Did you know NewsBusters is really offended by Nazi comparisons? You wouldn’t know it when you see how much they ignore the references coming from their own side.
In a September 27 article, Scott Whitlock called out MSNBC’s Chris Matthews for criticizing a Republican congressman, who took what the host called a “cheap shot” at him, during a segment discussing the impending government shutdown to occur on October 1, if a deal on the budget isn’t reached:
Chris Matthews doesn’t like cheap shots. The Hardball host, who two days ago linked Ted Cruz to Hitler, on Thursday raged at a Republican Congressman for making a joke at his expense. Pennsylvania Congressman Scott Perry appeared on Matthews’s show and aggressively fought back against the charge that uncaring Republicans want to shut down the government. This led Matthews to change the subject and attack Perry as a pawn of big oil: “By the way, why is a congressman from Gettysburg so interested in offshore oil development in the Gulf?”
First of all, Matthews linking Senator Ted Cruz to Hitler, while referencing the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington“, has nothing to do with the debate he’s having with Rep. Perry on his show, so that doesn’t merit the impending “cheap shot” from the congressman. Second, Matthews never tried to “change the subject” with Rep. Perry. I watched the interview live, and noticed that Matthews didn’t think he wasn’t getting anywhere with the congressman, who was continuing to repeat GOP talking points regarding the debt ceiling, so he decided to ask him why he supports oil subsidies for the Keystone XL pipeline, even though he lives in Pennsylvania, rather than a gulf state like Florida or Louisiana, where oil drilling is much more of an issue.
Whitlock continues, labeling Matthews “wounded” following Perry’s attack:
After Perry explained how the Keystone pipeline could benefit the economy, he addressed Matthew’s critique of the House bill: “I’m surprised that you read any of it, first of all.” The wounded anchor replied, “You know what you can do with that? You can be excused, because you just accused me of not doing my job. And that’s a big mistake here.” […] Matthews added, “I wish you hadn’t made that last remark. I think it was a cheap shot.”
I’m guessing the reason that Matthews was probably offended by the congressmans’ remark is because they were having a spirited, but respectful debate about an important political issue. Then, out of left field, Perry decided to baselessly suggest that Matthews didn’t read the bill they were debating.
Why would someone have any kind of discussion regarding a bill if they haven’t read it or know anything about it? That might be something that occurs with uneducated conservatives, but not the rest of the poulation that has more than a few brain cells. Knowing Matthews, and his almost 20 years as host of a political talk show, one would have to assume that he knows how to come in to a discussion relatively prepared… so Perry’s assumption is an ill-fated attempt to crack a joke.
Following that summation of the segment, Whitlock uses his piece to assail the MSNBC host with past Nazi-esque comparisons:
The man who doesn’t like “cheap shots” once assailed conservatves [sic] as “birth control Nazis.”
[..]
On November 26, 2012, the sensitive host compared conservatives to the Nazis.
On November 7, 2012, Matthews gleefully laughed at comedian Bill Maher’s linkage of conservatives to Hitler.
It’s funny how Whitlock so easily remembers all the references to Nazis by a liberal, but forgets the ones conservatives make… especially the one made by the very same Senator Ted Cruz (during his now infamous fake filibuster), who Whitlock was defending from Matthews, when he stated the following (via TPM):
“If you go to the 1940s, Nazi Germany,” Cruz said. “Look, we saw in Britain, Neville Chamberlain, who told the British people, ‘Accept the Nazis. Yes, they’ll dominate the continent of Europe but that’s not our problem. Let’s appease them. Why? Because it can’t be done. We can’t possibly stand against them.'”
“And in America there were voices that listened to that,” he continued. “I suspect those same pundits who say it can’t be done, if it had been in the 1940s we would have been listening to them. Then they would have made television. They would have gotten beyond carrier pigeons and beyond letters and they would have been on tv and they would have been saying, ‘You cannot defeat the Germans.'”
Of course, while ignoring recent references of Nazis and Hitler from the current GOP darling, he manages to do the same from the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, as well, among other members of the right-wing media.
Why is it that conservatives always seem so offended when there is a Nazi reference from liberals? When conservatives do it in abundance, especially to endlessly smear the President of the United States, they completely erase it from their memory. One would assume that they are embarrassed to address their own sides hateful rhetoric, so they counter by using the diversion tactic of complaining about the “liberal media” some more.
Don’t be surprised when that’s the tactic NewsBusters uses, though… they don’t ever bother with condemning Hitler references, unless it benefits their political agenda.
