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Conservative Media Bias: Bush Officials Outnumber Obama 6 to 1 On Sunday Shows
The Sunday morning talk shows are fully embracing their conservative media bias by celebrating the one week anniversary of the death of Bin Laden with shows chocked full of Republican guests.
Here is this week’s Sunday talk show guest line up by program:
Meet the Press (NBC): Tom Donilon, Michael Chertoff, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Hayden
Fox News Sunday (Fox): Tom Donilon, Dick Cheney
This Week (ABC): Tom Donilon, Condoleeza Rice, Husain Haqqani. Panel: Liz Cheney, Tom Ricks, Lawrence Wright
Face the Nation (CBS): Sen. Kerry, Donald Rumsfeld
State of the Union (CNN): Tom Donilon, Sen. Lugar, Anita Dunn, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Tom Davis
Do you notice anything odd about that guest list? The Sunday morning talk shows are going to feature, Bush’s former, Sec. of Homeland Security (Chertoff), Bush’s former CIA director (Hayden), Bush’s former vice president (Cheney), Sec. of Defense (Rumsfeld), Bush’s former Sec of State (Rice), and former Deputy Asst. Sec of State (Liz Cheney). Other Republicans on the shows will be Tom Davis, Rudy Giuliani, and Dick Luger.
The current members of the Obama administration featured on the Sunday morning shows total one Obama’s National Security Advisor Tom Donilon. Anita Dunn and John Kerry are the only two other Democrats that will be featured.
There will be more authors on the Sunday morning talk shows (2, Ricks and Wright) than there will be Obama administration officials (1, Donilon).
What do Democrats have to do to get booked on the Sunday morning talk shows? A Democratic president got Osama Bin Laden, and the media spends Sunday morning talking with six members of the previous administration that failed to get the job done. These are the same people who gave up looking for Bin Laden, and let him live in luxury in Pakistan. Yet the mainstream media has decided to mark the occasion by hosting Dick Cheney and a roster full of Bush administration officials.
Why?
The answer is conservative media bias. Even if all of those Republicans go on the Sunday shows and lavish praise on President Obama, which they won’t do, their very presence is reinforcing the bogus notion that the GOP is the party of national security. There is no reason for the networks to fill their first shows after the death of Bin Laden with Republicans.
Why are Dick and Liz Cheney on the air instead of the Director of the CIA, or experts on the Navy SEALS? The networks are giving these former Bush administration officials unopposed airtime with which to push both their bogus justifications of torture, and give themselves credit for death of Bin Laden. The networks aren’t trying to be balanced, their shows, and I am looking at you Meet The Press, have turned into nothing more than Sunday morning GOP infomericals.
Conservative media bias is the reason why Christine Amanpour sat quietly by and let Franklin Graham deliver a soliloquy of bitherism during the Easter Sunday edition of This Week. Conservative media bias is why the biggest protests in the country this year (Wisconsin) were ignored while every Tea Party sigh gets cut to live.
There is no such thing as liberal media bias. Any liberalism in the media died when our news gathering and reporting apparatus became corporatized and profitized. The media is now run by conservatives for the purpose of presenting the conservative narrative.
President Obama got Osama Bin Laden and the Sunday morning talk shows will celebrate by holding a party for the Bush administration. Obama may have gotten Osama, but the Sunday morning talk shows are going to do their best to make sure Bush gets all the credit.
Welcome to the seedy never discussed underbelly of conservative media bias.
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53 Responses to Conservative Media Bias: Bush Officials Outnumber Obama 6 to 1 On Sunday Shows
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Sarah Jones
May. 7th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Wow.
What a FARCE. Nothing like spin, is there. This is ABSURD.It is literally absurd. The biggest news story since 9/11 and they are interviewing folks who know NOTHING about how it was done. They might as well bring in Lindsey Lohan.
MAIN STREAM MEDIA CLOWN SHOW.
Eykis
May. 8th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
The Rethuggery Obstructionist Party of Teabagging Fascists keep getting booked – people who have no information, no role in anyting governmental and have not for 5-7 years are being touted as “insiders”.
Truly disgusting.
Hey Sunday Shows, BOOK people who actually have access to the Obama Administration and quit polluting the airwaves with discredited Rethugs/Dubya has been losers and haters.
Alisa Lea
May. 7th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Uh . . . it was those Bush policies of Gitmo and torture of the enemy that caught Osama. Thank God Obama continued them.
:)
Sarah Jones
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Nope. But thanks for playing.
Gary Cameron
May. 7th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
I’m sorry normally I’d not bother to reply to this type of posting, but it’s absolute BS that it was torture that produced the information that broke this open. It wasn’t until the torture was stopped and good old interrogation and savvy detective work was done.
Mark
May. 7th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Not only is the post ridiculous, I doubt that Alisa Lea is the poster’s name.
Phil Perspective
May. 7th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I hope your comment is snark. Otherwise, your are showing yourself to be a complete dolt.
Sarah Jones
May. 7th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
That was what we call the Palin: a lit upon a lie to sell the big lie. Obama is continuing torture like Bush did? False. Torture is ok? False. Torture works? false. Obama continued Bush’s tactics and that’s what got us here? BIG LIE. Truth: We were attacked under Bush after he ignored intel warning of an imminent attack by OBL. Months later, he declared he was no longer concerned with OBL.
9 years later, a Democrat named President Barack Obama got Osama, using intelligence, strategy, courage and a great team including the Navy SEALs and CIA. All who have been fighting for their country also deserve credit. The guy who coached the team 9 years ago and never won a championship does not deserve credit now for this coach’s championship, nor does torture deserve to be exonerated in any way, according to Leon Panetta and others who should know the truth. Sadly, they are not on the Sunday shows to push back against this utter desperation to not only take credit, but wash their hands of blood.
Sally
May. 7th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
And if you believe that, Clinton actually tanked the economy before Bush was ever awarded the Presidency by the SC, and he started the wars too. Oh, and Obama confers regularly with Bush regarding the economy, torture, and how to take more vacation time than he spends in DC. All that while the current President is busy saving the economy, finishing the job Bush failed in Pakistan, and trying to get the troops out of harm’s way and really save the economy. But sure, everything good is due to the liar Bush, and anything bad is all Obama. You people are insane.
nk007
May. 7th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
I suppose your lies work well with deluded people who are all about hating Obama. Sane people know that President Obama succeeded in killing OBL, George Bush failed to do so. End of story!
Anne
May. 8th, 2011 at 2:59 am
One of the things which undermine your ludicrous argument is the fact that GW himself turned away from waterboarding, for example. Bin Laden got taken out due to a lot of planning which was a direct result of gathering information and connecting the dots. Your comments indicate the kind of revisionism of history that the media is inviting by featuring mainly guests with that mentality, who also had nothing whatsoever to do with taking out Bin Laden. GW had an opportunity as president to do what President Obama has done, but he failed to do it. So, it’s just as illogical to feature these people on this incident as it is to feature someone like Orin Hatch on women’s rights.
GameOfLife
May. 8th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
If torture worked why did it take so many times to get zero info? If torture worked why didn’t repubs capture OBL?
GTFOH
Reynardine
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Thank you for forewarning me. I am going to spend Sunday morning gardening instead of wasting my time on Meet the Press. I suggest we all give similar treatments to each of these shows, and then if you can give us contact data for these organizations, we should all tell them something like: Until you can present an unbiased picture, I will (choose one: plant beans, pick my nose, scrub the toilet, fly a kite, engage in autoeroticism) during that hour, and I will boycott the sponsors’ products and tell them why.
Dorothy Rissman
May. 7th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
The media is owned by republicans. Even msnbc. The people who have the power would love to bring our president down. It is a running joke that they have repugs on constantly. John Mcshame probably sleeps in David Gregory’s office.
McShame is in reality David’s co-host.
Reynardine
May. 8th, 2011 at 11:31 am
In fact, because I was a little tired from transplanting, I did watch it. With the exception of Rudolph Giuliani, the Republicans were both betterbehaved than David Gregory, whom I believe owes his present exalted position to flat knees.
Ingarose
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
This is horrible. That is exactly why I sometimes try to put myself into the shoes of people who live or lived under dictatorships. The GOP and the multibillion dollar corporations are nothing more than dictators. Dictators do not show protests in Wisconsin but only protests which favor them.
Reynardine
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Actually, they are intending dictators, who invariably stir up and sponsor astroturf mobs to do their tyrranizing for them until they can formally take control, at which point the mobs either learn to click their heels and march in step, or they face a Night of the Long Knives. I have recognized the same piggy- faced little woman at several “spontaneous” events, separated by space, time, and subject matter, but always in the forefront, shrieking with rage and threatening some “evil librul”. I don’t doubt that if the others had more distnctive faces, I’d recognize the rest of this Rent-a-Mob, too. But the Rent-a- Mob will be quite disposable, if their masters accomplish their aim, and so will the widdling presstitutes.
Realist
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
This specific incident should be remembered the next time “conservatives” claim that the mainstream media is liberal
DannyEastVillage
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
why not count guests throughout the year?
nk007
May. 7th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
If you counted the guest list of people appearing on MSM Sunday shows throughout the year you will end up with the same ratio of Republicans to Democrats: “6 to 1″
Phil Perspective
May. 7th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Atrios, who can be found here:
www.eschatonblog.com/
Lists the guests the first thing every Sunday morning. He lists them for four(ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN) networks. He might list Faux Noise too. He has a running joke about the balance of guests. The ratio may not normally be the 6 to 1 ratio but are usually two or three to one. And for having no power, John McCain is a frequent guest.
boil
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
gps on cnn is the only sunday show worth watching anymore.
Bobfr
May. 7th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
I’ve spent the last several hours reflecting on two topics that at first may not seem related:
Topic 1. For those of you who spend time on AlJazeera English then you are likely aware of the ‘live blogs.’ Those ‘live blogs’ apart from the typical annoying troll are a trove of information – real time and, over the months I’ve been tracking them, remarkably accurate. You simply will never read or hear in corporate American press any of the flow of information that you find there. So, yesterday, while scanning the Libya live blog folk were recounting the increasing resistance even within Tripoli including a rather amusing stunt. People are painting balloons and chickens with the Libyan Freedom Fighters colors and icon and releasing the balloons randomly around Tripoli and the chickens in various parts of the city – driving the remaining Daffi soldiers/mercs nuts.
Topic 2. As you have noted, tomorrow’s Sunday am corporate media blabber sessions [stopped watching MTP in the mid-70's and never watched any of the others] the bulk of the guests are a pack of Bush’s fellow war criminals – Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Yoo, etc.
Why would I link these two topics?
Well, for starters ‘progressive media,’ at least in this Nation, is an oxymoron. We don’t have a progressive media. We don’t have a liberal media. We don’t have anything that comes close to qualifying for the critical role the 4th Estate plays in a vibrant democracy.
Sure we have a few exceptions – comedians whom on occasion actually deliver facts and robust analysis ON CABLE; a handful of professional journalists who on occasion actually deliver facts and robust analysis ON CABLE; a few newspapers that manage to provide facts and analytical insights; some highly credible blogs.
But, mainstream, broadcast TV/radio, cable, print – forget about it.
So, you’re asking – ‘Bob, what does that have to do with chickens and balloons and folk who should be dressed in orange appearing on corporate broadcast TV tomorrow morning?’
Good question.
All week we’ve had an incessant stream of bullshit – TV/Cable/Radio/Print – about Bush and his gang not getting enough credit for killing OBL when the truth of the story is that that Bush and his gang didn’t pay attention when they were told OBL was going to attack within the USA, quickly forgot about OBL a few months after he did, started an illegal and immoral war and continue to lie about it unto this very minute (and will continue lying about it), didn’t pay for that immoral and illegal war and did more damage to the economy of this country in the process than OBL could have ever accomplished had an adult like President Obama (or Gore) been in the WH during the summer of 2001.
So, I’m pondering all of that and I’m thinking about those chickens and balloons and I’m wondering, is it about time for us to paint a bunch of balloons and chickens with the Stars and Stripes and turn them loose in every TV/Cable/Radio studio in the Nation.
Of course I mean that figuratively (and I wouldn’t want to abuse chickens, for sure).
But, what I’m conveying is that I feel that we have to become much braver, much bolder, much better organized about revolutionizing the 4th Estate in the USA. I assure you those folk in Tripoli pulling those stunts know they are risking their lives because Daffi’s soldiers would shoot them before they shot the chickens and balloons (which they’ve been doing).
We need to convince people with major wealth – the kind of folk who love and support our President and whom have plenty of $$$$ – that we must create a well funded, exceptional quality, broadcast TV/Radio/Cable+INTERNET news and analysis enterprise – a truly democratic (not party, but intent) 4th Estate. That 4th Estate ‘channel’ must necessarily be free of any form of government subsidy or dependency. It must be a viable business because that is the only way to ensure it’s independence. And, BTW, the key to the sustainable economics of such an enterprise would be to encourage all those viewing and interacting to inform vendors and advertisers that if they don’t support it their products and services will be boycotted – market pressure, persistently applied.
Just some thoughts. Hope you find them of interest.
I’m now pondering what the icon of our 4th Estate channel should be :)
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 7th, 2011 at 6:53 pm
Its funny. There was a 24 hour news channel when the internet got rolling, CNN snatched it up to keep neutral news off the air. I agree we need someone to report the news. Not a personality, not a network personality, not How great thou art CNN MSNBC etc, but just reporting the news. Liike you do, if you read overseas news sources you are aghast at what our networks provide and its easy to see we are stooges.
I agree with you
Sarah Jones
May. 7th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Loved your comment, I am out collecting chickens now. Please advise on the logo for 4th estate fail.
Phil Perspective
May. 7th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Do you get Democracy Now! where you live?
Bobfr
May. 7th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Am responding to Shiva, Sarah and Phil, here.
Thank you for your comments.
Shiva – you are so correct, and it’s no wonder AJZ English has just won an amazing award from Columbia University for the quality of what they do; a quality completely absent broadcast TV/Radio in our Republic. Sad.
Sarah – :))) Easy on the chickens!
Phil – yes. And, like Current TV, it is a valuable resource, but it doesn’t come close to the penetration the major broadcast TV/Radio networks have. We need for the 4th Estate Channel to be as pervasive as NBC,CBS,ABC & CNN, combined. Only then will each citizen have the option to participate in an informed, non-paranoid democracy.
Moreover, the following are additional comments inspired by others whom have commented, elsewhere, on the thoughts posted above.
When one converses with enlightened ‘C level’ folk in this Nation (which I do), you find that many of them are quite aware of the damage our failed education system and our failed news media (4th Estate) is doing to our Nation.
A person at OFA responded to my thoughts with “Current TV” to which I noted that if the backers of Current TV were to acquire broadcast TV/Radio spectrum the ‘channel’ would then exist. The key would be for them to convince billionaire supporters of President Obama [like Oprah] to make the acquisition of whichever of the three major networks has the lowest market cap, and then leverage what Current TV has initiated as well as integrate social media technology to enable highly interactive fact gathering, analysis and education.
We’re not talking idealism or perfection here, but when 30 or more percent of poll after poll reveals that conspiracy theories are more likely to be believed than blatantly obvious facts, the correlation between failed education and failed journalism is no surprise.
When we see those most eager to destroy our public education system be those most willing to promote or enable conspiracies about a President’s citizenship (and countless other conspiracies), we know exactly who must be held responsible.
They will continue to be successful as long as the bulk of what people see and hear, 24/7, are willful exclusion of actual events (like practically no reporting of the carnage to American soldiers and Iraqi citizens during the 8 years we have been occupying the sovereign Nation of Iraq), deliberate distortion of facts and out-right lies.
Current TV has not, yet, come anywhere close to being the counterbalance to that 24/7 corporate media menace to our Republic.
The sad irony is that the wealthiest Americans are actually the most fragile, the most brittle because they have the most to lose.
We just need to get enough of those super-wealthy folk to realize that millions of minimally educated, conspiracy theory motivated, easily riled, exceedingly well armed, economically depressed people are not in their best interest. They need to stop funding ‘Tea Parties’ and start funding enlightened participatory democracy – they’ll keep their wealth, be way less paranoid, and actually advance the American promise for future generations.
So, letters/petitions to Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, etc., might be worth the effort.
They could also turn the ‘Citizens United’ decision into something those voting in favor on the Supreme Court and their unenlightened wealthy friends never anticipated – create a PAC so exceedingly well funded that it could buy massive amounts of ad time on all three major networks and use that ad time to explain to the American people what it would be like to have network journalism be at least as factual, analytic and non-paranoid as the ads and as President Obama has been and will continue being upon his re-election – promote the President’s re-election by educating the public, not scaring and lying to them. The contrast would be stunning. Call it the CalmCoolTruth PAC.
Henry
May. 7th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
The only surprise here is that McCain wasn’t booked on several of the networks. Right now, the most sure fire way to get airtime and digital ink from the MSM and places like HUFFPost, is bashing the President. So of course on the weekend after Obama gets bin laden, the Bushies are getting the hot ticket.
Ingarose
May. 7th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Yes, the Bushes are getting the hot ticket. Right now Huckabee is interviewing Yoo (I am not sure if right spelling) and he gives all the credit to Bush and waterboarding.
Where or where are the Democrats? Every regular channel and cable channel is full of kudos for Bush and company. This whole thing is very scary for me. Right now it really looks that the GOP , the corporations are winning.
This web site tries to be very optimistic, and normally I am an optimistic person too, but things just do not look too good. You may be praising Obama all over the place but other than may be Rachel Maddow (which according to O’Reilly nobody watches) all I see is praise for Bush and Company.
OK, I could go on like they do, but enough is enough.
Sarah Jones
May. 7th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
And why is anyone interviewing Yoo, who is merely desperately defending betraying his duty to the law and his job by serving his President’s agenda by cherry picking the law until he could announce that torture was acceptable? OH, well, it’s Huckabee…..who thinks half of the country is the spawn of the devil.
Alli
May. 7th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Its Mother’s Day. No one’s watching.
Sapo Mal
May. 7th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Here in your little Tin Woodsman echo chamber you can faunch and mock all you like, but America knows who really did the hard work, and who was ultimately responsible. Nobody wants to see a pack of Obamaists triumphantly taking the credit for the SEAL’s kill, and they know that the Bush people put together the processes and know where the bodies are really buried. Cause they buried most of them.
And at the next election, we’ll bury the rest.
Now shut up and get back to work. You need to make enough money to support me in my retirement.
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 7th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
LOL! Bush put it together? The same Bush that closed the Bin Laden CIA group and stopped looking for him? Guess what, the data used was fresh. Recent.
What is hilarious, if Bush had gotten OBL, you would be bragging that Bush got him.
BTW, Obama got Ossama. I know it hurts you, but you should know.
Reynardine
May. 8th, 2011 at 12:01 am
As I said elsewhere, Shiva, this guy signs himself as a bad toad. Res ipsa loquitur.
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 8th, 2011 at 1:29 am
Res ipsa loquitur?
Hi-Fidelity Lounge Volume 4
Smooth
Alan Batterman
May. 8th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Res ipsa loquitur is Latin for “The thing speaks for itself.”
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 8th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Yes I know, its also the title of one of my favorite Chill CD’s
Anne
May. 8th, 2011 at 3:10 am
Are you aware that on Wednesday, March 13, 2002, GW infamously said that he didn’t know or much care where Bin Laden was? This was 6 months after 9-11. I have also learned that in 2005, a CIA operative in Tora Bora requested, and was denied, 800 additional troops that would have been effective in bringing down Bin Laden. Besides, it was last August that the Obama administration got actionable info on Bin Laden’s whereabouts. It was from that point that the planning was done, well after GW had left office. The credit for the planning belongs entirely to the Obama administration. I know that the facts in this situation completely refute the narrative that the GOP is best at national security, which is why people on the right are twisting themselves into weird shapes with twisted logic by trying to give GW undeserved credit. Sorry, that dog doesn’t hunt.
toyotabedzrock
May. 8th, 2011 at 1:48 am
Are the Democrats Sleeping in or something? WTF???
Stump
May. 8th, 2011 at 11:32 am
Are we sure the Democrats didn’t turn down requests to be on the shows. Obama officials are actually working while Bush officials lost their public jobs a couple years ago. Plus, Bush officials can say whatever they feel like while Obama officials have to care about what they say because it will affect their boss and their job.
Sarah Jones
May. 8th, 2011 at 11:51 am
As an interviewer, you want to go to the source who can tell you about the process – not someone who wasn’t involved directly, so this makes their choice more than bizarre. This is like interviewing a coach who left a team five years ago about a current super bowl win. I highly doubt every Democrat was booked today.
matt
May. 8th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Bush administration officials are obviously a lot more available. It’s mothers day, acting officials have better things to do.
Gail H. Beckett
May. 8th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
“Democracy Now!” with Linda Goodman & crew on LinkTV is the answer—they allow NO CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP!!! Unfortunately, they are not accessible via cable, as far as I know. I found them on Directv.
Famous Amos
May. 9th, 2011 at 10:11 am
How rich, you can’t get the Republicans to take ownership of their MAJOR role in gutting the American economy, but they’re there all in there like parasites demanding their share of Obama’s victory. Bush failed to get bin Laden, instead he followed that war criminal Cheney into Iraq, got side tracked and stalled. History will write it that way and that’s how it happened. Suck it up Republican neanderthals
Oldsun
May. 9th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Maddow just stole your store.