Free Republic

Tom Brokaw's two-hour flashback to 1968 is refreshingly far more complex than simply one of those groovy nostalgia pieces on those wacky days of sex love and rock 'n' roll.Viewers will get the good, the bad and the cultural confusion of the time in the compelling History Channel special "1968 with Tom Brokaw" (9 p.m. Sunday). Brokaw connects the period to the present - "1968" becomes a kind of Rorschach test for one's current political and social values."I think 1968 was probably the worst year in this nation's history," conservative Pat Buchanan says in the film.On the other hand: "It...

NEW YORK (AP) _ A former Emmy-winning television producer who worked with Tom Brokaw at NBC News died Monday after falling from his apartment building, police said. Police initially reported that the producer, Eric R. Wishnie, was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene, but later they said they had located a witness who saw him as he fell from an adjacent building. The medical examiner's office said it had scheduled an autopsy. NBC News President Steve Capus said in a statement that Wishnie, 44, was "an enormously talented former senior producer at NBC News, who had a hand...

The Bush administration: a bigger threat to national security than a foreign spy. That was Tom Brokaw's implicit assumption in his interview with former CIA Director George Tenet on this morning's "Today." Along the way, Brokaw accused former Defense Secretay Donald Rumsfeld of running a "rogue" intelligence operation. BROKAW: In the opening passage you describe conversations in the Clinton administration between the Palestinians and the Israelis attempting to get some sort of a new peace arrangement. But the Israelis were demanding the release of Jonathan Pollard, a United States military intelligence analyst who had been selling them secrets, who's...

A cable news program was temporarily replaced with hard-core pornography, shocking viewers who had been watching a health show featuring former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. The incident Monday night on KPPX-TV was “an act of human sabotage” at the Phoenix-area station, said ION Television, which operates the station. “We have launched a rigorous investigation, and any implicated employees will face strict disciplinary action and termination,” ION Media Networks spokeswoman Leslie Monreal said in a statement. Brenda Schodt, of Chandler, said she was shocked to look up and see graphic sex acts on her television screen. “Maybe five or 10...

YORK -- People all over a large part of New York City are smelling a gas, and it's not clear where it's coming from. Numerous people have called 911 concerned about the odor. Con Edison, the Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating. PATH service has been suspended into the 33rd Street station. Service is still going into the World Trade Center station. Macy's department store has been evacuated, according to reports. There also are unconfirmed reports of a similar smell across the river in New Jersey. People between Midtown and Battery Park are reported to be smelling...

In what could very well turn out to be a case of shooting the messenger -- or something close to it -- a security guard who used his cell phone to produce the video of the execution of Saddam Hussein that was broadcast throughout the world has been arrested by Iraqi authorities. The Washington Post, which reported the arrest, identified its source as Sadiq al-Rikabi, the political adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who told the newspaper that the release of the footage was "not something proper or acceptable. ... We needed just a small piece [of footage] about the...

Appearing on this Boxing Day edition of the Today show to plug tonight's airing of "In the Shadow of the American Dream," the latest in the “Tom Brokaw Reports” series, the former Nightly News anchor offered a variety of views on the subject of illegal immigration straight out of the amnesty-crowd playbook.View video here.Annotated excerpts: "It's not going to work to send everybody back." Why not? And if sending illegals home isn't the solution, how about drying up the jobs here so they will have their own motivation to return home? "I don't think you can build the highest...

Confusion on Today: Brokaw Says US Had 'No Allies' in Iraq After Lauer Calls Blair 'War Ally' Posted by Geoffrey Dickens on December 7, 2006 - 14:10. It seems Matt Lauer and Tom Brokaw can't get their story straight. On this morning's Today show Brokaw falsely stated the U.S. went to war in Iraq without allies but apparently this was news to Matt Lauer as he opened the show identifying British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a "war ally." Appearing live from Pearl Harbor, Brokaw comparing World War II to the current action in Iraq declared: "The irony of course is that we're trying...

In a fine example of life imitating a Marx Brothers movie – which should give you a clue as to what should be done with your drinking vessels! – Republicans on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works issued a press release Wednesday concerning a documentary that former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw has done for the Discovery Channel about global warming (hat tip to NRO’s Media Blog). No matter how hard you try, you just can’t make this stuff up: “Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw’s lack of objectivity and balance on the issue of global warming appears...

I don't know how they did it this quickly, but this children's radio show makes fun of Brokaw and his new love of Gore's environmental insanity. They nail Brokaw's voice, too. It's just past the video promos.

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

by Mark Finkelstein February 1, 2006 - 08:20 Liberals hate to be accused of having a pre-9/11 mentality. But how else can you describe it when two leading MSM lights dismiss the war on terror as a political ploy that President Bush has taken to "extremes"? That's exactly what happened on this morning's Today show. Matt Lauer, conducting a SOTU post-mortem interview of Tom Brokaw, wrote off the W's war on terror as a political tactic: "The president talked about this fight against "radical Isam" [note that Lauer raised his hands, painting scare quotes in the air around the term]...

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

Yaa, you repukes are not doing so well, huh? Imagine, you repukes control the presidency, both houses of Congress, and appointed 7 of the 9 Supreme Court justices. Yet the Supreme Court thre out sodomy laws in all 50 states and recognized the right of government to seize land for any reason. And you couldn't pass your Social Security changes could you? Sorry, that was your last shot. Come November, we're going to start seeing more Democratic faces in the House. It's the end for you guys. You guys are celebrating when Bush's numbers go *up* to 45%. Then Faux...

Bush’s giant Right Wing Noise Machine (RWNM) loves to preach about the Bush economic miracle. In fact, the RWNM’s current thinking is Bush doesn’t spend enough time talking about his economic triumphs. If only he did, then everyone would fall in line and believe in the great Bush economic miracle. There is one problem with this argument: it’s a lie. Any way you look at the Bush economy, it comes up short. Today, I want to compare Bush’s job creation record with other economic recoveries. As usual, Bush comes up way short. The national Bureau of Economic Research has identified...

Why does anybody support George w Bush as President? He is clearly the worst President I have ever seen -- a complete disaster. And before you say anything, I have been a registered Republican for 25 years.

Media dinosaurs gaze in the mirror as disaster looms By JONAH GOLDBERG THE YEAR-ENDING edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press” offered an excellent glimpse at why the elite mainstream media as we know it is facing extinction.“Meet the Press” host Tim Russert invited NBC’s Tom Brokaw and ABC’s Ted Koppel to ladle out some observations from their deep wells of wisdom for all of the world to imbibe. These three giants of television journalism tut-tutted about one government failure after another, from the Katrina response to the government’s inability to provide health care for everybody to our dismayingly low taxes....

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

Broadcast veterans Tom Brokaw and Ted Koppel agree that Bill Clinton would have gone into Iraq just like George Bush if he were still president in 2003. Appearing on "Meet the Press” with Tim Russert, Brokaw and Koppel also agreed that the press shouldn't be judged too harshly for not pursuing questions about claims of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. According to a transcript appearing in Editor & Publisher, Koppel defended the media’s treatment of the WMD claims: KOPPEL: In large measure, when the president and his top people tell you, as they did, "Here's our perception of what...

Watching Tom Brokaw, Ted Koppel and Tim Russert this past Sunday wasn't quite like seeing dinosaurs asking each other what's happened to all the tasty fronds, but the year-ending edition of NBC's "Meet the Press" offered an excellent glimpse at why the elite mainstream media as we know it is facing extinction. No doubt intended as a grand treat for the viewing audience, "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert invited NBC's Tom Brokaw and ABC's Ted Koppel to ladle out some observations from their deep wells of wisdom for all of the world to imbibe. These three giants of television...

"You can call me anything you want, but do not call me a racist," said an indignant President George Bush on Dec. 12, commenting on the despicable, opportunistic suggestion that any inadequacies in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina were due to racism. But veteran network media giants Ted Koppel and Tom Brokaw don't quite see it that way. Indeed, they don't appear to see eye-to-eye with President Bush on much of anything if their joint interview with Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press" is any indication. Russert was uncharacteristically tame..

NEW YORK Appearing on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert this week, two broadcast veterans, Tom Brokaw of NBC and Ted Koppel...declared that Bill Clinton would have gone into Iraq just like George Bush if were still president in 2003. Along with Russert, they also argued that it was a "uniformly held belief" that Saddam Hussein had WMD when the Iraq war began. KOPPEL: I mean, the only difference between the Clinton administration and the Bush administration was 9/11. BROKAW: Right. KOPPEL: If 9/11 had happened on Bill Clinton's watch, he would have gone into Iraq. BROKAW: Yeah. Yeah.

"You can call me anything you want, but do not call me a racist," said an indignant President George Bush on Dec. 12, commenting on the despicable, opportunistic suggestion that any inadequacies in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina were due to racism. But veteran network media giants Ted Koppel and Tom Brokaw don't quite see it that way. Indeed, they don't appear to see eye-to-eye with President Bush on much of anything if their joint interview with Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press" is any indication. Russert was uncharacteristically tame toward these two, offering them repeated softballs concerning...

It was a year of goodbyes -- some noble, some less so -- as journalism's old guard departed from the spotlight. And it was a year when some of media's biggest institutions started thinking, in earnest, about reinvention. Dan Rather took his colorful metaphors and erratic temperament from CBS in March, his reputation marred by a flawed report about President Bush and the National Guard. Peter Jennings, suave and substantive, died tragically of lung cancer in August. Ted Koppel, who brought wit and heft to late-night news, left ABC's ''Nightline" in November, headed for less grueling work at HBO. Aaron...

The Talk Shows Sunday, December 25th, 2005 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; musician Wynton Marsalis; and Sen. David Vitter, R-La. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw and former ABC "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel. FACE THE NATION (CBS): CBS News correspondents review 2005 and a look ahead at 2006. THIS WEEK (ABC): Former Secretary of State Colin Powell and author Peggy Noonan.LATE EDITION (CNN) : No broadcast.

Lies of omission about 9/11 -- stoking fears of terrorism THEY WANT YOU TO BE AFRAID The following post was censored by freerepublic.com shortly after it was posted on their "public" forum on 9/11/04. That forum is designed to appear as though it is a community forum open to all, but this post only received three responses before it and its replies were deleted, and a repeat posting at 4 am PST on 9/20/04 didn't stay online for 5 minutes! Someone is apparently watching closely over the content of the freerepublic.com forums and censoring them 24/7 (though they might have...

Executives at ABC and CBS News can be relieved this week that, unlike with Hurricane Katrina, their Rita coverage didn't appear seriously affected by voids at the chief anchor position left by the late Peter Jennings and Dan Rather. It's been more than five months since both men last anchored the evening news. ABC is conducting its search for a successor very privately. CBS has struggled, although it gave itself the bigger challenge. NBC's ratings spiked high in the wake of Katrina and the very visible work of its anchorman, Brian Williams. Even though its anchor decision hasn't been made,...

Last year Tom Brokaw bought a Montana "dude ranch" with several others, including Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, actor Michael Keaton, one of the other partners, revealed on Wednesday's Late Show with David Letterman. The February issue of Sunset magazine reported the purchase and how the buyers turned the ranch into a private fishing camp, but didn't mention Rubin's involvement: "Last spring...an out-of-state partnership including former anchorman Tom Brokaw and actor Michael Keaton purchased a 640-acre ranch for a reported $8 million, creating a private hunting and fishing preserve." Back on the May 12, 1999 NBC Nightly News, the...

The rapidly disappearing cohort of Americans that endured the Great Depression and then fought World War II is receiving quite a send-off from the leading lights of the so-called 60s generation. Tom Brokaw has published two oral histories of “The Greatest Generation” that feature ordinary people doing their duty and suggest that such conduct was historically unique. Chris Matthews of “Hardball” is fond of writing columns praising the Navy service of his father while castigating his own baby boomer generation for its alleged softness and lack of struggle. William Bennett gave a startling condescending speech at the Naval Academy a...

America's three original network news shows face the same momentous choice at nearly the same time: Pass the torch to a new anchor who, each hopes, has the gravitas to hold viewers and win new ones, or break with a star-driven tradition developed back in television's Pleistocene era and try something different. This moment of transition - brought on by the departures of Dan Rather at CBS and Tom Brokaw at NBC, and now Peter Jennings's decision to curtail appearances on ABC's news broadcasts - brings into stark relief some of the ongoing challenges for the networks. Even with established...

Once upon a time, way back in 1987, Mike Wallace and Peter Jennings took part in a seminar filmed for PBS entitled "Ethics in America" where they were placed in a hypothetical setting accompanying an enemy patrol during a Vietnam-like war. What would you do, they were asked, if American soldiers were about to be ambushed by these enemy troops? Wallace declared emphatically, and Jennings with some trepidation, that as "journalists" they would not interfere to save American lives but would simply report the event as it occurred; that their first duty was not to their country or countrymen but...

The best editor in America today isn't a journalist. He's Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, also known as the "Instapundit." He's endangering my livelihood. I used to say that I was in a declining industry, but fortunately, I was declining faster than it was. Now I'm not so sure. Journalists tend not to like bloggers, because they report on errors we make. Dan Rather and former New York Times editor Howell Raines are unemployed chiefly because of the vigilance and tenacity of bloggers. (We journalists rarely turn the spotlights we use on business leaders...

The retirement of NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw may be the beginning of the end. Dan Rather claims his earlier than expected retirement from CBS Evening News had nothing to do with his Memogate scandal. But we all know better. Peter Jennings may be safe at ABC World News Tonight, for the time being, but the same can't be said for Nightline's Ted Koppel. Two years ago, ABC nearly dumped Koppel as it pursued David Letterman. Although ABC eventually backed off, Nightline's meager ratings and suspect credibility has indicated the end is near. Nightline's executive producer, Leroy Sievers, was...

In tonight's broadcast, Lisa Myers contributed a report about young Saudi terrorists fighting US forces in Iraq. The report included interviews of some of their families and commentary on the origins of these terrorists. The most remarkable aspect of this report was Myers' use of the word "terrorist" instead of "militant" or "insurgent" to describe these terrorists. It has been some time since I've seen an Old Media report use the word "terrorist" other than when quoting a source.

“The story is true. The story is true. I appreciate the sources who took risks to authenticate our story. So, one, there is no internal investigation. Two, somebody may be shell-shocked, but it is not I, and it is not anybody at CBS News. Now, you can tell who is shell-shocked by the ferocity of the people who are spreading these rumors.” – a shell-shocked Dan Rather desperately trying to defend his use of fraudulent documents to misrepresent George Bush’s National Guard service (September 10, 2004) In the midst of an internal investigation, Dan Rather announced that next March he...

You will not believe this. Tom Brokaw is doing an "Eyewitness to History" on MSNBC showing all the hsitorical events he has covered. When he talked about September 11, he remarked about the flag raising by the New York firefighters. Guess what he showed as the actual flag raising? The politically correct United States Post Office "photoshopped" image showing two mintorities in the group of three (all Causcasian in real life, actual event). He has spent the whole night showing actual film footage of historical events then when he showed this, he referred to it as what he actually witnessed....

Brokaw, Rather, Jennings and other old lions know a new age is coming, and so they're muttering a bit as they leave the stage. Who can blame them? The world in which they acquired wealth and celebrity has crumbled with startling speed. A new order has arisen. Journalism, no longer a redoubt of the illuminati, has become a vessel of grubby democracy. Anybody — literally, anybody — can play these days. They can insert their views in a weblog. They can call talk radio. Eccentric plutocrats, such as George Soros, get to spend bundles on advertisements in any and all...

Laura's Weekly E-Blast http://www.LauraIngraham.com December 3, 2004 WHY I WON'T MISS TOM BROKAW So, are you holding up out there? Do you think you can drag yourself through the day? What do you mean you're okay? Don't you realize that NBC's Tom Brokaw has finally--really, officially, sort of, at least until his next Dateline report--left your living room? And are you really prepared for that day in the spring when CBS's Dan Rather will trot off to that unknown frequency? The networks and their buddies in the mainstream papers have been blubbering about these stories weeks. For Brokaw's departure we...

On his final night as anchor of "NBC Nightly News," Tom Brokaw was watched by about as many people as was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" on Wednesday.

There he goes. Out with a Nielsen bang. NBCNEWS Brokaw pulled an audience larger in size than rivals Jennings and Rather, combined, for his farewell broadcast Wednesday evening. The 10.6 rating/19 share for NBC NIGHTLY NEWS came in at the high end of the network's internal projections, increasing the pressure on incoming Williams to retain momentum. CBS EVENING NEWS faded to 4.3 rating/8 share; ABC WORLD NEWS 6.5/11. Developing...

Good night, Tom. An emotional Tom Brokaw, 64, signed off from the "NBC Nightly News" yesterday for the last time, thanking viewers of his top-rated evening newscast for watching him, his co-workers and especially "The Greatest Generation" of World War II veterans he has profiled so often in several books. "Whatever the story, I had only one objective — to get it right," he said in the closing moments of the broadcast as he recounted what he has learned after nearly 23 years in the anchor chair. "[The Greatest Generation] did not give up their personal beliefs and greatest...

How many of you turned of Hannity today (radio show) while he sucked up to Brokaw? Suck up show... I tuned out after 2 minutes.

When Tom Brokaw signs off his last NBC ``Nightly News'' program tonight (at 6:30 on WHDH, Ch. 7), it will mark the end of an era on network television.      Since 1982, Brokaw, 64, has been the anchor and managing editor of what is now commercial television's most popular evening news program.      Brokaw, along with Dan Rather at CBS (who announced his March retirement last week) and ABC's Peter Jennings, defined the medium's news operations for two decades, a remarkable run in a transitory business.      But it's a different broadcast world now, and Brokaw seemed to sense that.      He chose to...

Brokaw Astonished Over NYTimes Reporter Being Banned By White House Tue Nov 30 2004 10:09:36 ET Outgoing NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw was asked on MSNBC's HARDBALL Monday if the Bush White House has been tough with the press corps, citing as an example of Dick Cheney stipulating no NEW YORK TIMES reporters on his trips. Brokaw said, "I think they have been too tough. "The idea that this White House has not given Tom Friedman a long, in-depth interview is astonishing to me. I have had a very good relationship with them, I have gotten to interview the President a...

The NBC nightly news anchor talks to TIME about his career, Dan Rather and terrorism After 21 years as anchor of NBC nightly news, Tom Brokaw, 64, steps down this week. He may have started a trend: his CBS rival Dan Rather announced last week that he will give up the anchor chair in March, leaving ABC's Peter Jennings as the last of the three old lions who have personified network news for two decades. TIME's Richard Zoglin got in some last questions. Why retire now? I wanted to change seasons while I still had my physical and, to some...

Sunday, Nov. 28, 2004 9:27 p.m. EST Brokaw: Rather Made a 'Very Big Mistake' Just retired NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw, who defended Dan Rather against charges that he used forged documents to attack President Bush three months ago, now says that he thinks the CBS anchor made "a very big mistake." Asked about the forged document story by Rather's "60 Minutes" crew, Brokaw tells Time magazine this week, "Well, it appeared to me that they made a very big mistake. But I'm willing to wait for the results of the investigation." Brokaw said that while Rather had a long...

Is anyone else watching this Brokaw farewell thing? It is making me glad he is leaving. It goes out of it's way to mock Bush and glaze over the Clinton era. I guess we can expect that from such sore losers. Anyways, in it Brokaw claims that when he went to Iraq before the war, he saw that the people would form an insurgency and that he tried to convince the White House not to go to war. He continues to say that basically he predicted everything that happened in Iraq, not at all mentioning just how terrible Iraq was...