CBS's Lesley Stahl Gushes: Obama Picked a 'Mediator' 'in His Own Image' for the Supreme Court

Published: 5/11/2010 6:00 PM ET

60 Minutes journalist Lesley Stahl on Monday appeared on Morning Joe and touted Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick as a "mediator" who was chosen "in his image." The CBS correspondent enthused that a conciliator is "what [Obama] was." [Audio available here.]

Continuing the media spin that Elena Kagan might not be a liberal, Stahl proclaimed the judge's moderation: "And that he went for that instead of a brilliant ideological liberal to sort of balance Scalia."

In a seemingly contradictory moment, Stahl extolled, "I love that she's a woman and it's not a big deal." But, she then lobbied for a quota system for females on the court: "And we need to have six. We're halfway there."

The 60 Minutes reporter didn't offer examples when she hyped Kagan as a peacemaker: "You know, this idea that he has chosen a mediator, because that's what her claim to fame was, that she could bring the two parties together, he really chose someone in his own image 'cause that's what he was."

The MRC's Brent Baker observed on Monday that ABC and NBC failed to identify Kagan as a liberal. CBS offered only a passing reference to her left-wing perspective.

A transcript of the exchange, which aired at 8:07am EDT on May 10, follows:

LESLEY STAHL: Part of the issues that were discussed leading up to this is that all members of the current court came out of the judiciary. And there was a little bit of pressure for him to pick someone who didn't. Here's what I love: I love that she's a woman and it's not a big deal. I was wondering when we were going to get to that point, and we're there. So that's wonderful.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: I think it was a big deal before Barack Obama that we only had one woman on the Supreme Court.

STAHL: Exactly.

SCARBOROUGH: Talk about an embarrassment. Now we're going to have three.

STAHL: And we need to have six. We're halfway there.

SCARBOROUGH: Six. You're half way there.

...

LESLIE STAHL: You know, this idea that he has chosen a mediator, because that's what her claim to fame was, that she could bring the two parties together, he really chose someone in his own image 'cause that's what he was. And that he went for that instead of a brilliant ideological liberal to sort of balance Scalia-

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And someone who could be there for decades, 50 years old.