have noted the gulf between her rhetoric and record. She earned a federal salary as a lawyer for the IRS (an agency despised by the Tea Party), for example.
A little bit later in the story Romano continued her attack on the Tea Party via Bachmann:
But far more damaging than the charge of double standards may be the growing realization among Americans of just how radical the Tea Party movement really is. The willingness of its most committed members to risk national default for the sake of achieving its political goals has no doubt contributed to the dramatic rise in the number of Americans who view the movement unfavorably. In a New York Times/CBS News poll published on Aug. 5, 40 percent of respondents described their opinion of the Tea Party as "not favorable"—up from 18 percent in April 2010.
At a time of population growth, increasing health-care costs, swelling ranks of retirees, and a sharp and prolonged economic slump—all of which point to the need for increases in federal spending just to meet government's existing obligations—Bachmann and her Tea Party allies demand that Washington spend less...That means, of course, that its commitments would have to shrivel as well. In the Tea Party's ideal vision of America, large federal agencies and federal programs would be dismantled and the savings redirected to states with block grants and individuals through lower taxes. Whether that would leave people at the mercy of the freewheeling (and often treacherous) marketplace remains an open and untested question.
At this point Romano transitioned to how Bachmann's religious views could hurt her chances:
Asked if her positions are extreme, Bachmann replies that the Tea Party's ideals are simply the most rational solutions to a broken and profligate government, and that the only option is to stand tough. "I do not twist in the wind," she says proudly.
There's no telling if Republican primary voters will reward such intransigence. Even within the Tea Party itself, Bachmann is a polarizing figure. Many—especially in Iowa, with its high percentage of evangelical Christians—respond rapturously to her combination of antigovernment fervor and religiously inspired moral traditionalism on issues like abortion and gay marriage. But others are more consistent in their distaste for governmental meddling. For Matt Welch, editor in chief of the libertarian Reason magazine, Bachmann isn't the "queen of the Tea Party." In fact, he says, "she will have trouble" with its rank and file "if she's seen as being more concerned about social issues" than cutting the federal budget.
In her conclusion Romano managed to slam both Bachmann and her supporters with one final parting shot:
For now, Bachmann revels in the Iowa crowds, which don't fuss about the missing fine print behind her ideas, the perceived contradictions among them, or their radicalism.
David Dankel, a lifelong Democrat who voted for Obama, came to Ft. Dodge to see Bachmann because he was "tired of paying for everyone else." In April, Dankel saw his $16-an-hour factory job of 23 years move to Mexico. "I was getting ahead and now I can't find a job. Obama promised change—well, where is it?"
Sitting on the edge of a metal folding chair in a sweltering parking lot, Donna Fouts, 73, doesn't seem to care that Bachmann planned to vote against the debt-ceiling compromise that would ensure the arrival of her Social Security check and the military benefits owed to her sons and nephews. "Well, I'm sick of all them other politicians that tell me what to do with my life," she answers. "Something about her tells me to follow her."
-- Geoffrey Dickens is the Deputy Research Director at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Geoffrey Dickens on Twitter.
NBC Gives Most Coverage to Newsweek Cover Controversy, But Uses it to Paint Bachmann as 'Extreme'
On Tuesday's Today, while Mitchell described the Newsweek cover, she skipped over accusations that it was sexist. She did manage to include a defense of the cover from both Newsweek editor Tina Brown and the author of the Bachmann article, Lois Romano, both of whom argued the clearly unflattering picture somehow captured Bachmann's "intensity." A statement was included from Alex Wagner of The Huffington Post labeling the cover "unfair."
Later in the report, Mitchell made Bachmann herself the source of controversy: "She's also generating excitement among evangelical voters...by making no apology for her positions on social issues....Also controversial, Bachmann's own must-reads, a list the New Yorker showed includes a book defending slavery." A sound bite was featured of the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza proclaiming: "I don't think we have seen a candidate with sort of the views – and frankly, the extreme views that she holds – last in national politics."
On Tuesday's Good Morning America on ABC, news reader Josh Elliot framed the Newsweek controversy as mostly upsetting Bachmann supporters: "And the latest issue of Newsweek has conservatives and others seeing red....Tea Party advocates call the cover chauvinistic." However, unlike Mitchell, he did make a point to note that: "The National Organization for Women calls the cover sexist."
The anchor brief by Williams on Nightly News took direct aim at the liberal magazine: "Newsweek magazine tonight is catching heat for a cover photo many people consider a cheap shot. Calling Michele Bachmann 'The Queen of Rage' is one thing, but the photo is clearly a misfire. It received widespread criticism today, some called it biased and insulting....Several wondered if a male politician would be treated in similar fashion."
Here is a full transcript of Mitchell's August 9 report on Today:
7:01AM ET TEASE:
ANN CURRY: Also ahead this morning, we're going to take a look at this Newsweek cover, it's featuring Michele Bachmann and it's caption is 'The Queen of Rage.' But it's the unflattering photo that has a lot of people crying foul. We'll get details on that coming up this morning.
7:14AM ET SEGMENT:
CURRY: We're now going to turn to presidential politics. Republican hopeful Michele Bachmann has grabbed her share of the early headlines, but now her most recent magazine cover is causing quite a stir for all the wrong reasons. NBC's Andrea Mitchell now joins us with details on this story. Andrea, good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: "The Queen of Rage"; Newsweek's Controversial Cover of Michele Bachmann]
ANN CURRY: Also ahead this morning, we're going to take a look at this Newsweek cover, it's featuring Michele Bachmann and it's caption is 'The Queen of Rage.' But it's the unflattering photo that has a lot of people crying foul. We'll get details on that coming up this morning.
7:14AM ET SEGMENT:
CURRY: We're now going to turn to presidential politics. Republican hopeful Michele Bachmann has grabbed her share of the early headlines, but now her most recent magazine cover is causing quite a stir for all the wrong reasons. NBC's Andrea Mitchell now joins us with details on this story. Andrea, good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: "The Queen of Rage"; Newsweek's Controversial Cover of Michele Bachmann]
ANDREA MITCHELL: Hi there, Ann. She has rocketed to become the front-runner in Iowa in the critical days before this week's straw poll in Ames. But now Michele Bachmann faces a whole new challenge, an unflattering Newsweek cover.
MICHELE BACHMANN: Come to Ames, we're going to have a ball.
MITCHELL: Campaigning in Iowa, Michele Bachmann is energetic, focused, taking aim at President Obama.
BACHMANN: When the ratings downgrade came out last week, where was President Obama? Did he rush to the microphone to give confidence to the American people? He got in the helicopter, he took off for the weekend.
MITCHELL: Those close to her say she is unphased by this week's Newsweek cover photo, captioned as 'The Queen of Rage.'
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Have you seen it yet?
BACHMANN: I have not.
MAN: Okay, it's a big close-up, sort of a wild-eyed photo with the headline 'Queen of Rage.'
BACHMANN: A-ha. Well we'll have to take a look at that, won't we?
MITCHELL: In a statement, Newsweek editor Tina Brown said, 'Michele Bachmann's intensity is galvanizing voters in Iowa right now and Newsweek's cover captures that.' Lois Romano wrote the cover story.
LOIS ROMANO [NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEAST]: It's a very provocative photo. She's a very provocative candidate. She is stirring a lot of intense passions among the electorate and a lot of intense passions among her own party and I think the cover reflects that.
MITCHELL: But how could a woman even critics describe as attractive be made to look this bad?
ALEX WAGNER [THE HUFFINGTON POST]: She looks sort of blank and confused. And I did think it was unfair.
MITCHELL: In the cover story, Bachmann tells Newsweek, 'You used the word anger. It's not anger. Americans aren't expressing unhinged anger, people are saying the country is not working.' Bachmann has built a fan base for her opposition to raising the debt ceiling.
BACHMANN: Do not raise the debt ceiling.
MITCHELL: But she's also generating excitement among evangelical voters, key to winning in Iowa and South Carolina, by making no apology for her positions on social issues. On Sunday, Bachmann was in an Iowa church, where the pastor played a video celebrating the so-called conversion of a gay man who says he is now straight.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN B: Homosexuality is an abomination.
MITCHELL: Also controversial, Bachmann's own must-reads, a list the New Yorker showed includes a book defending slavery.
RYAN LIZZA [THE NEW YORKER]: I don't think we have seen a candidate with sort of the views – and frankly, the extreme views that she holds – last in national politics.
MITCHELL: The Newsweek cover is not Bachmann's first clash with the media. On Fox News Sunday a while ago she was once asked, 'Are you a flake?' Anchor Chris Wallace later apologized. And, in fact, Bachmann's advisers believe that talk about the Newsweek cover will only help her with conservative primary voters. Ann.
CURRY: Certainly not the last we've heard about that.
MITCHELL: Not at all.
CURRY: Alright, Andrea Mitchell, thank you so much this morning.
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.MICHELE BACHMANN: Come to Ames, we're going to have a ball.
MITCHELL: Campaigning in Iowa, Michele Bachmann is energetic, focused, taking aim at President Obama.
BACHMANN: When the ratings downgrade came out last week, where was President Obama? Did he rush to the microphone to give confidence to the American people? He got in the helicopter, he took off for the weekend.
MITCHELL: Those close to her say she is unphased by this week's Newsweek cover photo, captioned as 'The Queen of Rage.'
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Have you seen it yet?
BACHMANN: I have not.
MAN: Okay, it's a big close-up, sort of a wild-eyed photo with the headline 'Queen of Rage.'
BACHMANN: A-ha. Well we'll have to take a look at that, won't we?
MITCHELL: In a statement, Newsweek editor Tina Brown said, 'Michele Bachmann's intensity is galvanizing voters in Iowa right now and Newsweek's cover captures that.' Lois Romano wrote the cover story.
LOIS ROMANO [NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEAST]: It's a very provocative photo. She's a very provocative candidate. She is stirring a lot of intense passions among the electorate and a lot of intense passions among her own party and I think the cover reflects that.
MITCHELL: But how could a woman even critics describe as attractive be made to look this bad?
ALEX WAGNER [THE HUFFINGTON POST]: She looks sort of blank and confused. And I did think it was unfair.
MITCHELL: In the cover story, Bachmann tells Newsweek, 'You used the word anger. It's not anger. Americans aren't expressing unhinged anger, people are saying the country is not working.' Bachmann has built a fan base for her opposition to raising the debt ceiling.
BACHMANN: Do not raise the debt ceiling.
MITCHELL: But she's also generating excitement among evangelical voters, key to winning in Iowa and South Carolina, by making no apology for her positions on social issues. On Sunday, Bachmann was in an Iowa church, where the pastor played a video celebrating the so-called conversion of a gay man who says he is now straight.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN B: Homosexuality is an abomination.
MITCHELL: Also controversial, Bachmann's own must-reads, a list the New Yorker showed includes a book defending slavery.
RYAN LIZZA [THE NEW YORKER]: I don't think we have seen a candidate with sort of the views – and frankly, the extreme views that she holds – last in national politics.
MITCHELL: The Newsweek cover is not Bachmann's first clash with the media. On Fox News Sunday a while ago she was once asked, 'Are you a flake?' Anchor Chris Wallace later apologized. And, in fact, Bachmann's advisers believe that talk about the Newsweek cover will only help her with conservative primary voters. Ann.
CURRY: Certainly not the last we've heard about that.
MITCHELL: Not at all.
CURRY: Alright, Andrea Mitchell, thank you so much this morning.
Flashback: Newsweek's Adulatory 2008 Obama Cover PortraitsWith outrage from right to left over Newsweek’s “ Queen of Rage” cover story photo of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann in which she looks crazy, or at least empty-headed, a look back at how during the last campaign the magazine, under previous ownership, made sure candidate Barack Obama always looked presidential.
The image below was collated for the “ Scrapbook” page in the July 28, 2008 Weekly Standard, which dubbed Newsweek “Obamaweek” and illustrated the media's infatuation with Obama by displaying images of six Newsweek covers featuring Obama.
-- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Brent Baker on Twitter.
The image below was collated for the “ Scrapbook” page in the July 28, 2008 Weekly Standard, which dubbed Newsweek “Obamaweek” and illustrated the media's infatuation with Obama by displaying images of six Newsweek covers featuring Obama.
-- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Brent Baker on Twitter.
Invoking Michael Moore, CNN Asks Panel Who to Arrest In Wake of American Credit DowngradeReferencing Michael Moore's absurd tweet that President Obama should arrest the CEO of Standard & Poors for downgrading America's credit rating, CNN's Kyra Phillips actually asked her panel members who they would like to see arrested in the fallout of the downgrade.
Whether or not the question was serious, Moore's tweet was. On Monday he implored President Obama , via Twitter, to "show some guts" and arrest the CEO of Standard & Poors. "These criminals brought down the economy in 2008& [sic] now they will do it again," Moore tweeted.
[Video below.]
Moore may or may not have realized that he was imploring President Obama to assume unprecedented dictatorial power in a time of peace.
"All right, that's Michael Moore's opinion," Phillips remarked. "So guys, who would you want to see arrested over this?" Whether or not the question was in jest, CNN still held Moore's "opinion" in such regard as to air a discussion over it.
Liberal Roland Martin abruptly called for the arrest of "Every single banker, every single credit agency."
"Arrested for what?" a smiling Will Cain exclaimed. "You don't arrest people for being moronic."
A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 9 at 10:33 a.m. EDT, is as follows:
Whether or not the question was serious, Moore's tweet was. On Monday he implored President Obama , via Twitter, to "show some guts" and arrest the CEO of Standard & Poors. "These criminals brought down the economy in 2008& [sic] now they will do it again," Moore tweeted.
[Video below.]
Moore may or may not have realized that he was imploring President Obama to assume unprecedented dictatorial power in a time of peace.
"All right, that's Michael Moore's opinion," Phillips remarked. "So guys, who would you want to see arrested over this?" Whether or not the question was in jest, CNN still held Moore's "opinion" in such regard as to air a discussion over it.
Liberal Roland Martin abruptly called for the arrest of "Every single banker, every single credit agency."
"Arrested for what?" a smiling Will Cain exclaimed. "You don't arrest people for being moronic."
A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 9 at 10:33 a.m. EDT, is as follows:
KYRA PHILLIPS: All right, here we go, "Buzzer Beater." Filmmaker Michael Moore – he tweeted out, quote, telling this to the President, "Show some guts and arrest the CEO of S&P. These criminals brought down the economy in 2008, and now they will do it again." All right, that's Michael Moore's opinion. So guys, who would you want to see arrested over this? Roland?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN political analyst: All of them. Make them all do the perp walk! Every single banker, every single credit agency. Arrest them all, the crooks.
PHILLIPS: Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN contributor: Arrested for what? Just – I know I've got ten seconds. But let me tell you about the liberal prism of mine and the conserve perception. I think when a liberal looks at the world and sees bad things, they see malevolence and conspiracy. I see morons. You don't arrest people for being moronic.
MARTIN: Yes, you do.
(Laughter)
PHILLIPS: Pete?
PETE DOMINICK, comedian: Hold on, Kyra, I'm making a trade to help the Dow go back up. Oh, listen, listen, this is the fault, I say, of all of the senators who voted against the Brown-Kauffman amendment that would have led to the breakup of banks. Wall Street is just doing what they're allowed to get away with. Congress needs to regulate them and create rules they can't break. And by the way, the Italian authorities did raid Standard & Poor's yesterday.
MARTIN: Good!
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN political analyst: All of them. Make them all do the perp walk! Every single banker, every single credit agency. Arrest them all, the crooks.
PHILLIPS: Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN contributor: Arrested for what? Just – I know I've got ten seconds. But let me tell you about the liberal prism of mine and the conserve perception. I think when a liberal looks at the world and sees bad things, they see malevolence and conspiracy. I see morons. You don't arrest people for being moronic.
MARTIN: Yes, you do.
(Laughter)
PHILLIPS: Pete?
PETE DOMINICK, comedian: Hold on, Kyra, I'm making a trade to help the Dow go back up. Oh, listen, listen, this is the fault, I say, of all of the senators who voted against the Brown-Kauffman amendment that would have led to the breakup of banks. Wall Street is just doing what they're allowed to get away with. Congress needs to regulate them and create rules they can't break. And by the way, the Italian authorities did raid Standard & Poor's yesterday.
MARTIN: Good!
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center
CNN's Don Lemon: 'Is Obama More Conservative Than Most People Think?'CNN's Don Lemon asked a guest Sunday if President Obama is "more conservative" than most would believe. Lemon referred back to his question last week when he asked a Democratic Congressman if Obama would do better running as a conservative in 2012.
The CNN anchor claimed he was being facetious then, but jovially added "Someone took that seriously." Then, quoting a columnist who argues Obama is a closet moderate-conservative, he posed a question to guest Heather McGhee from Demos.org: "Is Obama more conservative than most people think?"
[Video below.]
Lemon had quoted from a piece by Fiscal Times columnist Bruce Bartlett, who argued that Obama has "always been moderately conservative" since the beginning of the 2008 campaign. Bartlett, sounding like a despairing liberal, wrote that Obama's being "moderately conservative" has been "obvious" to liberals ever since Obama ran for the White House.
Whether Lemon meant what he asked, or was simply trying to stir the pot with a provocative question, guest Heather McGhee responded in the affirmative. "I think definitely," she said of Obama being more conservative than most believe, "certainly more conservative than Republicans sort of like to paint him."
McGhee noted that President Obama wanted to reform the tax code without raising corporate taxes, "a pretty conservative position." She added that conservatives won't pay attention to that because they want him to fail more than they want to see the economy recover.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 7 at 6:29 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
The CNN anchor claimed he was being facetious then, but jovially added "Someone took that seriously." Then, quoting a columnist who argues Obama is a closet moderate-conservative, he posed a question to guest Heather McGhee from Demos.org: "Is Obama more conservative than most people think?"
[Video below.]
Lemon had quoted from a piece by Fiscal Times columnist Bruce Bartlett, who argued that Obama has "always been moderately conservative" since the beginning of the 2008 campaign. Bartlett, sounding like a despairing liberal, wrote that Obama's being "moderately conservative" has been "obvious" to liberals ever since Obama ran for the White House.
Whether Lemon meant what he asked, or was simply trying to stir the pot with a provocative question, guest Heather McGhee responded in the affirmative. "I think definitely," she said of Obama being more conservative than most believe, "certainly more conservative than Republicans sort of like to paint him."
McGhee noted that President Obama wanted to reform the tax code without raising corporate taxes, "a pretty conservative position." She added that conservatives won't pay attention to that because they want him to fail more than they want to see the economy recover.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 7 at 6:29 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
DON LEMON: I want move on and ask you guys about this real quickly here. I want to read this quote from an article by Bruce Bartlett from the Fiscal Times. It's called "Obama the Covert Conservative Liberals Have to Love." Okay, so here's what it says. It says "In a recent article, I argued that Barack Obama has a practice – in practice governed as a moderate conservative. The truth is that Obama has always been moderately conservative, a fact that has been obvious to liberals dating back to the beginning of 2008, of the 2008 campaign."
Okay. So someone – when I said to a Democratic congressman last week, because of what happened with this debt ceiling, should Obama run as a conservative in 2012, I was being a little bit facetious there. Someone took that seriously. Heather, do you agree that, with what Mr. Bartlett said? Is Obama more conservative than most people think?
HEATHER MCGHEE, Washington director, Demos.org: I think definitely, certainly more conservative than the Republicans sort of like to paint him as. Look, if you look at where he is on, for example, corporate taxes. Corporate taxes are at their lowest share of the economy than they have been in generations. And he actually wants to reform the tax code but not raise any more money from corporations. That's a pretty conservative position.
LEMON: Okay.
MCGHEE: But this is the problem, is that he's never going to get any credit from that, from conservatives because, you know, they're really very focused on wanting him to fail more than they are wanting the economy and working families to succeed. It's really quite shocking to watch.
LEMON: Will, I would let you respond to that, but unfortunately we're out of time. So don't be mad at me, my friend.
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center.Okay. So someone – when I said to a Democratic congressman last week, because of what happened with this debt ceiling, should Obama run as a conservative in 2012, I was being a little bit facetious there. Someone took that seriously. Heather, do you agree that, with what Mr. Bartlett said? Is Obama more conservative than most people think?
HEATHER MCGHEE, Washington director, Demos.org: I think definitely, certainly more conservative than the Republicans sort of like to paint him as. Look, if you look at where he is on, for example, corporate taxes. Corporate taxes are at their lowest share of the economy than they have been in generations. And he actually wants to reform the tax code but not raise any more money from corporations. That's a pretty conservative position.
LEMON: Okay.
MCGHEE: But this is the problem, is that he's never going to get any credit from that, from conservatives because, you know, they're really very focused on wanting him to fail more than they are wanting the economy and working families to succeed. It's really quite shocking to watch.
LEMON: Will, I would let you respond to that, but unfortunately we're out of time. So don't be mad at me, my friend.
Fareed Zakaria Hosts Ground Zero Mosque Developer for Puff-Piece InterviewCNN's Fareed Zakaria made it quite clear last summer that he supported the construction of the Ground Zero mosque. He was much more neutral in an interview with the mosque's developer Sunday, but was content to let his guest tell his side of the story without any scrutiny from the CNN host.
Although the once-proposed mosque is no longer making headlines, Zakaria decided anyway to feature the mosque's developer Sharif El-Gamal for a soft interview one year after the controversy ignited. El-Gamal received fawning coverage by CBS and NBC last summer for his work.
[Video below.]
El-Gamal related to Zakaria how his he and his wife were aghast at the "hate," "fear," and "ignorance" of the opponents of the planned "community center." He bemoaned that "there's so much misconceptions about who we are as Muslims, what our faith, what our practice, what our belief system is."
Zakaria avoided any scrutiny over El-Gamal's arguments and asked simple questions to get him to tell his story and get his message out. Not once did he reference the arguments of families of 9/11 victims who opposed not the mosque itself, but its location.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 7 at 1:48 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
Although the once-proposed mosque is no longer making headlines, Zakaria decided anyway to feature the mosque's developer Sharif El-Gamal for a soft interview one year after the controversy ignited. El-Gamal received fawning coverage by CBS and NBC last summer for his work.
[Video below.]
El-Gamal related to Zakaria how his he and his wife were aghast at the "hate," "fear," and "ignorance" of the opponents of the planned "community center." He bemoaned that "there's so much misconceptions about who we are as Muslims, what our faith, what our practice, what our belief system is."
Zakaria avoided any scrutiny over El-Gamal's arguments and asked simple questions to get him to tell his story and get his message out. Not once did he reference the arguments of families of 9/11 victims who opposed not the mosque itself, but its location.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 7 at 1:48 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
FAREED ZAKARIA: And we are back with Sharif El-Gamal, the man who was truly behind the Ground Zero mosque from the beginning and still behind it now. When did you realize that this was turning into a controversy? What was the first inkling?
SHARIF EL-GAMAL, real estate developer, chairman, Park51: Well, in May of last year, we voluntarily – at that point when we finished our road trip with all the local elected officials – decided voluntarily to go into the community board. And we went into the community board voluntarily and shared with them this idea of building a community center. And on that first meeting, 16 people voted unanimously in favor of this project and these are all non-Muslim people, and they were excited that Muslims were going to build a community center in Lower Manhattan to serve all – all New Yorkers and all of Lower Manhattan, which was the intention behind this project.
We then followed that up with another full board meeting of 50. And when we went into that room, you know, at that next community board meeting, I invited my wife down to come. And I got there a few minutes after her and she was just in tears. And when I saw her in tears, I said what happened? And she goes, Sharif, you're not going to believe what's going on in that room. The people thought that I came here to protest against the Muslims, because they didn't realize that she was a Muslim because we don't fit whatever stereotype people have of Muslims. And when –
ZAKARIA: What was going on in that room?
EL-GAMAL: When I walked into that room, there was close to 700 people that were protesting what we were doing, and for the first time in my life – I – I had never seen, I'd never been discriminated against. I'd never seen that hate or that fear or – or – or – or that ignorance. I mean, I've never seen anything like that before in my life, and I was – I was scared. And at that point, we made a commitment – you know, personally, I made a commitment that I would do whatever it took as – as a businessman, as a human being, to make this project a reality.
And, you know, this past year for me has really been about listening, has really been about listening and – and going back to basics and trying to understand that – that there's so much work ahead of us, that there's so much misconceptions about who we are as Muslims, what our faith, what our practice, what our belief system is. Criminals have stolen our identity almost in a way, and they've defaced our – our faith.
ZAKARIA: So you got out – get out of that room with the 700 angry people. And at that point, it just snowballs and it gets latched on to by all kinds of political figures. By – were you – were you prepared for that kind of an onslaught?
EL-GAMAL: No, no. I'm a New Yorker. This is my city, and all we wanted to do was we wanted to build a facility that is based on who we are as Muslims, as Americans, to give back to our city, to create jobs, to create hundreds of construction jobs, to create hundreds of full-time jobs once the facility is open, to create over 500 part-time jobs. We were thinking of a way of revitalizing our neighborhood, creating, stimulating our economy, and providing services to our neighbors.
ZAKARIA: Did you get threatened?
EL-GAMAL: I did. A lot of scary things happened in – in – a lot of very, very scary things have happened. A lot of very scary things have happened.
ZAKARIA: Did it ever make you think to yourself why do I need this?
EL-GAMAL: Because every time that I would look in my two little daughters, I would say that I don't – I want the world to be a better place for them, and that we have a responsibility that we – we just got subjected into this, but we have a responsibility now to reclaim who we are. Because if people knew who we were and if people knew that every time a mosque or an Islamic facility is built, it cleans up a neighborhood. This is statistically speaking across the 50 states that it becomes a beacon of light. And unfortunately, the – the criminals have - have taken control of the narrative today. And that's what was the - that was the impact of what we had gotten.
ZAKARIA: Will you be able to build the project?
EL-GAMAL: That's going to be a function of the community. This project is going to be as small or as big as ultimately the community decides. We are committed right now to building - one of the buildings we're 100 percent committed to. And it's going to take a shape and a form dependent of what the community comes back to us with.
ZAKARIA: You're not backing down?
EL-GAMAL: From doing the right thing? Backing down from doing the right thing, from providing first and foremost a place for people to pray, for Muslims to pray in Lower Manhattan after they've been displaced, and then going a step further and trying to provide community facilities to a neighborhood that needs community facilities, backing down from doing the right thing?
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research CenterSHARIF EL-GAMAL, real estate developer, chairman, Park51: Well, in May of last year, we voluntarily – at that point when we finished our road trip with all the local elected officials – decided voluntarily to go into the community board. And we went into the community board voluntarily and shared with them this idea of building a community center. And on that first meeting, 16 people voted unanimously in favor of this project and these are all non-Muslim people, and they were excited that Muslims were going to build a community center in Lower Manhattan to serve all – all New Yorkers and all of Lower Manhattan, which was the intention behind this project.
We then followed that up with another full board meeting of 50. And when we went into that room, you know, at that next community board meeting, I invited my wife down to come. And I got there a few minutes after her and she was just in tears. And when I saw her in tears, I said what happened? And she goes, Sharif, you're not going to believe what's going on in that room. The people thought that I came here to protest against the Muslims, because they didn't realize that she was a Muslim because we don't fit whatever stereotype people have of Muslims. And when –
ZAKARIA: What was going on in that room?
EL-GAMAL: When I walked into that room, there was close to 700 people that were protesting what we were doing, and for the first time in my life – I – I had never seen, I'd never been discriminated against. I'd never seen that hate or that fear or – or – or – or that ignorance. I mean, I've never seen anything like that before in my life, and I was – I was scared. And at that point, we made a commitment – you know, personally, I made a commitment that I would do whatever it took as – as a businessman, as a human being, to make this project a reality.
And, you know, this past year for me has really been about listening, has really been about listening and – and going back to basics and trying to understand that – that there's so much work ahead of us, that there's so much misconceptions about who we are as Muslims, what our faith, what our practice, what our belief system is. Criminals have stolen our identity almost in a way, and they've defaced our – our faith.
ZAKARIA: So you got out – get out of that room with the 700 angry people. And at that point, it just snowballs and it gets latched on to by all kinds of political figures. By – were you – were you prepared for that kind of an onslaught?
EL-GAMAL: No, no. I'm a New Yorker. This is my city, and all we wanted to do was we wanted to build a facility that is based on who we are as Muslims, as Americans, to give back to our city, to create jobs, to create hundreds of construction jobs, to create hundreds of full-time jobs once the facility is open, to create over 500 part-time jobs. We were thinking of a way of revitalizing our neighborhood, creating, stimulating our economy, and providing services to our neighbors.
ZAKARIA: Did you get threatened?
EL-GAMAL: I did. A lot of scary things happened in – in – a lot of very, very scary things have happened. A lot of very scary things have happened.
ZAKARIA: Did it ever make you think to yourself why do I need this?
EL-GAMAL: Because every time that I would look in my two little daughters, I would say that I don't – I want the world to be a better place for them, and that we have a responsibility that we – we just got subjected into this, but we have a responsibility now to reclaim who we are. Because if people knew who we were and if people knew that every time a mosque or an Islamic facility is built, it cleans up a neighborhood. This is statistically speaking across the 50 states that it becomes a beacon of light. And unfortunately, the – the criminals have - have taken control of the narrative today. And that's what was the - that was the impact of what we had gotten.
ZAKARIA: Will you be able to build the project?
EL-GAMAL: That's going to be a function of the community. This project is going to be as small or as big as ultimately the community decides. We are committed right now to building - one of the buildings we're 100 percent committed to. And it's going to take a shape and a form dependent of what the community comes back to us with.
ZAKARIA: You're not backing down?
EL-GAMAL: From doing the right thing? Backing down from doing the right thing, from providing first and foremost a place for people to pray, for Muslims to pray in Lower Manhattan after they've been displaced, and then going a step further and trying to provide community facilities to a neighborhood that needs community facilities, backing down from doing the right thing?
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