***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***
In a thought-provoking conclusion to Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Norah O’Donnell seemed inspired by the friendship between former Republican President George W. Bush and liberal comedian Ellen DeGeneres, and encouraged viewers to seek out people of a different political opinion and befriend them.
Before getting to the report about Bush and DeGeneres at the recent Dallas Cowboys game, O’Donnell shared a disappointing study about how politics was stressing people out and damaging close friendships.
“And a new study finds nearly 40 percent of us say politics is to blame. Some say it's affecting their health. Others claim they've lost sleep over the subject. And 20 percent say political differences have damaged a valued friendship,” she reported ahead of a commercial break. “So on that note, coming up next, two very famous people prove it doesn't have to be that way.”
Coming back from the break, O’Donnell began the final segment my lamenting, “we thought we'd address kindness, civility, and politics, which don't seem to be mentioned in the same sentence much these days.”
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