MSNBC's Ed Schultz: Obama's A Backstabber

From HuffingtonPost
On Friday night on The Ed Show, Ed Schultz gave an impassioned speech calling out the president for making concessions on health care and abandoning the robust public option.
"What does President Barack Obama want when it comes to health care in this country? What does he want in the bill?" Schultz asked, then declared Obama was backstabbing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and would sell his soul for republican support on health care.
"The White House is backstabbing Harry Reid on the public option," Schultz said emphatically. He added: "I think the president would sell his soul for some republican support at this hour."
Schultz concluded: "Mr. President, don't cave."

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"Laura Bush Killed A Guy" WHY?

It seems everyone is Googling "Laura Bush killed a guy." WHY?
Politico's Click has the answer.
What's causing all the buzz? A "Family Guy" episode that ran Thursday night in which cartoon characters Peter and Lois Griffin were dressed like the former first lady (Lois) and a bleeding man (Peter) for a costume party. The two repeated the phrase "Laura Bush killed a guy."
The rerun was a controversial take on a 1963 fatal car accident involving Bush.

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Is The Economy Turning Around? Media

The President says recent reports are a 'good sign' of an economic turnaround. But has anyone really looked at the state of our communities. People are still clinging to the ledge of unemployment and financial disaster. Will anyone cover the real story here?

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Campbell Brown Asks White House About FOX and MSNBC

You have to give CNN's Campbell Brown credit for pushing for an answer about MSNBC... not just FOX.

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Lindsay Lohan's Dad On The Maury Povich Show

More importantly than what Michael Lohan had to say in trashing his daughter.... was that Maury is still on! Who knew.

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OY CNN's Response To Low Ratings

TVNewser has it.... from Jon Kleins morning meeting at CNN.
Yes, our ratings in prime were down in October. Remember - we are a 24hr network - not a 3hr network. We are also just one network in a group that attracts hundreds of millions of viewers a month. Media writers might not understand that. Our competitors don't either. Despite the bad press we don't lose sight of OUR business. We, CNN/U.S., still attracts millions and millions of viewers a month, more than our closest competitors. Writers don't talk about our users -- we are on air and on line, globally -- rather they break it down to one part of the day.
Excellent journalism is what we are focused on. We refuse to do the things that might get us a quick number or cater to the extremes that would alienate our core viewers. It's important to work at it every day - it's our mission. It's the key to our growth. If we are outstanding ALL the time (and we are getting better and better at it) we will have an impact over time.
I'm convinced of it, as is Jim Walton, Phil Kent and Jeff Bewkes. And to top it off, we get to have fun doing the GREAT journalism. We are the lucky ones.

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CBS' Jeff Greenfield Looks At FOX News - White House Battle

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Chuck Todd's Goatee... A Waste Of Valuable 'Today' Time

I know some people may think it was cute.. and clever for the 'Today' show to take valuable time in its first block this morning to try to get White House chief correspondent Chuck Todd to shave his goatee.... but I don't. Todd lost a bet with ABCs Jake Tapper. So, he was supposed to shave his goatee. Viewers in most of the country likely had never even heard about the bet... and likely could have cared less about Todd's goatee.

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Well after wasting 3 minutes of time this AM, there is this. Todd is not shaving his goatee at all
Todd chose to donate $1,000 to both his charity — Samaritan Inns — and Tapper's, Dr. Shershah Syed.
"The good news is we have a couple of charities that are going to benefit from my squeamishness," Todd said on the "Today" show Friday morning.

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Will Nightline Be Conan's Undoing?

It may be no direct fault of his own.. except that he can't grow an audience... but could the success of 'Nightlie' be the undoing of Conan O'brien?
Take a look at the latest numbers from TVNewser.com
CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" remained in first place last week as ABC's "Nightline" came in a close second. NBC's "Tonight Show" was in third by a gap of 1.42M viewers. This makes 17 weeks that "Nightline" has had more Total Viewers than Conan O'Brien's program (four weeks for the A25-54 demo).
The competition in the A18-49 has gotten very tight with all three programs tied in the rating (1.0)

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Should Barack Obama Apologize to FOX News?

From Huffington Post
The Obama administration's recent characterization of Fox News is a long overdue acknowledgment of the obvious: Fox News is not a legitimate news organization -- indeed, after many years of serving as the research and messaging wing of the Republican Party, it has now gone beyond even that, to become the electronic evangelist of an ultra-partisan and non-reality-based world view.
Historically speaking, White House criticism of the media has often been unseemly and defensive, with the president's ire generally provoked by journalists who excel at their work -- by asking cheeky questions, exposing important things that the president would prefer be kept secret, holding the powerful accountable and playing host to a vibrant and informed exchange of a wide range of political opinions.
But in this case, the critique is something else entirely. The litmus test is that the Obama White House is not upset at news gatherers for doing their job. What Obama and his aides are correctly pointing out is that the people working at Fox News are doing another job altogether.
The White House "attack" on Fox is being derided as bad politics, as ineffective and as a distraction from more important issues -- all of which may be true. But doesn't it kind of matter that, when it comes to the substance of what Anita Dunn, David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, and now even Obama himself have said, they're exactly right?
Obama on Wednesday told NBC's Savannah Guthrie: "I think that what our advisers have simply said is, is that we are going to take media as it comes. And if media is operating basically as a talk radio format, then that's one thing. And if it's operating as a news outlet, then that's another. "Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/23/why-journalists-shouldnt_n_331748.html
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Balloon Boy Pukes On Morning Shows

The balloon boy puked on Good Morning America...and Today. It could be a statement about the state of morning news these days.

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Cokie Roberts: "Shoot Him"

Cokie Roberts probably should not have said what many think about Roman Polanski.



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Is NBC Dead?

Interesting article from AOL Television... is NBC dead? More here.
Just a couple weeks into the fall television season, the prognosis is not looking good for NBC. To wit:
• The 'Jay Leno Show' experiment at 10PM is flailing. The premiere attracted 18 million viewers; now it averages in the 5-6 million range. And its getting trashed by the critics, like Nancy Franklin of the New Yorker, who scathingly writes, "The forensic evidence so far indicates that a kind of death is taking place before our eyes; the only question is whether what we're witnessing is an accident or a crime scene.
• The once-beloved 'Heroes' started season 4 with its weakest premiere numbers yet, falling an astonishing 46 percent from last year's opener. Consider that season 2's premiere netted 17 million viewers. NBC would kill for just half that these days.
• Returning favorite 'Law and Order: SVU' was down 34 percent• New drama 'Mercy' notched a weak second place last Wednesday with 8.2 million viewers, and the big, action-filled 'Trauma' arrived nearly DOA Monday night with 6.9 million.
• Acclaimed new comedy 'Community' slipped from its premiere numbers by 26 percent. Even worse, NBC slid down to fourth place last Thursday, thanks to Fox's combination of 'Bones' and 'Fringe.'Once the home of outstanding, Emmy Award-winning 10PM dramas like 'ER,' 'L.A. Law' and 'Hill Street Blues,' NBC seems to be on life support, surviving on cheap talk, reality and game shows. Perhaps it's too late and NBC is done for



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Christiane Amanpour Special Tuesday On CNN

Just saw a promotion for CNN's Christiane Amanpour and her new show.. which will be getting an odd Tuesday afternoon showing. The promotion pointed to the Amanpour show Tuesday afternoon at 3pm. There was no indication that this was a special report or anything. Amanpour usually airs Sunday at 2pm on CNN. Her interview show airs across many time zones on CNN International. So why a special Tuesday afternoon edition? Is she booting Rick Sanchez to rush a CNN exclusive? Is CNN giving this 'hard news' interviewer a shot at the weekday afternoons? Odd indeed. Here's a sample of the Amanpour show.

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Who Is Andrew Shue - The Guy marrying Amy Robach of 'Today'

So who is Andrew Shue... the guy marrying NBC 'Today" anchor Amy Roback?

From AOL TV
Remembered by many as the loveable Billy Campbell from the nighttime soap Melrose Place, Andrew Shue began his acting career not long before the show's premiere in 1992. His sister, actress Elisabeth Shue, found success as the star of 1987's Adventures in Babysitting when he began making appearances in movies as an extra while attending Dartmouth College. He graduated in 1989, and after traveling to Zimbabwe to play soccer for the Bulawayo Highlanders, he returned home to return to acting. When his big break came in 1992, he devoted his acting energy to the series, though he also played a number of games for the Los Angeles Galaxy Major Soccer Team in 1996. He stayed with Melrose Place until 1998, and later collaborated with his sister to write, produce, and appear in 2007's Gracie. - Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide.
Actor
Gracie [Movie] as Coach Clark
2007
Melrose Place: Season 06 [TV Series] as Billy Campbell
1997
John Grisham's The Rainmaker [Movie] as Cliff Riker
1997
Melrose Place: Season 05 [TV Series] as Billy Campbell
1996
Melrose Place: Season 04 [TV Series] as Billy Campbell
1995
Melrose Place: Season 03 [TV Series] as Billy Campbell
1994
Melrose Place: Season 02 [TV Series] as Billy Campbell
1993
Melrose Place: Season 01 [TV Series] as Billy Campbell
1992
Producer
Gracie [Movie]
2007
Other
Gracie [Movie]
2007
'



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'Today's Amy Robach Getting Married

A favorite of this blog.. is now off the market. Well, off the marriage market. Amy Robach on Today is getting married. From People.com

Former Melrose Place heartthrob Andrew Shue and the Today show’s Amy Robach are engaged, a spokesperson for Today confirms to PEOPLE. Both Shue and Robach are recently divorced, a source says. Shue, 42, had been married to floral designer Jennifer Hageney since 1994. Robach, 36, was married to Tim McIntosh. The source says both of them have been separated from their former spouses for about a year and started dating this spring after being set up by friends.

In April, Shue and Robach were spotted walking hand-in-hand on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, laughing and kissing. The two were engaged last week, the source says. "They're both very happy."

A former Miss Georgia contestant, Robach is also a national correspondent for NBC Nightly News. Since his days on Melrose, Shue has co-founded the nonprofit foundation Do Something, an organization that encourages volunteerism, and the social networking site CafeMom. The couple's engagement was first reported in the New York Post.




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