MSNBC's Alex Wagner: Oscars Wouldn't Have Greeted Laura Bush As Warmly As Michelle Obama

You've surely heard by now that Michelle Obama presented the Academy Award for Best Picture last evening.

On Monday, MSNBC host Alex Wagner, appearing on Hardball, said, "Could Laura Bush have done it? No. If she'd appeared at the Oscars, I don't think she would have been greeted with the same amount of warmth" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let me ask you about the Obamas. This is the second time politicians have gotten into these awards. Bill Clinton was involved with the Golden Globes. I think it's the bicoastal America. I mean, if you look at a map of this country after a presidential election, it's pretty clear the way it works. You got New York and the New England states and the Northeastern states and then somewhere around Michigan it stops, you know? Or Illinois. And then you have this vast amount of flyover country if you will, and then there's L.A., and then there's San Francisco. And here it seems to me another one of the marriages of the bicoastal, the Left Coast against the East Coast. Republicans don't do this.

ALEX WAGNER: Yeah, but Chris, there are two things to say. One, could Laura Bush have done it? No. If she'd appeared at the Oscars, I don't think she would have been greeted with the same amount of warmth.

First off, I'm not going argue that Wagner is wrong.

The reality is that Laura Bush was quite beloved by much of this country enjoying far higher favorability ratings than her husband.

However, what does it say about Hollywood and the entertainment industry that despite how most of the country felt about Mrs. Bush, Wagner's probably right?

Are those involved in movies so hateful of folks on the other side of the aisle that they can't for one evening put ideology aside?

If the answer is "No," how could any of these folks ever be trusted to convey an honest, unbiased message whatever the subject matter?