Back in April, as ABC's Jake Tapper took over as interim host of This Week (pending the arrival of ex-CNNer Christiane Amanpour in August), the show asked the fact-checkers at PolitiFact to evaluate the truthfulness of statements made on the show.
After nearly three months, the results show far more Democrats and liberals earning a "False" rating, with most of the "True" ratings going to Republicans and conservatives. The discrepency remains even if you take into account that about two-thirds of the evaluated statements came from Democrats in the first place.
From April 11 through June 20, PolitiFact has handed out seven "False" statements -- six to Democrats/liberals, one to a Republican. During that same time, seven "True" labels were handed out -- four for Republicans/conservatives, just two for Democrats (one, ironically, going to former President Bill Clinton).
Retired General Colin Powell also picked up a "True" for a statement about the number of troops President Obama has deployed to Afghanistan, but it's hard to say which side Powell represents these days.
Michael Steele
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker on Sunday said that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele "is a self-aggrandizing, gaffe-prone incompetent who would have been fired a long time ago were he not black."
Chatting with ABC's Jake Tapper during the Roundtable segment of today's "This Week" about Steele's recent remarks concerning Afghanistan, Tucker went even further with what many would consider overt racism.
"The irony is that he never would have been voted in as Chairman of the Republican Party were he not black" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Good Morning America on Tuesday continued to tout the Republican National Committee's (RNC) strip club scandal, now upgraded to "notorious" status by co-host George Stephanopoulos. The other network morning shows have largely lost interest in the subject, but GMA, clearly, has not.
Stephanopoulos, whose previous profession involved working for the sex scandal-plagued Bill Clinton, hyped, "Now, to the latest on the upheaval at the Republican National Committee, in the wake of a notorious visit to a strip club." CBS's Early Show skipped the controversy on Tuesday. NBC's Today hit the subject only within a larger interview with Newt Gingrich.
As Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos so touchingly pointed out to Steele, a few Republican leaders have been publicly highly critical of Steele and according to a "poll of insiders" only 20 percent consider him an asset to the party.
"Everyone seemed to like him and recently it's like story after story after story - is this guy being villainized?" Fox Business Channel's Eric Bolling asked Coulter on the April 5 "Happy Hour."
"I think so, I think he's being attacked because he's very effective," Coulter replied.
She made note how Ken Blackwell had been her original choice for chairman, but said Steele had been more than adequate. "[S]ince Michael Steele got the job, I see him on TV and I think he's very effective on TV. He's smooth, he's cool, he's hip, he always makes solid arguments."
"He was on a plane during this incident at this voyeur club," Coulter reminded Bolling. "But you know the Democrats have the audacity to complain about some low-level staffer doing something stupid by taking ...Young Republican Eagles or whatever to a sleazy club in LA - excuse me! Loretta Sanchez - an actual Democratic Congresswoman who was co-chair of the DNC - had a Democratic gala event...at the Playboy Mansion - which finally had to be cancelled."
Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Monday played up GOP divisions over Michael Steele and even touted a "poll of insiders" that showed party leaders think the Republican National Committee Chairman (RNC) should resign. Stephanopoulos also prompted Steele to blame recent struggles on race.
The former Democratic operative turned journalist related, "The National Journal magazine, respected magazine, did a poll of insiders showing that 71 percent believe you're a liability to the party. Only 20 percent believe you're an asset."
He then breathlessly relayed, "And listen to this. This is from one of those that thought you were a liability: 'Michael Steele is an anchor around the neck of the future of the Republican Party. He needs to go.' Are you going to go?" ABC displayed a graphic of the poll, but didn't explain or dwell on the sample size of such a small, anonymous survey. (It was 104 "insiders.")
Former Time White House correspondent (and Carter administration appointee) Margaret Carlson really wants RNC chairman Michael Steele fired. In her Bloomberg News column on Wednesday, she badly exaggerated: "In the world of fundraising scandals, this one makes former Vice President Al Gore’s visit to a Buddhist temple look as quaint as tea at Buckingham Palace."
Earth to Margaret: the wayward RNC strip-club reimbursement is certainly embarrassing, but it isn't illegal, like the temple fundraiser. As Michelle Malkin explained:
In the spring of 2000, [Gore aide Maria] Hsia was convicted by a federal jury in Washington, D.C., of five felony counts related to more than $100,000 in illegal contributions to Democratic candidates. The stash included $65,000 in straw donations, which Hsia had funneled through clueless, non-English-speaking monks and nuns the day after Vice President Al Gore's 1996 visit to the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple in Southern California.
Good Morning America on Wednesday continued to tout the Republican National Committee's strip club controversy, even highlighting the glee of other journalists over the plight of Chairman Michael Steele. At the same time, the morning show displayed no further interest in the arrest of a man who plotted to kill prominent Republican Eric Cantor.
For the second day in a row, reporter Claire Shipman touted the story of an RNC staffer who submitted expense accounts after taking a donor to a strip club in Hollywood. Shipman's piece featured a clip of CNN anchor John Roberts gloating, "It's a story of dirty, sexy money" and of fellow cable host Rick Sanchez imploring, "Someone need to tell me how to spend $2000 at a topless club."
Other journalist snippets included Chris Matthews chiding, "The latest embarrassment for the RNC during the reign of Michael Steele." On Monday, after Shipman detailed expenses Steele reported including limo usage and private jet travel, she opined, "It's the sort of spending controversy that sounds so, well, pre-recession."
In an interview with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez touted the signing of ObamaCare into law: "the Senate bill...becomes law today. You're going to be stuck with a bill you don't like." She then wondered: "What if the catastrophic scenario that you've been warning about doesn't play out?"Rodriguez referred to an interview that her fellow co-host Harry Smith had just concluded with White House advisor David Axelrod and asked: "What if, as David Axelrod suggests, now that it's a reality and people start to see the benefits, they actually like it?" Steele replied: "David Axelrod didn't talk about the $506 billion that's being taken out of Medicare....He didn't talk about the $500 billion in new taxes that are going to be imposed on those small businesses....there's a lot in this bill that have yet to be revealed to the American people. And when it's further revealed, it'll be less – less liked."
After Steele's response, Rodriguez felt the need to incredulously repeat: "If it turns out to be the catastrophe that you are predicting." She then criticized the RNC for being too "extreme" in its opposition: "I looked on the RNC website this morning. I have to say, I was surprised by what I saw. The home page shows a big photograph of Nancy Pelosi and in huge block letters it says 'Fire Pelosi' and she is against a backdrop of flames....Isn't this a little bit extreme?...What can you accomplish with this?" A still shot of the RNC website appeared on screen (see picture below). Rodriguez failed to point that in the latest CBS News poll, Nancy Pelosi only has an 11% approval rating.
Steele dismissed Rodriguez's characterization: "Actually, I tamed it down. You know, the reality of it is I don't know why you're surprised. Nancy Pelosi is the architect of the demise, in my view, of one-sixth of our economy. She should be fired for her failure to serve the interests of the American people."
NBC's Lester Holt, substitute hosting for Matt Lauer on Tuesday's Today show, questioned Michael Steele about the GOP taking a risk in its opposition to Obamacare as he explained a lot Americans have looked at the bill and found things they liked and pressed the RNC chairman: "Do you want to be in a position of taking something away?" For his part Steele fired back: "I disagree with your premise that a lot of Americans have now taken a look at the bill. Taken a look at what bill? They're still writing the thing." [audio available here]
LESTER HOLT: The fact of the matter is while Americans are divided on this, a lot of them have now looked at the paper, looked at some of the things in the bill and said, "Hey that applies to my situation, I'll take it." By now trying to repeal it, are Republicans in the position of trying to take something away and isn't it a lot harder than opposing a bill in the first place?
It's hardly news that black conservatives are reviled among much of the left. There seems to be a sense among much of the liberal media that they have betrayed their own interests through their conservative principles.
Few, however, would have the (dare I say it) audacity to lump prominent and accomplished African American political figures in with oppressive genocidal dictators and serial killers.
But TheRoot.com, a blog owned by the Washington Post, seems to have no qualms about doing so, as evidenced in its list of 21 "Black Folks We'd Like To Remove From Black History". Among the names are Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele.
Also included on the list: murderous Ugandan military dictator Idi Amin, the notorious "DC Sniper" John Allen Muhammad, Zimbabwean kleptocrat Robert Mugabe and the ruthless father-and-son Haitian dictators "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
Appearing on Tuesday’s CBS Early Show, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele criticized potential Democratic efforts to delay seating Republican Scott Brown as the Senator from Massachusetts as “unseemly,” but co-host Maggie Rodriguez replied: “Is that fair? Because wouldn’t your party do the exact same thing?”Rodriguez went on to argue: “Isn’t it true that when the GOP had the majority and the Democrats would filibuster something, you know, you didn’t like that....They’re trying to keep you from doing the same thing to them that you did when you were – had the majority.” Steele began to reply: “You’re mixing an apple and an orange here.” Rodriguez interrupted: “No, no, I’m really not.”
Steele explained: “To filibuster on an issue is not the same as seating a member in the United States Senate regardless of what’s going on in the Senate. There is a process that unfolds....[Democrats] made it very clear that [they] will obstruct this process...will change the rules in order for [them] to get [their] way in the Senate.” A shocked Rodriguez asked: “So you’re implying that they would do something illegal?” Steele replied: “I’m not – illegal is left for lawyers to decide. What I’m saying is that there is a process.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow did a very similar thing with Republican National Chairman Michael Steele on Friday’s edition of ‘The Rachel Maddow Show.’
You may remember the mildly irritating pop-up starring Steele that inhabited the redesigned GOP.com at its first launch. It would launch in the upper corner, helpfully explaining the features of the site like the infamous Microsoft Word paper-clip assistant. Maddow revived this animation for use as a ‘bug’ in the corner.
MADDOW: Also, I‘m very proud that for the first time ever, we had a little dancing Michael Steele as the bug in the corner of our segment there.