From the Media Research Center:

Over a period of just three and a half days, NBC, CBS and ABC have developed an insatiable hunger for the Herman Cain sexual harassment story, devoting an incredible 50 stories to the allegations since Monday morning. In contrast, over a similar period these networks mostly ignored far more substantial and serious scandals relating to Bill Clinton.

This pattern continued on Wednesday night and into Thursday as the evening newscasts and morning shows highlighted the story 19 times. On Good Morning America, Brian Ross offered innuendo and slung gossip, recounting, “But behind the scenes, several of the campaigns are still urging reporters to continue to dig, George, saying, there’s more to be found in the private life of Herman Cain.” [MP3 audio here.]

Without offering facts, Ross described Cain’s time as head of the National Restaurant Association: “It fits with the kind of culture we were told that existed there, with young women who had been, sort of, lobbyists for the restaurant association, working with various states. They were the new ones, the young ones. And they say that’s where Cain often socialized.” (more…)

Well, here we go. Michele Bachmann’s impressive performance at Monday’s GOP Presidential debate, followed by her formal campaign launch, have kicked lefty smear merchants into gear, as evidenced by Michelle Goldberg’s latest piece in the Daily Beast.  Titled “Bachmann’s Unrivaled Extremism,” the 2500-word article seeks yo derail Bachmann’s deliberately moderate turn on Monday by revealing how she’s irrationally homophobic, speaks in Christian dog-whistle language, is hypocritical for being a working mother, is obsessed with gays, tainted public education by forcing partisan wedges into her foster children’s school boards, throws her family under the bus without a second thought, and, oh yeah– fears gays.

I first noticed the article on Twitter because of Roger Ebert’s takeaway: “Bachmann thought she was being attacked by an ex-nun.” He’s referring to the piece’s opening anecdote; Bachmann constituent Pamela Arnold went to a forum held by the Congresswoman in April 2005, and Goldberg dutifully parrots Arnold’s version of the meeting’s aftermath. After Bachmann ended the meeting early (because people dared to ask her about gay marriage, obviously), Arnold and an unnamed former nun followed her into the bathroom.

As Bachmann washed her hands and Arnold looked on, the ex-nun tried to talk to her about theology. Suddenly, after less than a minute, Bachmann let out a shriek. “Help!” she screamed. “Help! I’m being held against my will!”

Arnold, who is just over 5 feet tall, was stunned, and hurried to open the door. Bachmann bolted out and fled, crying, to an SUV outside. Then she called the police, saying, according to the police report, that she was “absolutely terrified and has never been that terrorized before as she had no idea what those two women were going to do to her.” The Washington County attorney, however, declined to press charges, writing in a memo, “It seems clear from the statements given by both women that they simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms. Bachmann.” (more…)

Doesn’t it strike you as odd that of the two most recent losing Democratic presidential tickets, in 200 and 2004, the erstwhile vice-presidential candidate has become either a pariah in his own party (Joe Lieberman) or, well… this guy:

That would be John Edwards, ambulance-chasing poseur, fraudulent populist and all-around bad belly.  Even his long-suffering wife, Elizabeth, has finally had enough.

Hard to believe a major political party would run a first-term senator, little-known outside his home state, and then not vet him, isn’t it?  Even harder to believe that the Mainstream Media would later consciously and deliberately cover up his extramarital hanky-panky and love child while he was a candidate for the 2008 presidential nomination, and instead give us the myth of the good family man, with the wife suffering from incurable cancer, the champion of the Little Guy and the man who proved, once and for all, that there really are Two Americas — and that he lived in both of them. (more…)

Fox News has signed former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a contributor:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, will take her conservative message to Fox News as a regular commentator, the cable channel announced Monday.

“I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News,” Palin said in a statement posted on the network’s Web site. “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”

Fox said that according to the multiyear deal, Palin will offer political commentary and analysis. She also will host occasional episodes of Fox News “Real American Stories,” a series featuring true inspirational stories about Americans.

Considering the fact that Ms. Palin recently ran a close second behind Sec. of State Hilary Clinton as the most admired woman in America, and considering that Ms. Palin’s book has sold astronomically well since its release on Nov. 17th, it’s a no-brainer that a network would pick her up.  It’s not a bad idea to have such a popular woman affiliated with your brand. (more…)