Chuck Hagel

NBC continues to lead the way in belittling any and all Republican attempts to stand up to President Obama. On Sunday’s Today, David Gregory rehashed the common left-wing talking point that Republicans are opposing Obama at every turn merely for the sake of being obstructionist.  Commenting on Republican opposition to the Chuck Hagel nomination, Gregory said, “There’s no question that…

PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff had a rough night on Friday, putting her outrage at Republicans ahead of the facts. In her "Shields and Brooks" segment with liberal Mark Shields and former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson (subbing for David Brooks), she guessed "The Republicans, I gather, we're told, it is unprecedented, blocking the nomination -- or the confirmation so far of the man…

Newt Gingrich had a fabulous exchange with the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus on ABC's This Week Sunday that really speaks volumes about the media's reaction to Republican Senators filibustering Chuck Hagel's confirmation as Defense Secretary. When Marcus spouted the typical liberal commentator line "Republicans just want to make themselves look even more obstructionist with a country that’s…

The Republican filibuster of Chuck Hagel for defense secretary is utterly unprecedented, claims an insistent Rachel Maddow -- providing that you ignore previous examples of filibusters aimed at cabinet nominees. On her MSNBC show last night, Maddow described GOP use of the filibuster to block Hagel's nomination as seismic in significance and astronomically rare in frequency. Not surprisingly…

Following the failure of former Senator Chuck Hagel to receive enough votes in the Senate on Thursday to be confirmed as defense secretary, NBC, ABC, and CBS all immediately turned their ire on Republicans for daring to object to President Obama's appointment. On Friday's NBC Today, news reader Natalie Morales fretted over the "partisan standoff." In the report that followed, chief White…

On today’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough repeated the fib that our country is currently operating without a secretary of defense. After playing a clip of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) explaining the Republican ill will toward nominee Chuck Hagel, Scarborough unleashed his venom: You know... for the 66,000 troops currently serving in Afghanistan and for the families all across America this…

The same network that wondered if Sen. Rubio's sip of water was a "big deal" is now asking just why Republicans are "so fixated on Benghazi" when they asked Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel about the Libya fiasco. "This, despite testimony on Benghazi from General Petraeus, Hillary Clinton, Admiral Mike Mullen, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, General Martin Dempsey, among others. But it'…

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer didn't have much sympathy for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) claim that Thursday's failed cloture vote on the Chuck Hagel Defense Secretary nomination "is one of the saddest spectacles I have witnessed in my 27 years in the Senate." Appearing on Fox News's Special Report, Krauthammer said, "Perhaps he needs an antidepressant. I'd be happy…

For daring to oppose Chuck Hagel's nomination to be Secretary of Defense, Chris Matthews on Thursday snarled that Ted Cruz is the new Joe McCarthy. Comparing the Republican senator from Texas to liberalism's highest villain, Matthews ranted, "You know, I don't often say it, and I rarely say it, but there was echoes of Joe McCarthy there. Really strong echoes." [See video below. MP3 audio here…

MSNBC's Martin Bashir made a bit of a fool of himself Thursday surprisingly with the assistance of NBC News's Kelly O'Donnell. When Bashir claimed the just-ended failed cloture vote on Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary was "an example of the fractures in the Republican Party because at the beginning of the day we didn't think that Harry Reid would get any Republican votes," O'Donnell…

From the day President Obama nominated him, the New York Times has oozed sympathy for the plight of Chuck Hagel, Obama's nominee for secretary of Defense. Times reporters have warned darkly of the disappearance of congressional "comity" and "courtesy" (as if the clubbiness and glad-handing endemic to the U.S. Senate represents some shining exemplar of good government) among Republicans, who…

Updated below page break: Politico covers for Reid with an update to their story | Responding to a NewsBusters.org telephone inquiry, a senior Defense Department official reacted to the claim made earlier today by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that at noon today the office of Secretary of Defense would be vacant. Panetta would remain on the job until such time as his successor was both "…

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) vowed Sunday to block the cabinet confirmations of John Brennan and Chuck Hagel if he doesn't get full disclosure from the White House concerning the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last year. Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, Graham said, "No confirmation without information."

Complaining about Senate Republicans being dissatisfied with former senator Chuck Hagel's refusal to turn over information related to speeches he delivered that were financed by foreign sources, MSNBC's Tamron Hall this afternoon took a conservative blogger out of context to suggest that even conservatives were frustrated with how the Senate GOP -- which, by the way, is the minority party in…