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1. Matthews: Huckabee & Thompson 'Fanatics,' Obama 'Really Cool' Appearing Wednesday night on NBC's Tonight Show, MSNBC's Chris Matthews suggested Republicans are like Iraqi factions, with a "fanatics" wing, and oozed over Barack and Michelle Obama, hailing them as "really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy," insisting it's a "spiritual experience" to attend an Obama rally. When asked by Jay Leno about the uncertain Republican primary forecast, Matthews argued: "They got their Shia wing, the fanatics. They've got Huckabee. This where I get into trouble. This is just where I get into trouble. Huckabee and Thompson are the Shiites." Matthews also went into a typical swoon for his favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama: "If you're actually in the room when he gives one of his speeches, and you don't cry, you're not an American." Matthews could not help slipping into a sales job for Barack and his wife Michelle: "They're cool people. They are really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy when you see them together. They are cool. And they're great-looking, and they're cool and they're young, and they're -- everything seems to be great. I know I'm selling them now....But the fact is, I wouldn't be an honest reporter if I didn't tell you what the spiritual experience is like of being in a Barack Obama rally." 2. Left-Wing Pressure Leads Matthews to Apologize for Hillary Remark Bowing to pressure from left-wing groups, MSNBC's Chris Matthews spent the first five minutes of Thursday night's Hardball personally apologizing to Hillary Clinton for insinuating that she owed her political success to sympathy derived from having endured Bill Clinton's unfaithfulness. At the top of the show Matthews begged for forgiveness: "Some people I respect, politically concerned people like you who watch this show so faithfully every night, people who care about this country think I've been disrespectful for Hillary Clinton, not as a candidate, but as a woman....Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depending on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying. And it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, normally like me." 3. Cafferty Sees Hillary 'Fearmongering,' Pro-Life as 'Crap' Issue On Wednesday's The Situation Room on CNN, during the roundtable segment, Jack Cafferty charged that Hillary Clinton's recent contention that she would be best prepared to deal with a terrorist attack amounted to "the same boogeyman fearmongering garbage we've had from the Bush administration for the last five years." He added that "it isn't the terrorists that are going to take this country down. We're doing a good job of that all by ourselves." Cafferty also lamented that Republican candidates were talking about issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and the Confederate flag, which he called "the same crap that we hear every election cycle." He went on to recommend both spending cuts and tax increases to improve the economy. 4. Olbermann: Critics, Including Military Officers, 'Can Go to Hell' On Thursday's Countdown, after recounting the story of American soldiers deployed to Iraq while still recovering from injuries, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann seemed to oddly suggest that not only military officers, but also politicians and even commentators, presumably conservative ones, were responsible for the orders that these troops be deployed. The Countdown host contended these critics of his are the same people who accuse those who are anti-war of "hating the troops" and of being "anti-American," and suggested that they "go to hell." Olbermann: "The men who ordered them back, in the military, and outside of it, are the ones who accuse those who criticize them of hating the troops or of being anti-American. And frankly, those politicians, those commentators, and those senior officers can go to hell." 5. ABC Promotes Author Who Touts Abortion as a Way to Reduce Crime Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner appeared on Thursday's Good Morning America to talk about crime and also to repeat his unsubstantiated argument that legalized abortions have resulted in less crime. The journalist and author asserted: "What happened when Roe V. Wade was handed down was that unwanted children are basically at a much greater risk for being born into the circumstances where they're more likely to lead a criminal life. Not every unwanted child by a long stretch, but typically." In other words, 35 years after the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court decision, "the generation of people around then included fewer unwanted children and therefore fewer criminals." At no point did Roberts question this assertion or mention that it has been repeatedly challenged since Dubner and his economist co-author Steven Levitt made it in their book. In fact, a study by another economist, John Lott, found that legalized abortion actually increased the murder rate by seven percent. However, unimpeded by contradictory arguments, Dubner simply told Roberts: "It's good to know what forces work in society, if for no other reason than to keep doing the right thing." The right thing, one presumes he means, is to maintain abortion rights.
Obama 'Really Cool' Appearing Wednesday night on NBC's Tonight Show, MSNBC's Chris Matthews suggested Republicans are like Iraqi factions, with a "fanatics" wing, and oozed over Barack and Michelle Obama, hailing them as "really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy," insisting it's a "spiritual experience" to attend an Obama rally. When asked by Jay Leno about the uncertain Republican primary forecast, Matthews argued: "They got their Shia wing, the fanatics. They've got Huckabee. This where I get into trouble. This is just where I get into trouble. Huckabee and Thompson are the Shiites." Matthews also went into a typical swoon for his favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama: "If you're actually in the room when he gives one of his speeches, and you don't cry, you're not an American." Matthews could not help slipping into a sales job for Barack and his wife Michelle: "They're cool people. They are really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy when you see them together. They are cool. And they're great-looking, and they're cool and they're young, and they're -- everything seems to be great. I know I'm selling them now....But the fact is, I wouldn't be an honest reporter if I didn't tell you what the spiritual experience is like of being in a Barack Obama rally."
[This item is gathered from two Thursday postings, by the MRC's Tim Graham, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org
The Laura Ingraham radio show played this clip of Matthews repeatedly Thursday:
The MRC's Geoff Dickens reported that Matthews used a variant of this attack line on Hardball on Wednesday as well: But it wasn't all about the Shi'ite Republican fanatics. Matthews also went into a typical swoon for his favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama:
JAY LENO: Well, you know what's interesting? I'm somewhat of a cynical person. And you kind of meet all these people. But I have to say, on the night of the Iowa caucus, I'm sitting there with the remote in my hand, you know. And I come to MSNBC and I was holding the remote and I hear Barack Obama starting to give his acceptance speech and go -- and, you know, I put the remote down, and I actually felt something. When he talked about his mother's from Kansas, and the father in Kenya. It's an American story. After a minute of Leno talking up potential vice presidential nominees (they discussed Huckabee and Richardson), Matthews picked up where he left off: "But the fact is, I wouldn't be an honest reporter if I didn't tell you what the spiritual experience is like of being in a Barack Obama rally. It's an honest statement." Matthews ended by mocking Mitt Romney for running against Washington and lobbyists, saying that was hypocritical because his father George Romney was a lobbyist for auto companies.
Matthews also tried out a populist speech about how the country needs change, how it needs a brand-new President who changes the country overnight, and extracts us from Iraq, and enacts "universal" (government-run) health care, and it's the press's job to make that happen:
Apologize for Hillary Remark Bowing to pressure from left-wing groups, MSNBC's Chris Matthews spent the first five minutes of Thursday night's Hardball personally apologizing to Hillary Clinton for insinuating that she owed her political success to sympathy derived from having endured Bill Clinton's unfaithfulness. At the top of the show Matthews begged for forgiveness: "Some people I respect, politically concerned people like you who watch this show so faithfully every night, people who care about this country think I've been disrespectful for Hillary Clinton, not as a candidate, but as a woman....Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depending on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying. And it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, normally like me." In a Thursday story, "Chris Matthews Backs Off 'Nasty' Remark on Clinton," the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reported: "Under pressure from feminist groups and his own bosses at MSNBC, Chris Matthews apologized yesterday for remarks about Hillary Clinton that he now admits sounded 'nasty.'" For the entire article: www.washingtonpost.com [This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Thursday evening on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The following is Matthews' full mea culpa to the liberal former First Lady as it occurred on the January 17 Hardball:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Good evening, I'm Chris Matthews, welcome to Hardball. Well, we're in a time of a lot of frustration in this country, Iraq, of course, the lack of health care for people that work every day. Gas prices going up, the weakening economy that scares us every day. And I come on here every night and try to wrestle with these frustrations and also the changes in our country. We might soon have the first woman President. The first African-American President or a man older than we've ever elected before. And, of course, we always treat things here with hope, our uniquely American hope that we can actually make things better. That we can make the greatest of country, not only survive, but as William Faulkner once said, "prevail." In the midst of talking about this, almost always without a script and almost always on tricky subjects of gender and race and right and left and what's in our country's interest and who I think is telling the truth and who I think isn't, I know I'm dealing with sensitive feelings. I've accepted all of this as part of the business I have chosen. This program, I am proud to say is tough, fearless, and, yes, blunt. I want people to react when I say something. I don't like saying things so carefully and so politically correctly that no one thinks they've even said anything.
Pro-Life as 'Crap' Issue On Wednesday's The Situation Room on CNN, during the roundtable segment, Jack Cafferty charged that Hillary Clinton's recent contention that she would be best prepared to deal with a terrorist attack amounted to "the same boogeyman fearmongering garbage we've had from the Bush administration for the last five years." He added that "it isn't the terrorists that are going to take this country down. We're doing a good job of that all by ourselves." Cafferty also lamented that Republican candidates were talking about issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and the Confederate flag, which he called "the same crap that we hear every election cycle." He went on to recommend both spending cuts and tax increases to improve the economy. Notably, Cafferty's reference to the Confederate flag gave an impression that he saw one of the candidates pushing the issue, when in reality, as reported by CNN's John King at about 4:30 p.m. EST, the discussion of the Confederate flag consisted of a few people protesting outside, and a man in John McCain's town hall meeting audience bringing up the subject and complaining about the Arizona Senator's opposition to the flag's display above South Carolina's state capitol, with McCain defiantly standing by his opposition. Cafferty also neglected to mention that McCain has been talking about fighting against wasteful spending, which is consistent with some of what Cafferty was pushing for. [This item, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, was posted Thursday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Wednesday, January 16 The Situation Room on CNN, including parts of the roundtable segment, and John King's report on McCain from earlier in the show:
# 6:30 p.m. WOLF BLITZER: All right, does she have it right, Jack, Hillary Clinton, when she says that whoever is the next President is going to immediately be tested by al-Qaeda and the bad guys and that she would be ready to take charge and deal with that threat on day one in the White House? Later, Cafferty derided issues of concerned to Republican primary voters, like abortion and same-sex marriage, as "the same crap that we hear every election cycle": CAFFERTY: Well, you know, Romney may be able to capitalize on his background as a businessman, but the legacy that is our current set of economic problems is largely the result of Republican policies that have been in place for the last six years. I listened to the show today. I heard McCain talking about he's proud of his record on abortion. I heard Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to put God in it in some way. I heard somebody else talking about flying a Confederate flag over a courthouse. Marriage is between a man, it's the same crap that we hear every election cycle. And no one is talking about the kinds of spending cuts and tax increases and sacrifices that the American public are going to have to make if they want to keep this country from sliding off into Third World status at some point.
Officers, 'Can Go to Hell' On Thursday's Countdown, after recounting the story of American soldiers deployed to Iraq while still recovering from injuries, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann seemed to oddly suggest that not only military officers, but also politicians and even commentators, presumably conservative ones, were responsible for the orders that these troops be deployed. The Countdown host contended these critics of his are the same people who accuse those who are anti-war of "hating the troops" and of being "anti-American," and suggested that they "go to hell." Olbermann: "The men who ordered them back, in the military, and outside of it, are the ones who accuse those who criticize them of hating the troops or of being anti-American. And frankly, those politicians, those commentators, and those senior officers can go to hell." Olbermann seemed to be citing a January 17 story in the Denver Post which focused on the case of Master Sergeant Denny Nelson of Fort Carson, Colorado's Third Brigade Combat Team, who was deployed to Kuwait, ostensibly for "light duty" as a liaison officer, while recovering from a leg injury he suffered on a trampoline. Nelson was deployed despite a decision by the Soldier Readiness Process site at Fort Collins that he should not be deployed. After his arrival in Kuwait, and his discover of plans to send him into Iraq sooner than originally planned, a physician emailed Nelson's superior officer in Fort Collins, Captain Scot Tebo, "urging him to send Nelson back to the U.S.," leading to the master sergeant soon returning to the country. Denver Post story: www.denverpost.com [This item, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, was posted Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Below is a complete transcript of Olbermann's comments from the Thursday, January 17 Countdown show on MSNBC, which were part of a regular segment on Bush administration scandals titled "Bushed!":
"And number one, 'Veterans-Gate.' We've already seen how the administration treated Iraq and Afghanistan vets at Walter Reed. Now, from Fort Carson's Third Brigade Combat Team from Colorado, an email from the team surgeon that, quote, 'We have been having issues reaching deployable strength, and thus have been taking along some borderline soldiers who we would otherwise have left behind for continued treatment.' Specifically, a master sergeant named Denny Nelson, whose leg and foot were so injured that at home, he was issued a permit for a handicapped parking space, whose doctors said he was not permitted to carry more than 20 pounds, he was sent back for service in Kuwait.
as a Way to Reduce Crime Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner appeared on Thursday's Good Morning America to talk about crime and also to repeat his unsubstantiated argument that legalized abortions have resulted in less crime. The journalist and author asserted: "What happened when Roe V. Wade was handed down was that unwanted children are basically at a much greater risk for being born into the circumstances where they're more likely to lead a criminal life. Not every unwanted child by a long stretch, but typically." In other words, 35 years after the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court decision, "the generation of people around then included fewer unwanted children and therefore fewer criminals." At no point did Roberts question this assertion or mention that it has been repeatedly challenged since Dubner and his economist co-author Steven Levitt made it in their book. In fact, a study by another economist, John Lott, found that legalized abortion actually increased the murder rate by seven percent. However, unimpeded by contradictory arguments, Dubner simply told Roberts: "It's good to know what forces work in society, if for no other reason than to keep doing the right thing." The right thing, one presumes he means, is to maintain abortion rights. To read Lott's study, go to: lsr.nellco.org [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Thursday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Dubner's contention is that the fewer people born into lower socioeconomic circumstances, the fewer criminals America will have to deal with. However, as John Lott pointed out in both his study and Freedomnomics, a book written in response to Dubner's, this doesn't appear to be the case. An August Cybercast News story relayed Lott's argument: Lott's study argues that after the high court ruled that states must allow abortion, more permissive sexual behavior and less contraception produced three things: an increase in out-of-wedlock births, a reduction in the number of children placed for adoptions, and fewer married parents. "Those are contradictory directions," Lott, an economist and senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, told Cybercast News Service. "What ties them together is liberalized abortion rules. It affected decisions on premarital sex and careful contraception. It's a matter of economics. When something seems less costly, there's more of it." Lott noted there are many good single mothers doing an excellent job rearing their children. But those children almost never get as much attention as children in a two-parent family, he said. Further, children in single-parent families statistically have more social development problems and thus statistically are more likely to be criminals. END of excerpt For the entire CNS article, go to: www.cnsnews.com During his January 17 GMA appearance, Dubner did make a few arguments that could be described as conservative and rarely seen on network television. (He claimed that gun laws don't work very well.) But when someone makes a statement as incendiary as calling abortion a solution to crime, it behooves those individuals at ABC and Good Morning America to feature a counter-balancing position. A transcript of the January 17 segment, which aired at 8:35am:
ROBIN ROBERTS: "Freakonomics" author Stephen Dubner is a master at helping us not only ask questions, but also to question the answers we get from the usual sources. And this morning, Stephen is here to talk about a subject that no one else is talking about and to help us understand why people are no longer talking about. You have our attention. It's good to see you. So, what is this topic that voters or the candidates not talking about?
-- Brent Baker
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