Lawrence O'Donnell Blasts Boehner, Limbaugh But Gives Pass to Nazi-invoking Democrat
NBC's failure to cover the Democratic congressman who compared Republicans to Nazis on the House floor trickled down to MSNBC yesterday, as anchor Lawrence O'Donnell neglected the story in favor of smearing House Speaker John Boehner and syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh.
After spending more than six minutes railing against House Republicans for repealing Obama's health care overhaul in a segment dubbed "Repeal & Misplaced," O'Donnell, a self-described socialist, omitted Rep. Steve Cohen's (D-Tenn.) remarks likening Republicans to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
At the top of his prime time program, O'Donnell took a partisan pot shot at Boehner (R-Ohio) for skipping the lavish state dinner for Chinese President Hu to fulfill his campaign promise to repeal the unpopular health care law.
"There are serious economic and human rights issues on our agenda with China," lectured O'Donnell. "Many Democratic leaders are attending. But the Speaker of the House, third in line to the presidency, John Boehner, had something more important than a state dinner with the nation holding seven percent of our national debt. He voted to repeal health care reform."
Later in the program, O'Donnell mocked conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh for pretending to translate President Hu's comments at a joint press conference in the White House, but failed to report Cohen's insulting attack against Republicans.
In an era of heightened sensitivity to incendiary rhetoric, O'Donnell thought that Limbaugh's facetious translation of the Chinese president and Boehner's absence from a state dinner were more newsworthy than a Democratic representative comparing his colleagues across the aisle to the genocidal maniacs responsible for exterminating millions of Jews.
--Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Comments
Tony! Toni! Toné!
Submitted by shivas irons redux on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:12pm.
Tone deaf is just the way some are. The lack of self-awareness has to be worth a bundle to GOP every other November.
Heck, I'm just glad, at least for another day, O'Donnell's head didn't literally explode on national tv.
Now that youtube will get a gazzillion hits... is "hits" ok?
What did they expect?
Submitted by jon_torlin on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:13pm.
Did the libs think that Boehner and McConnel would have shirked their duties to the American people to pay lip service to a Dictator?(as described by Harry Reid)
-Jon
Sorry, Larry, but Boehner is not 3rd in line for the presidency
Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:21pm.
Some lecturer he is.
Good Catch SoL
Submitted by stratman on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 8:07pm.
What's not surprising is a rabid Socialist and hubristic moron like O'Donnell would not know this.
Government Officials Work for the People
Submitted by gruyere cheese on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:29pm.
I applaud Boehner for getting back to business instead of attending a shin ding at the WH to honor a Dictator from China.
When will the air heads at MessNBC realize that bashing Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, etc., on a daily basis is simply getting old? Whatever happened to their "Lean Forward" campaign?
These non-talented air heads don't understand the meaning of Lean Forward and they never will.....they should have called it "LEAN BACKWARDS"
Nah... "Lean Forward" is accurate...
Submitted by DaveInNM on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:33pm.
The human spine won't bend backwards far enough to allow one to fully insert his head into his own rectum.
well, that would be true....
Submitted by Willis_Leon_Johnson on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:47pm.
But when the phrase "spineless bustards" comes into play with these pieces of garbage..... does it really matter what the HUMAN spine can and cannot do?
End 'gun violence in America' - Require training and MANDATORY "Shall Carry" by every Citizen.
If harry reid is the best person to lead the senate, what does that say about the other 99 senators?
wrong button....
Submitted by Willis_Leon_Johnson on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:48pm.
wrong button....
End 'gun violence in America' - Require training and MANDATORY "Shall Carry" by every Citizen.
If harry reid is the best person to lead the senate, what does that say about the other 99 senators?
This guy is done
Submitted by Hologram5 on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 4:33pm.
Just put a fork in him. His turkey button popped long ago and now he's just rotting from the inside out.
Four letters for you Niles J O B
Submitted by Tomorama on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 5:15pm.
So according to "Niles Crane", Boehner is a scoundrel for passing up Steak, Lobster and $200 bottles of wine to instead do his FN JOB?
But, but, but what would "Maris" think?
jeesh
Submitted by Q on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 6:18pm.
who isn't a nazi these days?
That's because Lawrence is
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 6:47pm.
That's because Lawrence is himself a nazi - invoking democrat, in his own reich.
Barack_Must_Go.....
Larry, Chris, Ed, Keith, etc
Submitted by JohnJDunbar on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 7:15pm.
I nominate all the fools at PMSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, the New York Times, and all other so called journalists that distort, manipulate. and lie on a daily basis, to be the founders of a new political party. The Douche Bag Party. As they so enjoyed using a sexual term to mock the Tea Party members, it would be appropriate to refer to them as "Douchebaggers".
When ever I watch the vile, and hate filled rants that most of these clowns spew each night, the word Douche Bag just seems to be the perfect word to describe these fools.
Did we expect anything different from LO'D?
Submitted by drsamherman on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 10:18pm.
LO'D being abbreviated for Load O'Bull?
I find it interesting that he comments on the "soul" of someone when he has been so vocal about decrying religion in political life.
His life is a non-sequitur.
Uhm, so O'Donnell thinks we
Submitted by dscott on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 11:05am.
Uhm, so Cohen thinks we are Nazi's for saying ObamaCare is a government take over of health care in this country. His implied claim is that ObamaCare is NOT a government take over. So is Harry Reid a Nazi too? When did Harry Reid switch to the GOP? So much for the faux moral outrage of Cohen. I'd call him a hypocrite but he first would need to have principles to violate, he doesn't have any.
Except that Harry Reid staff said this: