You can tell conservatives are winning the debt ceiling battle by how rabid the commentators on MSNBC are getting.
On Tuesday's "Ed Show," the host told his audience that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh.) "lied about President Obama," "ain't real deep," has a "short fuse," is "lazy," and is "a heck of a lot more comfortable on a bar stool" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
The arrogance of Bill Maher, as well as his ability to revise history, knows no bounds.
On MSNBC's "The Last Word" Tuesday, the "Real Time" host told Lawrence O'Donnell the reason he invited conservatives like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and Grover Norquist on his hit show "Politically Incorrect" years ago was to act as his "foils" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
If there's a reason why Dayton Daily News staff writer Drew Simon wrote his Tuesday morning story ("Seniors fear losing Social Security checks") other than to scare the elderly, I don't know what it is.
Nowhere in his report did Simon say who was the first person to invalidly raise the specter of Social Security checks not going out on August 2 (it was President Barack Obama, in case you missed it). Nowhere did he mention that the likelihood is extremely remote, and that if it happens it would only be because the Obama Treasury Department decided to let it happen. Messy items like that distract from the main purpose. Oh, but Simon did get an apparatchik from AARP who also should and probably does know better to chime in on his behalf.
Here are a few paragraphs from Simon's stench:
MSNBC's Chris Matthews Tuesday exposed his own debt ceiling hypocrisy without realizing it.
As he absurdly asked his "Hardball" guests why America isn't having a "big debate" about what the federal government should pay for - like that's not what's happening at the moment! - he relayed how his parents balanced their household budget, but never once said anything about raising revenues. It was all about what they could afford (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Liberal radio talker and former "Crossfire" co-host Bill Press prides himself on civility. Provided you agree with him.
If you don't, he might wish aloud over the airwaves for your untimely demise.
Brian Maloney over at The Radio Equalizer caught Press doing just that during a recent broadcast (audio clip after page break) --
CNN's Wolf Blitzer put Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on the defensive Tuesday in a testy interview on the debt ceiling, lecturing the congressman and asking provocative questions about any divides within the party on Capitol Hill.
Blitzer told Jordan that "you've got to deal with reality now" after reporting that the Balanced Budget Amendment, a brainchild of House Republicans, failed in the Senate. "You've got to deal with the hand you're dealt, and you can pass anything you want in the House, but if it doesn't pass in the Senate, it's not going anywhere," he added.
Over the past few days, media coverage has been dedicated almost entirely to the debt negotiations between President Obama and more outspoken members of Congress. As the Los Angeles Times pointed out, this let slide an interesting statement by the self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said, "I think it would be good if President Obama faced some primary opposition."
For one of the most outspoken defenders of universal healthcare, same-sex marriage, and environmentalism to be challenging Obama signals major problems with what should be Obama's most ardent base of supporters, which is also confirmed by new polls from CBS, NBC, and ABC. The networks, however, are failing to report their own polls because they reflect poorly on the president.
On Monday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed that Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik "seemed to be heavily influenced by some people in this country who write and blog about the perceived threat from Islam."
In the report that followed, correspondent Michael Isikoff noted how writings of Robert Spencer, the associate director of Stop the Islamization of America, were cited several times in Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto and declared that "some analysts say words can be weapons themselves." A sound bite was featured of Heidi Beirich of the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center: "When you push the demonization of populations, you often end up with violence."
CBS's Michelle Miller leaned towards supporters of taxing junk food on Tuesday's Early Show, playing three sound bites from them and none from opponents. Miller only made one vague reference to the opposing side, and she immediately followed it by playing up the supposedly positive result of a tax: "While some say a new tax is the last thing we need, it could mean a healthier America."
The correspondent led her report by hyping how "we're paying quite a hefty toll" for creating "cheap fast food," and launched into her first sound bite, which came from Michael Jacobson, the executive director of the perennial "food police" organization, the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
During a roundtable discussion on the debt ceiling deadlock on his July 26 program, MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan, egged on by a former Durbin and Biden staffer-turned-lobbyist, argued that the bulk of the national debt was run up prior to the time President Barack Obama entered office, by Republicans:
On Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry touted President Obama trying to scare the American people into supporting his debt ceiling plan: "He called for public activism, so much so that we hear that Capitol Hill web sites were crashing last night because so many people were trying to e-mail their representatives. It looks like he spooked main street...will he also spook Wall Street?"
Curry directed that question to CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer, who promptly rejected such doom and gloom: "No, not at all. Frankly, Wall Street's very calm. The markets are looking pretty good today....No one's buying the panic, no one's buying the skyrocketing interest rates economic crisis scenario."
Granted, you may not have noticed any difference.
The Rev. Al Sharpton did his part for Republicans last night by arguing with one of them.
Sharpton, heir apparent to the 6-7 p.m. slot on MSNBC, tried to get the better of Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., and ran into the immovable object of a smarter opponent.
Here's how their exchange ended, with Sharpton criticizing Mulvaney for opposing higher taxes to reach a deal on the debt ceiling (video after page break) --
On Tuesday's NBC Today, correspondent Kristen Welker portrayed President Obama as the great compromiser while reporting on his Monday night address on the debt ceiling: "...the President still pushed for a balanced approach, cut spending and raise tax revenue....With time running out, the President called for compromise."
In contrast, Welker depicted House Speaker John Boehner as stubborn and unwilling to deal: "Boehner seemed to reject all talk of compromise, backing a House GOP plan....Earlier, the President did endorse a plan put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid....But Boehner said that's not the answer."
[UPDATED: See end of blog for new information.] ABC, as of Tuesday morning, has skipped any coverage of embattled Democratic Congressman David Wu, accused of what The Oregonian called "an unwanted sexual encounter with the 18-year-old daughter of a childhood friend."
On Tuesday, Wu announced he would be resigning. Will ABC finally cover this story? CBS and NBC have both noted the story in news briefs, but ignored other Wu scandals.
ABC last mentioned Wu back on February 22, when Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos interviewed the politician for other bizarre, but unrelated, antics. At that time, Wu was dealing with the fallout of wearing a Tiger costume and staff members who wanted him to seek psychiatric treatment.
Showing the New York Times's reputation for knee-jerk liberalism has a long pedigree, veteran comic Mort Sahl had a joke about a hypothetical Times headline after nuclear Armageddon: "World Ends, Women & Minorities Hardest Hit."
Enter Tuesday’s off-lead headline, under a story by Sabrina Tavernise: “Recession Study Finds Hispanics Are Hit Hardest – Sharp Wealth Decline - Group’s Median Level Fell 66% in 4 Years – Blacks Hit, Too.”