CNN Mischaracterized As A ‘Liberal Media Outlet’ On Booker Rising

The anatomy of a misguided statement from the Booker Rising blog:

Asks liberal media outlet CNN, about alleged racial insensitivity. Included in its article are two black conservative Republicans, who are no strangers to regular Booker Rising readers. “Lenny McCallister is African-American, a Tea Party member and a conservative Republican. He says Republicans ‘have to speak out against this stuff because it does not fit our principles, morals or values. At the same time we cannot alienate the most active aspects of the conservative base at this time.’ He’s calling on conservatives to help the Republican Party walk that tightrope in a way they did not in 2009.”

CNN is far from a liberal media outlet. In fact, CNN at times bends over backward to accommodate guests with a variety of opinions and bends over backward to balance its discussion panels.

To refer to CNN as a “liberal media outlet” as the blog Booker Rising did is ridiculous. It seems almost a spiteful reply to the obvious fact that Fox News is a right-wing outlet (to be fair: MSNBC’s prime-time commentators are to the left).

NRCC Words Certainly Are Racially Tinged In Attacking Rep. Charlie Rangel

The National Republican Congressional Committee is fooling no one with its weakly disguised racial attack on New York Congressman Charlie Rangel.

Rangel, obviously, is in major hot water these days. And, it’s clear that his troubles feel like ideal ammunition for Republicans to use as they launch an attack.

But, as MSNBC’s David Shuster points out, there seemed to be a racial motivation in a recent attack on Rangel by the NRCC.

Here is the transcript from MSNBC as posted by the right-wing outfit NewsBusters:

SHUSTER: I want to ask you about some of the criticism of Governor Paterson, particularly the National Republican Campaign Committee. They issued a very provocative press release over the weekend. They attacked Charlie Rangel. And we mentioned Charlie Rangel and David Paterson and the problems in New York. But, they mention Charlie Rangel as “the crooked Harlem Democrat.” They could have called him the crooked, New York Democrat. They could have called him a crooked Democrat. Why crooked Harlem Democrat? And did you see that as being racially tinged?

DOUG WILDER (former governor of Virginia): Well, this isn’t the first time that these people have reached beyond and over the top. Look at the ad that was being run by the Finance Committee, so-called Finance Committee in the Republican National Committee, depicting the President in the most unflattering capacity that they did showing his picture in grease paint, et cetera. You’re absolutely right. Were they trying to send that message? Was it racially tinged or not is not the issue. The issue is, could it be interpreted that way? And if it could be interpreted that way, don’t do it. You can say any number of things about what he’s done without having to it even have the inference of race at all.

SHUSTER: Former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, thank you for joining us today. Nice to see you.

Here is one excerpt from a story posted on the NRCC Web site:

Notoriously corrupt Harlem Democrat Charlie Rangel’s recent admonishment by the House Ethics Committee has caused a stir among the nervous House Democrats who have accepted the Ways and Means Chairman’s tainted campaign contributions. Now, Democrats like Michael Arcuri have found themselves in the eye of an ethical storm. Not only has Arcuri accepted $14,000 in dirty campaign funds, but he has twice voted to sweep his party’s corruption problems under the rug by letting Rangel off the hook. With House Democrats quickly abandoning the embattled chairman, will Arcuri finally follow suit?

Here is the other excerpt from the same NRCC story posted on its Web site:

“Charlie Rangel has been embroiled in an ethical storm for years, but that hasn’t stopped Michael Arcuri from lining his campaign coffers with his tainted money,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Now that Rangel has finally been busted for his ethical wrongdoings, Arcuri has egg on his face for repeatedly protecting the embattled chairman. After accepting $14,000 in tainted campaign donations from the Harlem Democrat and twice voting to let him off the hook, Arcuri is tied to this scandal whether he likes it or not. Will Arcuri try to salvage what’s left of his political career and finally abandon Rangel and his campaign money?”

Are you still having a hard time with accusations of an element of race in these charges?

If Republicans want to call him crooked … whatever. But, the emphasis on Harlem (with the racial baggage that comes with it) is difficult to ignore.

Media Matters for America counters the expected argument of “what’s wrong with calling him a ‘corrupt Harlem Democrat?’”

Here is part of the counter by MMA:

This NRCC press release criticizing Rep. Suzanne Kosmas doesn’t refer to her as a “New Smyrna Beach Democrat.”  This one criticizing Rep. Michael McMahon for not calling for Rangel’s resignation refers to McMahon as a “New York Democrat” rather than a “Staten Island Democrat” — even as it calls Rangel a “Harlem Democrat.”  This release twice calls Rangel a “Harlem Democrat,” but this one about Earl Pomeroy doesn’t say anything about a “Bismark Democrat,” and so on.

It does make you wonder what was in the hearts and souls of the people who wrote and approved that NRCC press release.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: “I forgot he was black tonight for an hour”

MSNBC host and commentator Chris Matthews has a habit of making comments that make you shake your head in disbelief.

Matthews offered yet another in regard to President Obama’s State of the Union speech:

MATTHEWS: You know, I was trying to think about who he was tonight, and it’s interesting: He is post-racial by all appearances. You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour. You know, he’s gone a long way to become a leader of this country and passed so much history in just a year or two. I mean, it’s something we don’t even think about.

I was watching, I said, Wait a minute, he’s an African-American guy in front of a bunch of other white people. And here he is President of the United States and we’ve completely forgotten that tonight — completely forgotten it. I think it was in the scope of his discussion. It was so broad-ranging, so in tune with so many problems, of aspects, and aspects of American life that you don’t think terms of the old tribalism, the old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard — a very subtle fact. It’s so hard to even talk about; maybe I shouldn’t talk about it, but I am.

Well, Chris, we almost forgot how foolish you can be, but then you typically bring us back to reality.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/27/matthews-obama-black/

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201001270078

Michael Steele To Sen. Harry Reid: Check Yo Self!

“Money” Mike Steele, the Republican National Committee’s chairman and leader of the right-wing’s reluctant exploration of hip hop culture, was back on the mic again. This time, he was in a conversation on an MSNBC show and last seen essentially running and screaming away from Donny Deutsch, who called out Steele for his comments directed at Sen. Harry Reid. Steele’s comments were part of an orchestrated effort to play the so-called race card while accusing Democrats of playing the so-called race card. It is, to say the very least, a very interesting strategy.

Here is an excerpt from a Think Progress story that features strong comments from Hip Hop Mike (as The Field Negro aptly calls him):

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, co-host Mika Brzezinski called Reid’s remarks “unfortunate.” Her guest, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, said Reid needs to “check himself” and ripped him for being “out of touch,” “clueless,” and “ignorant.”

Wow, Hip Hop Mike was setting it off.

Those are quite the strong comments, including, ”check himself?” It seems Hip Hop Mike is at it again trying to fire up his crew with some straight-up off-the-hook comments.

I thought we squashed these beefs with 2Pac and Biggie.

Check out these thoughtful, scholarly and measured responses from RNC Chairman Michael Steele:

DEUTSCH: I’m still trying to understand why the analogies he’s made are wrong. Obviously, the issue here is that any great change throughout history has the naysayers saying “it’s not time, it’s not time.” So why was that an irrelevant analogy?

STEELE: I won’t even dignify that with a response.

DEUTSCH: What do you mean, dignify? It’s a question, it’s a genuine question.

STEELE: Next question.

DEUTSCH: It’s a genuine question.

STEELE: Next question. Come on. I’m sorry, sir. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s an appropriate comparison to slavery.

DEUTSCH: He’s not. He’s comparing it to dramatic change, and the naysayers to change.

STEELE: Whatever, whatever. Next question.

DEUTSCH: That’s a great response. Very, very intelligent, brave response.

STEELE: It is. As was your question.

Hip Hop Mike went a little too far back in his youth… back to like kindergarten with his responses. Come on, Hip Hop Mike. It’s time to grow up and not running screaming from debate in a childish display of weakness.

Hip Hop Mike got punked by Donny Deutsch.

What would the homies think?

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/09/steele-deutsch-questions/

Chris Matthews Apologizes For Irresponsible Comment About President Obama, West Point

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, who hosts “Hardball” on the network, made what a large number of people considered to be a highly offensive and inexplicable statement about President Obama’s speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Matthews said that the president went into “the enemy camp” for his speech at West Point. Obviously, you don’t need advanced college degrees to know and see the offensive nature of such a statement. Matthews, rightly, came under fire for those comments.

Here is what Matthews originally said:

MATTHEWS: I didn’t see much excitement. But among the older people there, I saw, if not resentment, skepticism. I didn’t see a lot of warmth in that crowd out there that the President chose to address tonight and I thought that was interesting. He went to maybe the enemy camp tonight to make his case. I mean, that’s where Paul Wolfowitz used to write speeches for, back in the old Bush days. That’s where he went to rabble rouse the ‘we’re going to democratize the world’ campaign back in ‘02. So, I thought it was a strange venue.

That is reprehensible and just plain stupid. At the very least, it was a poor choice of words.

Wednesday night, Matthews was back on the air to issue what could arguably be considered an apology:

MATTHEWS: But first. I’ve gotten some very tough calls from parents of cadets and from former cadets at West Point and about my saying last night that the President going to speak up there to maybe the “enemy camp.” I was talking about the skepticism I saw on the faces in the crowd as President Obama spoke also of course about how West Point was where President Bush went in 2002 to make his most hawkish speech before the Iraq war.

Now I’ve heard too many politicians say things like, “oh that was taken out context” to explain something they wish they hadn’t said let me just say to the cadets, their parents, former cadets and everyone who cares about this country and those who defend it: I used the wrong words and worse than that I said something that is just not right and for that I deeply apologize.

As those who watch me regularly probably got right away, my point was that the military up at West Point was probably a skeptical audience for President Obama given his strong position against the war in Iraq and generally more dovish image. I was wrong to make that conclusion based on the lack of applause or apparent enthusiasm in the ranks of officers and cadets last night. Cadets, one former cadet and a friend of mine just told me, aren’t supposed to show that kind of reaction to a speaker.

He, a former cadet, reminded me that soldiers, including those now in training to face the enemy, want wars to be fought effectively and ended as quickly as possible. I had no reason to assume that the cadets at West Point or their officers who were present last night are more hawkish than the president. People who have watched me over the years know, I think, of my strong devotion to this country and strong gratitude toward those who serve in the military. It’s because our military is so good and true I want the civilians that make the policies and set the missions to get them right, in this country’s best possible interest. And by the way, it’s something we’re allowed to argue about in this country. Whenever I meet someone with a service record I always say, “thank you for your service.” They know I say it, and I hope they know I mean it.

It’s good that Chris Matthews apologized for his comments. He could have done what Bill O’Reilly would do and make excuses, blame the victims and bring on someone like Juan Williams to defend him against a charge. Fortunately, Matthews did not do that and issued a solid apology for his words.

First For President Barack Obama: Conservatives Act Like He Is First Leader To Lobby For Olympics

As we know all too well, Barack Obama is considered the first black president (the first non-white male) of the United States of America. It was a historic first, but it appears some conservatives do not think it was the last historic first for the new president. It seems many conservatives are just plain up in arms over the belief Barack Obama now has become (are you ready for this?) the first president to ever go overseas and lobby to host the Olympics.

I mean … surely no other president or leader of a nation has done that before. Perhaps conservatives see this as another case of President Obama getting uppity and acting like he is … the president? Hmm. What could be going through this man’s mind … acting like he is president of the United States of America and fighting for the people of the nation he leads.

From Think Progress:

Brazil, Spain, and Japan — the other three 2016 finalists — all sent their country’s leaders to Copenhagen, as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow pointed out on NBC’s Meet the Press today. Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks said that he was proud Obama had “put his country ahead of his own personal prestige”:

MADDOW: In 2012, London got the Olympics after Blair tried for them. In 2014, Russia got them after Putin tried for them, and in 2016, all four finalists sent their head of government or head of state to make the argument. Obama did nothing unreasonable, and it would have been a shock if Chicago won. For them to be cheering America’s loss here on the right, I think is sort of disgusting. [...]

BROOKS: Nonetheless, I have to say, I’m with Obama on this. He took a risk, he comes away somewhat humiliated, but he took a risk for his town, he took a risk for his country, he put his country ahead of his own personal prestige, and he lost one. I actually don’t mind it. I think he was all right on this.

We should be all proud of the work so many people from the U.S. Olympic Committee and elsewhere did to try and bring the Olympics of 2016 to the U.S. Obviously, a lot of conservatives were rooting against the U.S., but the greatness of the country will win out over the self-interested conservatives who seem only believe strongly in patriotism when a Republican is in the White House.

Congratulations to Brazil, but shame on those in the U.S. who rooted against their country due largely to political bias.

Republican To Republican … JoeScarborough Calls Out Tim Pawlenty On Death Panel Claim

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican who is fighting to keep himself in the national spotlight for a possible run at the White House in 2012, looked downright pathetic while interviewed by a fellow Republican, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough. The subject was this ridiculous notion of so-called death panels that far-right conservatives have been aggressively pushing. This partisan showing will come back to haunt him if he does attempt to put together a campaign for the White House. He is going to be called out for using the politics of fear and distortion to campaign against health care. Scarborough appropriately spanked Pawlenty for these scare tactics about death panels and repeatedly tried to get the governor to explain where in the bill death panels were talked about. Then, Pawlenty (blindly partisan) was pretty much schooled by Scarborough on the differences between a so-called death panel (a scare tactic) and end-of-life counseling and had to concede that there is really no death panel stuff in this proposed legislation (although he does try to continue to imply there is something indirect … still a scare tactic).

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909110004

Non-Whites Tend To Reject Fox News

Reading a story published by the Washington Independent confirms what will likely not be a big shock to a whole lot of people who follow much of what is going on with cable news these days. Fox News performs well as it draws nearly all Republicans/conservatives to its right-leaning broadcasts. Left-leaning MSNBC, as one might expect, runs strong with liberals. CNN tends to be more popular with those who consider themselves independent. I would imagine CNN also gets some conservatives and some liberals who want a bit of a break from the more partisan approach to news that is popular on Fox News and MSNBC.

But, the Washington Independent article opens up a different kind of argument as it discusses who are the viewers who gravitate toward Fox News. Those who appreciate Fox News most tend to be white, Southern and Republican.

The biggest swing region in the poll? The South. In Southern states, 46 percent of viewers say that Fox News is “extremely reliable” or “reliable.” Only 6 percent of them say that of MSNBC, compared to 26 percent who say it of CNN, a huge shift from the days when CNN was derided as the “Communist/Clinton News Network.” And non-white viewers really don’t like Fox. Only 5 percent of African-Americans, 11 percent of Hispanics, and 8 percent of other minorities consider the network reliable, while a majority of every one of those groups trusts CNN and sizable pluralities trust MSNBC.

Interestingly, this research sows that only five percent of blacks, 11 percent of Latinos and eight percent of other minorities consider Fox News “reliable” with respect to its coverage and commentary. Frankly, it surprises me that the number is even that high for Fox News.

Glenn Beck Proves Again To Be Nothing Short Of An Idiot

The depth and breadth of Glenn Beck’s stupidity is virtually beyond human comprehension. The crazed Fox News host, who has proven he has no business with a platform on any legitimate news network, recently said this: “The president has exposed himself, I think, as a guy, over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or white culture.” Beck, like a lot of the far-right conservatives, is working overtime to attack President Obama using racial politics as a result of the controversy surrounding the ridiculous arrest of Prof. Henry Louis Gates for, as Bill Maher described it, the crime of not kissing an officer’s butt.

From Think Progress:

Yesterday on Fox News, host Glenn Beck went on a rant about President Obama’s comments about the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the upcoming meeting Obama will have with Gates, who is African-American, and the arresting officer, Jim Crowley. “This president has exposed himself, I think, as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or white culture,” Beck complained, later adding, “He has a, this guy is, I believe, a racist.”

The NAACP came out with a statement chastising Beck for his comments. “We commend President Obama for having the courage to discuss an issue that all too many Americans consider a third rail,” the statement said.

Like the NAACP, I also commend President Obama not only for speaking out on the issue, but of standing up for a friend of his. He could have phrased his original comment better, but I think the sentiment was right on the money.

Also, as cited by Think Progress:

This morning, the crew on MSNBC’s Morning Joe ripped Beck for an entire segment of the show:

WASHINGTON POST’S JONATHAN CAPEHART: How is it possible that this guy can sit on national television and call this guy a racist? The President is half white!

MSNBC HOST MIKE BARNICLE: In reality, Glenn Beck is just show business. …The larger, dumber statement is that the President of the United States has a deep seeded hatred for white people. Hello Glenn!? His mother was white! He was raised by a white woman, his grandmother! Hello!? Glenn? … Come back down to Earth please!

HOST MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Outrageous is one way of putting it. I would say irresponsible, especially now…selfish, self-indulging.

Beck is disgraceful, but maybe it goes to show if you’re partially black to some people you’re all black. I honestly think there are times people forget that President Obama is half white.

If the man had any mind to begin with then he clearly has lost it.

Maybe it’s that whole one-drop thing.

From Wikipedia:

The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States that holds that a person with any trace of African ancestry is considered black (unless they have an alternative non-white ancestry, such as Native American, Asian, Arab, Polynesian or Australian aboriginal).^[1] It developed most strongly out of the binary culture of long years of institutionalized slavery.

This notion of invisible/intangible membership in a racial group has seldom been applied to people of other ancestry (see Race in the United States for details). The concept has been chiefly applied to those of black African ancestry. As Langston Hughes wrote, “You see, unfortunately, I am not black. There are lots of different kinds of blood in our family. But here in the United States, the word ‘Negro’ is used to mean anyone who has any Negro blood at all in his veins. In Africa, the word is more pure. It means all Negro, therefore black. I am brown.”^[2]

Media Matters Posts A Top Ten List Of Its Own

I found this interesting. Media Matters for America writer Karl Frisch wrote the following: I humbly present a Top Ten list of “Right-Wingers From Whom Conservatives Should Be Demanding Apologies.”

10) Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, for falsely claiming a hate-crimes bill that adds gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans to the list of protected groups would also protect those who commit incest, necrophilia, pedophilia, bestiality, and a host of other perversions.

9) Fox News’ Sean Hannity, for hosting “Internet journalist” Andy Martin, who once called a judge a “crooked, slimy Jew, who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race.”

8) Syndicated radio host Neal Boortz, for describing welfare recipients as “human parasitic garbage lining up to get their applications to loot.”

7) Fox News conspiracy-theorist-in-chief Glenn Beck, for describing Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court as, “Hey, Hispanic chick lady! You’re empathetic. … You’re in!”

6) MSNBC’s resident cranky uncle, Pat Buchanan, for saying prior to Sotomayor’s selection that he wanted Obama to pick a Supreme Court justice “who has real stature, impresses people” but thinking instead that Obama would pick “a minority, a woman and/or a Hispanic.”

5) Syndicated radio host Jim Quinn, for repeatedly calling NOW the “National Organization of Whores.”

4) Cincinnati-based radio host Bill Cunningham, for allegingthat “Obama wants to gas the Jews.”

3) Michael Savage (née Weiner), the third-highest-rated radio host in America, for saying“Obama hates” and “is raping America.”

2) Fox News’ irrepressible mega-star Bill O’Reilly, for repeatedly quacking that the legalization of gay marriage could lead to folks marrying ducks.

And No. 1, the conservative movement’s de facto leader, Rush Limbaugh, for sayingof Obama, “We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles … because his father was black.”

Find Out What Pat Buchanan Is All About

Pat Buchanan, a failed multiple-time candidate for president and currently a commentator for MSNBC, has said more than his fair share of offensive things over the years.

But, reading this article from Media Matters for America, chronicling Buchanan’s history, should leave most rational people feeling nothing short of disgusted.

Here’s one sample:

Last year, Buchanan suggested that slavery worked out pretty well for “black folks”:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Nice. He attempts to portray the brutal Middle Passage, that forcibly brought slaves (those who were not among the millions who died) to the present-day United States of America, as some luxury-liner cruise to paradise.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200906080008

Laura Ingraham And Bill O’Reilly Are Off Target Yet Again

The bitter backlash from conservative talking heads Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham. O’Reilly has taken a lot of heat for some of his hateful comments toward Dr. George Tiller, a man who legally provided abortions to women in need. Dr. Tiller was assassinated this week by a man who appears to be an anti-abortion extremist who was willing to stop at nothing to stop a man like Dr. George Tiller. Also, recently in the news, is the story of a man (23-year-old Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad) who is being named as the killer of a soldier and a wounder of another due to his anger about the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the case of Dr. George Tiller, this is a tragic crime that can not and must not go unpunished.

Here is where the story gets interesting. As O’Reilly and others on the far right have been taking heat for their hateful rhetoric toward Dr. Tiller that may have lit the fuse for his murder, the conservative commentator appeared to be teaming with Ingraham (a fellow right winger) to exploit the tragedy of the soldier’s murder to again attack liberals, including NBC and MSNBC.

Consider these remarks from Ingraham and O’Reilly (as reported by Think Progress):

INGRAHAM: Are we now going to look at the websites that he frequented to see if he was on some of the crazy left-wing anti-war websites, Win Without War, George Soros-funded websites, DailyKos, all the crazies. … The way they are reporting on the George Tiller murder, all of talk radio was responsible for that. … Did he frequent MSNBC, did he like to watch it? [...]

O’REILLY: Since they have been unrelenting in describing their country as a torture nation, I’m sure that set this Muslim guy off to kill one and wound another of our military and I’m sure that’s NBC’s fault. Look, the absurdity of this is beyond the pale.

Whilere there is some tongue-in-cheek here (perhaps from O’Reilly), I suspect, but the thought behind the words is unmistakable. Whether Muhammad may or may not have watched liberal networks or read liberal blogs is irrelevant in this case. Muhammad has expressed (to the law enforcement officials) that he was angered by the deaths of Muslims in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Here is an article from the New York Times:

In a lengthy interview with the police, Mr. Muhammad said he was angry about the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chief Thomas said. Previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, Mr. Muhammad told investigators that he had converted to Islam as a teenager, Chief Thomas said.

Chief Thomas said investigators believe that Mr. Muhammad acted alone. He seemed to be familiar with the Army recruiting office because it was not far from his home, the chief said, but might have been on the prowl for anyone in uniform.

“I would say he was looking for any and all targets of opportunity that happened to be military,” the chief said in a telephone interview. “That may have well been the first place he found.”

Mr. Muhammad will be charged with one count of capital murder and 15 counts of terroristic acts, one for each person who was hit or endangered by the shots he fired. Thirteen people were in the recruiting office at the time.

Muhammad’s reprehensible actions, based on police interrogation, were motivated by the results of the war … not by hate speech.

On the victims:

The dead soldier was identified as Pvt. William A. Long, 23, of Conway, about 30 miles north of Little Rock. The other victim, Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, was in stable condition at Baptist Medical Center, Chief Stuart Thomas of the Little Rock Police Department said.

New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/us/02recruit.html?_r=1

I Am Mr. Scarborough, Your Host … Welcome To Fantasy Island

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough apparently is beginning his cable television news version of the old television show Fantasy Island. All I could do is shake my head listening to Scarborough and others on his show talk themselves into believing that the Democrats are “weaker” than the Republicans if you factor President Obama out of the equation. First of all, that really makes no sense. That would be like saying other NBA teams are stronger than the Cleveland Cavaliers if you factor LeBron James out of the equation. Secondly, even if you factor out President Obama … it’s still quite a stretch to contend Democrats are in a weaker state than Republicans when you look at the numbers in the Senate, the House of Representatives, who’s in the White House and how soundly Republicans were pounded in the November election. Not to pile on Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, but the Democratic runner-up, current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would have won by probably the same margin as Barack Obama.

Much like Media Matters, I find myself struggling to understand the basis for Scarborough’s point of view on his program, Morning Joe. I guess Joe is playing the role made famous by the late, great Ricardo Montalbán – minus the white suit.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200905140032