In Libya Interview, Sawyer Asks Obama About Praying Like Lincoln & 'How Much Do You Think Kentucky Will Win By?'

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Wednesday March 30, 2011 @ 10:08 AM EDT

1. In Libya Interview, Sawyer Asks Obama About Praying Like Lincoln and 'How Much Do You Think Kentucky Will Win By?'

The broadcast evening news anchors all got ten minutes with President Barack Obama on Tuesday afternoon in New York City to press him about contradictions in his Libya policy, ceding authority for foreign entities and how he’s a hypocrite after his criticism of President Bush for unilateral actions and not getting congressional approval, but instead they simply prodded him to provide arms to the rebels and pushed him to take action in Syria. But ABC’s Diane Sawyer stood out for her obsequiousness as the Kentucky native ended by giddily bringing up the college basketball tournament: “How much do you think Kentucky will win by?” Before that, she cued him up to agree he’s as burdened as Abraham Lincoln: "What about the famous quote from another beleaguered President, Abraham Lincoln, who said he had been driven many times to his knees because his own wisdom and that around him 'was insufficient for the day'?" Obama assured her: “I do a lot of praying.” Following the interview except, Sawyer personalized her “beleaguered President” theme.

2. Brokaw Feels for Obama: No President in 'My Adult Lifetime' Has Had to Face So Many Problems

Tom Brokaw appeared on Tuesday's Today show to offer his analysis of Barack Obama's Libya policy, as well as his sympathy for a president who has experienced more "unexpected circumstances" than any Oval Office occupant has seen in his "adult lifetime." Today co-host Matt Lauer prompted the former NBC Nightly News anchor to tell the audience what he told him right before going on air - that he couldn't "recall a time where a president has faced a confluence of events, like the confluence of events taking place right now."

3. NBC, CBS Morning Shows Gloss Over Low Support for Obama's Libya Attacks, Harsh Criticism

Only Good Morning America's Jake Tapper on Tuesday pointed out the relatively low public support for Barack Obama's military actions in Libya and the harsh criticism from both the right and the left. On NBC's Today, Chuck Todd parroted, "[Obama] also took the opportunity to rebut critics on the left and the right about how and whether to target Qadhafi with the military. In total the President used the framework of American values to make the case."

4. Larry O'Donnell and Contessa Brewer Spin Libya Scrutiny Away from Obama

In discussing the present "kinetic military action" in Libya, MSNBCCCP's Lawrence O'Donnell and Contessa Brewer both tried to shift scrutiny away from President Obama and toward Republicans Monday afternoon, hours before the President's address to the nation on Libya. O'Donnell tried to pinpoint the hypocrisy of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for criticizing Obama's failure to obtain authorization from Congress for military action in Libya. The liberal MSNBCCCP host referred back to a nonbinding Senate resolution passed unanimously on March 1, calling for the U.N. Security Council to implement a no-fly zone over Libya.

5. NPR Uses 'The China Syndrome,' 'On the Beach' to Hype Radiation Threat

On Monday's All Things Distorted, NPR's Bob Mondello used movies about fictional nuclear disasters, such as The China Syndrome and Silkwood to play up atomic energy's hazards. Mondello especially highlighted the 1959 movie On the Beach as supposedly coming the closest to the portraying a real-life radiation catastrophe, such as the ongoing crisis at the Japanese nuclear plant. Host Melissa Block noted the movie critic's 2010 report comparing Hollywood disaster films to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in her introduction: "Last summer, as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was finally brought under control...Bob Mondello did a comparison for us on Hollywood disaster movies and how they differ from real world disasters. Well, in the last few weeks, as tragic events have played out in Japan, Bob realized he had left something out of that story: the menace that can't be seen."