For the last several days, NewsBusters has been showcasing the Media Research Center’s “Best Notable Quotables of 2014” as a way to review the worst media bias of 2014. Today’s categories: the self-explanatory Damn Those Conservatives Award and the Twisted Tweets Award.
Starting with the “Damn Those Conservatives” prize, first place was won by CNN daytime anchor Carol Costello, who on the October 22 edition of Newsroom, was tickled by the audio tape of Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, telling police how she was cursed at, shoved, and dragged on the ground by a man at a party:
“Okay. I’m just going to come right out and say it: This is quite possibly the best minute and a half of audio we’ve ever come across — well, come across in a long time anyway. A massive brawl in Anchorage, Alaska, reportedly involving Sarah Palin’s kids and her husband. It was sparked after someone pushed one of her daughters at a party....And now police have released audio of that interview. It does include some rather colorful language from Bristol. Here now is Bristol’s recollection of how that night unfolded. So sit back and enjoy.”
Costello later told Politico that she apologized for the language she used, but never delivered such an apology on her own CNN broadcast.
“[Senator John] McCain should pay a heavy price for unleashing this ignorant, two-wheeled bilewagon [Sarah Palin] on the country’s politics. If you think she’s a legitimate political leader, you’re an idiot and a sucker and I feel sorry for you....She is the living representation of the infantilization of American politics, a poisonous Grimm Sister telling toxic fairy tales to audiences drunk on fear, and hate and nonsense....It was the address of a malignant child delivered to an audience of malignant children. If you applauded, you’re an idiot and I feel sorry for you.”
Third place went to MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, who sneeringly attacked Ted Cruz after the Texas Senator criticized the President’s swap of five top Taliban leaders for possible Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl:
“There’s nothing American about Ted Cruz.”
“Rick Perry sending 1,000 National Guard troops to border to shoot small children. Could make good headlines — in Russia.”
Runner-up was Think Progress editor Alan Pyke, who attacked Fox News boss Roger Ailes for the cable news network’s coverage of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri:
“I hope Roger Ailes dies slow, painful, and soon. The evil that man has done to the American tapestry is unprecedented for an individual.”
So classy. Tomorrow: The Pantsuit Patrol Award for Boosting Hillary Clinton. As always, you can check out all of the awards and the Quote of the Year at www.MRC.org.
