Lesley Stahl Didn't Do Her Job on 60 Minutes

Tonight's Bedtime stories begins with the CBS News magazine's profile of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. And: Donald Trump's date in court this week. Plus: The blue checkmark controversy at Twitter

Hello on this Sunday, April 2, 2023. Colonizer Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain on this day 510 years ago. He never did find the famed Fountain of Youth. De Leon returned in 1521 but died in Cuba of a mortal wound when Native Americans let him and his landing party know they were not welcome.

Here now the News

THIS IS DONALD TRUMP’S LAST NIGHT AT MAR-A-LAGO: Well, I mean, at least until Tuesday. He’s scheduled to leave his Florida resort for Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan tomorrow, and return from his historic indictment in New York City on Tuesday to deliver a big speech! —WPEC

• WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TUESDAY’S INDICTMENT: CNN

• TRUMP USING ANTI-SEMITIC TROPES TO GET DONATIONS: USA Today

MTG ON 60 MINUTES: CBS News

• “SOFTBALL INTERVIEW:” The Daily Beast

THE VIEW BEFORE IT AIRED: “You’re legitimizing a ghoul who harasses victims of school shootings, @60Minutes,” West Wing actor Bradley Whitford tweeted on Saturday. “But yeah, @LesleyRStahl, you’ll get tons of attention! Not great for a generation traumatized by gun violence. Shame on you.”

• Mary Trump, the former president’s niece, tweeted:

Mary L Trump @MaryLTrump

Hey, @60Minutes -- I fixed it for you.

AFTER: Some condemned, some praised:

Victor Shi @Victorshi2020

I’m disgusted. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s 60 Minutes interview was replete with lies. She offered the same, dangerous nonsense as always & it was sickening. We should all be outraged that she was given a national platform by CBS to do this. Unforgivable on every level.

David Hogg ☮️ @davidhogg111

This is a hot take but I’m glad 60 minutes gave Marjorie Taylor Greene airtime. It’s important to interview one of the main leaders of the Republican Party so the American people know everything and I mean everything they support. Including denying school shootings.

MY TAKE: It’s my opinion that it’s wrong to attack CBS News for interviewing Rep. Marjorie Greene. 60 Minutes has been interviewing controversial figures for generations, and MTG is certainly newsworthy. There’s not a chance in hell the profile that aired tonight won her any more supporters or cost her any. But what I take issue with is correspondent Lesley Stahl and her failure to keep pushing back when the Georgia congresswoman spouted lies about Democrats being pedophiles. That’s debunked, nonsense bullshit. And it’s Stahl’s job to press an interview subject over and over again. In my opinion, as a journalist with four decades of experience, she didn’t do her job.

I shared my thoughts on Twitter tonight, in conversations with my followers, journalist Parker Molloy, designer Michael Okuda and actor Wilson Cruz:

Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) @lifeafterdawn

.@60Minutes You let us down, again. #LesleyStahl focused on the tiny community of detransitioners in 2021 instead of shedding light on how most #trans people live happy lives. Tonight, she let the opportunity to push back on #MTG's lies about trans kids slide with a "wow."

Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) @lifeafterdawn

@ParkerMolloy Disappointed in Stahl for not directly responding to @RepMTG when she repeated the lie that "Democrats support, even Joe Biden, the president, supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do." "Wow" is all she said.

Michael Okuda @MikeOkuda

ATTN: CBS NEWS. On journalism: "If someone says it's raining, and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the fucking window and find out which is true." - @sheffjournalism

Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) @lifeafterdawn

@MikeOkuda @sheffjournalism On that, we agree! Mike Wallace would never have let her get away with the shit she said. Stahl pushed back but not nearly enough. Not by a mile.

Wilson Cruz @wcruz73

Complicit. @60Minutes is now complicit in giving these fascist a platform to spew their ignorance and hate. What the hell is wrong with you? https://t.co/FjapG8pkJT

60 Minutes @60Minutes

“They failed us.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said of the GOP in Congress. She blames traditional Republicans, not former President Trump, for not getting enough done. “The president doesn't control everything,” she said. https://t.co/0lodl8akpF https://t.co/iS6HNbbS6M

Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) @lifeafterdawn

@wcruz73 @60Minutes On this I guess we have to disagree. She is a controversial figure and thus newsworthy. 60 Minutes has been interviewing newsworthy controversial figures for decades. But I'll give you this: Stahl is no Mike Wallace. She should have pushed back harder. She let MTG off the hook.

Wilson Cruz @wcruz73

@lifeafterdawn @60Minutes She didn’t challenge her at all! That would’ve been a different story.

Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) @lifeafterdawn

@wcruz73 @60Minutes Well no, at least once, when MTG first called Dems pedophiles, and close to a second time, and then when MTG brought up trans surgeries for kids, Stahl should have shut her down with FACTS and instead simply said, "Wow." That's not goddamn good enough, Leslie. KIDS ARE AT RISK!

MORE DEADLY TORNADOES: More than 30 people killed in the latest storms ravaging the South, Midwest and even Mid-Atlantic states. —Washington Post

POPE LEADS PALM SUNDAY MASS AFTER HOSPITAL STAY: NBC News

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT: ABC News

TWITTER REMOVES SOME BLUE CHECKS BUT NOT ALL: The New York Times lost its “verified” marker, reports the Washington Post, but actor William Shatner didn’t. I myself never got one and won’t pay for one.

William Shatner @WilliamShatner

I can live with this. This is a good compromise @elonmusk. 👍🏻 My best, Bill

Star Trek Corner

NEXT NEW SERIES ANNOUNCED: Starfleet Academy is to begin production in 2024: startrek.com

DID YOU EVER WONDER WHAT “NCC” STOOD FOR? Gamerant.com

STAR TREK DISCOVERY STARS ON THE RED CARPET AT THE GLAAD AWARDS: Read my story and check out my photos in the Los Angeles Blade

PICARD SHOWRUNNER EXPLAINS THE “RETURN” OF JAMES T. KIRK: TrekMovie

• HOW TO VIEW THE ENTIRE SEASON OF STAR TREK PICARD AND PAST STAR TREK EPISODES: Click here to subscribe to Paramount+

That’s all for tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with another look at the news you need to rise up and start your day. Until then… Good night, and good luck!

© 2023 EnniBuddy Productions - All Rights Reserved