In shining examples of the phrase “better late than never,” Conor Friedersdorf -- a staff writer on politics and national affairs at The Atlantic -- and Dylan Byers -- a media critic for the Politico website -- hammered conservatives on Monday for charging that the mainstream media had mostly ignored or minimized the attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.

Friedersdorf called the charge the “Whopper of the Year,” while Byers accused conservatives of taking a “guilty-until-proven-innocent approach” regarding the reaction by President Barack Obama and his administration to the incident, which 11 months ago led to the deaths of four people, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

Earlier this afternoon, my NewsBusters colleague Kyle Drennen highlighted the Today show’s effort to hype the recent feud between Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Unsurprisingly, the folks at MSNBC were even more eager to blow the dispute out of proportion – and to predict a nasty fight between Republicans in 2016.

Now host Alex Wagner kicked off a gleeful Wednesday segment on the feud, claiming the “2016 Republican clown car has already started revving its engines.” Wagner also suggested the “spat” would expose “deep divisions within the GOP,” echoing similar remarks made by NBC’s Peter Alexander on Wednesday’s Today.

For the past few years, MSNBC hosts have run “Lean Forward” ads wherein they push different liberal advocacy issues from universal health care to considering children to be the collective "property" of the "community." MSNBC’s latest “Lean Forward” ad features host Alex Wagner focusing on yet another liberal pet project: raising the federal minimum wage.

In an ad which aired on July 25, Wagner whined that, “I don’t understand why there isn’t a more robust conversation about the minimum wage.” Wagner, a former cultural correspondent for the liberal think-tank Center for American Progress, has been featured in numerous “Lean Forward” ads, including one where she mocks Republican efforts to strengthen border security. [See video after jump. MP3 audio here.]

Appearing on Thursday’s Now with Alex Wagner, MSNBC contributor Joy Reid accused Republicans of racial motivations in their opposition to the Senate immigration bill, claiming GOP lawmakers “don’t want to add more brown people to the population.” She also compared a legalization option – which some Republicans support – to “indentured servitude.”

Reid, a frequent guest on the Lean Forward network – and editor of left-leaning, NBC-owned TheGrio.com – felt what host Alex Wagner suggested was “indignation” at GOP opposition to the Senate’s version of immigration reform. She then launched a tirade against Republicans that characterized their support of legal resident status for illegal immigrants, but not citizenship, as “a very ugly, sort of, ethnic argument”:

The liberal chorus at MSNBC has made it a relentless mission to attack Republicans as unconcerned about the poor. Evening hosts Chris Matthews and Chris Hayes are just two recent examples, the former claiming the GOP “spent months...trying to keep black people and poor people from voting,” and the latter slamming Republicans for an “anti-food stamp jihad.”

The hypocrisy of these attacks may shine through this weekend, as the network broadcasts live from the Essence Festival in New Orleans, from July 5 through July 7. Now, the Essence Festival’s primary purpose is to “celebrate black culture, music and people,” a mission no one could or should criticize. But the Lean Forward network is choosing to promote their GOP-bashing agenda – which includes criticism for Republicans who want to “tear down the poor” – from a festival where the most affordable tickets are currently more than $60 per ticket, per night.