Newt Gingrich

Those familiar with Kathleen Parker's work are well aware that this supposedly conservative columnist is a fine example of a Republican in Name Only.

On CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday, Parker proved it once again saying that the National Review "was created from an ideological point of view...As opposed to, for example, the Chicago Tribune or The Washington Post" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Conservatives must have thought they died and went to heaven when the Roundtable segment of ABC’s This Week began Sunday.

There were syndicated columnist George Will and talk radio’s Laura Ingraham facing off on the state of the Republican presidential race (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Barack Obama and his reelection committee must be thrilled to know the media are going to assist them in invoking class warfare this campaign season.

NBC's Chris Matthews certainly did his part Sunday practically beginning the syndicated show bearing his name asking the truly revolting question is Mitt Romney "Just too damn rich?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Remember the good old days when the family members of politicians were considered off-limits?

That of course is never the case for Republicans as HBO's Bill Maher sadly demonstrated on Friday's Real Time when he depicted Newt Gingrich's wife Callista as a Martian (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Bloomberg's Jeanne Cummings got a much-needed lesson Friday about money not being everything in politics.

After she claimed on PBS's Inside Washington that Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's revival in the race was all due to multimillion dollar donations from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer correctly replied that the former Speaker's ascendancy resulted from his debate performances in South Carolina not money (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Sheryl Gay Stolberg’s 2,400-word front-page Friday New York Times profile of Republican candidate Newt Gingrich, “Gingrich Stuck to Caustic Path in Ethics Battles,” rehashed the standard liberal storyline about the former House Speaker’s aggressive stance against Democratic corruption, which eventually won Republicans the House of Representatives. (Plus a severely unflattering photo on the jump page of the former speaker from 1995 heading into a hearing on ethics complaints filed against him.)

As she has before, Stolberg suggested Gingrich was to blame for today’s current partisanship – “many fault him for erasing whatever civility once existed in the capital.” As if Gingrich’s attacks on Congressional Democratic leaders could be blamed for what liberal Democrats tried to do to Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991.

At Thursday's Republican presidential debate in Florida, the audience and some of the contestants grew visibly weary with moderator Wolf Blitzer's continued efforts to get the candidates to address each other's dirty laundry.

After the CNNer attempted this with Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House responded, "This is a nonsense question" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Despite the fact that Nancy Pelosi has failed to produce any evidence to back up her claim that she "knows something" about Newt Gingrich that would end his candidacy, on Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer still touted her unfounded remarks: "...she makes this comment saying, 'Newt Gingrich will not be president, there's something I know.' Now that in itself sounds pretty alarming."  

Talking to special correspondent Tom Brokaw, Lauer suggested Pelosi must have some really damaging information that needs to be made public: "Clearly, she's hinting that she learned something that will make, will disqualify him as president. Does she have the right to back out now and back off of that?"

On the Chicago Tribune's Web site today, columnist Clarence Page writes of "The umbrage card trick."  Page lights into GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for assorted misdeeds, one of which is calling Barack Obama a "food stamp president":

Ex-Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos continued to nakedly promote the Democratic agenda, prompting Joe Biden on Wednesday to agree that Newt Gingrich is "playing racial politics" with his attacks on Barack Obama.

Rather than force the Vice President to spout his own talking points, the Good Morning America co-host tossed this softball: "You called the former Speaker's statements ridiculous. But, do you think he's playing racial politics when he calls President Obama a food stamp president?" [UPDATED: See video below. MP3 audio here.]

MSNBC's Obama-loving contributor Donny Deutsch said Wednesday the American public is never going to "like" Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney.

Appearing on Morning Joe, Deutsch asked, "When was the last time we elected an angry president, and when was the last time we elected a president people didn't connect with?" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):"

As NewsBusters previously reported, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich severely admonished CNN's John King for beginning last Thursday's debate in South Carolina with questions about the former Speaker's ex-wife.

King asked Gingrich about this highly-publicized incident on his program Tuesday, and the former Speaker told his host, "You didn't have to take the bait. You didn't have to pick it up. You could have ignored ABC" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The levels America's media will go to protect Barack Obama often stagger the mind.

On MSNBC's Hardball Tuesday, the Huffington Post's Howard Fineman not only complained about how the former Speaker of the House refers to the current White House resident - "I've never heard Newt Gingrich call President Obama 'President Obama.' It's usually just 'Obama'" - his assertion was totally false (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Tuesday's CBS This Morning, Erica Hill played up the "overwhelming majority" that apparently support raising taxes on the rich, and urged Rep. Paul Ryan to consider supporting such a tax hike: "68% of people support raising...taxes on incomes of $250,000 and higher. Is that something that you could, perhaps, at least have a conversation about?" [audio available here; video below the jump]

Co-anchor Charlie Rose also suggested that Ryan and congressional Republicans had refused to work with President Obama, and that the Democrat needed to try to bring them on board. Rose asked White House advisor David Plouffe, "What can the President say this evening that might bring Paul Ryan to work with him on issues that concern the country?"

CNN's Soledad O'Brien would not brand Saul Alinsky as a leftist radical, and neither would she say President Obama was influenced by his writings – but she had no problem tying Alinsky's controversial beliefs to the Tea Party movement on Monday's Starting Point.

As a community organizer in Chicago, Barack Obama mirrored the tactics Alinsky laid out in his book "Rules for Radicals" – which featured a tribute to the devil Lucifer, "the very first radical." GOP candidate Newt Gingrich has recently tied Obama's name with Alinsky, sparking a media debate over the matter.

MSNBC's Martin Bashir spent a good part of his on air time Monday calling Republicans liars as he foolishly confused two extraordinarily simple pieces of economic data thereby making it he that was commiting a falsehood.

After calling Tea Party Express founder Judson Phillips a liar on his 3PM program, Bashir said the same thing about Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on The Ed Show roughly five hours later while in both instances wrongly claiming there were more food stamp recipients when George W. Bush was president than there are now (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Salon's Joan Walsh stooped to an even further low Monday when she said on MSNBC's pre-debate show, "Newt is the face of the politics of resentment and racism and angry white male rage."

Yes, she was talking about Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (video follows with transcript and commentary):

UPDATE AT END OF POST: Bashir responds via Twitter.

During a heated exchange with Tea Party Express founder Judson Phillips, MSNBC's Martin Bashir on Monday actually called his guest a liar for correctly saying there are more people on food stamps now than when George W. Bush was president.

This makes two MSNBC anchors in just three days that have made the same completely false claim on the air (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Charles Blow’s Saturday column for the New York Times, “Newt’s Southern Strategy,” tastelessly conflated GOP candidate Newt Gingrich’s (imagined) racism with conservatives who believe the media have a liberal bias, while Blow called the former House Speaker a "vile, reptilian, hatemonger" on his Twitter feed.

Irony alert: Former Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos on Monday questioned Newt Gingrich's "character and temperament." The Good Morning America co-anchor interviewed the Republican presidential candidate and unselfconsciously scolded, "I know you've faced these kinds of questions before. Is there any way for you to put this issue of temperament to rest?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Stephanopoulos began his attack by highlighting, "Let me get to the question of character and temperament. Rick Santorum on This Week, yesterday, called you a friend but also erratic and a high-risk candidate." Back in the early '90s, Stephanopoulos was in charge of handling Bill Clinton's "bimbo eruptions."

After the media's disgraceful intrusion into Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's former marriage last week, it would be hard to make the case they've been too easy on him.

But that's exactly what MSNBC's Joe Scarborough did on Monday's Morning Joe (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

You know liberals are desperate if they’re playing the race card so early in the 2012 campaign cycle. The latest edition of MRC’s Notable Quotables is now out, and this week’s collection was heavy with media quotes attacking both Republican voters and their presidential candidates as racist.

Among the lowlights: NBC’s Ann Curry accusing Newt Gingrich of “intentionally playing the race card” when he talked about President Obama’s dismal economic record, and ex-CNN correspondent Bob Franken nastily asserting that conservative voters harbor “a real resentment against blacks,” and “would love to see us return to the good old days of Jim Crow.”

The worst quotes are below the jump; the full issue can be read at www.MRC.org. (PDF version)

Of all the Morning Joe regulars, I find Harold Ford, Jr. the least interesting.  Ever on the lookout for his next opportunity, the fiercely ambitious Ford is firmly of the "my good friend" so-and-so school of politics, constantly hedging his bets and finding a way to praise or agree with virtually everyone.  

So it was an exception this morning when the former Dem congressman from Tennessee actually said something of note, if only for its sheer silliness.  Ford somehow managed to maintain a straight face while claiming the media doesn't strongly favor Barack Obama.  Video after the jump.