[5:20] Between the Gore and Carter speeches, Keith Olbermann on MSNBC discussed the Teresa Kerry "shove it" story; Fox News was busy covering the Lori Hacking story, and the major networks won't pick up until Bill Clinton's speech. Olbermann's choice of topics certainly doesn't reflect any particular bias, but he did refer to the Pittsburgh newspaper in question as "ultra-conservative", and mentioned that the reporter involved didn't deserve the treatment he received "even if he's from the Beijing Fascist Times". That's an odd choice of terms, considering that Beijing is controlled by Communists, not Fascists. Pat Buchanan and Bill Press ([it didn't work at CNN; why is MSNBC wasting their time with these two? -- ed.]) are on with Olbermann to comment. Or would be if Press' satellite connection worked.
[5:35] Over on CNN, Wolf Blitzer, Judy Woodruff and another reporter whose name SC didn't catch, are talking with Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan. Blitzer couldn't resist asking if Granholm, a Canadian by birth, would like to see an amendment allowing naturalized citizens to run for the presidency. Sucking up isn't exactly bias, but it was painful to watch. Fortunately, Governor Granholm was having none of it. Nothing all that terribly exciting, though.
[5:45] Bill O'Reilly is finally covering the convention, and has Ralph Nader on. Nader's not looking very amused; Gore just basically told the audience where Nader could go (without mentioning him by name). O'Reilly's pressing him on foreign policy, though, not convention-specific material. O'Reilly: "Last question, Ralph. Do you think Osama likes you? [emphasis in O'Reilly's intonation]". Considering that a frequent GOP talking point is the idea that bin Laden and associates would consider a Democratic win (or at least a Republican loss) to be a victory for themselves, a la Spain, the topic isn't unreasonable to broach, but that phrasing is, as O'Reilly says about something at the end of every show, ridiculous.
[5:50] Keith Olbermann, breaking from the convention to cover other news for a minute, announces that the exciting news of the day is that...Saddam likes muffins. I'm not making this up. He's trying to be funny, but his delivery is awful. Go back to ESPN, Keith, you were much better on SportsCenter.
[5:55] O'Reilly shows footage of himself having it out with Michael Moore in a Boston parking lot over Moore's refusal to come on the show. With cameras rolling, Moore and O'Reilly agree on a format and a length of time (about 8 minutes). SC will have to catch this tomorrow.
[6:00] Chris Matthews is asking Andrea Mitchell and Joe Scarborough about the grist for the base coming out tonight. Consensus answer from them is that they have to get past tonight to start focusing on their actual agenda; tonight's just to get the already-committed riled up. Can't transcribe all of the dialogue quickly enough, but Matthews' questioning doesn't strike me as especially partisan. Jimmy Carter's about to speak, though, so that'll wrap the comments for now.
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