Mark Finkelstein's blog

Is it right to make death threats against George Zimmerman and his family?  ABC News isn't sure. In a Good Morning America segment today on the Trayvon Martin case, as an ABC reporter spoke from Sanford, Florida, this graphic was displayed across the bottom of the screen:

"ARE DEATH THREATS GOING TOO FAR?" Video and screencap after the jump.

Simpson-Bowles would have: raised taxes by $1.2 trillion--bumping to 21% the tax share of GDP from the typical 18%; relied largely on defense cuts to reduce spending; retained all $2.5 trillion in ObamaCare spending and done nothing to reform Medicare and Medicaid.  No wonder Luke Russert loved it.

Appearing on Chuck Todd's Daily Rundown on MSNBC today, NBC congressional correspondent Russert bemoaned Simpson-Bowles's overwhelming defeat in the House yesterday.  According to Russert, the measly 38 votes the plan garnered is emblematic of what's wrong with Washington.  Todd joined in the hand-wringing. View the video after the jump.

Early frontrunner for the most preposterous political analogy of the year . . .

On today's Morning Joe, Tina Brown said Rick Santorum was "like Judas Iscariot."  And just what was Santorum's sin that merited comparing him to the man who betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver?  That Santorum, 15 years after the fact, now regrets having supported Arlen Specter when his then-fellow Republican senator from Pennsylvania ran for president.  View the video after the jump.

Let's stipulate up front that it might well have been an innocent mistake. Even so, until explained, it was shocking to say the least.  On today's Morning Joe, as Mika Brzezinski read a David Brooks op-ed about the shooting of civilians in Afghanistan in which he wrote of "monstrous acts that shock the soul and sear the brain," suddenly the screen cut--for an extended period--to three different photos of . . . Republican Paul Ryan.

Even Joe Scarborough couldn't resist joking about the incident revealing the show's liberal bias.  As it turns out, an op-ed by Ryan was up next, and the control room guys might simply have transitioned a bit too quickly--though some readers might not be willing to give Morning Joe the benefit of the doubt.  View the video after the jump.

A rather testy exchange on today's Morning Joe, with co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski going at it with Rick Santorum.  A full five minutes of Santorum's segment were devoted to questioning him on his views on contraception and religious freedom.  

Toward the end, seemingly to Scarborough's surprise, Santorum said that "yeah, sure" he thought Scarborough, like the MSM at large, was attempting to pigeonhole him on the matter.  Video after the jump.

Did MSNBC ever vet Al Sharpton? Seriously. Much of the talk about HBO's Game Change docu-drama is focusing on the vetting of Sarah Palin or lack thereof by the McCain campaign. Is there any minimum standard of knowledge required to have one's own show on the Lean Forward network?

Take Sharpton's mind-boggling misstatement on Morning Joe today.  The Reverend Al asserted that in Alabama, "it's against the law to organize unions."  Did any of the MJ crew, including Joe Scarborough, Gene Robinson and Steve Rattner, call Al out on his misrepresentation?  Of course not.  View the video after the jump.

Mark Halperin says Mitt Romney's campaign has the worst relationship with the media of any major candidate he's covered.  But, according to the man from Time, it has nothing to do with the fact that Romney is the front-runner to take on the MSM's Chosen One.  No, Halperin assures us, "it's not a partisan thing."  The fault lies entirely with the Romney campaign itself, which reportedly has kept the press at arm's length.

Halperin's comments came in the context of a Morning Joe segment today in which Mike Allen discussed a Politico item on a media "charm offensive" that the Romney campaign is conducting.  View the video after the jump.

Tom Brokaw is the man that our Brent Bozell recently described as having "used NBC and [his] anchor chair as a platform to promote Democratic agendas and delight in Republican setbacks for more than 20 years."  But every once in awhile, perhaps out of Greatest Generation nostalgia, Brokaw has something kind to say about a Republican.

As was the case on Morning Joe today, when, after reciting a list of the 41st president's accomplishments, Brokaw called George H.W. Bush "the most underrated modern president of our time."  Video after the jump.

Willful ignorance combined with anti-Christian bigotry: not a pretty sight. Bill Keller, former New York Times executive editor turned Times columnist, put both on display on today's Morning Joe.

Joe Scarborough played a clip of Santorum criticizing President Obama and Hillary Clinton for at times speaking of "freedom of worship" rather than "freedom of religion." Santorum made his point crystal clear: merely having the freedom to pray is not enough.  People must have the right to practice their religion outside the confines of the sanctuary. But Scarborough and Keller claimed not to understand what Santorum was saying.  Keller then added his ugly coda: "sometimes Santorum sounds like he's creeping up on a Christian version of Sharia law." Video after the jump.

It must be reassuring to President Obama to know that minions like Andrea Mitchell have his back.  

On Morning Joe today, "correspondent" Mitchell fretted that President Obama might be facing electoral challenges for rising gasoline prices and Afghanistan, despite the fact that these are "global events" over which Obama has "so little control."   So unfair.  I mean, Obama only being President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States and all. Video after the jump.

This could go down as some of the worst political advice ever.  Then again, consider the source.  Chris Hayes isn't exactly in the business of helping conservatives lead . . . or win elections.

On his MSNBC show this morning, Hayes advised conservatives to call the war that President Bush led against Iraq "criminal."  Yeah, that's the ticket. Video after the jump.

Sometimes, an image says it all.  Check out the screengrab after the jump of Jeffrey Sachs.  The lefty professor is unabashedly angry at Joe Scarborough.  

Why? Because the Morning Joe host called him out on his egregious double-standard. Sachs had labeled Republican Super PAC funder Sheldon Adelson "completely unlikable" and said he shouldn't be involved in American politics. But when Scarborough asked whose approach he prefers: Adelson's--who gives openly in his own name--or George Soros's--who funnels his money through myriad corporations to hide his influence--Sachs suddenly claimed he wasn't attacking one side or the other. Righhht.  Video after the jump.

Andrea Mitchell famously said she had to catch her breath after Foster Friess's Bayer aspirin line last week.  Well, call me a bit verklempt myself this morning, after Mitchell said on today's Morning Joe that:

1. She felt "nostalgia" for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. 2. The opposition to Clinton was "vicious". 3. She hates to revert to the "great right wing conspiracy", but "there really was a group out there . . . There really was an enemy." Video after the jump.

Let he who is without a Y chromosome cast the first stone . . . Today's Morning Joe afforded viewers a study in hypocrisy: the all-male makeup of a panel at yesterday's House hearing on contraception was bashed by the show's panel consisting entirely of, yes, men. 

With Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough having the day off, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle took guest-hosting turns.  Barnicle introduced the subject, harrumphing about "the absurd picture we just saw of basically, it looks like an all-male locker room in a golf club."  Lawrence O'Donnell and Dem congressman Elijah Cummings joined in the breast-beating. Video after the jump.

Those imagining Mika Brzezinski as a straight-down-the-line liberal will be surprised by her comments on today's Morning Joe.

Brzezinski didn't demur after Joe Scarborough described her as a Catholic who is "more conservative than many" on social issues.  To the contrary, she proceeded to prove Scarborough's point by defending Rick Santorum's stance on contraception.  The show had played two clips of Santorum in which he had called contraception "harmful to women" and said that contraception "is not OK."  Video after the jump.

His show's called The Daily Rundown.  And sure enough, Chuck Todd ran down Rick Santorum this morning as just another "flavor of the day" who "probably won't be the nominee."  Apparently, trouncing Mitt Romney in three contests last week, and leading by a reportedly huge margin in Romney's native state of Michigan, isn't enough to impress Chuck.

But Todd totally swerved around Anita Dunn, failing to question his guest about the story of her big-money hypocrisy making today's news.  As Obama's White House communications director, Dunn regularly went after hedge funds.  But now as a PR consultant, as the Washington Free Beacon has reported, Dunn is taking hedge fund money for a campaign to promote the industry's image.  Incredibly, nary a word about it from Todd. Video after the jump.

There was a surprisingly positive consensus on Rick Santorum on today's Morning Joe.  Most remarkable was the observation by Obama fan Mika Brzezinski, who said "I don't agree with anything he says, but I like the guy." H/t  to NewsBusters reader D.B. for audio assistance.

Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist were also upbeat on Santorum, Scarborough astutely observing that "90% of Americans don't obsess on social issues," so that what some would cast as controversial past statements by Santorum won't hurt him nearly as much as might be imagined.  Video after the jump.

On today's Meet The Press, "moderator" David Gregory gave a good preview of how the MSM/Obama industrial complex will try to cariacture and demonize Rick Santorum should he become the Republican presidential candidate.

Gregory asked Santorum whether, if elected president, he would only permit single women without children to work in his administration.  That's right: Gregory was actually wondering whether Santorum would prohibit mothers from serving.  Santorum didn't rise to Gregory's absurd bait, giving a smiling and good-natured response to the effect all women would be welcome in a Santorum administration.  Video after the jump.

Suffer me to begin with a suggestion: if you ever have the chance to hear the Rev. William Dailey of Notre Dame law school speak, jump on it.  Dailey is a stunningly brilliant advocate, among the best I have ever encountered on any issue.

Dailey appeared on today's Up With Chris Hayes on MSNBC, where he masterfully made the case against the Obama administration's order forcing Catholic institutions to provide services that violate their moral principles. Predictably, the panel resorted to an ad hominem argument against him.  Panelist Michaela Angela David implicitly, and Hayes himself explicitly, argued that celibate Catholic priests lack the moral authority to make arguments on the issues at hand.  Dailey deftly turned the tables. Video after the jump.

If President Obama didn't already see a sea of red flags, a thunderbolt from Chris Matthews this morning should surely inform him that he has badly misstepped with his decision to force Catholic institutions to provide services that violate their religious principles

Appearing on Morning Joe, Matthews said that "even liberal Catholics are going to be proud" of Catholic leaders who stand up to Obama, and indeed that the Catholic response "may come to civil disobedience."  Video after the jump.

A festering three-fer for the odious Martin Bashir.  Not content to inflict him on the viewing public him during his own slot, MSNBC put Bashir on The Ed Show this evening, where he proceeded to slime, in one fetid fell swoop, Mormons, evangelicals, and Mitt Romney.  With Schultz all too quick to agree, Bashir claimed most evangelicals wouldn't support Romney because of his membership in the LDS church.

For his purposes, Bashir badly misrepresented a Mark Twain quote. Bashir claimed that "the vast majority" of evangelicals share Twain's view that the Book of Mormon is "chloroform," perhaps implying there was something poisonous about it. But reading what Twain wrote, it's obvious he was merely claiming to find the book boring. Video after the jump.

Ezra Klein has unwittingly offered a telling insight into the liberal mind.  On Morning Joe today, the liberal Washington Post blogger actually argued that quintessential big government programs like massive involvement in housing finance and the imposition of a carbon tax aren't "progressive" but simply "good policy."

Joe Scarborough pushed back saying Klein's notion of "good policy" was only so for those who share his liberal mindset.   Video after the jump.

Joe Scarborough had a jocular way this morning of pointing out the pro-Dem bias in ABC/Washington Post polls.

On Morning Joe, after Mark Halperin cited a new poll from the conglomerate with many findings favorable to President Obama, Scarborough facetiously asked "does Axelrod poll for ABC?" He went on to detail the way the polling combine consistently puts its fat left thumb of the scales for Dems. Video after the jump.

Melissa Harris-Perry might have set a new world record in the use of euphemism to avoid calling abortion by its name.

The Tulane professor, soon to be a host of her own MSNBC show, used a string of politically-correct evasions to say anything but the a-word during her appearance on Al Sharpton's show this evening.  It came in the context of discussing the Komen Foundation's cave on funding Planned Parenthood. Video after the jump.

Whatever happened to the good old days, when the MSM glorified "speaking truth to power"?  We all know the answer: that epoch ended on January 20, 2009.

Nowadays, opposing power, particularly in the person of the president, far from being something to be praised, is downright illegitimate in some liberal media eyes.  Take the latest "Lean Forward" promo by MSNBC, in which Ed Schultz actually claims that those "standing up to the president" are nothing but "bullies."  Video after the jump.