Michelle Malkin

Olbermann Claimed He’d Never Call a Woman ‘Idiot,’ But Tags Palin ‘Idiot’ 22 Times
By Brad Wilmouth | July 12, 2010 | 9:12 AM EDT

Since April 8 of this year, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann has called former Governor Sarah Palin an "idiot" 22 times on his Countdown show, usually by uttering the words, "That woman is an idiot." But in August 2004, the MSNBC host claimed to be too "naive and old-fashioned" to call a woman an "idiot," as he attacked conservative commentator Michelle Malkin for misquoting him as having called her an "idiot," when, in reality, he had charged that she had "made a fool out of herself" instead. In fact, Olbermann contended that if he had in reality called Malkin an "idiot," it would have been grounds for him to apologize:

We at Countdown were preparing an apology for my choice of language last night after the writer Michelle Malkin went on Rush Limbaugh's radio entertainment program and wrote in her Web blog that I had called her a, quote, "idiot." It was Ms. Malkin, who on Hardball last night, raised the accusation that John Kerry's Vietnam wounds may have been self-inflicted. It's naive and old-fashioned, but I feel you should reserve those terms like "idiot" exclusively for men. Political differences, fault or innocence are all secondary. There are codes. There's also a problem. I never called her an idiot.

But since April, the words, "That woman is an idiot," referring to Palin, have become a near regular part of the show, as the Countdown host has called the former governor an "idiot" during 20 episodes of his show between April 8 and July 8, including once when he used the label three times in one show as he also called her "idiot woman" and "that idiot."

Newsweek: Sexist Treatment of Republican Women is Sarah Palin's Fault
By Noel Sheppard | July 3, 2010 | 2:00 PM EDT

Newsweek on Saturday did an astonishingly poor job of exploring why Republican women are suddenly being attacked for their beauty even suggesting it's all the former governor of Alaska's fault.

"There seems to be an insistent, increasingly excitable focus on the supposed hotness of Republican women in the public eye, like Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Michelle Malkin, and Nikki Haley-not to mention veterans like Ann Coulter," the article now being prominently featured at the magazine's website began.

Hypocritically, Julia Baird's piece never once explained or wondered why the same thing isn't being done to Democrat women.

Instead, the numerous headlines exclusively trivialized physically attractive GOP females such as the following from the website's front page (h/t Twitter's @buszero):

Media Still Can’t Bring Themselves to Call Chandra Levy Suspect an Illegal Immigrant
By Rusty Weiss | May 16, 2010 | 11:02 PM EDT
You would think that in the midst of the liberal media's fight to rip Arizona's Immigration Law, that the phrase ‘illegal immigrant' would be fairly easy to use in an appropriate manner.  Yet that is seemingly only the case when the phrase is used to cast common-sense immigration enforcement as discriminatory.  But when it comes to a story that could shed light on why enforcement is a necessity for the safety and security of a nation and its people, then the phrase - no matter how accurate - is quickly forgotten. 

One high profile case, the murder of Chandra Levy, highlights this fact.  It has been quite some time (over a year) since Ingmar Guandique was charged with Levy's murder, and much longer since he was identified as being an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. 

And while Guandique's illegal status isn't necessarily news to those having actually followed the case, you would think it was still an unproven fact based on media reports past and present. 

As a recent update reveals, attorney's working on behalf of Guandique argued that he would not get a fair trial in Washington, though a judge has now determined that the trial will indeed stay in DC.  Coinciding with this news, is the recent release of a book covering the case entitled, Finding Chandra. With these updates, one has to wonder how far the media has come in their willingness to report the truth.  How far have they come since Michelle Malkin noted a perfect record of going 115 for 115 in reports failing to mention the suspect's illegal status back in 2002?  As it turns out, not far at all...

AP Report Gives Waxman Cover for Cancelled Hearings on Corporate ObamaCare Expense Recognition
By Tom Blumer | April 17, 2010 | 11:18 PM EDT
http://i739.photobucket.com/albums/xx40/mmatters/WaxmanTalk about running interference.

On Wednesday, Congressman Henry Waxman cancelled hearings, or what Michelle Malkin referred to as "show trials" in her Friday syndicated column, designed to put the spotlight on companies that dared to do what they legally had to do in response to the passage of ObamaCare: tell the public the estimated impact on their bottom lines relating to a specific tax law chance that was included in the legislation.

Despite the legal requirement, the headline of the Associated Press's coverage on the day of the announcement described the companies' announcements as "gripes." AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone called them "concerns," and acted as if the companies backed down, when the only qualification involved a questionably and largely unrelated item, i.e., what might happen if the law manages to lower overall health care costs.

That journalistically inaccurate narrative gave Waxman an undeserved way out of the heavyhanded mess that he created.

Here are the related paragraphs of Perrone's pathetic piece:

Is CNN Reaching Out to Conservatives for Publicity?
By Rusty Weiss | April 8, 2010 | 1:23 AM EDT
In what is generally being interpreted by most as a surprise move, CNN has recently decided to cover the Tea Party movement from an angle foreign to most in the main stream media - combating stereotypes that are heavily promoted by liberals. 

There is no doubt that the piece by Shannon Travis, Reporter's notebook: What really happens at Tea Party rallies, deserves credit for being one of the first to offer fair coverage of the Tea Party movement outside of Fox News.  NewsBusters has seen the value in such reporting from CNN.  As Matthew Balan reported yesterday evening, "Travis's article is a welcome breath of fresh air, especially when you consider that it was former CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen who lashed out at an early point against the Tea Party movement a year ago in April 2009."

That comparison alone raises some questions, however.  How does a network which featured the Roesgen debacle, suddenly find respect for the movement?  How does the organization whose award-winning journalists refer to the people as ‘tea baggers', seek to dispel the degrading stereotypes propagated in the media?  And how does a network, who just over a week ago minimized a Nevada Tea Party Event of roughly 20,000 people, by speculating that ‘at least dozens' were in attendance, suddenly believe the movement to be legitimate and important?

Most importantly, is the network actively seeking a shift to more fair and balanced coverage, or are they seeking the admiration of conservatives driving the ratings of Fox News?  Michelle Malkin for one is skeptical, calling it a desperate move for a ‘ratings-starved CNN'. 

The curiosity of the CNN shift has only been exacerbated by the network's desire to have the story covered by conservative writers.

(Explanation after the jump...)

Detroit Free Press Columnist Not Interested in Reality-Based Commentary
By Rusty Weiss | March 23, 2010 | 11:23 PM EDT

Rochelle Riley of the Detroit Free Press recently penned a column so wrought with falsehoods that it is difficult to navigate the ensuing minefield of absurdity. 

But navigate we shall...

Riley sets out with a fully sarcastic, yet hearty, thank you to John Boehner, alleging that his fiery speech to the House had contributed to the Democrat's healthcare victory.

"Boehner and many of his supporters - as well as some extremists the party hasn't decided how to handle - faced off against the American people and lost."

It is difficult to comprehend the unmitigated arrogance of liberals as they repeatedly voice that talking point:  The healthcare reform legislation is a victory for the American people. 

This simply is not so.  As recently as Sunday, Americans were staunchly opposed to Obamacare by a 54-41% margin according to a Rasmussen poll.  The veracity of their opposition was also overwhelming, with 45% who strongly oppose the plan, and 26% who strongly favor the plan.  If this were an election, we'd be speaking in terms of a landslide.  In reality, it is a landslide defeat for the American people.  For Obama, Pelosi, and their liberal media cohorts to define going against the will of the governed as a victory for the people, is to essentially spit directly into the collective face of this nation.

CMI Video: Five Offensive Attacks on Conservative Women
By NB Staff | March 15, 2010 | 9:39 AM EDT
With the help of the MRC's talented Bob Parks, the Culture and Media Institute produced a video based on its
Sex, Violence and Hate: The Top 10 Most Disgusting Attacks on Conservative Women
By Colleen Raezler | March 5, 2010 | 11:06 AM EST
March is Women's History Month, in which we acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of women in history and in society today.

But for a select group of women - conservative women - their accomplishments and contributions are rarely celebrated but often demeaned and mocked in sexist - and crassly sexual - ways.

The Culture & Media Insitute looked back at what the media had to say over the past year about some of today's most prominent conservative women, including Michelle Malkin, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sarah Palin and Liz Cheney, and compiled a list of the 10 worst attacks on these women who dare to speak out in favor of conservative values.

Much of the criticism was the worst sort of misogyny with a dose of violence and disgusting adolescent sex references thrown in for good measure. The media outlets in question ranged from Playboy magazine to MSNBC to Sirius XM radio and included comments from both men and women.

The message that rang through loud and clear was that perspectives from conservative women were not appreciated or welcomed, and if a woman stepped out of line, she deserved whatever treatment she received.

The Nation: Prominent CPAC Speakers All Sound like Joe Stack
By Rusty Weiss | February 23, 2010 | 12:03 AM EST
We've seen the likes of Time Magazine, MSNBC, the Washington Post, and Newsweek link the Joe Stack airplane attack to the conservative movement.  But in an interesting twist, a political blogger for The Nation has inexplicably linked Stack to several players at the recent CPAC convention - including Tim Pawlenty, Scott Brown, and most notably Glenn Beck. 

Leslie Savan wastes little time delving into despicable comparisons from the onset with the title to her rant: 

Glenn Beck Dodges Incoming Plane at CPAC

From there, the associations to Stack stretch ever further.  Savan somehow manages to draw parallels between Pawlenty's comment about taking a 9-iron to big government, and the attack (emphasis mine throughout):

"Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty strained to hit a Southern-sheriff note of populist threat by suggesting, rather oddly, that conservatives were cuckolded wives who, like Tiger Woods's spouse, should "take a 9-iron and smash the window out of big government in this country!"--thereby managing to invoke both the wall of shattered glass windows at the Echelon Building and the marital troubles that may have contributed to Stack's anger."

It would seem the term ‘metaphor' is beyond the writer's grasp. 

Next up is an out of context quote from Scott Brown:

Hannity and Malkin Take on Garofalo, Maher and O'Donnell
By Noel Sheppard | February 18, 2010 | 10:14 AM EST

Sean Hannity Wednesday took on the recent attacks against conservatives made by liberal entertainers Janeane Garofalo, Bill Maher, and Rosie O'Donnell as well as the hit cartoon series "Family Guy."

As NewsBusters reported Tuesday, Garofalo was on O'Donnell's radio show that day spouting disgusting invective aimed at a littany of conservatives including Hannity himself.

That evening, Maher was on "Larry King Live" calling Americans "not bright enough to really understand the issues." On Sunday, Fox's "Family Guy" attacked former Alaska governor Sarah Palin with a Down Syndrome joke.

With this in mind, Hannity brought conservative author Michelle Malkin on his Fox News program Wednesday to discuss unhinged liberals gone wild.

Possibly the best comment of the segment was when Malkin said of Garofalo and O'Donnell, "They should not be mixed together because what you get in the end is this bubbling cauldron of toxicity" (video embedded below the fold with transcript):

Olbermann Mocks Conservative Blogs, Repeats: ‘Where Are People of Color at Tea Parties?’
By Brad Wilmouth | February 17, 2010 | 11:51 PM EST

On Wednesday’s Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann used the second of his show’s regular "Quick Comment" segments to mock conservative blogs that voiced objections to his "Special Comment" from Monday during which he had pleaded with Tea Party activists to admit to being motivated by racism against blacks. The Countdown host began his Wednesday "Quick Comment" by hinting that the segment’s purpose was to give "equal time to those on the right." But, each time he read from one of the conservative blogs, he followed up by repeating the question: "Well, my response to this would be: Where are the people of color at the Tea parties?"

During his Monday "Special Comment," Olbermann had recounted that, in 1941, baseball players who were black would have been literally barred from joining a white team, and went on to suggest that that situation of 1941 was somehow similar to the modern day Tea Party rallies. The MSNBC host had concluded his "Special Comment" by asking of Tea Party activists: "Why are you surrounded by the largest crowd you will ever again see in your life that consists of nothing but people who look exactly like you?"

But, in a Thursday, February 11, CBS Evening News story, correspondent Nancy Cordes cited a CBS News/New York Times poll showing that 95 percent of Tea Party activists are white, suggesting that five percent – a number that is not insignificant – are minorities. After showing a soundbite of a man complaining about both major political parties, Cordes recounted:

Is It Wrong To Use Clinton's Heart Procedure In Healthcare Debate?
By Noel Sheppard | February 13, 2010 | 11:43 AM EST

Some media members are taking heat from the Left for bringing former President Bill Clinton's recent heart procedure into the healthcare reform debate.

On Friday, the perilously liberal website Think Progress chastised "Fox & Friends" with the headline, "Fox Politicizes Clinton’s Heart Surgery, Suggests He Wouldn’t Have Received Treatment Under Health Reform."

Later that evening, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Michelle Malkin the Worst Person in the World for, amongst other things, comments she made at her blog about Clinton and "Demcare."

On Saturday, the left-leaning Mediaite entered the discussion with this article highly critical of Fox (video of F&F segment embedded below):