TV network stories blame Republicans, 21-0, for shutdown, not Democrats

[Gingersnap]

TV network stories blame Republicans, 21-0, for shutdown, not Democrats
BY PAUL BEDARD | OCTOBER 2, 2013 AT 3:58 PM

The nation’s big three news networks are falling right into place for President Obama and the Democrats, blaming the Republican Party for the government shutdown by a whopping 21-0 story count.

According to a survey by the conservative media watchdog Media Research Center, in 39 stories during the two weeks leading up to the shutdown, CBS, ABC and NBC blamed the failure to cut a budget deal on the Republicans 21 times, both parties four times, and Democrats zero times. In 14 stories, nobody was to blame.

Some examples of how the story is being played on the networks:

– "CBS Evening News" correspondent Nancy Cordes on Sept. 18: “Speaker Boehner was forced into the risky strategy by his right flank ... [a strategy] one Senate Republican described to us today as suicide.”

– ABC’s Diane Sawyer: “The president expressed outrage that one faction in one house of Congress is ready to bring the entire federal government to a halt.”

– "Face The Nation" host Bob Schieffer: “Will the moderate and more establishment Republicans continue to go along with the ultraconservatives? ... We’re headed to a shutdown unless the moderates in the House revolt.”


Should there be surprise about the media’s siding with Obama and the Democrats in their Obamacare budget coverage? Just listen to Time’s Mark Halperin on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," as quoted by the MRC: “The press is largely sympathetic to their arguments that it’s the House Republicans’ fault.”

Rich Noyes, the MRC's research director, sized the situation up this way: “The media's biased coverage, both in this shutdown and in past ones, may be one reason why a resolution seems so elusive right now. It's hard to imagine the Obama administration and their fellow Democrats taking this tough a line -- harsh name calling, absolutely no negotiations -- if they didn't expect their friends in the liberal media to direct all of the blame toward conservatives and Republicans. And so far, our research shows Democrats are getting exactly the kind of media coverage they hoped for.

I dunno if it's working. A lot of news outlets have been running little polls on Who's To Blame. I've seen 6 or 7 on normal, mainstream sites and polling seems to indicate that people think the White House/President is to blame or Both Parties. I don't know if the game is working as well on independents as it used to.

Washington Examiner

[gary m]

Living in a quadrangle that is basically Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Ann Arbor, all the slant is on evil Republicans.
Obama could shoot a puppy on live TV and still come out looking better then the local media spin.

[Adam]

Living in a quadrangle that is basically Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Ann Arbor, all the slant is on evil Republicans.
Obama could shoot a puppy on live TV and still come out looking better then the local media spin.

The unions are plenty unhappy, and that's bound to pay the bills for TV news in your neck of the woods.

Harry Reid really stepped in it today with his children-with-cancer remarks. That's some of the best campaign-commercial material to come along in a while now.



This one will wind up getting laid squarely at the feet of the Democrats, despite what the media is trying to claim right now. The only question is how much the Democrats can re-write history come next November.

[Lanie]

I blame them all. Consider this. If some people in a company couldn't get along and the company shut down because of it, would they still get a paycheck? No, they'd be fired before things could get to this point. What if some people couldn't get along and kept fighting for the spoils? They'd be fired. What if employees were not doing the job they were hired to do? They'd be fired. They wouldn't be replaced with employees promising to do the same.

Instead, we either keep these people or replace them with those promising to do the same deadbeat job. We give them raises against our will at times. We give them a paycheck for the rest of their lives whether they are working or not. We give them better healthcare than anybody. Our current congress people are the ULTIMATE deadbeats living off of the government.

[Gingersnap]

I blame them all. Consider this. If some people in a company couldn't get along and the company shut down because of it, would they still get a paycheck? No, they'd be fired before things could get to this point. What if some people couldn't get along and kept fighting for the spoils? They'd be fired. What if employees were not doing the job they were hired to do? They'd be fired. They wouldn't be replaced with employees promising to do the same.

Instead, we either keep these people or replace them with those promising to do the same deadbeat job. We give them raises against our will at times. We give them a paycheck for the rest of their lives whether they are working or not. We give them better healthcare than anybody. Our current congress people are the ULTIMATE deadbeats living off of the government.

Welcome to my world, Lanie.

[Billy Jingo]

TV networks are reporting truthfully on the situation?

That's unusual.

[phillygirl]

TV networks are reporting truthfully on the situation?

That's unusual.

Yeah, they've been so harsh on Obama, it's amazing he got elected in spite of all the negative press.

[Frostbit]

Obama could shoot a puppy on live TV .

It's all about the guns with you isn't it?

[gary m]

It's all about the guns with you isn't it?

Small price to pay for humor at my own expense.
I get anonymous donations to Paypal if I can distract you from making Crossfit postings.
Up to $37.75 so far.

[Frostbit]

Small price to pay for humor at my own expense.
I get anonymous donations to Paypal if I can distract you from making Crossfit postings.
Up to $37.75 so far.

Touchy, touchy!! I didn't mention anything about self airation. I simply pointed out that you and guns seemed to be linked at the hip........or thigh.

[gary m]

Touchy, touchy!! I didn't mention anything about self airation. I simply pointed out that you and guns seemed to be linked at the hip........or thigh.

Just got another $1.95.

[deudyurondame]

Living in a quadrangle that is basically Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Ann Arbor, all the slant is on evil Republicans.
Obama could shoot a puppy on live TV and still come out looking better then the local media spin.

He's already eaten one. Peepul in NYC were yelling obscenities at me for my dog riding in the bed of my truck. My truck's bumper sticker will be At Least I AinEat'n the Bitch on my next sojourn through that place.

[Tom Servo]

Maybe everyone is blaming the Republicans because it's entirely the Republican Party's fault.

There's strong evidence that this shut down was not only encouraged but planned ahead of time by the Tea Party faction. Within the first few days I understand the Democrats offered to give them practically everything they wanted, so the Republicans balked and asked for even more. That's hardly how compromise works.

Anyone who thinks this was all Obama's doing because of his stubbornness fails to realize he stood to gain nothing in return for giving up his position, so he had no reason to back down. It was up to the House Republicans to offer a compromise and they instead asked for more concessions.

All this over a program that's already law and cannot legally be stopped at this point. If they're so sure Obamacare is going to be a big huge failure, the Republicans' best bet would be to stand aside and watch it collapse quickly under its own weight, then swoop in to "fix" it like gallant heroes in waiting. With the stonewalling and threats to defund it, they seem scared that it might actually work. It's time for them to put up or shut up.

[Adam]

Maybe everyone is blaming the Republicans because it's entirely the Republican Party's fault.

There's strong evidence that this shut down was not only encouraged but planned ahead of time by the Tea Party faction. Within the first few days I understand the Democrats offered to give them practically everything they wanted, so the Republicans balked and asked for even more. That's hardly how compromise works.

On what planet did this occur? It sure as Hell wasn't Earth.

Anyone who thinks this was all Obama's doing because of his stubbornness fails to realize he stood to gain nothing in return for giving up his position, so he had no reason to back down.

The one particular downside to term limits: people facing them have nothing to lose.

It was up to the House Republicans to offer a compromise and they instead asked for more concessions.

Seriously, where are you getting this stuff? What you're describing is exactly the opposite of what happened. The House sent over numerous bills offering more and more compromise, and Harry Reid wouldn't even let them see the light of day. Hell, even bills that enjoyed strong House Democrats' support got the smackdown from Dingy Harry.

All this over a program that's already law and cannot legally be stopped at this point.

What an absurd argument. I really don't get why people somehow think that if Obamacare is law, that the law neither can nor should ever be changed, unless of course it's being done by executive fiat like Obama has been doing over and over again. It's really quite a bizarre mindset, that somehow laws are "untouchable," just so long as they're ones that the Left adore.

DOMA is already the law, but it was good to change it. Jim Crow was the law, but it was good to change it. Only white male landowners could vote was already the law, but it was good to change it. The voting age of 21 was already the law, but it was good to change it.

But if you even consider touching the much-vaunted Obamacare that was literally rammed through the legislative process illegitimately, without a single Republican vote (not even Collins or Snowe), that has directly caused health insurance premiums to skyrocket, that is absolutely, positively unaffordable, why, that's just blasphemy! The law is the law, and you can't change the law, dammit!


The sheer duplicity of such a mindset is just amazing, frankly.

If they're so sure Obamacare is going to be a big huge failure, the Republicans' best bet would be to stand aside and watch it collapse quickly under its own weight, then swoop in to "fix" it like gallant heroes in waiting. With the stonewalling and threats to defund it, they seem scared that it might actually work. It's time for them to put up or shut up.

They HAVE put up. They've put up a shitload. Democrats just tut-tut in response and claim that "Obamacare is already the law and you can't change it."

[Bob Loblaw 3.0]

As if on cue:

http://m.townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2013/10/16/it-depends-on-what-the-meaning-of-settled-law-is-n1725761