Scott Brown

As NewsBusters readers know, one of my favorite things to do on Saturday is expose the stunning ignorance of HBO's Bill Maher.

The Real Time host didn't let me down Friday actually saying during his prepared opening monologue that Indiana's Richard Mourdock lost his senate bid Tuesday to - wait for it! - "Elizabeth Warren up in Massachusetts" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Reporting on the Massachusetts Senate race on Thursday, CNN's Brooke Baldwin played a Democratic card by noting the amount of Wall Street money Republican incumbent Scott Brown's campaign receives compared with his Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren, who has campaigned as a populist opponent of Wall Street.  

"The Center for Responsive Politics was reporting nearly 9 out of every 10 Wall Street dollars spent in the Massachusetts campaign here going to Brown. How is that playing, how will that play with voters there?" Baldwin asked her guest, after noting the "huge sea change" causing Warren's lead in the polls. She didn't ask about any of Brown's attacks on Warren, however. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

In a report on Tuesday's NBC Today, correspondent Kelly O'Donnell described "awkward stumbles" for Senator Scott Brown and challenger Elizabeth Warren in a Massachusetts senatorial debate on Monday. Brown's supposed stumble was that he "first named an ultra-conservative" Antonin Scalia as an example of "a very good judge" and model Supreme Court justice.

O'Donnell described Warren's stumble being that she named "retiring" Indiana Senator Dick Lugar as a Republican she could work with if elected. In reality, Lugar was defeated by Richard Mourdock in the Republican primary.

In an unintentionally hilarious variation on the some-of-my-best-friends-are line employed by people defending themselves against accusations of prejudice, Elizabeth Warren—lefty Dem candidate for Senate from Massachusetts—has claimed that various people close to her have started small businesses.

Warren let loose her laugh line on Al Sharpton's MSNBC show this evening, responding to an ad Sen. Scott Brown is running that reveals how President Obama's "you didn't build that" line was eerily similar to an earlier Warren utterance. View the video after the jump.

For someone seemingly so bright, Rachel Maddow sure has a short memory.

There she was on June 19, talking about a proposed debate between GOP Sen. Scott Brown and Democrat challenger Elizabeth Warren and mocking Brown with her trademark brand of arm-waving, arrested adolescent sarcasm (video after page break) --

Has Rachel Maddow ever considered trying her hand at fiction?

What am I saying? She already does, just about every night on MSNBC. (video after page break)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Ma.) has told the Edward M. Kennedy Institute that he will only participate in a debate against Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren if MSNBC drops out as sponsor.

The Boston Globe reported Monday:

James Taranto at The Wall Street Journal reports that Newsweek's Paul Begala, the perennially trash-talking Clinton political operative, "has a tiresome paean to Dick Lugar, the defeated GOP senator who felt his opponent wouldn’t do enough to reach across the aisle."

If this man didn't have double standards, he would have no standards at all. This is the same Begala that wrote in January 2010 that Barack Obama shouldn’t reach out to newly elected moderate Republican Sen. Scott Brown. He should “throw an elbow under the hoop”:

On Monday’s front page, The Washington Post promoted “liberal hero” Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat looking to retake the “Ted Kennedy seat” in the Senate. “Stakes high as liberal hero tries to unseat GOP senator,” read the headline. On Sunday, the Post’s Chris Cillizza said Warren had the “Worst Week in Washington” for her muddled answers to claiming she was of Native American heritage in professor jobs for a decade.

But it wasn’t the “worst week” in the Post – they ran no news story on the controversy until Monday, but in this Karen Tumulty story, it was completely buried until paragraph twenty:

If you hoped the race card wasn't going to be played by media members this election, think again.

On Fox News's America Live Friday, liberal commentator Jehmu Greene said to the Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson, "To question [Massachusetts Democratic senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren] on her qualifications is going to be something that does appeal to folks like you, voters like you - bow-tying white boys" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Elizabeth Warren's credibility took another hit today with stories in both major Boston daily newspapers stating that Warren was listed as a minority in a professional directory for nine years before she was hired by Harvard Law School in 1995.

The Boston Herald broke the story on Friday that Harvard Law School described Warren as its sole Native American professor during the mid-1990s when Harvard was under fire for lack of diversity among its faculty.

Yet another example of the fluid, ever-evolving liberal concept of diversity.

Back in 1996, the Coalition for Civil Rights, a student group at Harvard Law School, ran a survey to determine whether law students at the school were happy with "the level of representation of women and minorities" on the faculty, according to the Harvard Crimson.

Most liberal media members and prominent Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took great offense to Sen. Scott Brown's (D-Mass.) joke concerning rival Elizabeth Warren not posing naked when she was in law school.

Quite surprisingly, when this matter came up on ABC's The View Monday, the ladies sided with Brown (multipart video follows with transcripts and commentary):

At the top of Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer wondered if a joke by Republican Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown in response to a jab by Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren was a "comeback or insult" and noted that "women's groups are giving him a big dressing down today."

In a later tease of the story, fellow co-host Ann Curry proclaimed: "A senate race in Massachusetts has turned ugly and personal." Lauer summed up the situation this way: "...during a debate, a potential Democratic challenger took a shot at Republican Senator Scott Brown for saying that he had to pose nude in Cosmopolitan magazine way back in 1982 to pay for school. Brown's response is now what's drawing a lot of heat."

During the "Psycho Talk" segment of The Ed Show on Thursday, MSNBC host Ed Schultz complained that Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown "has degraded women" as he highlighted liberal criticism of Senator Brown for a joke he recently made about Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.

[Yes, the same  Ed Schultz who was briefly suspended earlier this year by MSNBC for calling conservative radio host Laura Ingraham a "right-wing slut."]

Schultz noted that Brown is the successor to former Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, as if to suggest that he were a disgrace to the former Democratic Senator.

Wow, talk about digging deep.

Then again, Rachel Maddow's critique of Congressman Paul Ryan's proposed reform of Medicare did extend beyond the word "kill." It also included the words "killed" and "killing."

Just how the GOP plan does this Maddow didn't say on her MSNBC show last night, what with inconvenient facts lying in wait to undermine her allegation of homicide.

She decided instead to repeat the same thing over and over, nine times in the first 11 minutes of the program,  as if repetition will make her wishes come true (video after page break) --

Deval Patrick appeared on Thursday's Today show to promote his new book but NBC's Matt Lauer wasted no time in prodding the Democratic governor of Massachusetts about making a run against Republican Senator Scott Brown as he pressed: "I know there's pressure on you right now. Some people want you to take on Scott Brown for the Senate seat in Massachusetts, once held by Ted Kennedy. Are you running?"

For his part Patrick initially ducked the question, insisting he had no interest in a Senate run but this didn't dissuade Lauer from forcing the issue as he repeatedly questioned him about taking on Brown, even asking if he would reconsider if pushed by the President himself: "You know, the Democrats want that seat back. You're very friendly with Barack Obama and if he walks up to you and says, 'Deval,' I think he calls you that as opposed to Governor, 'Deval I want you to run for that seat,' do you say no?

Patrick again denied he wanted to run for Senate, but after a brief discussion about his memoir, Lauer again returned to the question as he teased: "The main message of the book, it seems, Governor, is a message of hope and optimism.  There's a guy, recently, wrote a book I think it was called The Audacity of Hope. He's president now."

 On ABC’s World News Saturday, correspondent John Hendren filed a report marking this year as the first time since 1947 that no members of the Kennedy family will hold public office in Washington, D.C. The piece began:

JOHN HENDREN: The sun has set on the Kennedy era. When Congress reconvenes next week, it will be the first time in 64 years that there has not been a Kennedy in office.

KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, DAUGHTER OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY: I think it's sad. I think that we need a Kennedy.

Hendren went on to recount the death of former Senator Ted Kennedy, "the Lion of the Senate," and the decision of Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy to retire, as well as the shuffling of office space with the arrival of newly-elected Republicans. The ABC correspondent also noted that Tea Party-backed Rep. Ron Paul and Senator-elect Rand Paul are the only family members serving who will be serving concurrently in Congress.

Hendren concluded by offering a ray of hope for those would like to see the Kennedy family in government again:

Liberal "comedian" Kathy Griffin thinks there is no line of rudeness she can't cross, including calling the daughters of Sen. Scott Brown "prostitutes." On Monday's Joy Behar Show on CNN Headline News, Griffin proclaimed "But yes, whenever a statement is issued against me, I`m in heaven. I feel my next special is half written for me. And then I get to read statements allowed in my live shows which you can go to KathyGriffin.net and see the many, many cities I`ve picked up for my current tour."

Not even Rep. Barney Frank could make her feel bad about it:

BEHAR: So you're really feeling bad about it all? Okay, I mean, when Barney Frank turns on you, one of your gays, you have to start to wonder.

On Friday's edition of MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports, Mitchell brought on the Boston Globe's Peter Canellos to pine for the widow of Ted Kennedy, Vicki, to challenge Republican Scott Brown for the Massachusetts Senate seat, as well as imagine how effective the liberal "lion" would be in championing health care and unemployment extension legislation if he were still around today.

A wistful Mitchell remarked of the the late Senator: "It seems as though his legacy only grows in contrast to how low, what low regard the Senate is now held because of the gridlock and the, the sort of petty differences." Mitchell then set up the Globe's editorial page editor as she questioned if Kennedy "were trying to pull things together politically today, if we were blessed by his presence...do you think it would still be the passion for health care, or would he be looking to the larger economic issues?" To which Canellos remembered fondly: "When it comes to unemployment, I mean you can easily hear him...thundering against those who would deny unemployment to people who have been suffering." [audio available here]

The following is the full exchange as it was aired on the August 20 edition of MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports:

As left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin appeared on Thursday’s Joy Behar Show on HLN, she injected "I love it" as host Behar recounted that Griffin "got in some trouble ... over something you said on a recent episode of My Life on the D List." Griffin rationalized that the infamous joke she made about Republican Senator Scott Brown’s daughters being "prostitutes" was based on Senator Brown’s acceptance speech. Griffin: "The genesis of the joke, like, does anybody remember that the night he was elected, he made a joke – he was clearly making a joke – saying, ‘By the way, my daughters are available.’ And then, the Washington press beat up on him saying he was pimping out his daughters."

After later discussing the criticism that Democratic Congressman Barney Frank had also aimed at her over the incident, she declared that "whenever a statement is issued against me, I'm in heaven, I feel my next special is half written for me."

After asserting that "people got their panties in a bunch" over the "prostitutes" joke, leading Behar to add that Congressman Frank had also complained about her jab at Senator Brown’s daughters, Griffin poked fun at Frank in spite of her being an avid liberal and supporter of gay rights who had "admired" the openly gay liberal Congressman. Griffin: "Barney Frank got his panties in a bunch, which takes a lot because, apparently, when he and the boyfriend go to P-Town, there's a lot of panties in a bunch."

She went on to suggest that she was surprised that Congressman Frank was not a fan of hers: "And so I met with Barney Frank – who, of course, I admired – an openly gay Congressman, I'm thinking, ‘Oh, this is fantastic and he sat down with me for My Life on the D List,’ and spent half the interview telling me he'd never seen it, he didn't want to do it, his boyfriend likes me, that's why – I'm like, yeah, I've heard this all a million times before."

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Friday sent a letter to vulgarian Kathy Griffin strongly condemning her for calling Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) daughters prostitutes.

As NewsBusters reported Wednesday, Griffin made this disgusting remark on her Bravo program the previous evening.

Brown himself spoke out against these comments Thursday saying, "People can call me any name they want, but families are off limits...Kathy Griffin and Bravo ought to be ashamed of themselves."

Having also appeared on the program in question, Frank was quick to come to his fellow statesman's defense:

Scott Brown on Thursday slammed left-wing comedienne Kathy Griffin for mocking his daughters as "prostitutes," a joke that prompted laughter from CNN's Dana Bash.

On Wednesday, Newsbusters explained that the correspondent, along with anchor and husband John King, appeared on Griffin's Bravo television show.  The following day, Ben Smith of Politico, among others, reported that the senator's office responded with a scathing statement condemning Griffin's words.

"People can call me any name they want, but families are off limits," Sen. Brown stated. "I love my daughters Ayla and Arianna very much, and any parent would be proud to have them as children. Kathy Griffin and Bravo ought to be ashamed of themselves."

At the top of the 8:30AM ET half hour of Friday's CBS Early Show, co-hosts Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith welcomed a new contributor to the broadcast, the daughter of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, Ayla Brown. As Smith put it: "she's about to graduate from college and she's agreed to come aboard as a special contributor with us here on the Early Show."

Rodriguez led into the announcement by recalling: "...remember back in January, Ayla Brown made headlines sort of by accident when her father, newly elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, announced during his victory speech that she was 'available.'" Smith followed by mentioning Brown's previous appearance on the show: "And remember then a couple of weeks later, we asked Ayla, who's a veteran of American Idol, to sing for us here on the Early Show. She knocked it out of the park."

Time.com unveiled 200 names for its Time 100 (most influential people in the world) issue Thursday. Obviously, liberals and leftists have great influence in today's political sphere, but the conservatives drew about one-fourth the names on the ballot.

This may be picky, but I count about ten conservatives on the list. I put a few "half" picks in brackets for people who aren't as political and/or conservative:

9. Sarah Palin

15. Scott Brown

17. Roger Ailes

Did you know that Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts is "harassing" Rachel Maddow?

Depends, of course, on how you define harassment. Liberals like Maddow are inclined toward the most flexible definition possible, especially when directed at those of less evolved politics.

As far as Maddow is concerned, Brown is "harassing" her -- in other words, he's a criminal -- because Brown sent out a fundraising appeal mentioning Maddow as a potential challenger.  

Brown's pitch read --

Friends, It's only been a couple of months since I've been in office, and before I've even settled into my new job, the political machine in Massachusetts is looking for someone to run against me. And you're not going to believe who they are supposedly trying to recruit -- liberal MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow.

On Thursday's Situation Room, CNN's Wolf Blitzer engaged newly-elected Republican Scott Brown on his opposition to ObamaCare, and asked him the same question from the left twice in succession: "What's wrong with giving 30 million-plus more Americans access to health insurance?" He also later added, "What's wrong with spending money...if it's going to give access to 30 million Americans?" [audio clips available here; video clips available here]

Blitzer had the Massachusetts senator on just before the bottom of the 5 pm Eastern hour. The anchor first complimented Brown for driving over to the CNN Washington Bureau in his "nice little truck," and immediately asked his slanted question.

After the senator gave his initial answer, Blitzer, seemingly unsatisfied by the response, pressed further, and added another argument from the left: "I guess I should rephrase the question. What's wrong with spending money- the cost, if it winds up costing money, if it winds up raising taxes on  multimillionaires or millionaires, or people even earning more than $250,000 a year- if it's going to give access to 30 million Americans, so they don't have to worry about getting sick- what's wrong with that?"

Leading off his "Political Sideshow" segment halfway through the March 10 "Hardball," MSNBC's Chris Matthews mocked freshman Sen. Scott Brown (D-Mass.) for his reported book deal [audio available here]:

We learned today that Massachusetts senator Scott Brown, who's been a senator for just 35 days, has a book deal! According to the Wall Street Journal, Brown's expected to write about his upbringing, his early career, and how he beat Martha Coakley to win his Senate seat.

Maybe he could call it, "It's Not About the Truck."  Just a thought, but, didn't people used to write their memoirs after their careers? This guy's been in office, what, a month?

Of course, this comes almost two years to the day after Matthews effusively praised Barack Obama's memoir, "Dreams From My Father" -- originally published in 1995 when Obama was gearing up to run for the Illinois State Senate -- on the March 13, 2008 "Hardball":