Today, TV news channels broadcast live President Obama’s new, extensive proposals to try and stop more gun violence. Among his many recommendations was that “Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds. We don’t benefit from ignorance.” But most of the President’s plan was directed at guns. The push-back in the media was immediate. READ FULL STORY »
Tag: Politics (1-10 of 205)
Nov 7
2012
09:06 AM ET
The President, Stephen Colbert, and TV news describe the Obama future: VIDEO
Image Credit: Jewel Samad/Getty Images
President Obama’s re-election speech, broadcast late last night, hit a lot of the right notes that all Americans might have wanted to hear. “I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly,” he said early on. “And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics who tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special interests.” Yep, that’s what a lot folks doubtless felt over the past few months especially.
After giving numerous examples of the importance of elections to many different kinds of Americans facing different kinds of issues, he said near his conclusion, “I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states.” READ FULL STORY »
Nov 6
2012
11:35 PM ET
Election night review: TV news announces Obama re-elected; analyzing the analysts
Image Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP
All of the network and cable news networks declared President Obama reelected shortly after 11 p.m., projecting a crucial win in Ohio. TV screens were immediately filled with images of people all over the country — and the world — reacting with joy. The TV analysts were more sober, and in some cases, in disagreement.
Election night on television is always its own riot of staggered results, projected winners, and the wild cheers erupting behind state victors. It’s also cutting-edge technology versus gassy-air punditry. This year, the contrasts were more vivid than ever. I have in the past poked fun at CNN’s John King and his Technicolor-Wizard-Touchy-Feely Map, but on this night, he did a masterful job both physical and mental. By which I mean, his adroit tap-tap-taps on the TWTF Map broke out states county-by-county, and he knew exactly where to find voting totals, previous-election trends, and projected numbers to deliver calm, coherent tales of the tape. READ FULL STORY »
Nov 2
2012
09:20 PM ET
'Last Man Standing' and 'Malibu Country' reviews: Voting for Romney, going to pot
Image Credit: Edward Herrera/ABC; Peter Stone/ABC Last Man Standing
Oct 28
2012
05:03 PM ET
Joss Whedon weighs in on Mitt Romney, foresees a 'Zomney' apocalypse: VIDEO
Joss Whedon forsees the future under a Mitt Romney administration, he’s set his thoughts down in a video, and it’s just the kind of thing to gobble up on a Sunday before watching The Walking Dead. Whedon’s “Zomney” vid is whimsical yet blunt. READ FULL STORY »
Oct 23
2012
09:52 AM ET
All the 2012 Presidential debates: Were they worth it? What's their value?
The debates are over. What changed as a result of them? Polls show Mitt Romney a lot closer to President Obama — it’s a tighter race ever since Romney’s first-debate victory. By the final debate, Romney had shape-shifted from conservative warrior to agreeable centrist — agreeable in the sense that he spent the night mostly agreeing with what Obama is doing abroad. The message that was sent by his side? Don’t worry, he’s not going to do anything extreme if you elect him. If Romney wins the Presidency, the debates will be seen as a crucial turning point in his campaign. If Obama wins, they’ll be largely forgotten. In this sense, debates every four years follow a similar pattern: Whoever the incumbent is, he is helped or hindered by further exposure of his image and his platform.
But that raises the every-four-years question: Should we be electing Presidents in part because of how well they perform on television, in a stilted, awkward debate format? READ FULL STORY »
Oct 22
2012
11:07 PM ET
The final Presidential debate review: Obama scores TKO: Romney 'doesn't have different ideas' from the President
Image Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The final Presidential debate on Monday night presented the odd spectacle of challenger Mitt Romney conceding over and over that he fundamentally agreed with a whole host of President Obama-led foreign policy strategies, while moderator Bob Schieffer offered too many questions that were, as Romney put it, “hypotheticals” that both men brushed aside. READ FULL STORY »
Oct 16
2012
11:44 PM ET
Presidential debate review: Dancing with the political stars: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney do the policy paso doble
Image Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The second Presidential debate showcased a Barack Obama who was more lively than he seemed in the first debate, and he was met by an equally lively Mitt Romney who was prepared to steamroll over not just the President but moderator Candy Crowley as well. The “town hall” debate was designed to allow citizens to ask questions of the candidates directly, but very often, the ordinary folks were dispatched as quickly as possible by both men so that they could lean from their chairs and dangle their microphones from their wrists like dueling Dean Martins, then saunter around the stage, and occasionally pounce on each other. Obama accused Romney of offering the public a “sketchy deal”; the Republican made the wise remark, when aimed at self-proclaimed “undecided voters,” that “our party has been focused on big business [for] too long.” This was two guys doing the cha-cha, with punches thrown in. READ FULL STORY »
Oct 11
2012
11:47 PM ET
Vice Presidential debate review: Joe Biden and Paul Ryan grinned like sharks, biting each other
Image Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
It was a battle of smiles and smirks as Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan debated each other on Thursday night. Both men were eager beavers — beavers showing their choppers repeatedly, in often pained grimaces, condescending smirks, or incredulous glances — trying strenuously to provide a contrast to the first Obama-Romney debate. The words that emerged from beneath those grins were often contentious, frequently interrupting each other. And except for one big misstep in phrasing an important question, moderator Martha Raddatz was satisfyingly assertive in refereeing the squabbles and keeping the debate moving at a pace that allowed for many positions to be challenged and for drama to unfold. READ FULL STORY »
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