Now with Alex Wagner

MSNBC: The Place to Question the Patriotism of Republicans
By Scott Whitlock | July 2, 2014 | 4:49 PM EDT

MSNBC analyst Howard Dean appeared on Now With Alex Wagner, Wednesday, to question the patriotism of Republicans. Discussing Barack Obama's attack on the congressional GOP, Dean sneered: "I'm certainly disgusted with them...I question their patriotism, really. I mean, we're paying them to do something and they are doing nothing." [video below the jump]

Talking to Wagner and Republican Michael Steele, Dean snarled, "I just think the Republican Congress is incompetent. They are incompetent and they are untrustworthy." Despite the howling from liberals in the media about questioning patriotism during the era of George W. Bush, MSNBC hosts do it all the time. On June 2, 2014, Ed Schultz snapped, "There's nothing American about Ted Cruz." On July 13, 2013, Chris Matthews wondered if Rupert Murdoch is a "true American." 

Heavy Spin: NY Times Clinton Campaign Reporter Finds Hillary's Gaffes 'Refreshing' and Unscripted
By Tim Graham | June 11, 2014 | 8:23 AM EDT

Diane Sawyer's surprisingly tough questions to HIllary Clinton on Benghazi and her massive speaking fees have spurred more questions, especially when she answered she was "dead broke" and it wasn't her job as Secretary of State to micromanage the safety of diplomats.

But New York Times reporter Amy Chozick announced on MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner on Tuesday that reporters like her are enjoying these "gaffes, if you call them that" because she's going unscripted, which is a "refreshing sign" that she's learned from the last presidential campaign (video below):

Slobbering Love Affair: MSNBC Gushes Over Hillary Interview
By Connor Williams | June 6, 2014 | 1:25 PM EDT

Continuing their slobbering love affair with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, MSNBC fawned over the answers Clinton gave in a, wait for it, People magazine interview.

Now with Alex Wagner guest host Richard Wolffe and the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart literally went over part of the interview sentence by sentence, gushing over Hillary’s ability to connect with potential voters. In their eyes, Hillary could do no wrong; every single word served a higher purpose, that being her future political aspirations. According to Wolffe, Hillary’s responses were like “poetry, I tell you.” Wolffe highlighed Hillary’s alleged ability to relate her concussion to the needs of the American people, saying [MP3 audio here; video below]:

MSNBC Host: Hopefully Bergdahl Swap Leads to 'Broader Negotiations' With Taliban
By Connor Williams | June 4, 2014 | 5:27 PM EDT

Once again, an MSNBC host is playing up the idea that “there must be something larger” to justify what, on its face, seems to be a disastrous prisoner swap in the Bowe Bergdahl-Taliban exchange.

On the June 4 edition of her Now program, host Alex Wagner, ever the apologist for the president, hoped that the trade for POW Bowe Bergdahl would open up broader war-ending negotiations with the Taliban [MP3 audio here; video below]:

MSNBC Host on 'Today': 'Every Time Lewinsky is Mentioned, It is Good for Hillary Clinton'
By Kyle Drennen | May 8, 2014 | 11:08 AM EDT

During a report on Thursday's NBC Today about Monic Lewinsky's article in Vanity Fair magazine, correspondent Peter Alexander touted liberal spin that the former Bill Clinton mistress speaking out would actually help Hillary Clinton's political prospects: "Clinton watcher Ruth Marcus argues Lewinsky has done Hillary a big favor." A soundbite followed of the Washington Post columnist proclaiming: "Now if there's a Hillary Clinton campaign for president in 2016, we can move on from the Lewinsky scandal of yore."

In a discussion segment that followed Alexander's report, co-host Matt Lauer wondered to  MSNBC host Alex Wagner: "How does this article, this essay, impact Hillary Clinton should she run for office in 2016?" Wagner argued: "Every time Lewinsky is mentioned, it is good for Hillary Clinton. It reminds everybody of her major accomplishments on the world stage. And people tend to be more sympathetic to Hillary Clinton than Monica Lewinsky because she is the woman scorned." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

TV Hosts Ignore Claire Shipman’s Marriage to Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney 75% of the Time
By Jeffrey Meyer | April 22, 2014 | 3:33 PM EDT

Since Monday, April 14, ABC's Claire Shipman has been touring the network and cable news networks to promote her new book that she co-wrote with Katty Kay entitled "The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self Assurance-What Women Should Know." Despite the eight television appearances Shipman has made since last Monday, only two interviews openly acknowledged her marriage to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

While five of the eight programs in which Shipman appeared on to promote her book ignored her marriage to Jay Carney, all eight of them ignored the recent profile of her and her family in the Washingtonian magazine. The five programs that ignored the Shipman-Carney marriage were ABC's own Good Morning America and World News with Diane Sawyer, as well as MSNBC's Morning Joe, NOW with Alex Wagner and The Cycle. [Read full story below.]

Melodramatic MSNBCer Wagner: 'We Are Back in, Like, Margaret Sanger Days’
By Paul Bremmer | March 21, 2014 | 5:54 PM EDT

MSNBC’s Alex Wagner got very dramatic while talking about birth control on Friday’s episode of her show NOW with Alex Wagner. Ms. Wagner and Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood were discussing the Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby case, in which the Supreme Court will decide whether the government (via ObamaCare’s contraception mandate) can order private business owners to violate their religious faith by providing abortion-inducing drugs to their employees.

In a moment of raw emotion, Wagner let out her anguish over some unidentified force that is holding back progress toward free birth control for every woman. She mourned:

MSNBC’s Wagner, HuffPo’s Fineman Mock Contempt of Congress Charges Against Team Obama...But Team Bush?
By Paul Bremmer | March 14, 2014 | 1:20 PM EDT

MSNBC continues to fail to take the IRS targeting scandal seriously. On Thursday’s NOW with Alex Wagner, Ms. Wagner and her guest, Howard Fineman of The Huffington Post, showed their utter disdain for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and his committee’s ongoing investigation into the scandal.

Wagner took particular offense to Issa’s move to hold IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress, dismissing it as an attempt to “gum up the government works.” Mocking Issa and his fellow House Republicans, Wagner screeched:

Alex Wagner's Guests Contradict MSNBC Spin Re: GOP Win in Fla. Special Election
By Paul Bremmer | March 13, 2014 | 12:16 PM EDT

MSNBC had a bit of trouble keeping their guests on-message during Wednesday’s NOW with Alex Wagner. While speculating as to why Democrat Alex Sink lost to Republican David Jolly in Tuesday's special election in Florida’s 13th congressional district, Wagner and her MSNBC crew tried to push the idea that low turnout was to blame.

 Addressing Adam C. Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Wagner wondered:

Sore Losers at MSNBC and American Prospect Play 'Race' and 'Culture' Cards in UAW's VW-Chattanooga Loss
By Tom Blumer | February 18, 2014 | 3:15 PM EST

File this under "Pathetic" and "Predictable." On Alex Wagner's MSNBC show yesterday, Wagner set up Timothy Noah, an MSNBC.com columnist, with the latest and most desperate excuse for the UAW's failure to gain the ability to represent VW-Chattanooga workers in a plantwide election last week. She did so by referring to an American Prospect column earlier in the day by Harold Meyerson, who blamed "the politics of race and culture" for the loss.

Noah predictably took the bait, even though "race" was not mentioned once in any coverage I saw in 2-1/2 days after the election until Meyerson went there. Video and a transcript, followed by a couple of jabs at Meyerson by yours truly, follow the jump (bolds and numbered tags are mine):

MSNBC Completely Ignores Latest ObamaCare Delay in Prime Time, Spends Nearly One-Fourth On Chris Christie
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 11, 2014 | 1:54 PM EST

At 4:57 on Monday afternoon, MSNBC’s Alex Wagner hyped “Breaking news from the Treasury Department. The White House has announced a second delay to part of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. Details on that are next.”  But the next “details” did not come for 12 and a half hours at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning during MSNBC’s Way Too Early broadcast.

In between, MSNBC ran 9 full stories on Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) and the “Bridgegate” scandal surrounding his administration. Rachel Maddow, devoted nearly half of her broadcast, 29 minutes to the Christie scandal. The rest of her primetime colleagues similarly couldn’t be bothered to inform their viewers of the latest ObamaCare delay, despite Wagner’s promise: “details on that are next.”

MSNBC's Alex Wagner Beseeches Obama to Forward LGBT Agenda in 'Year of Action'
By Matthew Balan | February 4, 2014 | 6:48 PM EST

Alex Wagner made it clear that she was in Senator Harry Reid's Amen corner on the Tuesday edition of her MSNBC program, promoting the Nevada Democrat's green light to President Obama to use his controversial "year of action" end run around Congress to advance the agenda of leftist LGBT activists. Wagner expressed her hope that "with the White House promising a 'year of action'...we can only hope that creating a more fair and equitable society is on that list." [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

The host also spotlighted the reporting of ThinkProgress.org, and cited new Obama adviser John Podesta, but failed to disclose that she once worked for the Podesta-founded Center for American Progress, which runs the left-wing website.