Howard Fineman

Video: Bozell Slams 'Moronic' Assertion From MSNBC That Pro-life Ryan's a Worse Catholic Than Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay Marriage Biden
By NB Staff | August 24, 2012 | 10:58 AM EDT

"These are two of the most moronic statements I have ever heard," NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell, himself a practicing Catholic, complained after watching video of MSNBC host Martin Bashir and MSNBC contributor Jimmy Williams attacking Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as championing an "unbiblical" budget that doesn't comport to Catholic social teaching.

"Consider that one of these morons is saying that Paul Ryan's budget is unbiblical?! I mean, what book of the Bible dealt with Paul Ryan's budget?" the Media Research Center founder asked on the August 23 "Media Mash" segment, going on to note that seeing as that the Catholic Church is suing the Obama administration over the religious liberty-infringing contraception mandate, it's laughable to suggest that Joe Biden is a better Catholic. [watch the full segment below the page break]

Former Newsweek Editor Warns: GOP Has Become 'Bible-Based,' Paul Ryan Is Anti-Science
By Scott Whitlock | August 22, 2012 | 6:34 PM EDT

Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman appeared on Wednesday's Hardball and warned that the Republican Party has become a "faith-based," "Bible-based" political organization. Fineman also derided Paul Ryan as untrustworthy when it comes to considering science: "[Ryan] starts every consideration of public policy, not from the standpoint of science, but from the standpoint of faith."

The journalist, who is now the editorial director for the Huffington Post, darkly intoned, "But the Republican Party has become a faith-based party. Starting with Ronald Reagan, there was a marriage between the Bible Belt of the south, fundamentalist Bible Belt of the south." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Howard Fineman: 'Todd Akin Is the Paul Ryan of Missouri'
By Scott Whitlock | August 20, 2012 | 6:27 PM EDT

Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman on Monday's Hardball compared the Republican vice presidential candidate to a congressman who is under fire for discussing what makes a "legitimate rape." Fineman attacked, "Because Todd Akin is the Paul Ryan of Missouri." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Akin on Sunday was asked about women who get pregnant after being raped. He replied, "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Fineman connected, "What matters is that the views that Todd Akin has espoused and the legislation he's supported is exactly in line with what the perspective Republican vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, believes and supported." Matthews, typically, derided the Republican Party's "right-wing assault on women, this caveman view of the sexes."

Time's Mark Halperin: Ryan Protesters In Iowa Were Democrats 'On Duty'
By Noel Sheppard | August 13, 2012 | 7:48 PM EDT

Presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was heckled Monday by protesters at a campaign event in Iowa.

Time senior political analyst Mark Halperin told MSNBC's Chris Matthews these were Democrats "on duty" (video follows with transcript and commentary, photo courtesy Des Moines Register):

Howard Fineman, Who Once Slammed 'Werewolf' Rush Limbaugh, Absurdly Denies Liberal Bias
By Scott Whitlock | August 8, 2012 | 5:06 PM EDT

Journalist Howard Fineman, who previously slammed Rush Limbaugh as a "werewolf," who knocked Rick Perry and Sarah Palin as stupid, who smeared Tea Partiers as "secessionists," touted his non-partisan credentials on the website of the liberal Huffington Post.  Fineman absurdly proclaimed, "I'm pretty well known for keeping an even keel ideologically and for steering clear of partisanship."

Fineman, who once lectured Mitt Romney to tell Limbaugh, "stuff it," added, "I'm old-fashioned, even out of date, in this deconstructionist era, in which everyone is assumed to have an ulterior -- political -- motive. I don't. I really don't." Fineman's defense came after a public squabble with Limbaugh. The radio host derided the journalist for tweeting of the Olympics: "Brits long ago lost their empire, powerful currency. They've got social strife, but overall show us how to lose global power gracefully."

Ex-Newsweek Editor Fineman: Romney Appeals to 'Xenophobic,' 'Nativist' GOP Base
By Scott Whitlock | July 23, 2012 | 6:32 PM EDT

Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman appeared on Monday's Hardball to smear the Republican Party as "xenophobic" and "nativist." Fineman lamented that Mitt Romney doesn't have the courage to take on the base, a group he mocked as being "afraid of the world."

Fineman is now the editorial director for the liberal Huffington Post, an outlet in sync with his own left-wing views. Matthews and the journalist discussed Huma Abedin, an aide to Hillary Clinton who Congresswoman Michele Bachmann connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. Asked why Romney won't take on people like Bachmann, Fineman assailed that the presumptive GOP nominee has "played to the kind of nativist base of the Tea Party. And by nativist, I mean people who are, in essence, afraid of the world." 

'Nasty' Rush Limbaugh Is Behaving Like a 'Werewolf,' Ex-Newsweek Editor Smears
By Scott Whitlock | July 16, 2012 | 6:11 PM EDT

Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman on Monday lashed out at Rush Limbaugh as a "nasty" "werewolf" who is making the national discourse extreme. Hardball anchor Chris Matthews played a clip of the conservative radio star asserting that Barack Obama "hates" America.

Fineman spewed, "So, if you have an establishment Republican [Mitt Romney] behaving like an attack dog, you're going to have the Rush Limbaughs of the world behaving like werewolves." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] According to Fineman, Romney "dragged the center of the gravity of the discussion over to the nasty realm which...brings what happens in talk radio and elsewhere in the conservative grassroots, legitimizes the nastiness that you're seeing there."

Fineman Lauds 'Amazing Statesmanship' of Eisenhower Advising LBJ to Push 'Sweeping Liberal Agenda'
By Brad Wilmouth | July 15, 2012 | 11:31 AM EDT

Appearing as a panel member on the weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show, Huffington Post editoral director Howard Fineman - formerly of Newsweek - praised former President Eisenhower's decision to advise then-President Johnson to "carry out Jack Kennedy's agenda" in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination.

Fineman ended up referring to Eisenhower's advice as "amazing statesmanship and foresight." Fineman:

Matthews Panel: Romney 'Better Off' If Seen as 'Pragmatic, Deal-Making Moderate'
By Brad Wilmouth | June 24, 2012 | 1:00 PM EDT

During the concluding "Big Question" segment of this weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show, the entire panel voiced their belief that Mitt Romney is "better off" if he is perceived by voters to be a "pragmatic, deal-making moderate" rather than a "true blue conservative."

Matthews posed the question:

Fineman Sees 'Superhero's Challenge' for Obama
By Brad Wilmouth | June 24, 2012 | 12:27 PM EDT

Appearing as a panel member on this weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show, MSNBC's Howard Fineman - also of the Huffington Post - described President Obama as having a "superhero's challenge" in Washington in having to deal with "a different planet than the one he originally was on."

A bit earlier, Fineman had recounted that President Obama was "confused" when he came to Washington and found that conservatives were not willing to work with him. Fineman: