As NewsBusters reported Thursday, MSNBC has put Mark Halperin on indefinite suspension for making an intemperate remark about President Obama on "Morning Joe."
Just a few hours later, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh told his audience the network's response would have been much different if Halperin had said this about George W. Bush when he was president (video follows with transcript and commentary):
RUSH LIMBAUGH: Now, let me ask you a question: If Mark Halperin had said this about say George W. Bush, would they be falling all over themselves to apologize? Nope. He would be, my guess is, “New ground had been broken. Finally, finally,” they would say, “a reporter has had the courage and the guts to tell the nation just exactly the kind of President we have. A gutsy move. It might have been over the line. It might have been a little bit risky. And it might be something he would never do again, but by golly, by gosh, the courage.”
That’s how they would play it had Mark Halperin said it about George W. Bush.
Taking this a step further, since Halperin apparently believed what he said was going to be edited out - he specifically asked if MSNBC was on a seven second delay - it's quite likely the technician that failed to bleep his comment about Bush would have been the fall guy - assuming there was one at all.
But because MSNBC is the leading television propaganda outlet for this White House and the Democrat Party, that certainly wouldn't be enough in this instance.
Something else to consider is it's unlikely the minor vulgarity bothered the network.
As Breitbart reported a few hours ago, MSNBC allowed an audible f-bomb on "The Last Word" during prime time Wednesday evening. Nobody involved in that show has been suspended including the host.
As Limbaugh pointed out there likely wouldn't have been this response if Obama was Republican, one must conclude the network just didn't like such a thing being said about a president it so faithfully supports.
No, MSNBC was making it quite clear that until Election Day has passed, MSNBC personalities and contributors better be very careful what they say about the current White House resident.
To complete the training, the next MSNBCer to say something really offensive about a Republican presidential candidate should be given a well-publicized promotion with a raise and a bonus.
Of course, with all the MSNBCers doing that, it might be difficult to discern who the next one is.
