MSNBC’s David Shuster isn’t impressed with the intelligence of the American people – and even said so on a liberal talk-radio show. On the nationally syndicated Stephanie Miller show on Thursday morning, Shuster blamed the election returns on the "fact" that the ignorant public can’t focus on more than one issue at a time (click here for mp3 audio):
SHUSTER: You can make an argument, and I think there is a point to be made where in this environment, where the economy is having some trouble, and where a lot of people don’t have jobs that should, the extent people see Washington focused on things other than jobs, like health care or like immigration, or card check, whatever it is.
Even though I would argue, no, Washington can focus on a lot of things at once, but for whatever reason the public can’t. And so to the extent that the public sees Washington only consumed with these other issues, they’re not concerned about jobs, the public is a little anxious about that and that showed up in the polling. I don’t think that’s a direct impact on Obama at all.
The folks on the Miller show were absolutely convinced that the election results were solid proof that the country thinks neither party is liberal enough. From the comic actor Hal Sparks came this welcomed bit of analysis:
SPARKS: The truth is what’s the real agenda about? What are these votes really about? The truth is people get angry at the Republicans for what they are doing and they get mad at Democrats for what they’re not doing.
MILLER: Thank you! (Handel Hallelujah Chorus sound effect) Thank you!
SPARKS: Which points to the country moving in a very progressive way.
Miller and her sidekick thought the allegedly conservative national media were ignoring the liberal-pleasing results:
MILLER: Oh that damn liberal media strikes again. All that anybody is apparently talking about is the Republicans winning New Jersey and Virginia. They’re not talking about the fact that the Democrats won hugely unexpectedly in New York where the Republican Party imploded and out here in California, so the Democrats picked up two House seats.
CHRIS LAVOIE: Absolutely nobody in the mainstream media is talking about that. That’s highly irresponsible.
It would be incorrect that the Democrats "picked up two House seats." They did pick up New York 23, but California 10 (now represented by liberal John Garamendi) was represented by a Democrat, Ellen Tauscher.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
MORONIC
November 7, 2009 - 16:01 ET by mjfitchNEED I SAY MORE?
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill
Tim:
November 7, 2009 - 16:02 ET by BKeyserYou spelled "snot" wrong.
If only the rest of us...
November 7, 2009 - 16:16 ET by superconcould be some primped up high paid T.V. boob who could be paid big bucks for being an ass. What the hell would he do if he couldn't be on T.V....? He couldn't get a job at the Home Depot.
" if Republicans are able to stop Barack Obama on health care, 'it will be his Waterloo, it will break him...." -Sen. Jim DeMint
Shuster and the rest of the
November 7, 2009 - 16:17 ET by ThisnThatShuster and the rest of the MSM have never heard of the Pyramid of Life. On the lowest, basic level are survival needs. Things like food, shelter, warmth, air, and sleep. Just above that are safety needs. Things like security, stability, protection, and order. Then comes belongingness and love, which includes family, affection, and relationships.
People are scared right now. No one is interested in pushing the "progressive" agenda of card checks, "health care" (which it isn't, it's insurance demogogary), or letting illegals run the country. And yes, Shuster, we are blaming it on Obama.
__________
"mmm, mmm, mm. Barrack-Hussain-Øbama↓." - The liberals coolaid drinking song
shuster is living proof
November 7, 2009 - 16:30 ET by larry on LIthat the patients have taken over the asylum. put in reality maybe they are only in debt to the government store. which is worst?
Shyster
November 7, 2009 - 16:38 ET by jdlybrandThis guy would be perfect for the part of Thurston Howell III in a movie based on "Gilligan's Island".
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
The looney-left Spin
November 7, 2009 - 16:43 ET by bigtimerThe looney-left Spin Machine marches on...and on...and on.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Schuster a snob?You need
November 7, 2009 - 16:45 ET by Jack BauerSchuster a snob?
You need a certain degree of class to be that. And he's has no class except low class.
I'd say he's just your average liberal media Douche Bagger... or D-Bagger for short.
I keep hearing the same thing from liberals in general.
November 7, 2009 - 17:15 ET by Army Brat"The Citizens of the United States are far too ignorant and mentally deficient to participate in decisions that concern their well being".
I hear this from nearly every one of the liberal politicians and talking heads and quite a few of our "Republican" pols as well. Not of course, quite so blatantly, but the message is clear as an azure sky.
I have had my fill of those "Republicans" that reject Conservative values. They are not Conservatives or they would not support the destructive proposals from the left we see roiling to the surface from the depths of that windowless cesspool where law is made.
islam is a lie and Truth is killing it.
They can't understand
November 7, 2009 - 16:49 ET by KC MulvilleLiberalism is based on the need for government. It's one thing to say that the people need government; it's another thing to say that the people need government because they're ignorant or stupid. Reasonable liberals can make a fair case that all societies need government of some kind, but the stereotypical liberals (whom we oppose, and who make us laugh) claim that the people are too stupid to govern themselves.
Shuster's inane comments show that he belongs to the latter category ... the stereotypical liberals who are walking self-parodies.
Well Shuster I guess the
November 7, 2009 - 16:53 ET by ParalegalGoddessWell Shuster I guess the "public" takes their cues from the idiot in the white house.. He can't seem to focus on anything other than himself. And the fact that he got elected does seem to give some credence to your "analysis".
Shyster, keep it up.
November 7, 2009 - 17:06 ET by BO STINKSKeep insulting the voting public. That's it, little guy, keep telling the public how stoopid they are. I am here to thank Shyster for increasing the number of people who will surely vote the elitists OUT of office in 2010. Please - yap, yap, yap to your heart's content.
"How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the Plain Meaning of Words!" ~Sam Adams
Shuster the Snob??
November 7, 2009 - 17:36 ET by sic721More like Shuster the Knob.
sic... LMAO....Perfect!
November 7, 2009 - 17:44 ET by bigtimersic...
LMAO....Perfect!
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
DECLARATION OF WAR On The Biased Mainstream Media
November 7, 2009 - 17:44 ET by tanzaniteA DECLARATION OF WAR On The Biased Mainstream Media has been posted at http://jeffersonsreb...
The declaration puts the media on notice and demands specific, reasonable changes, otherwise they will see their profits continue to plummet.
Well we can agree on one thing!
November 7, 2009 - 17:50 ET by Patriot IIThe stupidity of many of our American news/media people!!!
So the public can't focus on
November 7, 2009 - 17:58 ET by Tom PaineSo the public can't focus on more than one thing at once? I don't know about that. We are focused on the government takover of banks and major industries, the attempted government takover of healthcare and a projection of US weakness to our enemies in the world. We see double digit unemployment, a weak dollar and the prospect of rampant inflation in the next year. All these things concern us and we are voting accordingly. Conversly, in 2004, unemployment was low, the stock market was climbing and inflation was nonexistent, yet liberals could only focus on the war in Iraq. So who really is it who can't multi-task?
Cable news is to news as ...
November 7, 2009 - 18:06 ET by CO2Makerexpansion teams are to established teams in professional sports.
This analogy just occurred to me as I looked at Schuster's mug shot on this story. "What is it I don't like about him?" I thought, "And about all those other second-tier talking heads, almost all of whom are featureless and interchangeable?"
Then it dawned on me: they are second-rate talent making it by on looks, a good wardrobe, and a gang-fed ambition of the press that is almost feral. They are like the players on expansion teams in MLB or the NFL: some are old players with one or two so-so years left, but most are young players who wouldn't have been drafted if there were fewer teams, i.e., before the expansion.
Now with a new league of expansion teams "in the cables," as Charlie so generously puts it, we get to watch weak pitchers, weak batters, weak fielders, weak passers and blockers and punters. It's like every game is the 1960 Cowboys playing an intrasquad game! Or the first year Mets with Casey at the helm. Or ... well, you get the idea.
This guy is WAY over-paid.
November 7, 2009 - 18:26 ET by rbosqueThis guy is WAY over-paid.
BSNBC...
November 8, 2009 - 09:04 ET by danybhoyI'm pissed that he's actually employed at a cable news channel. But on second thought, sine GE/NBC has been bailed out, would they be considered jobs that are under the "saved" catagory in "jobs created or saved"?
"...How blind can you be, don't you see...
...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."
Nightwish
Shuster the pimp
November 7, 2009 - 18:54 ET by Trix RabbitShuster once worked for FNC and led the reporting on Whitewater and the Lewinsky scandal.
He has since jumped ship to the ever sinking MSNBC thus proving that when money talks, bullsh*t walks.
For the MSM: In your pomp and all your glory, you're a poorer man than me. As you lick the boots of death born out of fear.
Ian Anderson "Wind up"
Ian Anderson and Jethro
November 7, 2009 - 20:47 ET by bse5150Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull kick ass!
Seen them 7 times.
→ bse350
November 7, 2009 - 20:52 ET by Cool ArrowThree times. Thick as a Brick tour twice.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Indeed, they do! For
November 7, 2009 - 22:56 ET by Trix RabbitIndeed, they do!
For the MSM: In your pomp and all your glory, you're a poorer man than me. As you lick the boots of death born out of fear.
Ian Anderson "Wind up"
Max Headroom thought the
November 7, 2009 - 19:08 ET by RR GOPMax Headroom thought the majority of the American people were brilliant when they voted in the Magic Negro.
Anyone who DVR's his show must have a Che T-shirt or Mao's Little Red Book, or be pretty much just a poor slob of a Libtard/Democrat who isn't well educated and simply doesn't know any better.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
Hallelujah
November 7, 2009 - 19:27 ET by acumenSPARKS: Which points to the country moving in a very progressive way.
Yeppers, double digit inflation, trillions of dollars in dept to a communist country, the State taking over banks and industry, rising taxes and unemployment in double digits....there's your progress.
And yes, by all means stop the presses - That bulwark of conservatism New York, voted in yet another Democratic candidate.
ac,
November 7, 2009 - 19:50 ET by Chris Norman"double digit inflation, trillions of dollars in dept to a communist country, the State taking over banks and industry..."
These shallow morons can't get past their sheer glee that a liberal black man is president - for them, history ends there.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Chris
November 7, 2009 - 23:01 ET by acumenI think the government approved response would be Raaaaccccciiiisssssttttt.
You surviving Chapel Hill on steroids or you ready to move back? Sure could use your vote.....I'm so sick of David Price I can't sleep.
acumen, I go away for
November 8, 2009 - 11:30 ET by Chris Normanacumen,
I go away for little over two years and what happens? The tarheels let NC go to political seed... :)
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
It's just torture to have
November 7, 2009 - 19:53 ET by Chris NormanIt's just torture to have to listen or read what a group of liberals say when discussing politics. It's not so much the words they say, it's the despair one feels that adults (by chronological age) can actually hold these views.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
HEY SHUSTER! Why don't
November 7, 2009 - 20:45 ET by bse5150HEY SHUSTER!
Why don't you focus on your station's crappy ratings, you Leftwing jackass.
Immelt
November 7, 2009 - 22:02 ET by Forbin001I would like to see Jeff Immelt the bigwig of NBC interviewed. Id really like to know his thoughts on this daily showing of news pornography.
I can pretty much guess what it would be but I want to hear it from Immelt himself.
This Lovoie fellow,…
November 7, 2009 - 23:49 ET by JPR1…his implication that the MSM has some kind of responsibility is interesting.
My guess is that his comrades are admonishing him for using that term in such an open-ended manner. No doubt he’s being reminded that he is not supposed to give any of the dozen or so listeners the idea that journalists have any real responsibilities. Just spit out the party lines then shut up until you’re advised on what to write/say next.
Perhaps he just found himself awed by the presence of the heavy-hitter in the studio.
Schuster still makes me think of a third rate cartoon character who doesn’t realize he’s about to take heavy lumber to the back of his melon. It's a little twisted I admit, but it makes him almost tolerable.
Focus on just one issue?
November 8, 2009 - 01:01 ET by big.league.sliderSo Mr. Shuster, what is the one, single most important issue the public should focus on?
Should it be hope or should it be change?
"The problem with political jokes is they get elected." -Henry Cate VII (?)
what?
November 8, 2009 - 10:50 ET by Patriot IIMaybe...unlike liberal maggots.....the public concentrates on one issue at a time to get it right.......which is not a problem with liberals.....they just spout off whatever drivel comes into their little minds....!