Brad Wilmouth's blog

On Monday's PoliticsNation show on MSNBC, host Al Sharpton bristled at former Vice President Cheney recently attacking President Obama's "credibility" as the MSNBC host repeated discredited assertions that Cheney had claimed Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks.

Sharpton and MSNBC contributor Patrick Murphy, formerly a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, rehashed liberal charges that the former Vice President lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. After a soundbite of Cheney, Sharpton responded:

On Saturday's Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC, substitute anchor Ari Melber hosted a panel of liberals fretting over Republican efforts to restrict abortion, with one guest even theorizing that Republicans are motivated by a racist desire to prevent white women from having abortions as a way of "reproducing whiteness, white supremacy, white privilege."

Melber seemed quite accepting of University of Pennsylvania Assistant Professor Salamisha Tillet's preposterous idea of pro-lifers being motivated by racism as he responded:

On Friday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes compared conservatives to clowns as he praised Republican Governor Jan Brewer for breaking ranks with conservatives and pushing for the implementation of ObamaCare in Arizona.

Reminiscent of the time he recently called various Republicans "jackasses" and used some version of the word "jackass" 11 times in one segment, Hayes on Friday used some form of the word "clown" 10 times in just over four minutes.

After teasing the show, the MSNBC host continued:

On Friday's PoliticsNation, MSNBC's Karen Finney asserted that Rush Limbaugh's "overall mantra" is "us versus them and hate in general," as she responded to a clip of the conservative talk radio host accusing the Republican establishment of being "ashamed" of the conservative base.

A bit later, host Al Sharpton asserted that conservatives are "almost like in an echo chamber. They're talking to themselves" -- an irony considering the scarcity of conservative viewpoints on the liberal MSNBC news channel.

After Sharpton played the clip of Limbaugh criticizing the Republcian leadership, he went to Finney, who responded:

On Thursday's PoliticsNation, MSNBC host Al Sharpton complained about "shameless" Republicans trying to cut food stamp benefits and creating "a whole bunch of ugly names for people who need a little help," as he was joined by MSNBC.com Executive Editor Richard Wolffe and Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia. The MSNBC host grumbled:

On Thursday's The Last Word show on MSNBC, host Lawrence O'Donnell and MSNBC contributor Joy Reid asserted that Republicans who oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants are "haters of" and "don't like" Hispanics as the panel discussed the concerns expressed by Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh about  increasing the number of immigrants in the U.S. by tens of millions.

After coining the term "Limbaugh cohort" to refer to those who oppose amnesty, Reid asserted:

On Wednesday's PoliticsNation show, MSNBC host Al Sharpton went after Republican Senator Ted Cruz for embracing being called "Obamaphobic" via Twitter, and went on to accuse the Republican party of being "built on fear and obstruction." After reading the tweet from the Texas Senator, Sharpton responded:

On Wednesday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes condescendingly compared House Republicans to a "bunch of really ideologically zealous teenagers" who put on events equivalent to "campus conservative clown shows."

As Hayes complained about Republicans pushing votes on restricting abortion and the repeal of ObamaCare that are not likely to pass into law, Hayes complained:

On Tuesday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes accused Republican Senator Marco Rubio of "showing both faces" in trying to make additions to his immigration reform plan, as he found fault with the Florida Senator for trying to add border security and an English language proficiency requirement to the bill. Hayes complained:

Appearing on Monday's The Last Word show, MSNBC.com Executive Editor Richard Wolffe -- formerly of Newsweek -- joined MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell in defending the actions of IRS employees who focused on Tea Party groups for scrutiny, and ended up suggesting that it was Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, rather than the IRS, that was "acting out of public view for purely partisan reasons."

After reading the statement of an IRS employee who used the word "patriots" to help identify Tea Party groups, the MSNBC host continued:

Appearing on Monday's The O'Reilly Factor, FNC contributor Bernie Goldberg commented on the dominant news media ignoring or downplaying congressional hearings on the Obama administration IRS scandal, and wondered why President Obama is so critical of the media as he asserted that the President's approval rating would be 20 points lower if the media covered Obama scandals "honestly." Goldberg:

Appearing on Thursday's PoliticsNation, MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe -- formerly of Newsweek -- harkened back to President Bill Clinton's impeachment and the Reagan-era Iran-Contra scandal to warn Republicans against pursuing Obama administration corruption. When host Al Sharpton wondered how Democrats can get Republicans in Congress to support their economic agenda, Wolffe started off mocking Republicans before raising scandals from the past:

Appearing as a guest on Friday's PoliticsNation show, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter -- formerly of Newsweek -- asserted that, if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan had won the 2012 presidential election, "things would be so much worse," as he took relief in President Obama's ability to veto Republican-supported legislation.

He also echoed the liberal rhetoric of labeling Republican efforts to prevent voter fraud as "voter suppression."

On Wednesday's The Last Word show, MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe -- formerly of Newsweek -- suggested that FNC host Bill O'Reilly was motivated by racism when he recently called it "shady" for President Obama to select Susan Rice as national security advisor to avoid Senate confirmation hearings.

A bit after host Lawrence O'Donnell played several clips of O'Reilly using the word "shady" to describe the move, Wolffe cracked:

For a second night on Thursday, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on his The Last Word show tried to blame NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre for inspiring the ricin-tainted letters recently sent to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Barack Obama. The MSNBC host teased the show:

On Wednesday's The Last Word show, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell tried to link rhetoric by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre to the ricin attack on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he played several clips of LaPierre criticizing the liberal mayor's support for gun control before getting to the story of ricin-tainted letters. After running the clips, O'Donnell ominously related:

As MSNBC's Al Sharpton hosted a panel on Wednesday's PoliticsNation to discuss Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann's retirement, MSNBC analyst Karen Finney claimed that Bachmann never had an idea "that wasn't about hate or wasn't about being against something," while MSNBC analyst and former Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Ed Rendell similarly charged that historians will put her "in a group of people during this era who were just haters, who breeded hate and discontent."

After Sharpton introduced the panel by asking how history would treat Bachmann, Rendell replied:

On Tuesday's The Last Word show, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell trumpeted the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado. He began the segment by proclaiming that Colorado had made "marijuana history." O'Donnell:

Appearing as a guest on Sunday's Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC, PBS's Christina Bellantoni labeled Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli as "very conservative," but, when discussing presumptive Democratic nominee and former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe, the PBS NewsHour political editor did not include a liberal ideological label.

Additionally, as she recounted Cuccinelli's history of opposing abortion, she euphemistically inserted the word "freedoms" as being what the Virginia attorney general and former state senator has a record of "fighting against." Discussing Cuccinelli and GOP lieutenant govenor nominee E. W. Jackson, Bellantoni asserted:

After initially ignoring reports that two Muslim extremists in London savagely murdered a British soldier in broad daylight, MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Friday finally included the story on his All In show as he began the segment with the news of retaliatory anti-Muslim attacks on London mosques.

As he reached the end of the segment, in which he seemed to fret that terrorist attacks make societies "more conservative" and provoke "overreaction," he recounted a British woman, Ingrid Loyau-Kennet, who calmly spoke with one of the terrorists before police arrived, with the MSNBC host concluding:

On Saturday's Melissa Harris-Perry show, MSNBC host Harris-Perry trashed Virginia Lieutenant Governor candidate E.W. Jackson as she took exception with some of his "pretty disgusting" conservative views, and ended up proclaiming that the thought of the African-American Republican winning in November "just makes me feel icky all over. Ewww."

The MSNBC host framed the segment as if she had written a letter to Jackson. She began on a juvenile note as she made fun of the "E.W." portion of his name, pronouncing it, "ewww," reciting:

On Friday's All In show on MSNBC, host Chris Hayes recounted the recent activities of several Republican political figures which he regarded as examples of GOP members "being jackasses," and coined the Hayes-ism "jackassery" as he used some variation of the word "jackass" 11 times during the segment. After teasing the show, the MSNBC host immediately got to attacking Republicans:

Appearing as a guest on Thursday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank mocked South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley as someone who has "reached out to a minority" in the form of white supremacists since they are a "minority," as he reacted to accusations that a member of her reelection committee is a white supremacist. Milbank:

On the Wednesday, May 22, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell show on MSNBC, host O'Donnell called for the defeat of a "vicious" Senate amendment pushed by Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter which would bar people convicted of some violent crimes from receiving welfare benefits.

The MSNBC host complained that the children of a criminal would "pay for his crime by going hungry," and called for "human decency" to defeat the measure. O'Donnell began the short segment:

On the Tuesday, May 21, All In with Chris Hayes show on MSNBC, host Hayes mocked House Speaker John Boehner for calling for the American people "to know what the truth is" about recent Obama scandals, as the MSNBC host referred to the Ohio Republican's speech as "a little invented scandal Mad Libs."

Hayes took a break from Oklahoma tornado coverage for a little political news:

Appearing as a guest on Monday's The Daily Show on Comedy Central, Canadian actress Ellen Page criticized Fox News for negatively portraying Canadian health care as she defended her home country's national health care system. Page:

On Friday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, host Al Sharpton lambasted House Republicans for repeatedly voting to repeal ObamaCare, calling it a "scandal" and an "outrage," as he seemed to cite a questionable study from a left-wing source from 2009 claiming that 45,000 people a year die because they lack health insurance. Sharpton began the segment:

Appearing as a guest on Thursday's PoliticsNation show on MSNBC, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank mocked House Republicans for repeatedly holding unsuccessful votes to repeal ObamaCare as he suggested they should continue to "waste" time so "they'll be less of a harm to the country" because that way "they're not cutting food stamps." Milbank: