MSNBC's Brewer, Watson aired Gingrich's gratuitous Twitter attack on Pelosi
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SUMMARY: MSNBC uncritically repeated a Twitter post by Newt Gingrich in which he attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for "standing up to applaud the private jet line" in President Obama's address to Congress "while she flies around in a government jet at taxpayer expense." Gingrich has repeatedly attacked Pelosi over her use of the plane while also falsely claiming that her predecessor, Dennis Hastert, did not use one.
On February 25, MSNBC aired a segment on Republicans' use of Twitter during President Obama's February 24 address to Congress. The segment, which included tweets -- Twitter posts -- from Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), also included a tweet from Fox News contributor and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) in which he attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Gingrich's tweet, which anchor Contessa Brewer read and MSNBC aired a graphic of, read: "Speaker Pelosi standing up to applaud the private jet line while she flies around in a government jet at taxpayer expense verges on bizarre." Media Matters for America has previously documented Gingrich's repeated attacks on Pelosi regarding her use of a private jet.
Introducing the segment, Brewer stated that the "Republicans Twittered their way through President Obama's address to Congress last night." She added: "GOP lawmakers reacted in real time to practically everything the president was talking about." Brewer and co-anchor Carlos Watson then read tweets from Culberson, Barton, and Gingrich while the texts of their tweets appeared on-screen. However, Brewer and Watson did not air any Twitter posts from any of the Democratic lawmakers or pundits who also Twittered during the speech.
According to Watson, Culberson tweeted: "We are at war -- seems to me honoring our troops should come on page one rather than at the end of the speech." Watson also reported that Barton tweeted: "Aggie basketball game is about to start on ESPN2 for those of you that aren't going to bother watching Pelosi smirk for the next hour." Watson then said, "But Contessa, just a few minutes after this, someone else posted on his same page, 'Disregard that last tweet, [it was] from a staffer.' " Brewer replied: "Yeah, blame it on the staffer." (Those tweets have since been deleted from Barton's account.)
Brewer also stated: "Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wasn't in the room, but he posted this about the speech." Brewer then read a combination of two tweets Gingrich had posted during the speech: "A Democratic pep rally not a State of the Union -- sophomoric and silly. Speaker Pelosi standing up to applaud the private jet line while she flies around in a government jet at taxpayer expense verges on bizarre."
As Media Matters documented, during the December 19, 2008, edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Gingrich falsely asserted that Pelosi's predecessor as speaker, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), "did not get a private plane" following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Gingrich added: "There's no reason for anyone but the president and vice president of the United States to have that level of security." Gingrich made his comments during a segment in which co-host Sean Hannity criticized Pelosi's use of a private jet. In fact, following 9-11, the House sergeant-at-arms, the Defense Department, and the White House agreed that military planes should be made available to the speaker of the House for national security reasons, and Hastert was the first speaker to use one.
Some Democratic lawmakers tweeted during the speech, as several media outlets have noted. For example, a February 25 CNN.com article reported:
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, sent out a flurry of tweets during the evening. "One doesn't want to sound snarky, but it is nice not to see Cheney up there," he remarked just before the speech.
"Obama enters," Blumenauer wrote after the House Sergeant-at-Arms announced the President's entrance. "Crowd goes wild. Members taking pictures. McCain and Lindsey Graham. What a picture."
Democrat Claire McCaskill, perhaps the most avid Twitter user in the Senate, was excited to see Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg appear following her pancreatic cancer operation.
"I did big wooohoo for Justice Ginsberg [sic]," McCaskill wrote. "She looks good."
From the 2 p.m. ET hour of the February 25 edition of MSNBC Live:
BREWER: The Republicans Twittered their way through President Obama's address to Congress last night. GOP lawmakers reacted in real time to practically everything the president was talking about, and they gave some behind-the-scenes details. Here's a post from Texas Republican John Culberson. "All our seats are first come first serve. We sit wherever we want. The congressmen on the aisle got here real early."
WATSON: And later Culberson tweeted this way: "We are at war -- seems to be -- seems that honoring our troops should come on page one rather than at the end of the speech." Also, from another Texas Republican, this time Joe Barton, posted this, kind of interesting: "Aggie basketball game is about to start on ESPN2 for those of you that aren't going to bother watching Pelosi smirk for the next hour."
BREWER: Wow.
WATSON: But Contessa, just a few minutes after posting this, someone else posted on his same page, "Disregard that last tweet, [it was] from a staffer."
BREWER: Yeah, blame it on the staffer, right. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wasn't in the room, but he posted this about the speech: "A Democratic pep rally not a State of the Union -- sophomoric and silly. Speaker Pelosi standing up to applaud the private jet line while she flies around in a government jet at taxpayer expense verges on bizarre."
OK, if you're into Twitter, you can follow me by going to twitter.com/contessabrewer.
WATSON: Or you could also go to twitter.com/carloswatson. You can also get your daily tweets from all of our MSNBC anchors by going to twitter.MSNBC.com.
BREWER: I don't know about all this -- Twitter.
WATSON: [unintelligible]
...While his wife was in the hospital.
You left out that part about Gingrich lying under oath and obstructing justice. Oh wait, that didn't happen. Only Clinton, your hero did that.
That's just because Newtie had so many charges against him they just didn't get around to that yet. You know, the ol' going after the low hanging fruit routine...
http://www.experiencefestival.com/newt_gingrich_-_ethics_charges
Actually, that's where you're wrong.
Clinton did, as we all know, lie about his affair with one Monica Lewinsky. I did not condone him for that action, it was stupid, and silly.
The part that you get wrong, is that his lie about his affair had nothing to do with the case that he was being deposed in, and therefore, did not obstruct justice from happening, which is why he was never criminally charged for that perjure of himself, because it had nothing to do with the case. It was brought up to make Clinton look bad, and had nothing to do at all with the independent investigator Ken Starr's case against Clinton.
That's the part that you yay hoos seem to forget.
And, judging from their reaction to Scooter Libby, obstruction of justice is only a "techicality" anyway.
Because it's the only way they can play with their handhelds and not be condemned to a lake of fire by the Tennessee Taliban.
It took me about five and a half seconds to get sick of the word "Twitter." Christ, as if blathering away on a cell phone or texting away on a blackberry wasn't juvenile enough.
I'm also sick to death of hearing about how Nancy Pelosi "acted like a cheerleader" and "was practically waving pompoms" simply because she repeatedly rose to applaud her President, who also happened to be the leader of her party. The sexism continues to rule in the media- most VPs rise to applaud; Nancy Pelosi "waves pompoms."
Excuse me, most Speakers rise to applaud; Nancy Pelosi "waves pompoms."
I wonder how much hand lotion she had to use last night after the speech, considering the abuse she subjected them to by clapping every fifth word (it seemed).
Oscar, that wasn't hand lotion, us liberals roll up our sleeves and use spit! ;)
Just don't clap after applying that "lotion".
Republicans: the Detroit Lions without a gameplan...
I have to apologize, that was just wrong. It was more like the Detroit Lions with an armchair quarterback...
And a game plan. Think Nixon sending in plays to George Allen. How'd that work out?
Probably about as good as you giving the Rs advice on how to win/lose an upcoming election.
Seems as though lately, we do know how to WIN them. Look at the scoreboard. Results do count for something don't they?
I will concede that point. Govern well or the pendulum will swing back sooner than later.
Armchair quarterbacks have a pretty good record (but primarily because they look at everything in hindsight).
Didn't the Detroit Lions set some kind of record this past year without a gameplan? But now, don't they have a new President that has promised "change"?
Not a president, oscar. He's the new head of the RNC - oops, I meant DLC. But the armchair quarterback still calls all the shots.
So, if the GOP can't stand waste, how come they won't cut the size of their congressional staff even though they have less senators and congressmen than they did last year? Talk about waste...
Ya mean, besides the fact that their hypocrites and frauds and their scum-vote constituents let 'em get away with it for Jesus?
Pelosi is a typical limousine liberal.
How so, shmendrik?
Yeah, how is that exactly? How is that different from republicans who are rich? Let me help you. It's not. Except, the republicans act like "salt of the Earth" people, when they know, darn well know, that they're not. Prime example. George W. Bush. He was a prep school kid raised with a silver spoon firmly lodged in his mouth, but he wanted to be an everyman, he wasn't. Pelosi, at least, made her own money.
I'm a big liberal believer, but NANCY PELOSI has some financial issues that have been bugging me. If anyone can clarify any of the murk surrounding the investments her and her husband have please help me out. Again, I'm not attacking her, but there are some funny things happening with her investments.
And about the smirk - I mean, George Bush didn't stop smirking for 8 years. Aren't we owed some smirk time? I'm smirking right now!
HD, you might need to be more specific about what "tax issues" you are talking about. You might want to check out this article from factcheck.org which debunks some of the internet rumors on Pelosi.
http://www.factcheck.org/politics/sliming_pelosi.html
Pelosi is a joke. She is an embarrasement to our way of government and an embarrasement to women.
And you're an embarrassment to mothers.
When do we get to see what the Dems were typing? Or do we not get to see?
Forget renewable energy! We can use Nancy Pelosi's eyelids for perpetual energy.
Cheap shot time, eh? Don't want to deal with all the stoopid lies about Pelosi, eh?