"This is the ugly, intolerant face of the radical left that's taken over liberalism today," declared NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell on Thursday's Hannity program, reacting to charges by MSNBC's Al Sharpton and Mike Barnicle that conservatives up in arms over Mike Bloomberg's proposed soda ban are animated by anti-Semitism. Bozell appeared on the March 28 program with guest host Eric Bolling for the popular weekly "Media Mash" segment.
"You can't have an [honest] conversation with these radicals" at MSNBC, the Media Research Center founder complained. "I pine for the days of George McGovern... I pine for the days of Joe Lieberman, where are you when I need you? Because you could have a serious conversation, serious disagreements, but you weren't attacked personally for them," Bozell noted. "This is the radical left that goes for character assassination anytime it's faced with a debate" against conservatives. [watch the full Mash segment below the page break; special thanks to my colleague Scott Whitlock for the video]
Also noted in the segment was how the liberal media celebrated Bloomberg's $12-million ad buy for his "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" group. When a liberal billionaire like Bloomberg plunks down cash to advance his political belief on TV, it's acceptable. But if it were Charles or David Koch spending millions on a pro-gun rights ad buy, it'd be a far different story, Bozell argued.
"If it's a conservative with money... they come after you, but with Bloomberg, because he's now adopted their top issue, which is gun control now, he's a hero," Bozell noted, adding that the New York Mayor has been given substantial chunks of free air time by the broadcast networks with "43 network news stories" between January 1 and March 28.
Bloomberg "doesn't need to spend a penny, [ABC, CBS, and NBC] are giving him millions," Bozell concluded.
