NBC Moderators [Brian Williams] Pepper Republicans from the Left

Media Research Center ^ | September 08, 2011 | Brent Baker

[Yosemitest]

NBC’s Brian Williams and Politico’s John Harris peppered the NBC News/Politico debate inside the Air Force One pavilion at the Reagan Library with questions from the left, repeatedly pressing the Republican presidential candidates with liberal talking points and Democratic agenda items.

That’s time which could have been better spent advancing issues and concerns of Republican primary voters interested in differences amongst the candidates, not in forcing the candidates to defend conservative positions despised by MSNBC viewers and hosts. (Compilation video at link)

Williams hit Texas Governor Rick Perry from the left on his state’s poor economic indicators (“no other state has more working at or below the minimum wage”) , chastised him for cutting education funding and, citing how “your state has executed 234 death row inmates,” demanded to know whether he’s “struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?”

Williams was taken aback when the audience applauded Perry’s death penalty record, prompting a befuddled Williams to follow up: “What do you make of that dynamic that just happened here, the mention of the execution of 234 people drew applause?”

Williams was also confounded by Ron Paul’s libertarian views, quizzing him about how the nation would survive without FEMA and confusingly ruminated about no federal air traffic control: “All the pilots in the sky, to add to their responsibilities, their own air traffic control, in an organic way.” He also hailed former Democratic President Lyndon Johnson for addressing the need for government to provide meals to school kids, wondering: “Do you think that is any more -- providing nutrition in schools for children -- a role of the federal government?”



Challenging Senator Rick Santorum, Williams lectured him about how Santorum’s “Catholic faith, has as a part of it, caring for the poor.” Williams insisted Santorum explain: “Where do the poor come in, where do they place in this party, on this stage, in a Santorum administration?”

Williams’ liberal advocacy and hostility to conservatives shouldn’t have come as any surprise given his history as documented in the MRC’s Media Reality Check, by Geoffrey Dickens, released on Tuesday, “Brian Williams Vs. Tea Party Conservatives: GOP Debate Moderator Has Long History of Admiring Obama and Badgering Republicans from the Left.”

Harris, Editor-in-Chief of Politico, contrasted the success in liberal Massachusetts with failure in conservative Texas: “Massachusetts has nearly universal health insurance – it’s first in the country. In Texas, about a quarter of the people don't have health insurance. That's 50 out of 50, dead last. Sir, it's pretty hard to defend dead last.”

With Ron Paul, Harris noted General Electric’s huge profits, but “paid no taxes. Perfectly legal, but does it strike you as fair?”

MSNBC’s post-debate, as promised, was dominated 12-to-2 by left-wingers, with Rachel Maddow anchoring and the network’s usual prime time gang (Chris Matthews, Al Sharpton, Lawrence O’Donnell and Ed Schultz) all taking turns denouncing the conservative positions taken by the GOP candidates.

Many, but certainly not all, of the questions posed from the left during the September 7 NBC News/Politico Republican presidential debate from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation’s museum and library in Simi Valley, California, as carried live on MSNBC from 5 to about 6:50 PM PDT:

Brian Williams to Texas Governor Rick Perry:

Governor Perry, we're going to begin with you. You're the newcomer here on stage, you probably saw this coming a mile away. You have touted your state's low taxes, the lack of regulation, tough tort reform, as the recipe for job growth in the Lone Star state, but Texas ranks last among those who have completed high school, there are only eight other states with more living in poverty, no other state has more working at or below the minimum wage, so is that the kind of answer all Americans are looking for?




Williams to Congressman Ron Paul:

You're known as the absolutist in the bunch, someone who has consistently opposed federal government from having any role, and I think by your definition, that isn't explicitly laid out in the Constitution, so this makes people curious. Is there a line with you, where do you draw it? Does this include things like making cars safe, making medicine safe, air traffic control, controlling the jets above our heads?




Williams, follow-up:

Thirty seconds more for devil's advocate here because would you then put it on the drug companies to say no, we're bringing this to market, trust us, it's a fantastic drug. All the pilots in the sky, to add to their responsibilities, their own air traffic control, in an organic way.




Politico’s John Harris:

Governor Perry, you clearly don't like the Massachusetts plan as an example for other states, but Massachusetts has nearly universal health insurance – it’s first in the country. In Texas, about a quarter of the people don't have health insurance. That's 50 out of 50, dead last. Sir, it's pretty hard to defend dead last.




Williams:

Senator Santorum, on another front, you're a devout Catholic, you've always said that you cannot, will not, place it aside in your role in elected public life. In fact, you thought President Kennedy, the first to be elected President, did so a little bit too much with his own religion. Having said that, the Catholic faith, has as a part of it, caring for the poor. One in seven people in this country, now, qualifies as poor. Where do the poor come in, where do they place in this party, on this stage, in a Santorum administration?




Williams:

Governor Perry, a somewhat related question. I’ll quote the Pew Research Center. They recently found white households have 20 times the median wealth of black households in the United States. How would you address that question, that problem, as President?




Harris:

Governor Perry, you said you wrote the book Fed Up to start a conversation, congratulations, it has certainly done that in recent weeks. In the book, you call Social Security the best example of a program that quote “violently tossed aside any respect for state's rights.” We understand your position that it's got funding problems now, I'd like you to explain your view that Social Security was wrong right from the beginning.




Williams, to Paul:

Let me ask you something else, it’s related in a way, it has to do with Mother Nature. Before the broadcast, Senator Santorum's got flooding today in Pennsylvania, Governor Perry is back from the wildfires out east, category one storm laid waste to entire areas, there’s standing water tonight in Paterson, New Jersey, many of the towns around where I live, eight days without power. We had people eating in outdoor and public parks because the supermarkets were closed down. Question is, federal aid, something like FEMA, if you object to what it’s become, how it’s run. Your position is to remove it, take it away, abolish it, what happens in its absence?




Williams:

Governor Perry, you can't have much of a workforce without a basis of education. As you know, your state ranks among the worst in the country in high school graduation rates, as we established. Yet, you recently signed a budget cut for billions in education funding, you pushed for greater cuts than were in the budget that the legislature passed. You’ve said that education is a top priority, but explain cutting it the way you did, please?




Williams:

Governor Romney -- you often hear this figure, 47 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax, and the promised effort underway soon, at least, in Washington to correct that. Isn't some of this argument semantics and won't the effort to correct that be a defacto tax increase?




Williams, to Perry:

Question about Texas. Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times – [ audience cheers and applause ] -- have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?



What do you make of that dynamic that just happened here, the mention of the execution of 234 people drew applause?





Harris, to Cain:

General Electric corporation made $2 billion in profits worldwide but paid no taxes. Perfectly legal, but does it strike you as fair?




Williams:

Congressman Paul, a long time ago, a fellow Texan of yours, a young student teacher in Cotulla, Texas, was horrified to see young kids coming into the classroom hungry, some of them with distended bellies because of hunger. He made a vow that if he had anything to do about it the government would provide meals, hot meals at best, in schools. The young student teacher, of course, later went on to be President Lyndon Johnson. Do you think that is any more -- providing nutrition in schools for children -- a role of the federal government?




-- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center.

[Yosemitest]

Expect the worse from Brian Williams, tonight on NBC at 9:00 pm Eastern Time.

[Yosemitest]

The LAME Stream Media isn't going to quit.
Newt's going to have to tear them apart, which is what the general public wants to see (pass the buttered popcorn).
The "Establishment Republicans" are beginning to realize that the public is waking up to their lies, and manipulations.
This could get really good, but bloody first.
Whoever exposes the LAME Stream Media pundits for the evil slime they are, and makes it stick, will get elected.
Rush says on January 20, 2012, in CNN's John King Sends a Message:

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Let's go to the audio sound bites. This is the very beginning of it. This is John King opening the debate on CNN.


KING: Mr. Speaker, I want to start with that this evening.
As you know, your ex-wife gave an interview to ABC News and another interview at the Washington Post, and this story has now gone viral on the Internet.
In it she says that you came to her in 1999 at a time when you were having an affair.
She says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage.
Would you like to take some time to respond to that?

GINGRICH: No. But I will. (cheers and applause)
I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office,
and I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. (cheers and applause.)


RUSH: That's another standing O for the Newtster. I told Cookie,
"Don't cut the applause.
I mean, gotta cut it at some point, but leave enough of it in so we get the idea for people who didn't see it."
It was on CNN last night, not everybody saw it, I guarantee you.
So the sound bites will be useful today.
So Newt says,
"I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that."
Under his breath he says,
"even though I knew exactly you were going to do it."
Nobody will be able to convince me Newt did not expect this at the top of the debate and was ready for it.
He might have been appalled, but he was ready for it.
Here's John King retorting.


KING: Is that all you want to say, sir?

GINGRICH: Let me finish.

KING: Please.

GINGRICH: Every person in here knows personal pain.
Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things.
To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine. (applause)
My two daughters, my two daughters wrote the head of ABC and made the point that it was wrong, that they should pull it,
and I am, frankly, astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a presidential debate. (cheers and applause)


RUSH:
"Even though I fully expected it! Even though I hoped for it.
I wanted them to ask me this question!
I was hoping they would ask me this question;
I was prepared to answer this question.
I knew it was coming.
I wanted to tell 'em what reprobates they are, a bunch of people that appall everybody --
and they never do anything like this to the Democrats.
They run out and they do everything they can to protect Barack Obama."
It was red meat! People ate it up.
Standing O after standing O, two of them in one week for Newt Gingrich.
John King continued, then...[3 minutes 10 seconds, right-click below and chose to open in a new window to watch]



KING: As you noted Mr. Speaker, this story did not come from our network.
As you also know it is a subject of conversation on the campaign. I'm not --

GINGRICH: John...

KING: I -- I -- I get your point. I take your point.

AUDIENCE: (booing)

GINGRICH: John, it was repeated on your network.
You chose to start the debate with it.

KING: Meh.

GINGRICH: Don't blame somebody else.
You and your staff chose to start this debate with it.

KING: Eh...

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause)

KING: Eh...

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause)

GINGRICH: Now let me be quite clear.

KING: Okay.

GINGRICH: Let me be quite clear: The story is false.
Every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false.
We offered several of them to ABC to prove it was false.
They weren't interested because they would like to attack any Republican.
They're attacking the governor; they're attacking me.
I'm sure they'll presently get around to Senator Santorum and Congressman Paul.
I'm tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans.

AUDIENCE: (wild cheers and applause)


RUSH: Right on, mama!


AUDIENCE: (sustained cheers and applause)


RUSH: Oh, yes, right on!
Right on, right on.


AUDIENCE: (sustained cheers and applause)


RUSH: The audience is eating it up! They're eating it up off the floor.
They're sucking it up with straws! They love it!
Now, let me tell you one thing here, folks:
You cannot shame the mainstream media.
If any of you are thinking that the media learned a lesson --
if any of you believe that the media finally had it handed to 'em,
if you believe that the media had their eyes opened and they are fully awake now and they understand what they're dealing with --
forget it.
John King is proud of what happened last night.
John King is a hero in the Main Street media because he didn't back down, because he continued to illustrate how it is that
the media does really control the agenda.
That was a demonstration of the power they hold over every public figure's head,
that they choose to hold like a guillotine.

John King... There may even be some jealousy and envy within the journalist ranks (well, not journalists; within the Democrat Party ranks)
because John King is a guy that got in Newt's face, stared him down --
and the fact that Newt told him off? It's a badge of honor.
If you are thinking that John King was embarrassed and ran away with his tail tucked between his legs
and learned his lesson and it'll never happen again? Ah, ah, ah, ah.
You cannot shame the mainstream media. They are proud of this.
They delight in their power to destroy candidates that they don't like.
They revel in the fact that they can keep so many conservatives from even thinking about getting into politics.
A lot of the so-called journalists watching this probably were pumping their fists.

A lot of the journalists watching this were doing the Obama cheer: "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!" and do not doubt me.
If you think King was embarrassed --
if you think he was suffering from an elevated heart rate during the middle of this,
if you think he felt shamed, if you think,
"Oh, my God, Newt's beating the crap out of him"
-- you are dead wrong. He got exactly what he wanted out of this. Do NOT doubt me.
At the end of the day the message to every conservative who hasn't run for office is:
"You want a piece of this?
You want some of this?
You want Brian Ross hounding you and your ex-wife
and then you want me asking you about it on national TV the next night?
Come on in. We're ready."
That's the message from John King and CNN last night, and do not doubt me on this.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here's John King, sound bite number four.
Very quickly get this one in...


KING: It is an issue in the debate.
Some of the other candidates are talking about it; voters are talking about it in this state.
It was my judgment, my decision, and mine alone.
If we're gonna deal with it, let's deal with it up front;
let's not try to sneak it into the middle of the debate somewhere
and people at home either agree with that or disagree with that.
You make a decision; you ask the question --
and this is politics. This is politics.
He's trying to promote himself, promote an agenda.
Of course he's gonna attack us.
I don't take that personally.
We had a nice conversation afterwards.
I've had a long relationship with the Speaker.
We don't always get along but I get how the business works.


RUSH: That's John King afterwards accepting accolades, by the way, from the CNN analyst bench on the way he did this.
I mean, that is a homerun for John King last night, and don't think otherwise.
Don't doubt me.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: No, no, no, folks. Please don't misunderstand me.
I'm not criticizing Newt on the John King back-and-forth and I'm not saying it was pointless --
and I'm not saying it shouldn't happen. I think it's great.
What it does is illustrate that they can be dealt with.
But you can't beat 'em. They're not gonna be shamed.
They're not going to be shamed into stopping the coverage of conservatives as they do it.
It's going to continue.
No matter what kind of shame you think they suffer in a contest like that --
no matter how much money they lose, no matter how many of them get fired,
no matter how many magazines or TV stations or newspapers get shut down --
they are not gonna change. They are hard-core, leftist radicals right out of the White House.

That's where they get their marching orders.
That's why I call them the State-Controlled Media,
but Newt's standing up to them the way he has shows that Republicans can win doing so.
How many consultants have told Republicans never to do what Newt does?
How many consultants say,
"Don't ever do that! You can't win with the media.
Don't ever do that. They're gonna come back and hate you twice as much and destroy you,"
and that's why most Republicans don't do what Newt did this week,
and it's a reason why so much of our candidates don't do it, either.
But I ask you:
Did Newt win or lose last night by doing this?
Did he get hurt?
Let me put it that way:
Did Newt hurt himself with South Carolina voters or Republican voters at large by taking on John King that way?

He did not hurt himself. Now, we're told -- Republicans and conservatives are told -- by our consultants,
"The independents don't like that kind of thing.
The independents don't like that kind of confrontation!
The moderate voters don't like that.
Moderate voters want us to get along, want to work with each other.
Don't treat Democrats that way, don't treat the media that way,"
but look! Three standing O's for Newt this week.
I'm not saying don't do it.
I'm saying do it all the time. Just don't think that these people are shameable.
Don't think that they're going to start loving us.
Don't think they're gonna start agreeing with us.
Don't think that that can happen as a result of this.

That's all I'm saying. Nothing more.
I'm not suggesting Newt shouldn't have done it. Quite the opposite.
It lets everybody on our side know that they're not alone, that they're not isolated.
There's all kinds of upsides to doing it, but one of the upsides that isn't gonna happen is the media saying,
"Gosh, we've been so mean to these people and so unfair.
You know, maybe we ought to start being fair."
That's not going to happen. It just isn't,
and I don't mean to be depressing you here, but it just isn't gonna happen.
We're gonna get to the phones here in a second, but two sound bites:
David "Rodham" Gergen's debate analysis on CNN after it was over.

GERGEN: This is one of the most explosive moments we've seen in debate history,
and one of the harshest attacks we've seen on the press that I can remember in a long, long time.
Very personal in the beginning.
As a political matter I think Gingrich saw a fastball coming and, for this audience, he smacked it right out of the park.
I think there's a reasonable chance, after talking to people there, that he could win South Carolina based on that answer.


RUSH: Sooooo! David "Rodham" Gergen... If you want to know what Washington conventional wisdom is --
if you want to know what Washington, DC, groupthink is -- just listen to what Gergen says,
and "Rodham" Gergen there said Newt could win South Carolina because of this answer.
He could win South Carolina because of that. (interruption)
What's so funny in there? (interruption)
Oh. (interruption)
If they don't, they'll figure it out at some point in time.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We're gonna start in Washington with Eric. I'm glad you called, sir.
You are up first and it's wonderful to have you with us.

CALLER: Rush, good afternoon. It's nice speaking to you again.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: Well, the question to me is -- Gergen stole my thunder here a little bit, but --
why would the Drive-Bys, Mr. King, lob this fastball down the middle of the plate for Newt to hit it out of the park?
The only thing I could come up with is that they misread the way he was gonna answer.

RUSH: No. Mr. King told you the answer in his sound bite.
Grab sound bite number four. Stick with me on the phones.
John King told us himself why he did this, and I'm gonna add to it.
But here is John King explaining his decision to do it and do it first.


KING: It is an issue in the debate.
Some of the other candidates are talking about it; voters are talking about it in this state.
It was my judgment, my decision, and mine alone.
If we're gonna deal with it, let's deal with it up front;
let's not try to sneak it into the middle of the debate somewhere and people at home either agree with that or disagree with that.
You --


RUSH: All right, that's enough.
"Not sneak it in. If we're gonna deal with this, let's do it up front."
In other words,
"I'm gonna show you my courage."
In other words,
"I'm gonna show you my guts."
It was all about John King. It wasn't about setting Newt up.
The hope was that it would be a curveball for Newt, that he would somehow flub it up and they could take him out.
Remember, their objective is to take all these people out, Eric, at one time or another.
Their objective is to take Romney out. Their objective is to take Newt out.
But this was all about John King going first.
"Look at me! Look at my gonads! Look at my guts!
I am the man here tonight. I am fearless."
That's the answer to your question.

CALLER: (silence)

RUSH: Hello? Testing, one, two, three?
Are you there?

CALLER: (laughing) No, I hear you, Rush.
So are you eliminating the possibility that they misread the way that Newt was gonna answer?

RUSH: No. No. I think they knew that he was probably gonna be prepared for it.
They're not idiots. They're hoping he botched it.
They're hoping that he would flub it up by being embarrassed.
But they had to know Newt has been getting standing O's attacking the media.
They had to know they're setting him up to attack them --
and it's like I told you in the last half hour: This is a badge of honor.
For the media, for John King, that whole back-and-forth is a badge of honor. He told us. (summarized)
"I'm not gonna sneak it in in the middle. That would be cowardly.
I'm not gonna play a trick here. I'm gonna be Mr. Up Front!
I'm gonna do what most people think is not gonna happen here --
and to those who do think it's gonna happen, I'm gonna let 'em know they're right."

I understand this. I understand the psychology.
Look, I know liberals, folks. I know exactly why they do what they're gonna do before they do it.
I told you I had an e-mail from my old buddy Andy McCarthy who wanted to set up a little office pool yesterday on the percentage,
the odds that the whole Marianne Gingrich thing would come up in the debate. He said,
"I'm gonna tell you guys it's 75% it will come up."
I wrote and said,
"Andy, it's a hundred percent from the top. It's the whole reason for tonight.
That's how the debate's gonna start; and that's gonna tick off the Santorums, it's gonna tick off the Romneys --
and if Paul knows what's going on, it's gonna tick him off
because it's gonna give Newt the stage for the first ten minutes
in a way that they will not be able to match the rest of the night.
That's the theory. Remember, they're there to take all of these people out.

That's their agenda. King probably thought that he could return to the question near the end of the show
and bring it up again as he set them up for their closing statements, closing arguments,
but Newt kind of shut the door on that.
You know, Ed Sullivan put the Beatles on at the top of the show.
Ed Sullivan didn't play the trick of waiting 'til the last half hour of the show.
He put 'em on at the top of the show and he brought 'em back for an encore at the end of the show.
That's what was happening. This was a show, folks -- and it was a performance for Newt.
He knew this was coming. He knew it was coming.
I'm not belittling it in any way.
I've told you honestly and up front exactly what I think of all aspects of this,
that was a win-win for him.

END TRANSCRIPT

Related Links
• Breitbart.tv: Newt Destroys John King, Media Over Ex-Wife Question To Thunderous Standing Ovation
  
  
• ABC: Exclusive: Gingrich Lacks Moral Character to Be President, Ex-Wife Says
  

The WAR is on.

[TEXOKIE]

NBC in our market is not broadcasting the debate. Can anyone provide a good link?

[GBA]

The WAR is on.

This war has been on for decades and Newt is the first Republican presidential candidate since Reagan who apparently is ready, willing and able to fight it. Lock and load!

Ready on the right? YES!!
Scared on the left? Yes!!
Ready on the firing line?? You betcha!
Commence firing!

[Baynative]

How many "debates" have we had now? 12 ...16?

Yet, never a question about Fast and Furious.
Never a question about Solyndra.
Never a question about by passing congress with abuses of authority.
Never a question about Elana Kagan refusing to recuse herself from the health care hearing.

Never a question about ... oh never mind, I guess it doesn't measure up to serious issues like Newt's angry EX or Romney's taxes.

[Yosemitest]

Florida Republican debate: Where and when to watch
By Natalie Jennings

Debates matter. That was one of the major takeaways from the South Carolina primary, which Newt Gingrich won handily on Saturday.


Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich reacts to a question at the start of the
Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C.,
Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. (David Goldman - Associated Press)

With the primary shaping up to be more competitive than it seemed just a few weeks ago and the winner-take-all Florida primary just eight days away, Monday and Thursday night’s debates will matter quite a lot.

Here are the details you will need to tune into Monday night’s Republican Candidates Debate sponsored by NBC News, National Journal, and the Tampa Bay Times.

Where can I watch the debate?
The debate at the University of South Florida in Tampa, will air on NBC at 9 p.m. ET in the place of “Rock Center” and will be livestreaming on NBCNews.com, NationalJournal.com TampaBay.com.

As usual, The Fix will host a live chat throughout the debate starting at 8:30 p.m. and Felicia Sonmez will live-blog all the events starting around 8:30 p.m. in Election 2012.

Who is participating?
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former U.S. senator Rick Santorum (Pa.).

Who will moderate the debate?
Rock Center host Brian Williams will host his second debate of the 2012 cycle. National Journal’s Beth Reinhard and the Tampa Bay Times’s Adam Smith will also question the participants.

What is the official hashtag?
@NBCPolitics is using #FLDebate on Twitter.

Also watch on channel 392 NBCe on Directv.

[STJPII]

Republicans are stupid, completely stupid to allow those partisans moderate our debates. Do you think Democrats would let Fox moderate their debates?

[STJPII]

Republicans are stupid, completely stupid to allow those partisans moderate our debates. Do you think Democrats would let Fox moderate their debates?

[Yosemitest]

If Fox did moderate a Democrat Debate, they wouldn't have the guts to moderate it with real conservatives.
They'd use Juan Williams (stinking liberal), Bret Baier (liberal), Shepard Smith (liberal), Bob Beckel (stinking communist), and Dick Morris (Communist Strategist who saved the Clintons).
Can you imagine Sean Hannity, Oliver North, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh ... asking the questions?
Now that would be worth watching.