Now online: the March 9 edition of Notable Quotables, MRC’s bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous quotes in the liberal media. This week, journalists lash out at ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani for saying he doesn't think Obama loves America, even as Bloomberg's Mark Halperin agrees Democrats said similar things about George W. Bush: "It's a huge double standard in the media."
Also, CNN's Christiane Amanpour scoffs at Benjamin Netanyahu's "Strangelovian" speech warning of the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran, while Netflix star Kevin Spacey outlines how his character would handle GOP obstructionism: "I'd just kill everybody. Just kill them all." Highlights are posted below; the entire issue is posted online, with 22 quotes (one with video) at www.MRC.org.
Outraged by Giuliani’s Criticism of Obama
“When a leading Republican — who once ran for President, by the way, and was a serious candidate — says something like the President doesn’t love America, is he a divider and not a uniter, as George W. Bush might say?...I mean, it was hateful. It was a hateful remark....This was a personal insult to the President of the United States.”
— Fill-in anchor Gloria Borger to former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge on CNN’s State of the Union, February 22.
Moderator Chuck Todd: “This week’s race to the bottom, led by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is proving why Americans are learning to hate politics and the media....Giuliani even used an old racial dog whistle of the Civil Rights era, communism.”
Clip of Rudy Giuliani: “His grandfather introduced him to Frank Marshall Davis, who was a communist.”
— NBC’s Meet the Press, February 22.
“You want to know what that fight among Republicans running for President is all about? What’s it all about? It’s about who can hate President Obama the most. And Rudy Giuliani proved it by questioning the President’s love of country. Is there someone in the Republican Party who will blow the whistle on this crap?”
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hardball, February 23.
Acknowledging Media’s “Huge Double Standard”
Co-host Joe Scarborough: “Can I say I think they were off the hook, too? But, again, I just have to bring up, again, if Democrats are going to beat their chest in self-righteous indignation, I’m sorry. How many times have Democrats called George W. Bush or Republicans unpatriotic over the past 10, 15 years?”
Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin: “It’s a huge double standard in the media.”
— Talking about Rudy Giuliani’s criticism of President Obama on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, February 23.
Hillary Set Up Secret Server to Shield Wedding E-Mails?
“What’s the revelation, that the Clintons didn’t follow the rules? That the Clintons tried to hide stuff and that the Clintons are now acting like it’s a vast right-wing media conspiracy?...I’m not saying it’s not a story. I’m just saying, we’re going to talk about it, and then they’re all going to get turned over and it’s going to be a bunch of wedding stuff. I mean, who did she e-mail that we think we’re not going to see?”
— Onetime GOP strategist Nicolle Wallace, now a co-host of ABC’s The View, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, March 5.
Decrying “Strangelovian” Takeover of U.S. Foreign Policy
“There was nothing new....Instead, Wolf, it was a very dark, Strangelovian speech painting a picture of a really dystopian world, raising the specter of a genocidal nation, a genocidal regime, spraying nuclear weapons to annihilate the whole world and the whole region. Now, obviously, many people are very concerned about Iran, and there is a deep lack of trust. But surely, the same was said of the Soviet Union all those years ago.”
— CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour during live coverage soon after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, March 3.
Thirsty Americans Need “Official Policy” on Drinking Water
“It [a government nutrition report] tells you to drink all the coffee you want, up to something like five cups a day, which makes some people ecstatic. But far more important is this statement: ‘Strategies are needed to encourage the U.S. population to drink water when they are thirsty.’ Imagine if that were official policy.”
— New York Times food writer Mark Bittman in a February 25 Web article.
Mealtime: Just an Ignorant Racist Plot
“Why You Should Stop Eating Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner”
“Dogmatic adherence to mealtimes is anti-science, racist, and might actually be making you sick.”
— Headline and subheadline over March 4 post by Mother Jones senior editor Kiera Butler.
The Netflix Primary: Thrilled by Hillary, but Kill All the Republicans
“There’s only one name I’m really interested in hearing tonight. It starts with an ‘H’ and ends with a ‘Clinton.’”
— Actress Uzo Aduba, star of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, before the start of the Emily’s List 30th Anniversary gala on March 3, as quoted in the Washington Post’s March 5 Reliable Source column.
Actor Kevin Spacey: “I think that what is truly unfortunate is when an entire party makes a decision that they’re going to block every single thing that a President wants to accomplish. It’s very — it’s very hard to get anything done under those circumstances.”
NBC correspondent Cynthia McFadden: “Even Frank Underwood would have trouble with that?”
Spacey: “Oh, I’d just kill everybody. Just kill them all.”
— Taped interview with the star of Netflix’s House of Cards shown on NBC’s Meet the Press, February 22.
To read the entire March 9 edition of Notable Quotables, please visit www.MRC.org.
