The "Liberal Media" on MSNBC

[Bob Geiger]

While it's sometimes hard to decide which nonsensical Republican mantra has gotten the oldest, the constant whining from their side about the mythical "liberal media" certainly tops my list. We all know that FOX News is nothing more than a public-relations outlet for the GOP, but CNN and MSNBC also do their best to show that the corporate media will almost always stay true to its conservative masters.

I present as exhibit 2,938, the "Hot Shots" segment on MSNBC's Hardball tonight. Who were the "hot shots" to present coherent analysis of the situation with North Korea and the Lieberman-Lamont race in Connecticut? The moderator was lovely, but dim, Norah O'Donnell or, as our friends at Crooks and Liars call her, "Noron."

The panel consisted of former Republican Congressman and right-wing MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. He was joined by fellow conservative Tucker Carlson and, to round out the group, Rita Cosby who's simply, well, an idiot.

Nice balance, huh? They could have at least borrowed Alan Colmes from Fox to make it look good.

Cosby, who used to work at Fox News and should stick to her element -- covering Michael Jackson and missing blond girls in Caribbean countries -- was like a giggly schoolgirl making fun of a dorky classmate in discussing Kim Jung Il.

"I call him, like, the Liberace of Asia. I mean, this guy with his bouffant hairdo, with his 20,000 foreign films," rasped Cosby, as O'Donnell laughed heartily and Scarborough and Carlson sat stone-faced. "I think this guy's living in a whole other country other than North Korea. In a whole other world."

Noron then asked Scarborough if Bush's policy on North Korea was a failure.

"Of course not," said Joe. "You've had nimrod bloggers for three years now, four years saying that George Bush attacked the wrong 'Axis of Evil' and he should have gone after North Korea."

They then looked at a clip of the Lamont-Lieberman debate from last night and Scarborough ripped Lamont, restating Lieberman's "who's Ned Lamont?" talking points and calling Lamont a "one-trick pony."

Cosby, whose main function seemed to be to laugh at Scarborough's quips, jumped in saying "I will defend Ned Lamont for one reason, guys. He's from Greenwich, Connecticut, my hometown so I've gotta put that in there. Other than that, I do think he's in trouble. I agree with Joe. I agree with Tucker. I think Lieberman's going to be OK."

So Lamont got a trashing on national television, without a progressive in sight to speak up on his behalf -- with no mention of the fact that, as of the time the show aired, 68 percent of the 24,000 respondents to MSNBC's online poll thought Lamont won the debate.

And on it went, including their own version of analysis on Osama bin Laden in which Carlson opined that "every American will rejoice when that guy suffers and goes to hell" only to have Scarborough sneer "except for the Democratic party." (Scarborough later gave a weak apology for that remark.) Oh, they took time to bash Cindy Sheehan too.

So where's that liberal media that seems to be so hard to actually find?

The next "Hot Shots" panel? I'm guessing David Duke, Alan Keyes, Pat Robertson and Jim Dobson.

You can reach Bob Geiger at [e-mail] and read more from him at Democrats.com.

[jillan]

1. I watched that show once, and that was enough

Always the same people, the other talk show hosts from MSNBC
Suspiciously missing is Olbermann...hmmm.

[Scribe]

11. Olberman didn't lose his Friday night show. The rest did.

[catmother]

21. makes you wonder. these people are the hot shots? rita

cosby??? everytime scarborough talks about when he was in congress i think about the dead intern in his office.

[rainy]

2. I saw that too and ended up calling MSNBC and complained

about the democrat bashing with now progressives around.

[AX10]

3. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox need to merge.

They could cut out alot of the bureaucracy.

[Berry Cool]

4. Olbermann has a show to do right afterward

so you'll never see him there.

And I hate to be picky, but it's Cosby, not Crosby.

[AX10]

5. I never called her "crosby". What are you talking about?

:shrug:

[Bryan]

7. I think Olbermann gets a pass due to his ratings strength

IIRC, Countdown and Hardball are their only primetime shows that don't get outrated on Friday nights by episodes of LOCKUP, so they air as normal.

[Bob Geiger]

8. Thanks for correction

Corrected the "Cosby" versus "Crosby" thing. Thank you!

[dajoki]

6. That Rita Cosby...

makes me nervous just watching her, with all her ticks and innappropriate gestures. And that voice, it goes right through me, like nails on a chalkboard.

[WatchWhatISay]

17. Rita . . . was like a giggly schoolgirl making fun of a dorky classmate i

I dont know which is worse, Rita's raspy giggle or Norah's newly adopted nasal cackling.

[SOS]

9. They've got a lot of nerve

They call this right-wing blather "Hardball".

Next week Lawrence Odonnell will guest host and his hotshot guests will be Paul Krugman, Katrina van den Heuval and Frank Rich.
(The above Hardball line-up is fictional and for amusement purposes only)

[Awsi Dooger]

10. Norah complimented Lamont earlier in the program

She said he was aggressive and well prepared during the debate, getting in many good shots. Then she made mention he did especially well considering his limited experience in politics, that she covered many local politicians and implied they would not have been able to compete on this level as Lamont has.

[BlueJac]

12. Spitball just sucks as a news program.........

The panel has sucked the neo-cons from day one......I turn that kind of garbage off!

[illinoisprogressive]

13. Hots shots?

When they were discussing Cindy Sheehan the dimwitted Rita Cosby compared Cindy Sheehan to Hitler.

[DespisedIcon]

14. How do we change it then?

Rather then turn these kinds of shows off, what can we do to turn the media around? Reporters typically make six-figure incomes on network TV, and have a money lock on television. These people will bash and attack anything that isn't exactly in line with their agenda: most people are babysat by television from the time they are young. How do we get our message out that conservatives control television and are promulgating brainwash via this medium?

[Lasher]

24. Arm yourself

Read and retain this excellent article by the brilliant Steve Kangas, who died under questionable circumstances in 1999. I sure wish he were with us today.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-liberalmedia.htm

[Clark2008]

29. Correction: REPORTERS don't make that kind of money, but

NEWS-READING ANCHORS do.

Reporting is one of the most underpaid professions requiring a college degree there is. Most reporters earn less than starting teachers and emergency service personnel. I know - I had to leave the profession when I got a divorce or my son and I would be in the poor house.

[WatchWhatISay]

15. We are within six months of an important election

so MSNBC and CNN are doing what they always do when that time rolls around.

Don't worry, they'll lighten up a bit after the election.

For them, this is better than just sitting around worrying about what the GOP can do to keep contol of Congress/Whitehouse.

[Vinca]

16. I wish we had an Air America television network.

Any fabulously rich liberals interested in pulling a Ted Turner?

[ejbr]

18. I see no problem

with them claiming that Leiberman did well and can hold his own. Those Connecticut idiots who actually think these ninnies opinions mean something may actually stay home on August 8th with the knowledge that Joe is "going to be OK.":thumbsup:

[Time for change]

19. I can't stand to watch those stupid shows any more

[jaysunb]

20. How do they get away with it ?

So Lamont got a trashing on national television, without a progressive in sight to speak up on his behalf -- with no mention of the fact that, as of the time the show aired, 68 percent of the 24,000 respondents to MSNBC's online poll thought Lamont won the debate

This kind of stuff makes their agenda completely transparent, and I'll be very glad when somebody, ANYBODY !finally calls them on it.

[fearthem]

22. I've voiced my dissapproval by emailing MSNBC TV numerous times....

but I suppose it doesn't make any difference as they clearly have an agenda and Dan Abrams has a GOP background. It is disgusting to watch and I have stopped for the very reasons sited here. Perhaps if they heard from enough people who say they are going to stop tunning in, they temper the "hot shot."

[Up2Late]

23. Sounds about right for them, MSNBC is such a joke.

A very BAD joke.:mad:

[mkb]

25. Start taking a nap, .gratification of fools forever

In the print media, the initial letters of a heading are key to your understanding of what they are trying to say. They give you only a surface description of what's happening; you must read deeper to get a better understanding of what "meanings" there are in many ways in an internet or newspaper article.
The future of society's well being depends on sentient people who can make sense of things and make the right decisions about their present and future, for themselves and those they are friends with and allied with and for future sentient progress.
Read with caution; your activities can be traced, and think things over in your mind carefully, especially those of you who are reasonably well off. The fact of media bias is more obvious to those in the lower and middle sectors. Still, lower and middle groups should still use a lot of thought in making decisions, even though you may realize the situation more thoroughly.
Join With others in making sense, that the key to the situation is rusting from lack of understanding. It's like it's being prepared for treatment in some ward, and it's heart may give out. That being said, I advise being thoughtful before committing yourself to some action, particularly if your new to this understanding of what is happening. I wish all my sentient friends the best at understanding the world, even with so much media bias, and good luck.

[Child_Of_Isis]

26. I am really sick of the personalities.

Can we have some non biased reporters who give us real news instead of reading Faxes from the White House?

[freesqueeze]

27. I've always questioned the "HOTSHOTS" segment

Especially when Chris asks them if the story they've been shamelessly flogging all week is a legitimate news story.



Does he expect he expect Rita Cosby to admit that she's not actually a journalist?

"No Chris, I only cover fluff stories meant to bring in the lowest common denominator viewer. I haven’t a brain in my head."

[True Bleu]

28. Segments like this one make me nostalgic for 2000, when

every cable news anchor was talking about "having a beer with George Bush".

Yep, nothing's changed.