On Monday, NewsBusters asked, "Will Chris Matthews and MSNBC Spend Week Bashing Schumer's Branches of Government Gaffe?"
It turns out that not only didn't Matthews or MSNBC mention Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) blunder on that network's extended prime time programs Monday, but a LexisNexis search identified that out of all America's many mainstream media outlets, only Fox News's Bret Baier and Fox Business Channel's Don Imus thought this was at all newsworthy:
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel, you know? We have three branches of government. We have a house, we have a senate, we have a president. And, all three of us are going to have to come together and give some.
(LAUGHTER)
DON IMUS, HOST: Three?
MCGUIRK: Maybe a tree branch knocked him stupid but this know-it-all balloon head who curses at flight attendants -- this genius senator.
And that's that.
CNN, the network Schumer was on when he made the comment, never mentioned or played it again. Not once.
And no American newspaper reported it, including those in Schumer's home state of New York. Not one.
By contrast, although Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) wasn't on any of the Sunday talk shows making a gaffe about our branches of government, CNN did three stories about her Monday.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews attacked Bachmann for the fifth day in a row Monday and the sixth day in a row Tuesday.
I guess we got our answer.
*****Update: Readers have noted that folks like Rush Limbaugh and others did note Schumer's gaffe. As this blunder was all the rage at conservative websites Sunday and talk radio Monday, I assumed people would understand I was referring to mainstream media's omission. Sorry for the confusion.