Liberal journalists were glowing and full of hope after Barack Obama won a second term. As 2012 drew to a close, there was the traditional hour of ABC’s Barbara Walters fawning: “Mr. President, Mrs. Obama. There is a photograph of you [hugging] that went viral, became the most shared photograph in the history of Twitter. How do you keep the fire going?”

As the second inauguration neared, Newsweek put out a cover image even though they’d stopped printing magazines. Over a picture of Obama, it read: “The Second Coming. America Expects. Can He Deliver?” He laid an egg.

When Rush Limbaugh caused a stir with his comments about feminist activist Sandra Fluke, the media were whipped into a frenzy, with the Big Three broadcast networks devoting 32 stories to the row in two weeks' time. Yet there were a grand total of zero stories devoted to former MSNBC host Martin Bashir expressing on his November 15 program that he would like to see someone defecate into the former Alaska governor's mouth.

"It was 100-fold more serious than anything Rush Limbaugh has ever said about anyone in 30 years on his show. Yet [there were] 32 stories, which is a tsunami, on Rush Limbaugh, nothing, crickets about Martin Bashir," Media Research Center founder and president Brent Bozell told Fox News host Megyn Kelly on the December 6 edition of The Kelly File. Bozell added that Bashir was symptomatic of "a real misogyny" at MSNBC against conservative women [WATCH video below page break; LISTEN to MP3 audio here]:

To date, NBC/Comcast has made absolutely no apology to its viewers or to Gov. Sarah Palin for Martin Bashir’s vile screed on November 15 suggesting that she should be forced to consume excrement. Even following Bashir’s own apology and subsequent resignation, NBC/Comcast’s top executives have remained completely silent.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin offered only public support for Bashir, releasing a statement yesterday that said in part, “I understand his decision and I thank him for three great years with MSNBC. Martin is a good man and respected colleague – we wish him only the best.” Media Research Center President Brent Bozell reacted:

As NewsBusters revealed Wednesday, Martin Bashir has resigned from MSNBC due to vile comments he made in November about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin first reported here.

Palin responded on Thursday's Fox & Friends saying amongst other things, "I just hope that unprovoked attacks like that don't result in people being hesitant to jump in the arena anyway, to get out there and serve the public or, you know, start a business, or really commit themselves to changing within their family, their community, their world, doing whatever that they can, despite the fact that in this world, you are going to be hurt and attacks will come your way" (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary):

On the same day that MSNBC's Martin Bashir resigned after suggesting someone defecate in Sarah Palin's mouth, colleague Ed Schultz lamented the "crudeness over on the right." This is the same Schultz who, on his radio program in 2011, slimed radio host Laura Ingraham as a "slut." The Ed Show anchor's rant started over comments by Bill O'Reilly about whether users of food stamps waste money on drugs. Schultz sneered, "Meanwhile, there is Rush Limbaugh. He knows a thing or two about drug addiction."

He mocked, "I'd like to see Limbaugh, see how he fares on $133 worth of food a month. Or maybe a day." Schultz then played a clip of Limbaugh discussing the Pope: "The Pope is ripping America. The Pope is ripping capitalism...And Obama is having an orgasm." In a haughty tone, the host complained, "The President is doing what? Certainly no crudeness over on the right, is there?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]