One of the finest examples of how liberal media members really don't know what they're talking about occurred on HBO's Real Time Friday when Reason's Nick Gillespie gave a much-needed education to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and host Bill Maher on the issue of Fast and Furious.
In the end, Maddow and Maher embarrassed themselves in a fashion that should have both of their respective networks seriously concerned about their qualifications to disseminate information to the public (video follows with transcript and commentary):
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC: I think it is, you know, if you believe that Shirley Sherrod was a horrible reverse racist at the Department of Agriculture...
BILL MAHER, HOST: [Laughs] Yes.
MADDOW: ...and if you believe a guy in a pimp suit exposed Planned Parenthood as sex slavers, then yeah, this is the kind of thing that the mainstream media ought to be following Fox too as well. It is based on a crazy conspiracy theory that the Bush, the Obama administration is fomenting gun violence in Mexico in order to make Americans anti-gun…
NICK GILLESPIE, REASON: No.
MADDOW: …so that they can rescind the second amendment.
BILL MAHER, HOST: Right. It’s kind of the, it's the Right's...
MAHER: Started under Bush, right?
GILLESPIE: That was a different operation.
MADDOW: Same ideas.
GILLESPIE: Yeah, but they were also in cahoots with the actual Mexican authorities, whoever those might be. But, so you have Eric Holder saying, “No, this wasn’t going on.” Then it’s, “Oh yes, it is going on.” This is, this is a massive screw up, and there is something worth checking out here. It’s not about whether or not Obama’s going to take away the second amendment or anything like that. Eric Holder doesn’t know what’s going on in the organizations that he runs, just like he says, “We’re not waging war on medical marijuana dispensaries in California,” where they’ve made more raids in three years than Bush managed to do in eight or Clinton managed to do.
MAHER: Should he be held in contempt though? Is it…
GILLESPIE: Yeah, well…
MAHER: Really?
GILLESPIE: If he’s not playing by the rules of Congress, and this is not a straight executive power thing because the ATF is a, is a joint Congress and executive branch thing.
Exactly.
It's quite clear Maddow, knowing the show, the host, and the audience, believed she was going to be able to just speak Democrat talking points and Maher would back her up.
Unfortunately for the two of them - but quite beneficial for viewers at home! - Gillespie was there to counter the propaganda.
In so doing, Gillespie exposed Maher as a total nincompoop without any understanding of what he's talking about.
NewsBusters readers know full well I've been exposing that for years.
But far more important, Gillespie showed Maddow to also be a shameless shill lacking the facts on this matter but willing to present the administration's side regardless of the truth.
As Maher is just a comedian with a television show on HBO, him being outed as an idiot is really just sauce for the goose. I demonstrate Maher's deplorably low intellectual capacity so often it's become a sport.
Maddow on the other hand is an unjustifiably well-respected anchor on a so-called cable news network.
That she could be so easily exposed as devoid of the facts in a friendly environment with a supportive host and an adoring audience should seriously concern folks at NBC and MSNBC about the woman they've propped up as the brightest in their organization.
If Maddow really is the best NBC News has to offer, there's no wonder it's "struggling," "slipping," and "adrift" in the ratings war.
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— Noel Sheppard (@NoelSheppard) June 9, 2012
