Blogger: GOP Base’s ‘Free-Floating Paranoia’ a Problem For Walker
Jonathan Chait, Paul Waldman, and Amanda Marcotte each discuss how the Wisconsin governor and probable presidential candidate has responded to recent questions about issues including evolution, Obama’s religious beliefs, and Obama’s patriotism, as well as how his answers might play with the “paranoid” Republican base that thinks, in Waldman’s words, that “Obama is The Other, an alien presence…
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Entertainment Weekly Writer Slams Conservative Criticism of Oscars
Entertainment Weekly's Anthony Breznican blasted conservatives on Monday's CNN Tonight for criticizing actress Patricia Arquette for her politicized acceptance speech at the Oscars. Breznican actually went after Don Lemon for stating that "winners and presenters bring their often-liberal-leaning political and social issues to the ceremony." Breznican asserted: "I can't really think of anything…
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Networks Continue Using Terror Threat to Pressure GOP on DHS Funding
Continuing to hype a possible "shutdown" of the Homeland Security Department if Congress did not approve funding by Friday, Tuesday's network morning shows all seized on White House talking points that any delay in funding would threaten national security and placed blame for the budget impasse squarely on Republicans.
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NBC NN Omits Obama’s Amnesty While Covering DHS Funding Debate
NBC Nightly News offered up a segment on the continued debate in Congress over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is set to expire on February 27 in what was the only network coverage of the topic on the three Monday night newscasts. Anchor Lester Holt and senior White House correspondent Chris Jansing left out the underlying issue of the entire debate, which is whether or…
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Howard Dean: Scott Walker Says Obama Born In Kenya
How unhinged has Howard Dean become? So bad that an MSNBC host had to gently walk him back off the ledge.
On Chris Hayes' MSNBC show tonight, Dean claimed that Scott Walker says Barack Obama was "born in Kenya." It took Hayes two attempts to break through Dean's blather, but eventually he was able to politely point out: "I should note, you mention the Kenya thing, he has not been asked that."
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Schultz Guest Attacks GOP 'Patriotism': 'Undermining Security'
In a classic example of phony political jujitsu, an MSNBC contributor has tried to turn the patriotism issue back against Republicans. Appearing on today's Ed Show, Steve Clemons attacked the "patriotism" of GOP congressional leaders, accusing them of "undermining the security of the nation."
This because Republicans have attached amendments to the DHS funding bill denying funds for President…
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Martin Jabs Walker's 'Depressing, Cynical Exercise' Against Media
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times targeted Scott Walker on CNN's New Day on Monday over his "gotcha game" attack on the media." Martin contended that Governor Walker "doesn't want to answer these kinds of questions – which is problematic, but it also gives him an opportunity on the right." He added that "it's all kind of a depressing, cynical exercise, frankly, because...Walker doesn't want…
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NBC and CBS Use Mall Terror Threat to Hammer GOP Over DHS Funding
On Monday, both NBC's Today and CBS This Morning used a terrorist threat against the Mall of America in Minneapolis to hit the Republican Congress over the Department of Homeland Security funding fight. On Today, White House correspondent Kristen Welker concluded her report on the security concerns by declaring: "Meanwhile, the clock is ticking with Congress locked in a bitter battle over how to…
AP's Kuhnhenn Enjoys Obama 'Taunting' GOP Over 'Improving' Economy
On Friday, Jim Kuhnhenn at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, seemed to enjoy President Barack Obama's rant against Republicans and others grossly dissatisfied with the economy's performance on his watch. He described Obama as "taunting Republicans" in his speech at the Democratic Party's winter meeting in Washington.
The wire service itself seems less enamored of Kuhnhenn's…
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Kevin Spacey Slams GOP: They 'Block Every Single Thing' Obama Wants
During an interview with House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey for NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, correspondent Cynthia McFadden noted: "A life-long Democrat, Spacey says he, like many Americans, is frustrated with Washington." Spacey proclaimed: "I think that what is truly unfortunate is when an entire party makes a decision that they're going to block every single thing that a president wants to…
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Mika: 'I Question Patriotism of Someone Questioning Prez's Patriotism'
MSNBC might like to replace "Lean Forward" with a new slogan: "Dissent Is Unpatriotic."
On today's Morning Joe, discussing the Rudy flap, Mika Brzezinski said: "I question the patriotism of someone who questions the president's patriotism." Joe Scarborough retorted that for years on MSNBC, Keith Olbermann got away with saying much worse about W without criticism from Mika or others in the MSM.
WashPost's Milbank Accuses Walker of Giuliani-Related 'Cowardice'
In his Friday Washington Post column, Dana Milbank accused Scott Walker of "cowardice" which "ought to disqualify him as a serious presidential contender."
Walker's alleged "cowardice" was his failure to disown the following remark made by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani: “I do not believe that the president loves America.” Last time I checked, Rudy's entitled to his opinion, and Walker's…
Jeffrey Toobin: Giuliani an ‘Embarrassment’ With a ‘Paranoid Style’
Toobin, of the New Yorker and CNN, argues that while Giuliani’s “I do not believe that the President loves America” comments were “simply incorrect,” it was more important to understand that they were “not principally meant as assertions of fact.” Rather, they were “meant to tap into a deep wellspring of American political thought, one defined by the Columbia historian Richard Hofstadter five…
Bloggers: Jeb Not In Sync With Angry, Self-Pitying GOP Base
Bush seems not to share what Ed Kilgore calls the “vengeful rage about the alleged persecution of good conservative Christian folk” and what Peter Beinart describes as “the sense of Christian victimhood and superiority that lurks just below the surface in today’s GOP.”
