Flashback: MSNBC Hosts Called Bush Fascist, Murderous and War Criminal, Never Faced Suspensions
On MSNBC you can call a sitting president a "murderous" "fascist" even muse about putting the President on trial for war crimes, so long as that president is a Republican. But if you dare call a Democratic president a "d–ck," as MSNBC analyst Mark Halperin did this morning it's grounds for indefinite suspension.
While calling any president the D-word is probably not showing the proper respect for the office, it has to be asked where does it rank compared to essentially accusing a president of mass murder and war crimes?
The following is a collection of quotes from MSNBC employees past (Keith Olbermann) and present (Chris Matthews, Ron Reagan Jr.) who had some particularly distasteful things to say about a then sitting President George W. Bush:
"Good evening. A President who lied us into a war and, in so doing, needlessly killed 3,584 of our family and friends and neighbors; a President whose administration initially tried to destroy the first man to nail that lie; a President whose henchmen then ruined the career of the intelligence asset that was his wife when intelligence assets were never more essential to the viability of the Republic; a President like that has tonight freed from the prospect of prison the only man ever to come to trial for one of the component felonies in what may be the greatest crime of this young century."
— Keith Olbermann on Bush commuting Lewis Libby's prison sentence, MSNBC's Countdown, July 2, 2007
"If you believe in the seamless mutuality of government and big business, come out and say it! There is a dictionary definition, one word that describes that toxic blend. You're a fascist! Get them to print you a T-shirt with fascist on it!...You, sir, have no place in a government of the people, by the people, for the people. The lot of you are the symbolic descendants of the despotic middle managers of some banana republic to whom ‘freedom' is an ironic brand name, a word you reach for when you want to get away with its opposite."
— Olbermann addressing Bush in a "Special Comment" on Countdown, February 14, 2008.
"As a final crash of self-indulgent nonsense, when the incontrovertible truth of your panoramic and murderous deceit has even begun to cost your political party seemingly perpetual congressional seats....When somebody asks you, sir, about the cooked books and faked threats you foisted on a sincere and frightened nation; when somebody asks you, sir, about your gallant, noble, self-abnegating sacrifice of your golf game so as to soothe the families of the war dead; this advice, Mr. Bush: Shut the hell up! Good night and good luck."
— Olbermann in a "Special Comment" on Countdown, May 14, 2008.
"What happens when you go in the Oval Office is you start living in a bubble, you know....David Kay, for instance, comes out with a report and says Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction. What does George W. Bush say? 'Well, I still think they had them.' That’s not just spin. That's dementia."
— MSNBC contributor Ron Reagan, Jr., during live coverage of the January 27, 2004 New Hampshire primary.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "Russ Feingold wants to censure the President, the Vice President..."
Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore: "Good idea....Personally I'd like to see a perp walk coming out of the West Wing of the White House."
Matthews: "Do you think they're guilty of war crimes?"
Moore: "Absolutely....I think we need a trial, in this country, where Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush would be brought up on charges for causing the deaths of so many people...."
Matthews: "It's interesting if you go back....the Nuremberg Trials weren't about the genocide, it was about waging an aggressive war. I love reading some of that language. It's interesting."
— MSNBC's Hardball, July 23, 2007
For the record, you will also get suspended by MSNBC for on-air comments, if you say an ex-Democratic president's daughter was being "pimped out" as was the case when David Shuster back in 2008 made this observation:
DAVID SHUSTER: Bill, there's just something a little bit unseemly to me that Chelsea's out there calling up celebrities, saying support my mom, and she's apparently also calling these super delegates.
BILL PRESS: Hey, she's working for her mom. What's unseemly about that? During the last campaign, the Bush twins were out working for their dad. I think it's great, I think she's grown up in a political family, she's got politics in her blood, she loves her mom, she thinks she'd make a great president --
SHUSTER: But doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?
- Geoffrey Dickens's blog
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Comments
Just another day
Submitted by ProudAmerican58 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 1:02pm.
in the upside down-selective outrage world of the MSM.
Insulting Cheney
Submitted by seven on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:55pm.
This is the first time I have seen trouble for insulting Dick Cheney by calling Obama Dick.
They should apologize to Mr Cheney.
Excellent, seven.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 5:10pm.
Perhaps we should refer to Vice President Cheney as Big Dick, and refer to our current POSident as Little Dick, just so there is no confusing the two.
Broke Dick would be more
Submitted by Bhaal on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 9:09am.
Broke Dick would be more appropriate.
We already have
Submitted by Boudin on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 9:23am.
Little Dick Durbin.
Word has it
Submitted by Ozconservative on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 10:36am.
that as Halperin left the MSDNC studio Tingles smacked him with his handbag
Mr. Dickens
Submitted by Hoosier Conservative on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 1:21pm.
Please also include Rachel Maddow's disgusting segment where she gloated over someone throwing a shoe at Bush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjJbkcYC35A
But Maddow don't know dick
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 2:11pm.
What if they referred to President Nixon as a dick?
Wow, that would be a tricky
Submitted by ForeverOnTheRight on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:14pm.
Wow, that would be a tricky one wouldn't it?
I thought the shoe thing was
Submitted by ThatDude on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 2:26pm.
I thought the shoe thing was hilarious when it happened. Bush did some good dodging and seemed to almost enjoy it. However, the insult was there and the media chimed in with their own hatred during coverage.
You Thought the Shoe-Throwing was Funny?
Submitted by NC Boy on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 2:52pm.
You must not know what that means in that culture. There was no humor involved. That was an extreme insult to President Bush - and America.
I'm well aware of the
Submitted by ThatDude on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:01pm.
I'm well aware of the significance. However, being from the west, I view such an action as an amusing anomaly. Who throws a shoe, honestly? Was it a big insult to Bush and America? Of course it was, and the media coverage of it was an even greater offense. Be that as it may, I laughed at the video much before bothering to find outrage for the culturally mismatched insult.
It's good to see humor in the darkest of times, ThatDude.
Submitted by tekel on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 6:09pm.
I chuckled over Halperin's faux pas.
Although vulgarity & profanity usually offend my sensibilities, "dick" is one of the mildest terms used. It may even qualify as approved slang. For instance how does it compare to Nixon’s private conversation or the vulgarity Can'taBiden confided to Commander Whatever about the "big deal" accomplished. By "confided" I mean not intended to be broadcast.
I think Halperin really believed the "joke" that the program was time delayed & that he would be speaking informally among friends. That might color him stupid. So would his taking a chance so close to airtime. But not extremely vulgar.
I don't know Halperin's work as well as I do a few of MSNBC slime. But I give him credit in this instance for having the mental capacity to express his traitorous thoughts rather than the usual regressive party line. Maybe there is hope for him. I wouldn't mind his being O'Reilly's guest occasionally. I don't see how he could be worse than some allowed to express utter nonsense in order to balance sane commentary.
Indeed the kool aid drinkers
Submitted by djwolf12 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 8:58pm.
loved this. They also portray the propaganda in all of Michael Moore films as 100% accurate too. It should also come to no surprise that the guy that threw his shoes at Bush WAS a journalist.
Considering the total and
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 1:45pm.
Considering the total and never-ending lack of RESPECT that Boy bin Barry has shown for the office of the Presidency, I don't have any problems with calling him anything.............he's earned it!!! So this guy Halperin lets out a little shred of TRUTH, and he gets canned immediatly!!! We all know how thin-skinned the Petulant Poser is..........they must have made that call real fast!!!
And considering what the Kenyan Kreep, and the rest of the loony libs, have called me, and millions of people like me, I'll at least give Halperin some credit for saying what he said.
The only thing I really want to call O'Barry is..............unemployed!!!
To be honest.
Submitted by Coderaven on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 2:41pm.
All given exampled are pre comcast.
MSNBC still is tilted left for the majority of their programming, but they do have a new company signing their checks.
What's your point?
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:34pm.
That GE let them get away with things Comcast wouldn't?
Wrong.
Olbermann got away with character assassination of Bush, but Shuster was suspended for the Chelsea being pimped out comment.
Both under GE management.
Democrats and Comcast
Submitted by Radical1979 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:42pm.
I saw that recently a VP for Comcast held a fund raiser for BO. MSNBC doesn't look as if any changes will be forthcoming.
That was the past
Submitted by zenman1661 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 2:43pm.
But now there's a new sheriff in town with Comcast on board now, it appears based on this and Ed Schultz's suspension for calling Laura Ingram a slut that they are trying to instill some courtesy onto the network.. We shall see if this trend continues.
WHO suspended Ed?
Submitted by TheHistorian on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:43pm.
It sure wasn't MSNBC. It was Eddie who did himself so that they didn't do worse. Besides, is it worse to call someone which name? Been around teens? It is a standard nickname for most of them. With BOTH words. Which proves the point; liberals are guilty of arrested development.
Dennis Prager
The lying left
Submitted by Scottyb4292 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 2:53pm.
Sadly, we cannot ban the left or jail people like Olbermann, as that would be unAmerican, even though they are being unAmerican. They exercise their rights to freedom of speech. But they do so in the most irresponsible and unAmerican of ways.
Therefore, we need to relearn how to hear the left when they squeal. We must regard their gnashing of teeth and their wailings and renting of garments as sweet music. When they act up as they do, we must understand that it is truly a beautiful thing to watch their sufferings. And we must do the contrary of their wishes with the confidence that if they oppose us, it must be right.
If Halperin had just said
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:15pm.
If Halperin had just said Obama had acted like a jerk, would they have been as angry?
Yes
Submitted by Ozconservative on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 10:44am.
Mere mortals are not permitted to insult MSDNCs Exalted Lord and Master....it's amazing they didn't screen him being beheaded for such blasphemy
MSNBC Double Standard
Submitted by NVRAT on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:22pm.
Well, lets call "Obama" what he really is a Lying, incoherent, babbling, incompetent Dufus.
Re: your comemnt
Submitted by zenman1661 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:45pm.
I can't stand by without making an important correction to your comment about our President. Its spelled Doofus, not dufus.
Dropping
Submitted by grammajane on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:25pm.
The elite and arrogant employees of msnbc are dropping like flies in a garbage can. Wonder if Comcast is having second thoughts on purchasing such a discusting net-work that is loosing viewers. Time to give them all the boot and start fresh. Joe and Mika were laughing their fool heads off during Halprien's discription of "the one"....wonder if they will also leave on an extended vacation.??
delete double
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:35pm.
delete double
Mika's blackberry overloaded with White House E-Mails.
Submitted by SnapTie on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 3:48pm.
A left winger telling the truth about Obama and he's suspended? The whole MSNBC channel should be suspended indefinitely.
What's the big deal?
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:04pm.
The Arab-African name, Barack, translates into English as Richard. (Trust me. I looked this up) Now everyone knows that Dick is the short version nickname for Richard. Hence calling Bambi a Dick is perfectly fine!
(There's more) The Arab name, Hussein, is really Johnson in English. Need I say more?
Now if MSNBC had referred to Bambi as a plick, and it happened to be an Asian commentator, they could have a problem, otherwise this is a really small thing, just like Bambi/Dick/Johnson.
Hahaha
Submitted by Ozconservative on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 10:51am.
Here in Australia, Dick Johnson was a champion race car driver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAoXqdzimdc
Oh The Agony!
Submitted by Bourbeau on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:13pm.
What else can happen to MSNBC? Another panelist/anchor suspended; what a shock. Again and again the point needs to be made that this is indicative of the low standards (if any) MSNBC places upon it's on-air talent. They are perfectly satisfied to have these incidents with Schuster, Schulz, Matthews and now Halperin and react accordingly. If COMCAST does not take a firm stand w/them on their lack of critical oversight of their on-air talent, COMCAST may find the publics reaction more fiercely then GE did. In either case, MSNBC is in need of a cleansing of their on-air talents behavior, and soap in their mouths would not be a bad place to start.
Just because the media is in
Submitted by jessieH on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:26pm.
Just because the media is in bed with obama doesn't mean we don't know what's going on. Propaganda/lies, from both the White House & the media are old style, dinosaur tactics. The truth is right up front for all to see. Thanks to the internet, we know they are lying, before they open their mouth. Just let them rant. Their time is almost up.
Don't forget this NB classic
Submitted by OxyCon on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:36pm.
MessNBC has allowed their employees to totally disrespect President Bush as this article aptly demonstrates.
But MessNBC has also allowed on air vulgarity without punishment:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2010/04/02/enchanted-matthews-h...
If calling the President a "d--k" is a problem
Submitted by TheHistorian on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 4:36pm.
What about Ed Schultz? Or Stephanie Miller? Shouldn't all of these guys be suspended until the 2016 elections for the garbage that rolls out of their mouths related to Presidential CANDIDATES? If you must accord the President this heightened respect, then you also must accord the candidates the same respect.
And members of Congress who call the President a Fascist should also resign. Right, Dick Durbin?
Dennis Prager
Ugghh!
Submitted by Crew Dawg 64 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 9:59pm.
I thought Olbermann was sent to a far away place as head groundskeeper on Al Gore's green farm, why is showing up back here on Newsbusters?
Umpires rules.
Submitted by ironhead4099 on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 11:49pm.
Hey the first rule of umpires is "Call it like you see it", so I suppose that's just what this guy did today. In fact I think it's about time someone said it about our esteemed Commie in Cheif! He does in fact act like an arrogant DICK! He has since day 1.
Freedom of speech isn't for discussing the weather
Submitted by lrgon on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 11:59pm.
The founders used strong language in the Declaration of Independence to prove their point. They also opposed phony economic systems that are nothing but monopolies. After the war for Independence was fought they followed Adam Smith's model of free market principles.
Since at least FDR's day we have moved closer to fascism with each administration be it GOP or Democrat.
While Olbermann was simply being the partisan ( as are Bush's fans on this site) he was essentially correct. However, his definition of fascism should also apply to Mr. Obama and should have had more clarity. Leave it to a liberal to give a half way definition of fascism.
Fascism is government control of private enterprise or businessess without direct ownership. This is a devious monopoly type "economic" system since many people think that they own their property.
To own something that some one else controls may not be an advantage. You may own your business but if OSHA, EEOC, EPA, Dept of Energy, Consumer Commission, etc. are telling you how to run your business, some day you will reach a point that it is a hardship to maintain ownership.
US bureaucracy spells Fascism which congress funds and presidents like Bush and Obama never veto.
I thought the shoe thing was
Submitted by bagtree on Thu, 03/29/2012 - 2:37am.
I thought the shoe thing was hilarious when it happened. Bush did some good dodging and seemed to almost enjoy it. However, the insult was there and the media chimed in with their own hatred during coverage.
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