Fwd: MRC Alert: Bennett's Loss in Utah a 'Damn Outrage,' 'Non-Violent Coup,' Part of Larger Intolerant GOP Narrative

 

A daily compilation edited by Brent H. Baker, CyberAlert items are drawn from daily BiasAlert posts and distributed by the Media Research Center's News Analysis Division, the leader since 1987 in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.

 

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Monday May 10, 2010 @ 09:37 AM EDT

1. Bennett's Loss in Utah a 'Damn Outrage,' 'Non-Violent Coup,' Part of Larger Intolerant GOP Narrative
"This is a damn outrage," a disgusted David Brooks, the faux conservative columnist for the New York Times, declared on Sunday's Meet the Press reacting to Republican Senator Bob Bennett's loss Saturday at Utah's Republican convention which chose two others to compete in a June primary for the seat. Brooks fretted he was punished for being "a good conservative who was trying to get things done" by "bravely" working with Democrats on health care and supporting TARP. "Now," he repeated, "he's losing his career over that. And it's just a damn outrage." Sitting beside Brooks on NBC's roundtable, liberal Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr,. a former New York Times correspondent, saw "almost a non-violent coup because they denied the sitting Senator even a chance of getting on the primary ballot."

2. MSNBC Host Asks Black GOP Candidate About 'Racist' Tea Parties
In Friday's 3PM ET hour of live coverage on MSNBC, anchor Peter Alexander asked black Republican congressional candidate Allen West of Florida about "aligning" with the tea party movement: "the Tea Party has raised concerns that it may have, I guess, racism built within it. We have seen some racist signs at past events...are African-American candidates aligning themselves with the tea party?" West responded: "The principles and values that I espouse, limited government, lower taxes, individual responsibility, and accountability, liberty, and honoring the traditions of our constitutional republic, are connecting me with those grass roots Americans that attend tea party rallies. And I've spoken at four to five of those rallies and I've not seen any racist type of signs."

3. 60 Minutes Empathizes with Hillary Clinton's Challenge After Bush, Hails Her Work Ethic and 'Global Star Power'
A quick look at the flavor Sunday night's fawning 60 Minutes profile of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which, after some questions about the Time Square botched bomber, framed her job around the challenge of fixing a world abused by George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, a situation exacerbated by U.S. debt. Picking up from her initial rejection of the position, Scott Pelley asserted: "Now she's gone from "not interested" to an all-consuming global campaign in a time when the U.S. is the biggest debtor in the world, fighting two wars, and accused of abandoning its ideals to the struggle with terrorism....Right away, she found that America is in a crisis of credibility." Pelley soon proceeded to how "she doesn't let anyone work harder" and "she's the only person in American politics with global star power close to" that held by Barack Obama.

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Bennett's Loss in Utah a 'Damn Outrage,' 'Non-Violent Coup,' Part of Larger Intolerant GOP Narrative

 

"This is a damn outrage," a disgusted David Brooks, the faux conservative columnist for the New York Times, declared on Sunday's Meet the Press reacting to Republican Senator Bob Bennett's loss Saturday at Utah's Republican convention which chose two others to compete in a June primary for the seat. Brooks fretted he was punished for being "a good conservative who was trying to get things done" by "bravely" working with Democrats on health care and supporting TARP. "Now," he repeated, "he's losing his career over that. And it's just a damn outrage."

Sitting beside Brooks on NBC's roundtable, liberal Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr,. a former New York Times correspondent, saw "almost a non-violent coup because they denied the sitting Senator even a chance of getting on the primary ballot."

Over on Fox News Sunday, NPR's Juan Williams expressed exasperation: "This is evidence of how the American political center is losing, on the right wing of the party a guy like Bob Bennett, who is a right-wing conservative, is being driven out because he's not sufficiently conservative?"

ABC's Jake Tapper brought Rudy Giuliani aboard This Week to address the handling of the Times Square botched bomber, but wouldn't let him go before bringing up Bennett's defeat as proof of an intolerant GOP: "Are you worried at all that the Republican Party is not only growing more hostile to more liberal to moderate Republicans such as yourself, but also conservative Republicans who are shown to, at least shown an ability to work with Democrats?"

Later, during the roundtable, George Will answered the presumption Bennett was the victim of an ideological purity test:

This is an anti-Washington year. How do you get more Washington than a three-term Senator who occupies the seat once held by his father, a four-term Senator, who before that worked on the Senate staff and then as a lobbyist in Washington? He's a wonderful man and a terrific Senator. But the fact is, he's going against terrific head-winds this year and he cast three votes: TARP, stimulus and an individual mandate for health care. Now, you might like one, two or all three of those, but being opposed to them is not outside the mainstream of American political argument.

Brooks admired those very votes from Bennett, hailing the Wyden-Bennett health plan as "a substantive, serious bill, a bipartisan bill, with strong conservative and some liberal support. So he did something sort of brave by working with Democrats which more Senators should do and now they've been sent a message to him don't do that."

As if this would convince conservatives, Dionne pointed to how "you just had an election in Britain where David Cameron, the conservative, almost got a majority by saying we need to de-toxicfy, take the rough edges off conservatism, appeal to a broader constituency." But he didn't get a majority with that approach!

From the May 9 Meet the Press:

DAVID BROOKS: This is a damn outrage, to be honest. This is a guy who was a good Senator and he was a good Senator and a good conservative, but a good conservative who was trying to get things done. The Wyden-Bennett bill, which he co-sponsored -- if you took the health care economists in the country, they would probably be for that bill, ideally. It was a substantive, serious bill, a bipartisan bill, with strong conservative and some liberal support. So he did something sort of brave by working with Democrats which more Senators should do and now they've been sent a message to him don't do that. The second thing is the TARP.

Nobody liked the TARP. But we were in a complete economic meltdown and sometimes you have to do terrible things. And we're in a much better economic place because of the TARP. So he bravely cast a vote that nobody wanted to really cast and now he's losing his career over that. And it's just a damn outrage.

E.J. DIONNE: I agree with David on this. And I think that something's happening inside the Republican Party that I think in the long run won't be good for the Republican Party. You just had an election in Britain where David Cameron, the conservative, almost got a majority by saying we need to de-toxicfy, take the rough edges off conservatism, appeal to a broader constituency. And here you have a state party convention, by the way, not a primary. It's almost a non-violent coup because they denied the sitting Senator even a chance of getting on the primary ballot. And I think the party in the long run risks a backlash among voters who may not be liberal at all, but don't like this kind of politics.

And before people on the right crow too much about this, it is a party convention in Utah. I would imagine the left would win a party convention on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. So let's not, sort of, make this into a bigger thing than it is. But it is a big deal to dump somebody like Bob Bennett.

From Fox News Sunday:

JUAN WILLIAMS: This is evidence of how the American political center is losing, on the right wing of the party a guy like Bob Bennett, who is a right-wing conservative, is being driven out because he's not sufficiently conservative?...If I lived in Utah, I'm going to give up Bob Bennett and his seniority and connections?

BILL KRISTOL: Why do you need the seniority? To bring the pork home?

WILLIAMS: To bring the pork home?

KRISTOL: That's worked well over the last several years.

WILLIAMS: Oh, so you'd sit here and say, "oh TARP was terrible, bailouts were terrible," even though we saved ourselves from depression? That's rational? That's good, inspired caring about America?

— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.

MSNBC Host Asks Black GOP Candidate About 'Racist' Tea Parties

 

View the Video Here

In Friday's 3 PM ET hour of live coverage on MSNBC, anchor Peter Alexander asked black Republican congressional candidate Allen West of Florida about "aligning" with the tea party movement: "the Tea Party has raised concerns that it may have, I guess, racism built within it. We have seen some racist signs at past events...are African-American candidates aligning themselves with the tea party?" [Audio available here]

West responded: "The principles and values that I espouse, limited government, lower taxes, individual responsibility, and accountability, liberty, and honoring the traditions of our constitutional republic, are connecting me with those grass roots Americans that attend tea party rallies. And I've spoken at four to five of those rallies and I've not seen any racist type of signs."

On Wednesday, Alexander talked with correspondent Luke Russert about the fact that 32 African-Americans are running for Congress as Republicans. Russert noted with surprise how "these candidates are actually soliciting support from the tea party, a group that a lot of folks have claimed to be racist against African-Americans."

Earlier, April 15, with video: "White NBC Reporter Confronts Black Man at Tea Party Rally: 'Have You Ever Felt Uncomfortable?'"

In the Friday interview, Alexander referenced a recent quote by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele that African-Americans "don't have a reason to" vote Republican and asked West: "What's your response to that?" West replied: "Chairman Steele is totally wrong....go back and look at the legacy of the Republican Party, being the establishment of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments....I think that Chairman Steele should do a little bit more research before he goes out spouting his mouth like that."

Earlier, Alexander wondered: "Do you think the Democrats presently, with an African-American as President, take for granted the African-American vote in this country?" West declared: "Well, absolutely they do. I think that I believe they've come to depend upon a 21st century plantation." He went on to observe that "a lot of the black community...really has some conservative principles and ideas at its root core."

Here is a full transcript of the segment:

 

3:24 PM EDT:

PETER ALEXANDER: President Obama's rise to the presidency has inspired many across this country, but no one may be more surprised than the President, himself, to find out that 32 African-Americans are running for Congress this year as Republicans. Republicans in the House have not had an African-American member since the man on your screen, J.C. Watts of Oklahoma. That was in 2003, after he finished serving eight years. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West is running for Congress as a Republican in Florida and he is joining me live from the sunshine state. Lieutenant Colonel, nice to visit with you. Thank you.

ALLEN WEST: A pleasure. Good afternoon to you.

ALEXANDER: I was reading some of the articles that have quoted you recently. You said that in 2008 you raised a half million dollars and 'the state party didn't support me and the national party didn't support me.' This time around, you've raised $2 million, $838,000 alone in the first quarter, so what has changed?

WEST: Well, I think the fact in November of '07 I had just gotten back from Afghanistan and I was new to the political scene and we had an eight-month campaign in 2008. So it was a matter of proving yourself and getting your message out and people getting to know you. And we finished up with 45.3% in the 2008 election and that set the conditions for us to have a lot of success this cycle.

ALEXANDER: Well so, Lieutenant, then let me ask you – Lieutenant Colonel, more specifically if you can, about the Democrat versus Republican idea here, the fact that most African-Americans for years have voted for Democrats. Do you think the Democrats presently, with an African-American as President, take for granted the African-American vote in this country?

WEST: Well, absolutely they do. I think that I believe they've come to depend upon a 21st century plantation. But if you go back and you look at one of the key indicators in the 2008 presidential election cycle, you had a same sex marriage amendment that was out in California and also Florida that failed in both states, especially here in my home state of Florida, because you did drive out a lot of the black community which really has some conservative principles and ideas at its root core.

ALEXANDER: Lieutenant Colonel, let me read to you what your RNC Chairman Michael Steele said just last month he was asked why African-Americans should vote Republican. This was his quote. He said the following: 'You really don't have a reason to, to be honest, we haven't done a very good job of really giving you one.' What's your response to that?

WEST: Well, I think that Chairman Steele is totally wrong. I think that if the Chairman Steele would go out and talk about the principles and values and go back and look at the legacy of the Republican Party, being the establishment of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, some of the early civil rights legislation that was done in the Reconstruction era. The first congressmen and senators were Republicans, so there is a great history that was connecting the Republican Party to the black community and I think that Chairman Steele should do a little bit more research before he goes out spouting his mouth like that.

ALEXANDER: Lieutenant Colonel, our time is limited, but my last question to you, the Tea Party has raised concerns that it may have, I guess, racism built within it. We have seen some racist signs at past events, people have said that that is not a part of the tea party movement, but are African-American candidates aligning themselves with the tea party?

WEST: Well, I don't think it's so much aligning yourself with the tea party. The principles and values that I espouse, limited government, lower taxes, individual responsibility, and accountability, liberty, and honoring the traditions of our constitutional republic, are connecting me with those grass roots Americans that attend tea party rallies. And I've spoken at four to five of those rallies and I've not seen any racist type of signs.

ALEXANDER: Understood. Lieutenant – retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West joining us live from Florida, thank you, sir. We appreciate your time.

WEST: Thank you for having me.

—Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.

60 Minutes Empathizes with Hillary Clinton's Challenge After Bush, Hails Her Work Ethic and 'Global Star Power'

 

Before the media hoopla begins in a few hours for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, let me squeeze in a quick look at the flavor Sunday night's fawning 60 Minutes profile of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which, after some questions about the Time Square botched bomber, framed her job around the challenge of fixing a world abused by George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, a situation exacerbated by U.S. debt. Picking up from her initial rejection of the position, Scott Pelley asserted:

Now she's gone from "not interested" to an all-consuming global campaign in a time when the U.S. is the biggest debtor in the world, fighting two wars, and accused of abandoning its ideals to the struggle with terrorism....Right away, she found that America is in a crisis of credibility.

Pelley soon proceeded to how "she doesn't let anyone work harder" and "she's the only person in American politics with global star power close to" that held by Barack Obama:

Many back in Washington have more foreign policy experience than Clinton, but she doesn't let anyone work harder. The Afghan trip was typically brutal. She spent 27 hours on the ground, had countless meetings, plus interviews and speeches. And then, on departure, she stopped to see the troops.

This is exactly what the President got in return for swallowing the bitterness of the campaign and reaching out to Clinton. She's the only person in American politics with global star power close to his own. She can pack a room anywhere. A few Secretaries of State have been famous; none has been a first name celebrity like Hillary.

— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.