Tuesday's Morning Joe treated the conviction of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich as a relatively minor affair, and gave it little to no coverage save a brief discussion about the supposed injustice of the process. “It's any other day and that's any other news story,” said Mika Brzezinski, who appeared annoyed at being asked to cover the story at all. Later, she insisted “We're not going to waste the first block on this.”
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My first reaction to this was, “Well, if this became a common practice, at least we'd hear the word 'unexpectedly' a lot less often.” Over at Mediaite on Friday (some R-rated content is at link;
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It seems no matter what Sarah Palin does or doesn't do, she's going to be lambasted by America's press – even the supposedly “conservative” ones. On Tuesday's “Morning Joe,” co-host Joe Scarborough used Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's successful campaign launch as a means of bashing the former Alaska governor (video follows with transcript and commentary): JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: And what a contrast, Andy, with Sarah Palin. And there’s going to be this contrast for some time. Of course, Sarah Palin’s people now are conducting outreach to Iowa activists. She obviously can’t love what’s happening with Michele Bachmann. But just think: had Sarah Palin a year ago surrounded herself with professional handlers where, not to tell her what to say or how to act, but, but to stop her from doing some self-destructive things. It’s like when Roger Ailes, who runs Fox News and knows a little bit about these things. Roger Ailes said, “Don’t put out that thing on Facebook after Gabby Giffords (unintelligible).” She ignored Roger, and she paid for ignoring Roger. She doesn’t listen to people. Michele Bachmann does, and it makes a difference. First off, why do people in the media – even the supposedly “conservative” ones – think Palin isn't happy with Bachmann's success? Doesn't this assume she's going to toss her hat into the ring and therefore sees the Minnesota Congresswoman as a competitor? If the opposite is true, and Palin has no intention of running next year, at least not for president, she might be thrilled with Bachmann's success. She could be exuberantly cheering her fellow Tea Partier on as Bachmann likely more closely echoes Palin's conservative views than most of the other Republican presidential candidates that have announced. As I like so many observers believe the former Alaska governor is not going to run and instead is biding her time to not only have some influence over the 2012 platform but also to decide who she's going to throw her support behind, it is quite possible in the coming months we're going to see these two ladies on the same stage with one quite happily endorsing the other. As such, Scarborough and his compatriots in the media on both sides of the aisle gleaning some de facto competition between these women are making an assumption that could be tremendously false. As for Ailes recommending Palin not respond to the Tucson shootings, does that mean he was right? People all throughout the liberal press were blaming the former vice presidential candidate for Giffords' shooting. Should she really have stayed quiet and not defended herself? The idea that Palin's response to that incident hurt her is largely in the minds of her detractors who will attack her no matter what she says or does. At this point in time, is there really anything this woman could do that would get the approval of folks like Scarborough and his colleagues? Beyond which, why do the press see Bachmann and Palin as being tied at the hip? Does every action by one have bearing on the other? Fortune magazine editor Andy Serwer pointed this out to Scarborough. There is indeed an odd sexism going on here that presumes that every discussion about Bachmann has to involve Palin and vice versa. Until the moment that Palin actually does enter the race, can't these women be judged independently, or is that asking too much?
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Shocked Michele Bachmann Said ‘Iowa’ 14 Times During Speech In Iowa
June 27, 2011 No Comment
For months, NewsBusters has been alerting readers that the media scrutiny on every word uttered by Republican presidential candidates this election cycle will be like nothing we've ever experienced. MSNBC's Chris Matthews perfectly demonstrated this on Monday's “Hardball” when he not only took Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to task for mistaking the name of the town John Wayne was born in, he also expressed shocked that she would say “Iowa” fourteen times during a speech given in – wait for it! – Iowa (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Next, Bachmann plays fast and loose with the facts — again. Here she is in Iowa talking up the state's favorite son, the man known as the Duke, John Wayne. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHELE BACHMANN: What I want them to know is just like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa, that’s the kind of spirit I have, too. It's really about not being ashamed of America. It's embracing America. (END VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEWS: Well, she almost got it right. Actor John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa, about three hours away, though his parents briefly did live in Waterloo, before he was born. Isn't that terrible? Bachmann mistook Waterloo for Winterset. Horrors. To put this in some perspective, as NewsBusters reported last week, President Obama on Thursday said he had literally awarded a Medal of Honor to one Jared Monti, meaning in person while he was alive. Unfortunately, Monti was bestowed this honor posthumously in 2009 having been killed in Afghanistan three years prior. Obama later apologized to the family for his misstatement. Despite the seriousness of this gaffe, Matthews has yet to report it. In fact, according to LexisNexis, through Sunday, not one television news network has. But in Matthews' sickeningly biased world, a Republican presidential candidate mistaking the names of two small towns in Iowa is far more calamitous. Not done with the Bachmann bashing, the “Hardball” host next took issue with her actually referring to Iowa while speaking in Iowa: MATTHEWS: Speaking of Bachmann, it’s time for tonight's big number. Besides that John Wayne gaffe, the Congresswoman today left no doubt as to the focus of her campaign. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) BACHMANN: It is so great to be here in Iowa…I grew up here in Iowa…This part of Iowa…My Iowa roots…Iowa values…Iowa roots…Iowans…Iowa's…Iowa..Iowa…Iowa… Thank you, Iowa. (END VIDEO CLIPS) MATTHEWS: Wow. Well, all in all, fourteen mentions of Iowa in a short speech. The kickoff, fourteen mentions, tonight's big number. Short speech? Hardly. It lasted 22 minutes, which means Bachmann referred to Iowa roughly every one a a half minutes. Imagine that – a political candidate actually repeating numerous times the name of the state she not only grew up in, but was also speaking in front of. But Americans shouldn't be shocked by this. As I've been predicting for months, if you thought the behavior of our news media in 2008 was deplorable, what they're going to do in the next roughly year and a half in order to get Obama reelected is going to be like nothing you imagined in your wildest dreams. Every “i” not dotted and “t” not crossed by a Republican candidate is going to be played over and over again by the current White House resident's press minions. By contrast, Obama will be able to step over his tongue at will – even claiming a fallen soldier is actually alive – and these same media members will totally ignore it. What this means is GOPers are going to have to pitch a perfect game every time they're in public, for there are people in the new and old media waiting to record and publish every so-called misstep – even the number of times the name of a state is repeated. As Bette Davis famously said in “All About Eve,” “Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.”
Continue reading …Bashing Bachmann: A Review of Liberal Media’s Most Obnoxious Attacks on the GOP Presidential Contender
June 27, 2011 No CommentToday's official announcement by Republican Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann that she is running for the GOP nomination for President could spawn a whole new round of frenzied attacks by the liberal media on the Tea Party favorite. A review of the MRC's archives shows a particular disdain for Bachmann coming from the likes of MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who once accused her of being a “zombie,” even going as far to ask her on live Election Night coverage if she “hypnotized?” Not to be outdone, Matthews' former colleague Keith Olbermann claimed Bachmann's rise to Tea Party prominence was because she was one of the “evolutionary regressives” that appealed to, as actress Janeane Garafolo, put it, “the white power movement” of “tea-baggers” and “9-12ers.” The following is a collection of some of the left-wing media's most obnoxious quotes about the congresswoman: (videos after the break) Chris Matthews: “Congresswoman Bachmann, are you hypnotized tonight? Has someone hypnotized you? Because no matter what I ask you, you give the same answer. Are you hypnotized? Has someone put you under a trance tonight? That you give me the same answer no matter what question I put to you?” Rep. Michele Bachmann: “I think the American people are the ones that are finally speaking tonight. We're coming out of our trance….I think people are thrilled tonight. I imagine that thrill is probably maybe quite not so tingly on your leg anymore.” — From MSNBC's election night coverage, November 2, 2010 MSNBC's Chris Matthews: “Let's listen to Michele Bachmann, your new boss. By the way she may be a zombie answering to somebody out there — Boris Karloff, I don't know who's giving her orders — but here she is on the debt ceiling. Let's listen to her.” Clip of Michele Bachmann: “I am not in favor of raising the debt ceiling. As a matter of fact, I have a petition that I'm urging people to sign at MichelePAC.com to urge their member of Congress not to raise the debt ceiling.” Matthews: “Do you hear that? Who does she get her orders from?” — Matthews to GOP strategist Todd Harris on Hardball, January 4, 2011
Continue reading …… And after Maddow had spoken so glowingly of an FBI strategy for capturing notorious fugitive mobster Whitey Bulger. Or did she? Rachel Maddow made a curious disclosure on her MSNBC show Friday after interviewing former Boston Globe reporter Dick Lehr, co-author of “Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob,” about Bulger's court appearance that day in his native Boston (video clip after page break) — I should note that we had scheduled interviews tonight with the U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts responsible for prosecuting the Bulger case and with the head of the Boston FBI office. Those interviewed were scheduled for tonight, they were confirmed and then both guests backed out. No comment. Gee, without even telling you why? An explanation that could easily run along these lines — yes, we agreed to come on your show — until we saw a clip in which it seemed to us that you mocked our tactics. Tactics which, not incidentally, resulted in two high-profile arrests. It was probably when Maddow asked in mock excitement last Monday, mimicking FBI officials, “Do you think we can get on 'The View'?!” that she crossed the line into disparagement, suggesting that FBI investigators were motivated by little more than self-promotion. And, even worse, are fans of “The View.”
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Slams ‘Evil’ Rush Limbaugh for Spreading Climate Change ‘Lies’
June 22, 2011 No Comment
A frothing Chris Matthews on Wednesday excoriated Rush Limbaugh as “evil” for spreading “lies” about global warming. The Hardball host highlighted a new Rolling Stone article by Al Gore that chides Barack Obama for not doing enough on climate change. Matthews, however, chose to attack the real culprits, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh: “These people are evil in what they're doing. I'm not saying their souls are evil, but what they're doing is really, really wrong and it's not the President.” [See video below. MP3 audio here .] The MSNBC host declared no room for debate on global warming, announcing, “But here is a fact on the table. Global warming, climate change, Rush Limbaugh says stuff that…is just not true. I never use the word lie, but it's appropriate here.” Piling on, Matthews accused Limbaugh of being disingenuous: “Rush Limbaugh is not a stupid person. Glenn Beck is not stupid. They're saying it on purpose.” After calling Limbaugh “evil,” Matthews compared him to a raging inferno: “Churchill, my hero, said this once, 'I refuse to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire.' The President is the fire brigade on this. He may not be the greatest fire brigade, but damn it, he's not the fire. Glenn Beck is. Rush Limbaugh is the fire.” “Evil” is a term Matthews likes to throw around. He previously used the word on Newt Gingrich and mocked him for looking like “the devil.” [Thanks to MRC intern Alex Fitzsimmons for the video.] A partial transcript of the segment can be found below: 06/22/11 5:18 CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, what do you think is the problem? The Republican Party are basically aligning themselves as anti-science, with some exceptions like Huntsman. They're willing to go out there and say they believe the world is about 5,000 years old. They basically go back to fundamentalist views about creationism and they really don't have any problem being anti-science. Isn't that really the problem? Not that Gore has a problem with Obama? Where's the problem with climate change? Isn't it that half the country is being sold nonsense? 5:23 MATTHEWS: Have we ever had a time where one side is willing to just say something- We can argue about wars and there's always issues of values and measuring facts. But here is a fact on the table. Global warming, climate change, Rush Limbaugh says stuff that is just non- well, is just not true. I never use the word lie, but it's appropriate here. JOAN WALSH: It is, it is. MATTHEWS: People like, you know, Glenn Beck, I heard him months or years ago on the radio before he was on TV saying there's no climate change, playing, pandering to these business types, pandering to people who don't want to deal with reality. These people are evil in what they're doing. I'm not saying their souls are evil, but what they're doing is really, really wrong and it's not the President. It's this corrupt media on the right. You know, it's corrupt media on the right. WALSH: Because- It's money. Well, serving the interest- MATTHEWS: They're making good salaries telling people what they know is not true. Rush Limbaugh is not a stupid person. Glenn Beck is not stupid. They're saying it on purpose. … MATTHEWS: I would just say about our President, and he is our president, on my issues, he's always my President, on some of the big ones like climate change, race, things like that, wars. My belief is this: Churchill, my hero, said this once, I refuse to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire. The President is the fire brigade on this. He may not be the greatest fire brigade, but damn it, he's not the fire. Glenn Beck is. Rush Limbaugh is the fire. The Chamber of Commerce, the Wall street Journal editorial page, they are the fire. Let's not forget it
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Click here to view this media Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Monday finally got to tell a television audience why he had been banned from MSNBC for the past year. “Well, it seems your old boss had a little problem with me,” Moulitsas told Keith Olbermann on Current’s premiere episode of Countdown . “I was under the impression that you were in charge of your own guests, that you could decide who could speak on your show… Turns out Joe Scarborough has veto power over who can speak on everybody else’s shows.” “I got in a little Twitter war with him,” he explained. “Apparently I made him cry. He went crying to Phil Griffin, your old boss.” The “Twitter war” had begun after Scarborough criticized the media for not covering a story about the White House allegedly offering a job to Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA). “Like story of a certain dead intern,” Moulitsas tweeted , referring to the death of Lori Klausutis, a staffer working for Scarborough when he was a congressman in 2001. “So, I found it kind of bizarre that the lowest rated morning show host in all of cable news at the only show on cable news that could crack Fox News’ stranglehold on the top ten,” Moulitsas told Olbermann Monday. “Yours was the most successful show, not just on MSNBC but one of the most successful shows on cable. Yet, Joe Scarborough, such a loser host, was dictating who you could talk to.” “Well, that’s kind of sad story you just told us there, Markos,” Olbermann admitted.
Continue reading …Cable Magazine Columnist Jokes About ‘Redneck Channel’ for Fox Fans With ‘No Interest in Fair or Balanced’
June 21, 2011 No Comment
In Broadcasting & Cable magazine's latest issue, columnist Ben Grossman joked that he'd just returned from a fishing trip in Sitka, Alaska, and is almost a redneck. But his contempt for rednecks came through loud in clear. The column was titled: “Steal This Idea, The Redneck Channel.” (It's not online.) Grossman suggested the redneck Fox fans he met demonstrated “This demo largely has no interest in fair and balanced.” As if brie-and-Chablis PBS liberals don't want their news delicately slanted all to one side? The Minnesota-based columnist really mocked this “type of people” and their strange habits: Believe me, when you are sitting at a lodge full of people full of a certain type of people – ones that come from all over the country, by the way – you can see some trends. For instance, doctors who treat lip and gum cancer are going to be driving nice cars for a while, because chewing tobacco is still the breakfast of choice for many. But I also watched the TV viewing habits of these folks, and bundled together, it confirmed for me one beautiful concept: The Redneck Channel. A large text box unveiling “This Saturday on the Redneck Channel” included snarky liberal listings like this: 9-11 a.m. HUNTING PROGRAMMING: Two hours of men (and the occasional woman) in camouflage going into the woods and shooting large animals with a rifle or bow and arrow, then hugging each other a little more tightly than you’d expect… 11 a.m-1 p.m. FISHING PROGRAMMING: Two hours of shows about men sitting on boats catching big fish, then hugging a little more tightly that you’d expect…. 4 p.m. THE BEST OF THE O’REILLY FACTOR: This demo largely has no interest in fair and balanced , and they love the Fox News star. Grossman clearly doesn't watch enough O'Reilly to know he's likely to put on more liberals each week on his one-hour show than the MSNBC lineup will put on conservatives in all of prime time. And the proposed evening lineup is even dumber: 9-11 p.m. NIGHTLY MOVIE: In which a minimum of 25 people must die, and there can be no stupid B-story focusing on a love angle of any kind. 11 p.m. THE TV ASSAULT HOUR BROUGHT TO YOU BY SONY: A highlight show featuring clips from Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and MSNBC prime-time shows. Intended to get true rednecks pissed off enough that they smash their TV, and when they go to replace it, all the Sony ads persuade them to buy one of their new sets. Rednecks are apparently, to this amateur anthropologist, a set of rage-filled Incredible Hulks with a large credit line at Best Buy. We could create an Elitist Snob Channel for intolerant people who hate rednecks — but PBS already exists.
Continue reading …Lawrence O’Donnell Bashes Chris Wallace’s Ratings Despite Having Half The Viewers
June 20, 2011 No Comment
Monday appeared to be the day that MSNBC commentators bashed the ratings of Sunday political talk shows other than NBC's “Meet the Press.” After Chris Matthews ridiculed ABC's “This Week” despite it having more than three times his audience, Lawrence O'Donnell went after Chris Wallace and “Fox News Sunday” (video follows with transcript and commentary): LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Well, I think, you know, Jon Stewart’s point about Fox News has Chris Wallace on there just so they can say they have him, just so they can say they have a reasonably fair Sunday morning show. It comes in dead last in the ratings. David Gregory just kills it, you know, by a million miles. So it isn't there as a real business. It's just there as a fig leaf for the Fox News people to claim there's a news show Sunday morning. “David Gregory just kills it, you know, by a million miles.” Really? According to TVNewser, “[W]hen the two cable replays on Fox News are taken into consideration, 'FNS' draws more viewers than 'Face the Nation' or 'This Week.'” What shills like O'Donnell choose to ignore is that “Fox News Sunday” airs on two different channels: FNC on cable and regular broadcast Fox. When organizations like Nielsen rank these Sunday shows, they only factor in the broadcast ratings. Add in those watching “FNS” on FNC and it normally comes in first. As “Meet the Press” typically averages about 3.5 million viewers every Sunday, that means “FNS's” combined numbers are greater than this. If O'Donnell thinks this isn't a “real business” model for Fox, what does he think of the roughly 1.5 million viewers he gets each day – 57 percent less than Wallace! – during the combined airings of “The Last Word?” Oh. That's right. MSNBC isn't in this racket to make money. This is liberal advocacy plain and simple no matter the cost – as long as the new owners at Comcast are willing to go along with it, that is.
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