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After first giving Pete Williams and the anchors over at NBC some praise for their coverage in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent manhunt for the suspects, Jon Stewart tore into The New York Post's Rupert Murdoch, who refused to apologize for posting the pictures of two men who were not suspects on the cover of their magazine. But he spent most of his segment taking another shot at CNN for their terrible coverage following the attacks.

As Stewart noted, after not wanting to repeat their mistake from earlier in the week, where they claimed that someone was already arrested for the attacks when they weren't, CNN decided to take the streets instead and "report" from the sidelines that -- they had no idea whatsoever what the hell was going on behind police lines.

It also didn't stop them from getting in the way of the police or taking up their time having to run them off when they occasionally crossed those lines, even putting themselves into the line of fire when police had Dzhokhar Tsarnaev surrounded.

STEWART: What a great use of police resources... rushing the camera crew. [...] Even the TMZ guy would be like, "Back the f**k off and let them do their jobs."

Yes, indeed.

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The Daily Show's Jon Stewart took the talking heads over at Fox to task for their freakout over the sale of Al Gore's Current TV to Al Jazeera and making attacking the network as anti-American and associated with terrorists. As Stewart rightfully pointed out, heaven forbid anyone over at Fox would ever associate themselves with someone who owns a network that produces anything that would be considered anti-American... like Rupert Murdoch.

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The hosts of Fox & Friends on Friday slammed former Democratic Vice President Al Gore for being a "great American businessman" and selling his Current TV network to the "clearly anti-American" Al Jazeera network instead of former Fox News host Glenn Beck.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Gore had turned down an offer from Beck's The Blaze before deciding to accept $500 million to hand over Current TV to Al Jazeera.

Fox Business host Stuart Varney told the Fox & Friends hosts that Gore was guilty of "gross hypocrisy" for trying to sell his network before tax rates went up in 2013.

"Here's Al Gore -- extremely wealthy, ultra-leftist -- he's scrambling to book a profit on the sale of his TV network last year, when the tax rates are low," Varney opined. "That is hypocrisy."

Co-host Alisyn Camerota noted that Gore had been "desperately trying" to sell the network but the deal closed on Jan. 2 so it would be subject to the higher tax rates.

"You don't even have to say the word hypocrisy, you just have to say the statement," co-host Brian Kilmead quipped. "People at home use the word hypocrisy in their own kitchen, in their bathrobe with rollers in their hair."

But the detail that really seemed to outrage the Fox News personalities was that Gore shot down their former colleague, Glenn Beck, when he tried to buy Current TV.

"Glenn Beck wants to buy this TV network, so Al says, 'No, we're very sensitive to the network's not being aligned with our point of view,'" Varney explained. "In other words, 'Get lost, Glenn Beck,' but 'Okay, big oil, the sheikhdom of Qatar.'"

"Al Jazeera! That's their point of view?" Kilmeade exclaimed. "You can see more eye-to-eye with Al Jazeera than Glenn Beck -- Mr. Red, White and Blue?"

"May I move to the disgrace of this situation?" Varney continued. "This is the former Vice President of the United States of America, and he sells his news network to a clearly anti-American news channel called Al Jazeera. Are you kidding me?"

"That is just crazy," co-host Steve Doocy agreed. "But, you know what? Being a great American businessman, he was -- his first instinct, like Brian pointed out -- he was trying to save as much money as he could. We don't like the tax policy that he likes, but that was his inclination."

During a second Fox News segment later in the morning, guest Matt McCall said that Gore was now linked with terrorists because he was doing business with Al Jazeera.

"Remember after 9/11, al-Qaeda," McCall remarked. "That's who they gave the voice too, really? I mean, again, this is somebody who ran for president of the United States, he's trying to back the green, he's trying to back our country. At the same time, he's selling out to a country -- not saying Qatar's bad -- but they do have the support behind them of some of these terrorist groups and they let them get their voice across on their network."

"So, to me, he's now associating himself with al-Qaeda," he added. "And to me, that is actually disgusting what he is doing."

According to a 2005 report, a classified transcript indicated that then-President George W. Bush told then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he wanted to bomb Al Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar in 2004 because of the network's negative coverage of the Iraq war. The classified transcript came after the U.S. military fired a missile at offices the television network was using in Iraq in 2003. At the time, officials said that they believed the building was being used by al-Qaeda.

After launching Current TV in 2004, Fox News owner News Corporation -- and CEO Rupert Murdoch -- agreed to pay the network lucrative licensing fees and distribute it to 20 million homes through its DirectTV broadcast satellite service provider.

(h/t: Mediaite)

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Poor, poor Wayne LaPierre. He's just been treated so unfairly by that evil "liberal media" that they love to demonize over at Fox. I wonder when Michelle Malkin is going to talk to her Uncle Rupert, because it seems there's a problem with some mixed messaging when it comes to whether NRA head LaPierre is being treated unfairly or if we should rightfully believe he's nuts.

Maybe someone can ask Malkin to go read these headlines first before she pretends it's just liberals that have a problem with LaPierre and his organization: New York Post, Daily News Blast NRA Speech (PHOTOS).

Regardless of what Rupert's publication thinks, here was Malkin on Fox & Friends this Saturday, attacking liberals for rightfully going after LaPierre and his bizarre, tone deaf press conference this week, and right in there with wingnuts like Rick Perry and company that want to arm school teachers.

Michelle Malkin Responds to Left-Wing Gun Backlash: ‘NRA Has Been Demonized by Crazed, Anti-Gun, Liberal Media’:

Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin weighed in on Fox and Friends this morning about yesterday’s remarks from NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, which have triggered outrage among liberals and gun control advocates.

In the group’s first news conference since the Sandy Hook massacre last Friday, LaPierre addressed the press, calling for every school in the United States to implement a protection program, saying that guns in the hands of “good guys” is the only means to stop evil among us. [...]

Malkin believes the NRA has been demonized by the “crazed, anti-gun, liberal media,” adding that the ideas proposed by LaPierre have been embraced by some school districts, specifically in Texas and Oklahoma where teachers legally carry firearms in school.

Malkin also called out hypocrisy on the left, especially among celebrities who hire armed guards themselves at times, but then criticize the NRA’s position that possessing a firearm is necessary for self-defense.

“There’s this attitude of ‘armed guard for me, but not for thee,’” she said. Malkin went on to address another topic: the fights that have erupted in malls over Air Jordan sneakers in several states, including one incident in Texas where two people were killed.

I guess Malkin doesn't realize that there's a difference between armed security guards who are trained and specialize in providing security for someone, and the NRA's position which is to just put as many guns as possible into the hands of anyone that wants one, no matter how or if they're trained to handle the weapons, if they store those weapons safely, if they're emotionally and mentally competent and regardless of their background. Just arm everyone and anyone with any weapons they want is always the NRA's solution to everything.

And it's a hell of a leap to compare celebrities who can afford private security to wanting to force school teachers to do double duty and carry firearms in our schools. We all know Republicans hate those "union thugs" and want their wages slashed and their unions busted. Now they think they should have to provide armed security for their students as well. And as Lawrence O'Donnell reminded us Friday evening, that armed sheriff`s deputy at Columbine High School years ago didn't do those students a bit of good.

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CNN host Howard Kurtz on Sunday blasted News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch for an "atrocious" suggestion that stereotyped the "Jewish owned press" as having a hidden agenda.

In a tweet on Saturday, Murdoch had lashed out at what he called the "Jewish owned press" for its coverage of a recent conflict between Hamas and Israel.

"Why is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?" he wrote.

The Daily Beast's Peter Beinart quickly noted that Murdoch's tweet managed to offend both journalists and Jews.

"It’s offensive to journalists because it implies that institutions of the 'press' should reflect the ideological biases of their owners," Beinart wrote. "Reading Murdoch’s tweet, it would be logical to conclude that he believes that any newspaper he owns should reflect his right-wing views, even in its news coverage."

"Murdoch’s tweet is offensive to Jews because he’s suggesting that when it comes to Israel, Jewish media-owners should let their Jewishness guide their journalism. ... Murdoch seems upset that Jewish media owners are not Israel-firsters. He wants their tribal loyalty to a Jewish state to trump their professional obligation to oversee fair-minded, unbiased journalism."

In his Sunday media analysis on CNN, Kurtz also tore into Murdoch.

"Last night, he went beyond outrageous to offensive," the media critic said of Murdoch, observing that most media organizations -- with the exception The New York Times -- were owned by public companies like Viacom, Comcast, Disney and Time Warner.

"And beyond that, this media mogul who isn't shy about interfering in his own newsrooms is suggesting that Jewish Americans have a hidden agenda in which their religion trumps their commitment to journalism," he added. "That is atrocious and it is beneath Rupert Murdoch."

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I've been arguing this for weeks on The Professional Left Podcast, and want it to be in writing, on the record:

I don't think Mitt Romney wants to win this election.

It's not just that an obviously competent businessman (in terms of making capitalism work for him) is having such a hard time managing a staff of incompetents. Your own spokesman claims your message is like an etch-a-sketch and goes completely off message on whether Obamacare is a tax. You claim you like firing people, but this guy is still on your staff.

Another staffer misspells "America" and "Reagan" and more on campaign projects. You claim you like firing people who don't provide good service. Even Rupert Murdoch can't figure out why you're holding on to these staffers. The elephant in the car elevator is, you don't want to be President.

And really, Mitt, who can blame you? You're a billionaire who has a newly renovated house in California (one of six) and a great life ahead of you as a grandfather, dressage horse investor, and glad-handing board room man about town. Being the Republican nominee against Barack Obama in 2012 puts you in the history books without inconveniencing you into having to, you know, govern.

And trust me, Mitt, Fox News and Rush Limbaugh don't want you to win, either. Their bottom line is only secured with four more years of Obama bashing. And betcha ten thousand dollars Michelle Malkin already has a book contract for Spring 2013 to write some lie-fest entitled "Eric Holder, Worse than Seven Hitlers." You'll ruin all her plans if you actually win.

In the meantime, we can't wait to watch the horse ballet that is called the Romney 2012 campaign. Hint: make Bachmann your running mate. And put her in charge of messaging.

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Here's the latest on News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch's troubles in the U.K. where he denied to a British court that he's ever used his political power to get favorable treatment for his business interests. I sincerely hope we see some fallout over this scandal carry over to the United States after the damage his corporation has done to our political system in this country with leading the way in propagandizing the American public.

Rupert Murdoch tells British court his political clout is overstated:

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch denies using his News Corp. newspapers to advance his business interests. 'I've never asked a prime minister for anything,' he says.

He's hobnobbed with every British prime minister of the last 30 years but says he wields no undue political influence. His scandal-loving tabloids strike fear into the hearts of decision-makers, but he denies ever using his newspapers to advance his commercial interests.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch cast himself as the very model of a modest, upright newspaperman Wednesday, insisting in a London courtroom that any suggestion to the contrary was based on lies and legends.

Here was his chance, he said before a judge, to set the record straight: that for all the talk of his political clout through publications like the mass-market Sun, he never took advantage of it, and that he expects those who work for him to adhere to high ethical standards.

"That is a complete myth, that I used the influence of the Sun or supposed political power to get favorable treatment," Murdoch testified, declaring, "I've never asked a prime minister for anything."

And as for allegations of corporate misdeeds, "I try very hard to set an example of ethical behavior, and I make it quite clear that I expect it," the Australian-born billionaire said.

Forget that the reason he was summoned to appear in court in the first place was because of the phone-hacking scandal engulfing his giant News Corp., which sparked a judicial inquiry into media practices. Or that dozens of journalists at Murdoch-owned papers have been arrested in wide-ranging investigations into illegal reporting methods, including bribing police.

The man at the top remained unruffled at the inquiry through four hours of questioning on his media empire and its effect on public life here in Britain, where Murdoch, 81, owns several national newspapers, including the Sun, the Times of London and the Sunday Times.

Much more there so go read the rest. Video above is from BBC World News' coverage of the latest on the scandal.

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More trouble for Uncle Rupert and his son James as the inquiry into the hacking scandal continues.

British Cabinet Minister Becomes Focus in Murdoch Inquiry:

The long-running tabloid newspaper scandal that has shaken Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire delivered a new jolt on Tuesday as its powerful and lucrative television operations moved to the center of a British judicial inquiry with disclosures that a senior cabinet minister, or at least an aide claiming to speak for him, worked covertly to help win approval for a $12 billion takeover of the BSkyB network.

A trove of newly released e-mails pointed to hand-in-glove collaboration between a lobbyist for Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation and the office of Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt, the official designated to pass judgment on the BSkyB bid. That deal, which would have crowned Mr. Murdoch’s 60-year media career, was scuttled last year as the scandal over illicit phone hacking exploded, and now appears out of his reach for years, if not permanently. Read on...

James Murdoch on the defensive over BSkyB bid:

James Murdoch came to the Leveson inquiry to defend his reputation, and ended up spending much of the remaining six and half hours on the stand in effect defending the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

But his robust defence of News Corporation's insider lobbying tactics was not matched by such a sure touch elsewhere, as his evidence revealed him to be incurious about phone hacking and uninterested in newspapers.

The media mogul said that his chief lobbyist, Frédéric Michel, was simply "doing his job" in his briefings again and again on titbits obtained from ministers and their special advisers with regard to the BSkyB bid. For all the information he received, Murdoch remained sceptical.

Continue reading »

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Apparently the Snowbilly from Wasilla didn't get the memo from Uncle Rupert yet that Mitt Romney won the Fox Republican primary race. Sean Hannity does his best here to get Sarah Palin to attack Rick Perry for calling Mitt Romney a vulture capitalist and looks pretty dismayed after Palin says Romney should both release his tax returns and substantiate his claim that Bain Capital created 100,000 jobs net/net.

Palin keeps this up and she might not get invited back on the Republican propaganda network again any time soon. Although Perry staying in the race will just make sure the Christian conservative vote remains split so that Romney can pull out another win in South Carolina even though most Republican voters can't stand him, so it's entirely possible that Hannity and Palin are just being too cute by half and playing a game of good cop/bad cop here with their debate on Perry.

I've recently caught a number of people in the media already asking if the attacks on Romney now are coming too soon to help Obama in the general election and asking if they're going to be "old news" when he's going to get these same sort of attacks from the Democrats. If I don't hear the majority of our talking heads in the corporate media pretending that future attacks on Romney's time at Bain don't mean anything because this topic has already been rehashed and vetted during the primary race and that voters supposedly aren't going to care about in the general election due to that, I'll be shocked. It will be their excuse not to report on it once more voters start paying attention to the presidential race.

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While most Americans are focused on the upcoming Iowa primary race and who's up and down in the polls among the GOP presidential primary contenders, Rachel Maddow asks, just who is winning the Murdoch primary, a subject as she noted that TPM's Josh Marshall started writing about back in August of this year.

Into the Fast Lane:

All eyes are on Ames today. Except all the eyes on Rick Perry’s announcement in the aptly picked state of South Carolina. But wherever you point your eyes we’re now getting into the first real round of winnowing in the Republican presidential field. [...]

But watching Fox News’s coverage today reminded me of another primary which may be as important as New Hampshire or South Carolina in the GOP nominating process: the Murdoch primary.

Murdoch’s role in getting behind one or the other national candidates (parties) in UK elections is quite open. Cameron’s need to ease Murdoch back behind the Tories actually played some small role in his entanglement in the phone-hacking scandal. But that’s a story for another day. The process is somewhat known in New York, where the Post speaks for the Murdoch clan. But it’s no less true in UK national politics. Murdoch virtually always gets behind the Republican. But the question is, which one. And of course it’s not just the New York Post. It’s the centerpiece, Fox News, and for the more upscale folks it’s the new prize: the Wall Street Journal.

It’s one thing when the Republicans are out of office you can go to town trying to make a star out of a Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin. But now that we’re moving into the fast lane, what kind of treatment does Bachmann get in the Murdoch press? Even more interesting to watch will be the treatment of Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, the two men who at the moment at least appear to stand a real chance of securing the nomination. [...]

Keep watching: the coverage will be the tell.

And as Rachel asked, after watching the contrast between Bret Baier's grilling of Mitt Romney this Wednesday night and then Baier subsequently going on the air with Bill O'Reilly and basically accusing Romney of being a whiner and Newt Gingrich's hour long softball interview with Sean Hannity, which of those candidates are currently winning the Murdoch primary?

Media Matters has more on the Fox primary and who they've been giving air time and favorable coverage to here -- The Fox Primary By the Numbers, November 14 - 20.