Every two weeks, the Media Research Center compiles the most outrageous liberal media quotes for our Notable Quotables newsletter. For the issue dated Monday, January 24, it’s a special edition, “ Conservatives in the Crosshairs ,” documenting the smarmy attempt by the liberal media to link conservatives — especially Sarah Palin, talk radio and the Tea Party — to the horrific shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords that left six others dead. After the jump, you'll find some of the choicer quotes we’ve uncovered, including three video clips. The full issue will be available at www.MRC.org by 9am Monday: First Impulse: Let’s Blame Conservatives Arizona Daily Star columnist/cartoonist David Fitzsimmons: “I must tell you as a columnist who has covered politics in this state, it was inevitable, from my perspective.” Anchor Martin Savidge: “Why do you say that?” Fitzsimmons: “Because the right in Arizona, and I’m speaking very broadly, has been stoking the fires of a heated anger and rage successfully in this state….The politics of the state does tend to be far to the right. I would say even rabid right.” — Exchange at about 2:30pm ET during CNN’s live coverage of the Giffords shooting, January 8. Fitzsimmons later conceded his remarks were “inappropriate.” “Remember, this is the deepest fear that was in the back of everybody’s mind going through the health care debate. A lot of members were threatened. Congresswoman Giffords’ windows at her district office were broken….There is [sic] a lot of fringe groups that were very upset with the health care law, felt that the federal government was overstepping its bounds, and that was in — within everyone’s mind. It looks sadly like it’s come to fruition today.” — NBC/MSNBC correspondent Luke Russert during MSNBC live coverage at about 3:30pm ET January 8. “We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was. She’s been the target of violence before….Her father says that ‘the whole Tea Party’ was her enemy. And yes, she was on Sarah Palin’s infamous ‘crosshairs’ list. Just yesterday, Ezra Klein remarked that opposition to health reform was getting scary. Actually, it’s been scary for quite a while, in a way that already reminded many of us of the climate that preceded the Oklahoma City bombing….Violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.” — New York Times columnist Paul Krugman in a 3:22pm ET January 8 blog posting , less than two hours after news broke of Giffords’ shooting.
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Slams ‘Older White People’ for Still Having a ‘Problem’ With Obama
January 17, 2011 No Comment
Appearing on MSNBC, Monday, to promote his new special on Barack Obama, Chris Matthews attacked “older white people” for still holding bigoted feelings against the first African American President. Lavishing praise on younger Americans, he added, “And I think that's a generalization and I'll stick with it. I think younger people do not see race as an obstacle.” He then touted the “non-judgmental” attitude of Obama voters, fawning, “In fact, they say [race is] irrelevant and don't even notice it, whereas older people notice it all the time.” If “older white people” are focused on race, Matthews could certainly be one of them. On January 27, 2010 , after Obama's State of the Union address, he oddly alerted, “You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour…I was watching, I said, 'Wait a minute. He's an African-American guy in front of a bunch of other white people, and there he is, President of the United States, and we've completely forgotten that tonight.'” [See video below. MP3 audio here .]
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Click here to view this media Fox News contributor Mara Liasson said Sunday that while defending use of gun imagery, Fox News employee Sarah Palin actually admitted that political discourse can cause violence. Following a shooting in Tucson, Arizona that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in the hospital, Sarah Palin attacked critics who said that her political advertisement that put gun sights over Giffords’ district had had created a dangerous environment for the congresswoman. Palin defended herself by saying, “Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.” The term “blood libel” was historically used as an excuse to persecute Jews. “Here she is saying, when you talk about blood libel, that is the definition political discourse, a manufactured lie causing violence,” noted Liasson. “In this case she paints herself as the potential victim.” “Here she is agreeing with the left that political discourse can cause violence.” Fox News pundit Brit Hume attempted to disagree but Liasson stood her ground. “Yes, that’s exactly what blood libel is. You make up a lie about someone, you make a false accusation that causes violence against Jews, for instance,” she said. “All I’m saying is that it struck the wrong tone on a whole lot of levels.” Fox News pundit and notorious neoconservative Bill Kristol also thought Palin made a mistake with her video but he employed his own violent metaphor while making his point. “If you want to be a presidential candidate then you should let other people answer your critics and you should deal with things a sort of a presidential level and it wasn’t necessary for her to defend herself,” he said. “Probably one of the things you should do — either when you are governor or running for president — is that you should pick your fights a little more carefully and what is the expression?” “You don’t shoot down. She shouldn’t be fighting with Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann or Paul Krugman.” “I hope I didn’t incite anyone to shoot down,” he added.
Continue reading …Mark Levin Threatens to Sue Matthews, Olbermann, Schultz and Anyone Tying Him to Tucscon Shootings
January 14, 2011 No Comment
For going on six days, dishonest media members have blamed prominent conservatives for inciting last Saturday’s tragedy in Tucson. On Wednesday, radio host and attorney Mark Levin threatened to sue anyone – including MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Joe Scarborough – that tried to tie him to that event (YouTube audio follows with transcript and commentary): MARK… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : NewsBusters Discovery Date : 14/01/2011 14:03 Number of articles : 9
Continue reading …Term ‘Blood Libel’ Used on MSNBC in 2000 in Reference to Bush, In 2006 to Kerry Without Objection by Network Hosts
January 13, 2011 No Comment
While the liberal media, particularly Obama acolytes at MSNBC, immediately jumped down former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's throat for her use of the term “blood libel” in a video statement yesterday, it appears the network has not always thundered with righteous indignation at the use of the term. Tthere was no reaction from MSNBC's Chris Matthews in 2000 when Jack Kemp used the term to describe a harsh radio ad the NAACP had used against then-Gov. George W. Bush (R-Texas) nor in 2006 when Mike Barnicle used the term in reference to Sen. John Kerry having been criticized by a group of Vietnam War swift boat veterans. Kemp used the term on the December 19, 2000 edition of “Hardball,” while he and Matthews were discussing why so few black Americans actually voted for Bush. In that exchange, Kemp lamented as “blood libel” a harsh ad the NAACP National Voter Fund ran that suggested Bush had blood on his hands for failing to support a hate crimes bill. Here's the relevant portion (emphasis mine): KEMP: …I think racial reconciliation in America is a key issue, a very important issue, and I've got to say this as a Republican, and the party of Lincoln cannot lose 92 percent of the African-American vote any more in this century.
Continue reading …David Brock Explains to Chris Matthews That Beck Has Been Responsible for Three Thwarted Assassination Attempts
January 13, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Apparently Chris Matthews doesn’t follow any of Media Matters reporting or what David Neiwert and others have been documenting here at Crooks and Liars for some time now since he appeared to be completely unaware that there have been numerous assassination attempts where the perpetrators were fans of Glenn Beck. Heaven forbid that might entail some time… you know… reading and researching a bit instead of talking over his guests or repeating the latest Villager common wisdom talking points of the day. During a discussion about Sarah Palin’s latest attempt to feign victim-hood to deflect criticism of her crosshairs map, Media Matters’ David Brock pointed out to Matthews that yes, words do sometimes have real world consequences when it comes to riling up mentally unstable people who take to heart the type of eliminationist rhetoric we’ve seen from the likes of Palin and others, and in these cases, Glenn Beck. BROCK: But this is not street theater, as you know. Glenn Beck himself has been responsible for three thwarted assassination attempts this year. And Sarah Palin — (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: How is he responsible for them? BROCK: Well, you want to know what they are? MATTHEWS: You said it. BROCK: Sure. So, he burned Nancy Pelosi in effigy on his set. He tried to poison her with a chalice. OK. Some three weeks later, somebody tried to firebomb Nancy Pelosi`s house. That guy`s mother went on television and said he gets all his ideas from FOX News. Do you know about Senator Patty Murray and the death threat that she got? MATTHEWS: No. Go ahead. BROCK: OK. It`s recorded. The guy says after the health care vote, he says, you have a target on your back and I can accomplish what I want to accomplish with one bullet. He`s tried, convicted, and in the sentencing phase, his cousin writes in for leniency and she describes in a very chilling memo — it`s on our Web site — that he was slowly drawn into Glenn Beck`s world. And she portrays the guy, the attempted assassin, Charlie Wilson, as a victim of Beck. And, number three, which you probably do know about, this liberal foundation in San Francisco was targeted by a gunman, Byron Williams, in June. The shooter gave jailhouse interviews — and we published them — and he says Glenn Beck is a schoolteacher on television and points to specific episodes of the Glenn Becks show that inspired him to do it. MATTHEWS: Oh, God. Maybe someone can ask Chris Matthews or his staff to spend a little time taking a look at Media Matters site before he has another one of their contributors on as a guest again. Full transcript here .
Continue reading …Tea Party Successfully Pushes Wake County School Board To Turn Back The Clock, Re-segregate Schools
January 13, 2011 No CommentThe Teabaggers are a bunch of white cranks who really are nostalgic for the “good” old days, huh. For people who are so careful about denying any racism in their ranks, I’d say that fighting for segregation doesn’t do much to convince people otherwise: Tea party groups have succeeded in reversing nationally praised school integration policies in Raleigh, North Carolina, decrying the longstanding system as one of social engineering. The Washington Post reports that tea party pressure has motivated Wake County School District’s largely Republican school board to abolish policies the newspaper describes as “one of the nation’s most celebrated integration efforts.” “Say no to the social engineers!” was one of their slogans. The Post hails the existing system as a “rarity,” noting that some of the county’s “best, most diverse schools are in the poorest sections of this capital city. And its suburban schools, rather than being exclusive enclaves, include children whose parents cannot afford a house in the neighborhood.” The school board is instead considering a system in which poor children are relegated to low-income neighborhood schools, moving away from its current policies where most schools have students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Critics have sharply denounced the new plans as a form of segregation, noting that poorer children are often minorities and arguing that the new tea party-backed ideas will lead to a new cycle of poverty for the less fortunate. Chief among them is the NAACP, which has slammed the effort as discriminatory and a new type of racial segregation, and has filed a civil rights complaint in an effort to protect hundreds of students from having to transfer out of their schools. “So far, all the chatter we heard from tea partyers has not manifested in actually putting in place retrograde policies,” NAACP president Ben Jealous told the Post. “But this is one place where they have literally attempted to turn back the clock.”
Continue reading …Imus Rips ‘Angry,’ ‘Vile,’ ‘Psycho,’ ‘Spittle-spewing’ Chris Matthews for Attacking Mark Levin
January 13, 2011 No Comment
As NewsBusters previously reported , Chris Matthews on Tuesday blamed conservative talk radio hosts Mark Levin and Michael Savage for supposedly creating the climate of hate that led to Saturday's shootings in Tucson, Arizona. On Wednesday, FBN's Don Imus and his sidekick Bernard McGuirk responded to the “angry,” “vile,” “psycho,” “spittle-spewing” MSNBCer (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
Continue reading …Chris Matthews’ Violent Imagery: ‘Sarah Palin is Going to be Erased as a Potential Candidate’
January 12, 2011 No Comment
While lambasting Sarah Palin for using violent imagery with her now infamous crosshairs election strategy map as well as her “Don't Retreat – RELOAD” Twitter posting, MSNBC's Chris Matthews used an expression concerning the former Alaska governor that could easily be misconstrued as a threat. While chatting with Cynthia Tucker and Richard Wolffe on “Hardball,” the host said, “If she doesn't get off of this and stop trying to have somebody else skate her off of it like Glenn Beck or this person Mansour, she is going to be erased as a potential candidate” (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
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