After Martin Bashir lost his MSNBC job for making a vile anatomical suggestion, you might think that others at the "Lean Forward" network would be circumspect about engaging in comparable crudeness.
But that didn't stop John Heilemann on today's Morning Joe. Whereas Bashir's remark focused on the beginning of the alimentary canal, Heilemann's went to its other extremity. Asked how he'd deal with Senator Rand Paul's theory that extending unemployment benefits does the unemployed a disservice, Heilmann said "I'd tell Rand Paul to stick that where it belongs." View the video after the jump.
Rand Paul
'I'd Tell Rand Paul To Stick That Where It Belongs': John Heilemann on Paul's Unemployment Insurance Theory
By Mark Finkelstein | December 23, 2013 | 7:48 AM EST 
By Brad Wilmouth | December 10, 2013 | 6:56 PM EST
On Monday's All In show, after going through a number of Rand Paul soundbites which he viewed as reflecting poorly on the Republican Senator, host Chris Hayes was impressed by Senator Paul taking a liberal point of view on the war on drugs.
Hayes talked up the possibility of the Kentucky Senator being a plus for the GOP with minority voters. Hayes:
By Kyle Drennen | December 9, 2013 | 5:43 PM EST
On her Monday 1 p.m. ET hour show on MSNBC, host Andrea Mitchell was shocked by Senator Rand Paul's supposedly "breathtaking" observation that continually extending government unemployment benefits can cause people "to become part of this perpetual unemployed group." She incredulously asked: "It's the unemployment insurance that creates the, quote, 'dependency'?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Teeing up liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus to denounce Paul's comments, Mitchell urged her to "have at it." Marcus ranted: "Can you say Scrooge? Yes, thank you for letting me have at it. My mouth dropped open when I heard that....he just wins my Scrooge award of the year."
By Matthew Balan | November 18, 2013 | 7:03 PM EST
Norah O'Donnell and Charlie Rose unsurprisingly conducted a hostile interview of Scott Walker on Monday's CBS This Morning. The two anchors, who have a long record of hammering Republican/conservative guests, badgered the Wisconsin governor on ObamaCare, the 2016 presidential race, and over the immigration issue.
O'Donnell, in particular, went after Walker, asking, "You have said that the next nominee has to come from outside of Washington – has to be a governor. Isn't it a bit presumptuous to rule out people like Senator Marco Rubio; Senator Rand Paul...Congressman Paul Ryan?" She later rephrased this same question, and hinted at her liberal slant on the immigration issue: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
Chris Matthews Calls Rand Paul a 'Pissant' for Questioning Christie Putting Himself in State Tourism Ads
By Tim Graham | November 9, 2013 | 4:24 PM EST In May, ABCNews.com reported that Democrats were unhappy that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie put his family into state tourism ads begging people to come back to beaches on the New Jersey shore. “That Gov. Christie would allow $25 million in federally-funded ads to feature him in the middle of an election year is both supremely arrogant and wildly inappropriate,” his opponent Barbara Buono said. Chris Matthews barely mentioned Buono this year, mostly to note she was getting creamed in the polls.
On Thursday night's "Hardball," MSNBC host Chris Matthews was livid that Sen. Rand Paul would second that critique, that it's unseemly for the governor to put himself in tourism ads in an election year. "Pissant" was the word Matthews used -- twice:
By Noel Sheppard | October 13, 2013 | 9:53 AM EDT
Does Candy Crowley work for CNN or the Democratic Party?
It was tough to tell Sunday when after the State of the Union host asked guest Rand Paul (R-Ky.) if recent polling indicated the beginning of the end of the Republican Party, she actually asked him if he’d ever consider becoming a Democrat (video follows with transcript and commentary):
By Noel Sheppard | September 27, 2013 | 10:50 AM EDT
Ron Paul has some good advice for his son Rand concerning running for president in 2016.
Appearing on NBC’s Tonight Show Thursday, Paul said, “Be very cautious – you could get elected.”
By Randy Hall | September 12, 2013 | 9:33 AM EDT
One of the worst things a reviewer can say about a television program is that "it has potential,” which usually means the show's not utilizing much of it. That situation was played out on Monday, when the Cable News Network brought back “Crossfire,” a conservative-liberal debate program that had been in television limbo for eight years.
Despite a newsworthy discussion topic -- the fate of Syria, where chemical weapons may have been used by the government on rebels -- and two well-known hosts, GOP former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Stephanie Cutter, deputy manager of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, critics were not impressed by the first edition of the 30-minute weeknight series.
Daily Show: 'Matthews Doesn't Just Routinely Have Egg on His Face - He Has a Chicken Copping a Squat Onto His Face'
By Noel Sheppard | August 13, 2013 | 11:39 AM EDT As NewsBusters previously reported, MSNBC's Chris Matthews last Wednesday predicted Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) would be the Republican presidential nominee in 2016.
On Monday, John Oliver while substitute-hosting Comedy Central's Daily Show marvelously illustrated Matthews' propensity to make horribly wrong predictions concluding, "Chris Matthews doesn't just routinely have egg on his face - he has a chicken copping a squat onto his face" (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary):
By Paul Bremmer | August 8, 2013 | 6:12 PM EDT
There’s nothing liberal media members love more than a Republican who attacks other Republicans in front of the TV cameras. That probably explains the media’s rediscovered fascination with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the 2008 GOP presidential nominee. ABC’s Jeff Zeleny interviewed McCain last Friday for the ABC News / Yahoo News online series The Fine Print, and he used the veteran senator as a weapon against some of the younger, more conservative senators.
Zeleny set the tone right from his opening script, in which he proclaimed, “[McCain] is drawing sharp criticism from some of his new Republican colleagues, like Senator Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, but he’s throwing that criticism right back, saying they make him worry about the future of the Republican Party.”
By Noel Sheppard | August 8, 2013 | 12:42 AM EDT
Last year NewsBusters repeatedly made the case that members of the press – in particular ABC’s George Stephanopoulos – aided and abetted President Obama’s claim that the Republicans were engaging in a so-called War on Women.
In a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera Wednesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said this might have been the case (video follows with transcript and commentary):
By Noel Sheppard | August 7, 2013 | 6:24 PM EDT
MSNBC's Chris Matthews made a bold prediction on Wednesday's Hardball.
"The hard-right is going to take over the Republican Party in 2016 and the nomination is going to Rand Paul" (video follows with transcript and commentary):