Media seek to impugn both sides for ugliness in health care debate

Media strive to cast pox on both houses

Murphy claims Barney Frank failed to give "serious" answers on the deficit. On the August 19 edition of CNN Newsroom, Patricia Murphy, editor of CitizenJanePolitics.com, responded to a clip of Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) answering questions at an August 18 town hall meeting, saying that she understood why Frank "wrote off" the concerns of a woman comparing health care reform to Nazism, but that Frank should have given "a more serious answer" to a man asking about the rising budget deficit. Frank, however, had answered the man's deficit question by saying that "the biggest single waste of money in one fell swoop in federal history was the war in Iraq. ... You said you're worried about the deficit. Then you said you weren't talking about the war. Who do you think paid for the war? Santa Claus? The deficit was exacerbated by the war." Murphy offered no elaboration as to how citing the costs of the Iraq war did not qualify as a "serious answer" to a question about the deficit.

Yellin put labor unions and tea partiers on the same "fringe." On the August 13 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, national political correspondent Jessica Yellin noted that many of the more vocal participants at health care town halls were "encouraged to attend by groups on the left or the right" and listed among these groups MoveOn.org, "labor unions," Americans for Prosperity, and Tea Party Patriots. Yelling went on to ask: "Are fringe groups taking over the town square, and is this good for our country?"

Rehm equated Pelosi with Palin. On the August 12 broadcast of her NPR program, Diane Rehm said she can't call the national discussion about health care reform a "debate" because "people are so angry, and they're using phrases and they're using loud hollering, screaming trying to drown out the opposition." The examples Rehm offered were "Sarah Palin's comments about [President] Obama's death panel and Nancy Pelosi calling health care critics un-American." This was actually a distortion of Pelosi's August 10 USA Today op-ed, in which she and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) decried efforts to "disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue," writing: "Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American."

Scarborough insisted the "uncontrolled rage" is bipartisan. On the August 20 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-host Joe Scarborough repeatedly insisted that Democrats and Republicans both bear responsibility for the "uncontrolled rage" surrounding the health care debate, to the point that when his guests and co-hosts attempted to talk about the responsibility Republican leaders bear, Scarborough would cut them off and demand that they "talk about Democrats."

From the August 20 edition of Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: I'm just saying, there's all of this uncontrolled rage out there. I think leaders of both parties have to be called on the carpet and distance themselves from the crazy rhetoric that's out there, whether it's coming from Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid calling Americans evil --

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (co-host): Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: -- or [Rep. Jerrold] Nadler [D-NY] talking about Nazi, fascist tactics or Tom DeLay being a birther or Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin talking about death panels, which clearly -- clearly, clearly, clearly -- is not in this legislation.

BRZEZINSKI: Exactly.

SCARBOROUGH: And so let's get leaders of the Republican Party and Democratic Party showing whether they're true leaders or whether they're going to play to their angriest base.

BRZEZINSKI: All right. Here with us now, editorial writer for The Washington Post and MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart. Jonathan, you want to chime in? Any excuse for this?

CAPEHART: I am just -- I'm astounded by that Tom DeLay sound bite. Good Lord. And you know, Joe, I'm sorry, but your one defense of the Republican Party, I think it -- ooh, it's a little lame. These people used to be the leaders in the Republican Party. Newt Gingrich was the speaker of the House. Tom DeLay was in the House leadership. He got the nickname "The Hammer" for a reason. And Sarah Palin was the VP nominee, former governor of Alaska, up until a few -- about a month ago.

SCARBOROUGH: And, Jonathan --

CAPEHART: And so what does it about -- but wait. What does it say that these folks were elected? I mean --

SCARBOROUGH: OK.

CAPEHART: -- these were people that people voted for.

SCARBOROUGH: OK.

CAPEHART: They were leaders in the party.

SCARBOROUGH: And so -- thank you, Jonathan, for bringing this up.

CAPEHART: That's just one half. The second half, I agree with you.

SCARBOROUGH: Hold -- no, no, hold a second, Jonathan. Because I want to pick apart what you just said. You're right -- Newt Gingrich was speaker of the House. Tom DeLay was majority leader or whip. Sarah Palin was vice president. Harry Reid is --

CAPEHART: Nominee.

SCARBOROUGH: -- is the leader of the United States Senate, and he's calling Americans evil. Is. He's calling Americans evil. Nancy Pelosi is speaker of the House, and she's saying that these people that are going to town hall meetings are using un-American tactics. Jerry Nadler is a --

CAPEHART: Shouting down people at town hall meetings --

SCARBOROUGH: -- a Democratic leader right now --

JOHN RIDLEY (MSNBC contributor): There's a difference between saying --

SCARBOROUGH: -- talking about fascist tactics. So, you actually have people who are running America calling other Americans, quote, "evil." So --

CAPEHART: Well, I just wonder what it says about --

SCARBOROUGH: -- don't tell me that my explanation is lame.

CAPEHART: No, I just wonder what it says that these people had once been elected. Now, the second half of what you said, I completely agree with. Where are the responsible leaders of the Republican Party now --

SCARBOROUGH: Wait a second, Jonathan.

CAPEHART: -- trying to stop the --

SCARBOROUGH: No, no, no.

CAPEHART: Wait, wait --

SCARBOROUGH: Don't -- don't -- no, Jonathan. Don't keep this --

CAPEHART: Trying to stop the conversation about birthers and --

SCARBOROUGH: Jonathan --

CAPEHART: What?

SCARBOROUGH: -- please, don't try to weasel out of this. Don't just talk about --

CAPEHART: I haven't even --

SCARBOROUGH: -- Republicans.

CAPEHART: I haven't even finished.

SCARBOROUGH: Talk about Democrats.

CAPEHART: I didn't get to the Democrats yet.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, no, because you want to go --

CAPEHART: I didn't get to the Democrats yet, Joe.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, why don't you do that now, because you've already talked about the Republicans. Instead of talking about Republicans calling people out --

CAPEHART: Well, look. Look, I think that the Repub--

SCARBOROUGH: -- why don't you answer my question? Do you think Harry Reid's right? Do you think Americans are evil-mongers?

Fox News ignores Nazi rhetoric from protester to attack Democrats

Doocy, Kilmeade defended protester who compared Obama to Hitler against Frank's "rude" response. Frank also fielded a question at the August 18 town hall meeting from a woman who claimed he and Obama support a "Nazi policy" on health care and who held up a sign of Obama with a Hitler mustache. Frank told the woman: "When you ask me that question, I am going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question: On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy, however, has repeatedly defended the woman, claiming that Frank's response to her was "rude," out of touch, and laden with "attitude." Doocy never noted the content of the woman's question. Fox News' Brian Kilmeade described Frank's behavior as "arrogance" and "smugness," and asked why Frank couldn't have said to the woman, "I understand where you're coming from, but ... "