Hell-bent to speed down its dead-end road to irrelevance, Newsweek's editors stubbornly cling to the self-delusion that their magazine is not a partisan rag. But any cursory look at the June 7 dead tree edition proves otherwise.
[No, I didn't get inspired to write this following a dentist's visit. Sadly, we still have a subscription here at the office.]
On Wednesday, MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show briefly mislabeled Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser as the state's governor, Bobby Jindal:
I rise today in defense of bacon, as well as consuming hamburgers on Independence Day. And, most importantly, in defense of my mother's awe-inspiring pot roast.
Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, wants the government to make these classic American foodstuffs, as well as soda, alcohol, and being overweight, cost more. I apologize in advance for the long length of the transcript snippets – while Brzezinski is pontificating by reading the ‘New York Daily News’ editorial, the rest of the Brew Crew is making fun of her.
No, really [emphasis mine]:
BRZEZINSKI: Some people actually cares about their health, so I'm going to read that for those people. [reading] "A tax on sodas containing sugar has also been under consideration by Governor Paterson, among others."
During MSNBC’s live coverage of President Obama’s speech to Congress, anchor Keith Olbermann tried to discredit Congressman Charles Boustany immediately after the Louisiana Republican finished giving the Republican response, as the MSNBC host informed viewers that Boustany – a heart surgeon – had been "sued for malpractice three times," allegedly subscribes to the "Birther" conspiracy theory raising questions about Obama’s citizenship, and was even supposedly taken in by a scam as he tried to purchase the British title of "Lord."
Olbermann:
Congressman Boustany, we should note, has been sued for malpractice three times. He is a "Birther" who believes there are questions about the President’s citizenship, and, as Rachel [Maddow] reported last night, he is a man recorded in court papers to have fallen for a scam in which he tried to buy the British royalty title of "Lord."
During the 3PM ET hour on MSNBC, co-anchor Tamron Hall attacked Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal for travel expenses, going so far as to compare the issue to the scandal involving South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford: "Well, it kind of reminds you of another governor who fought the stimulus and then we found out was using taxpayer dollars to travel. And that Governor was? Sanford."
At the top of the segment, co-anchor David Shuster declared: "In today’s ‘Making Your Case,’ another governor is in hot water for traveling on the taxpayers dime." Hall explained the reason for Jindal being in "hot water": "...claims that the Governor used a taxpayer-funded helicopter to attend Sunday services 14 times at a variety of locations across the state over a five-month period. Total cost, $45,000."
In reality, as the Baton Rouge newspaper The Advocate reported, the Louisiana Governor was invited to speak at those church services and met with public officials: "Even though he travels on Sundays, Jindal said he schedules meetings with local officials when he flies to church services. On July 5, for example, his office reported that the governor met with citizens, attended a meeting with local officials and went to church in Monroe. Jindal was back in Monroe four days later to meet with community leaders as part of his ‘Louisiana Working Tour.’"
Governor, it’s good to see you. You penned a rather scathing editorial for the Politico.com on the Democrats’ health care proposals. But your state ranks dead last in the United Health Foundation survey of overall health. It also had the fourth highest Medicare cost per patient in the country from 1996 through 2006, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. So some people out there might be wondering if you’re the best person to be criticizing the administration’s plans for health care reform?Since Jindal is a classy fellow, and realizes that this debate is not about his performance as Louisiana Governor, he neglected to point out that he took office January 14, 2008. That’s at least a full year after Roberts’ statistics ended. The Rhodes scholar responded:
In their latest article analyzing the extramarital affairs of the deplorable Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford, the Associated Press demonstrates once again that the word ‘logic’ has somehow become lost in translation.
In a piece entitled, Sanford’s extramarital affair a problem for GOP, the AP gleefully discusses the topic of Sanford’s misdeeds and their potential effect on the Republican Party – a valid analysis. However, it takes no more than two paragraphs before the author dispenses with the aforementioned term ‘logic’, and decides instead to inexplicably link and attack several other GOP governors who have nothing to do with this affair.
CNN commentator Jack Cafferty returned to his routine of bashing conservatives and Republicans in a column published on CNN.com on Tuesday titled “GOP becoming a cartoon.” He accused the Republican Party of “pandering to the right wing nuts that comprise Rush Limbaugh’s radio audience,” and listed this as the primary reason that the GOP lost the 2008 presidential election. Cafferty also bashed Republicans for being too busy “obstructing Obama's programs and criticizing the Democrats’ spending plans that are aimed at trying to bring the country out of a horrible recession.”
Time offered its "Ten Questions" interview to Gov. Bobby Jindal, but the questions it selected from readers were mostly negative, underlining how unpopular the GOP is. One even insulted his personal appearance, with the increasingly common liberal mockery that he resembles the nerdy Kenneth the Page character on NBC’s 30 Rock. Here’s a sample:
What is your reaction to the negative reviews of your response to President Obama's address to Congress? -- Tanya Gupta, Washington
I live in a volatile seismic area and was troubled by your comment that funding volcano-monitoring is "wasteful." What makes some spending superfluous? – Caitlin Kidder, Kent, Wash.
What do you think of comparisons following your speech between you and a character on 30 Rock, Kenneth the Page? -- Jae Edward, Minneapolis
Voters rejected the GOP in November. What changes do you think it needs to make in order to become relevant again? – Ankit Agarwal, Boston
Why are you turning down stimulus dollars for one of the poorest states in the Union? -- Sonja Blair, Edmond, Okla.
Did you hear the one about Joe Biden claiming that Louisiana under Governor Bobby Jindal is losing 400 jobs a day?
Probably not. A search at the Washington Post on "Biden 400 jobs Louisiana" (not in quotes) came back with no results. No relevant results were returned with the same searches done at the New York Times and the LA Times.
The math-challenged Biden, who infamously said during the presidential campaign that the word "jobs" has three letters (maybe you don't know about that one either), made this false claim Wednesday morning, and almost no one noticed.
One exception was TV station KSLA, which filed this report (related but not identically scripted video can be found at link; direct link to vid is here). Reporter Fred Childress's "Fact Check" told us that Biden isn't merely wrong; the Bayou State actually gained seasonally adjusted jobs in December:
Now, one cannot help but realize that if a conservative had indulged in such an outrageous parody of an ethnic politician, Mike Malloy would have eviscerated that action presenting it as a high crime. Yet, when he and his wife indulge in it... why it's hilarious don't you know?
MSNBC cable-show host Rachel Maddow shares much in common with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.