Well the poor little journalist got there feeling hurt yesterday during the President’s news conference, so how do they respond? Mark Halperin
EMAIL: letters@time.com
CALL 212-664-4444- Ask them to transfer you to Morning Joe comment line and follow the instructions from there.
We’re posting President Obama’s press conference again, because, you know this is why Halperin & Co. are throwing out the vile disdain and disrepect towards the President.
Friday, July 01, 2011, 5:36 am
My New D-Word for Tavis and Cornel
Before I get to Mark Halperin, let me give you a little background.
Tom Joyner
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=blog_inner/29954/1573138/Cheriewhite/1
They say that if you’re angry with someone, you should write a letter, get all the mean stuff out, and then tear it up or delete it. When you’re a little more calm, you write another letter or confront the person face to face.
About a month ago, I wrote a blog about Tavis Smiley and decided to table it because I said some things I didn’t want to publish. You’re probably thinking I went too hard him, but no. In reality, I hadn’t gone hard enough – and I knew it. I said I’d wait until something pissed me off so bad that I would have the words harsh enough to express what I was really feeling about him and his side piece – I mean side kick – Cornel West.
Well, yesterday, when Mark Halperin – a well-respected journalist, employed by a well-respected magazine and a contributor to a well-respected news network – had the audacity to call the president of the United States a dick, that was all I needed.
While I am appalled at Halperin’s statement, I have no expectations of him as a man and know nothing about his character. I am appalled, however, that as editor-at-large of Time magazine, he is responsible for among other things, deciding what stories will be covered in that publication. As the person in charge of political content, it is upsetting to know that he probably has not been objective in his dealings with material I and so many people look forward to (until now) reading each week. Needless to say, I’ve cancelled my subscription to Time magazine and hope you will too.
But I’m even more disgusted with Smiley and West, two brothers who I did have expectations of – and thought I knew. These two have done much worse than what Halperin has done because they set the tone for it, opened the door to it, and must take much of the blame for creating a climate that would make a white, professional journalist feel comfortable verbally and vulgarly attacking the first black president of the United States.
When you think you know a person, when you’ve given a person a forum to present his views, when you’ve had a hand in a person’s success, you want to believe that he is the same person he always was.
Remember THAT Tavis – the one who could take any complicated political story that had an impact on black America and “break it down” for us every Tuesday and Thursday in less than five minutes. The one who coined the phrase “radio advocacy” and alerted us any time anyone – from a private business owner to a politician to a corporate giant – even thought about doing black folks wrong. The Tavis that loved black people so much that he would sometimes, during his commentaries, be moved to tears. Where is that guy? You know, the guy that would have been telling me, “Fly Jock, Halperin has got to go.” For a while, I thought he was still with us, even though people around me (and many of you) tried to convince me otherwise. “Tavis is a hater.” “Tavis is only about himself.” “Tavis is jealous of the president.” I wouldn’t believe any of it. I had so much respect for him before his primary goal became selling books, and, later, selling out.
As we approach the Fourth of July weekend, one that celebrates our freedoms, including freedom of speech, I wish someone would use that as …..
Dan Rather will no longer anchor CBS News programs after this March.
Tue Nov 23 2004
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6567283/
NEW YORK – Dan Rather, embattled anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” announced Tuesday that he will step down in March, on the 24th anniversary of taking over the job from Walter Cronkite.
The veteran anchor has been under fire in recent months for his role in a “60 Minutes Wednesday” story that questioned President Bush’s service in the National Guard, which turned out to be based on allegedly forged documents.
Rather, 73, said he will continue to work for CBS, as a correspondent for both editions of “60 Minutes.”
Well now; if this doesn’t prove who rules the media. Dan Rather certainly had more cred than this hack Halperin, yet he gets a suspension from MSNC and Time keeps him on?
I hope both Time and MSNBC go down in a flame.
CBS Ousts 4 For Bush Guard Story
February 11, 2009
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/10/national/main665727.shtml
(CBS) Four CBS News employees, including three executives, have been ousted for their role in preparing and reporting a disputed story about President Bush’s National Guard service.
The action was prompted by the report of an independent panel that concluded that CBS News failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation and reporting of the piece. The panel also said CBS News had compounded that failure with a “rigid and blind” defense of the 60 Minutes Wednesday report.
Asked to resign were Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; and Howard’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. The producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, was terminated.
Dan Rather and 4 CBS employees fired for airing a disputed story about Bush’s National Guard service. But Mark Halperin can call a sitting President a “pussy” on live radio & a “dick” on national tv but yet he gets to keep his job at Time magazine!
Mark Halperin Calls Obama a “Pussy”
Wed Feb 13, 2008
http://mydd.com/users/tarheel/posts/mark-halperin-calls-obama-a-quotpussyquot
HALPERIN [discussing John Edwards’ potential endorsement of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama]: I can tell you, he’s really skeptical of her ability to be the kind of president he wants. But, he kinda thinks Obama is…he thinks Obama is kind of a pussy…He has real questions about Obama’s toughness, his readiness for the office.
Halperin’s response
I’m sorry. In a live radio interview this week, I used a word I shouldn’t have. The fact that I was conveying other people’s words is no excuse for my lapse in judgment. It won’t happen again. — Mark Halperin
Mark Halperin Calls President Obama ‘A Dick’ on Live TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR6Xvrxurcs
Halperin’s apology
June 30, 2011
I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it.
Halperin will NEVER, EVER be considered a legit journalist by anyone other than his white peers. PERIOD. Pussy & Dick are all we here at 3 Chics will forever view Halperin.
That is the tone he’s set for himself, not for our President. President Obama told the truth, and the white man, on cue debased it to male and female genitalia. No wonder folks like Bachman and Palin don’t believe in EVOLUTION. You can’t believe in evolution, if you haven’t EVOLVED.
This show has been a platform for ignorant and unprofessional behavior. I hope that no one purchase Mika’s or Joe’s book. They are idiots. Joe is a blatant racist. Time Magazine should fire Mark Halprin. This is his second offense. NO more warnings. In addtion, Morning Joe should be taken off the air. This behavior patterns would be repeated. Take them off now
Welcome to 3 Chics, Brooke! I co-sign all of it. If Roland Martin had called Bush a dick, not only would MSNBC have fired him but Time would have been in lockstep and fired him on the spot.
Yes. and the thought of having black journalist speak on Halperin and spin the “dick” comment speaks volumes, don’t you think?
Hi Brooke; spot on. Morning Joe uses their show to bash the POTUS and Dems. Only showcasing Pulitzer Prize winning writers Eugene Robinson and Paul Krugman occassionally to mask their disdain. Harold Ford is a hack and a loser.
The only way folk like Halperin, morning joke, andd their ilk survive is through sponsors. NO STARBUCKS, NO TIME MAGAZINE!
Folks marched until they had blisters on their feet during the Civil Rights Movement in standing up for what was right…. and now we have black journalists that won’t lift their fingers on a keyboard to defend what it right. WTF is happening?
Speak on it, SG2. Halprein’s not worried about where his next paycheck is coming from. white makes right in America; always has, always will. these black journalist know the reality. Take a risk and speak out as Halprein and Co do each and every day. Break that chain of privilege, even if it means losing your job; what have you lost but a check or tow and gained and maintained your freedom to BE A BLACK MAN IN AMERICA.
President Obama is a BLACK MAN IN AMERICA, and is not compromising his BLACKNESS. Why are’t you men following suit?
Folks stood together as one during the Civil Rights Movement. Not only did they get hosed down with high power water hoses & beaten for what was right but they had dogs sic on them & some lost their lives. Now, black journalists are too scared of losing a dollar to fight back. Cowards!
I feel you, sG2. I want these BLACK men to stand up and support PBO. Look at what he and his family have been up against since 1-20-09, nothing but hate, bigorty, opposition, and fear, and still they keep forging ahead. You and I know they knew what was coming and still they chose to accept this area of service.
I’m calling on these black men to step out of the dark ages, NO pun intended, re-evaluate their priorites, and stand up to the white establishment.
4 little girls died in Birmingham while attending SUNDAY SCHOOL. Folks mourned & grieved their deaths but they continued on pushing for what was right. The marching continued and no one was afraid of the racist bigotry. Bombs couldn’t stop them. High powered water hoses couldn’t stop them. Beatings couldn’t stop them. Dogs couldn’t stop them. No amount of racist hate could stop them. Not even death could stop them. Black journalist have a duty to the ones who PAVED the way FOR them to be able to work at the Washington Post, The New York Times etc to do what is right and tell it like it is! Do your duty and call out this BLATANT disrespect against our President.
COME ON WITH IT NOW, SG2!
Mark Halperin: The point of it all…I am confused.
When, somebody tell me, when did it become okay to call the president of these United States an expletive on national television? When did it become right and reasonable to refer to President Obama as a common euphemism for penis?
This morning, Time magazine editor-at-large Mark Halperin, a frequent guest on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said that President Obama was a “kind of a dick yesterday.”
After a bit of nervous laughter, sobriety set in. Something wasn’t right. There was, almost everyone knew, something inherently wrong about calling the president a “dick.”
He was profoundly sorry, Halperin said, as others pointed the fingers at the show’s control room engineers. Whether or not the noted editor knew his comments were being broadcast live, I will leave to the heavens to know. Maybe he thought show producers would use the delay switch to cover his comment. There is simply no way to know for sure. But that’s beside the point.
What we can be sure of is this. The standard of decency for this presidency is different from any other in modern times. There is, it seems, a new brand of distasteful vulgarity oozing through the public discourse. And it appears to me, if only for this president, that the rules for responding are different.
It says something about us when a congressman can call the president a “liar” from the House floor during the State of the Union and never pay a meaningful price. It says something when Rush Limbaugh can compare Obama to Adolf Hitler, who orchestrated a genocide that goes down in history as one of the most profoundly evil and brutal acts the world has ever known, and get away with it scot free.
You can disagree with this president on policy. You can disagree with him on taxes, unemployment, foreign conflict, education and even which holidays he chooses to memorialize with a presidential address. But no one can say that this president has not been respectful of this office and of the people he serves. Known for his unshakable demeanor, Obama comports himself with an all-too-often-missing portion of dignity and grace. He has no choice.
If you understand nothing else, know this. To be Black in America means “we can’t do what they do.” A dear friend spoke those words to me over 20 years ago and I have never forgotten them. Forget making derisive remarks about others in the public square, the fact is we aren’t allowed to get angry or show disappointment openly. To be labeled “difficult” or “angry” is to be marginalized. For African American men and women the vicious stereotypes around what is deemed “aggressive” for us but standard behavior for others is often the difference between a paycheck and the soup line.
“Who do you think you are?” I’ve been asked. “You think a lot of yourself,” the same boss said. I collected myself and quietly left his office that day. I ain’t nobody’s saint but, like Obama, there was nothing I could say without getting frog-marched out of the building.
So Obama will say nothing. He will never address the malicious attacks on his character by respected journalists or side-show carnival barkers. He can’t. He cannot say a nary word about how utterly indecent it all is.
There is something to be said about what we’re becoming. Or maybe it’s about what we’ve always been. A nation with two sets of rules. Mark Halperin may as well have called the president an “uppity Negro.” We’ve been here before.
http://goldietaylor.com/truthmatters/2011/06/30/mark-halperin-the-point-of-it-all/
Joe Wilson set the stage for this lack of disrespect against the President and he received no punishment whatsoever. The country has gone to hell in a handbasket! America is a racist ass country!
The white boys can’t take the Black President exposing their LAZINESS!
After all, they perpetuated the myth of blacks being lazy to cover up their own inferiority, insecurity to feign their superiority complex.
After Obama Slur, Mark Halperin to Keep Job at Time Magazine
“We have issued a warning to him that such behavior is unacceptable,” says a rep.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/obama-slur-mark-halperin-keep-207298
Mark Halperin will keep his job as Time magazine’s editor at large despite calling President Barack Obama a “d–k” live on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Thursday morning.
“Mark Halperin’s comments on air this morning were inappropriate and in no way reflective of Time’s views. We have issued a warning to him that such behavior is unacceptable. Mark has appropriately apologized on air, via Twitter and on The Page,” a rep for the magazine told The Hollywood Reporter.
Halperin was suspended indefinitely as the network’s senior political analyst Thursday after making his statement.
Halperin released yet another apology through Time Inc.
“I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President and the viewers of Morning Joe. My remark was not funny. I deeply regret it,” he said.
Halperin made the crude slur against Obama while discussing his Wednesday press conference about the economy.
“Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing? I can’t believe… don’t do that. Did we delay that?” host Joe Scarborough said right after.
Scarborough said the show wasn’t able to bleep the comment because the new executive producer, Alex Korson (who replaced Chris Licht), didn’t know how the tape delay works.
“You are supposed to know how to do the job,” Scarborough said. “I would tell you what I think of him, but he doesn’t know what button to push.”
Scarborough apologized on air as well: “Certainly [host] Mika [Brzezinski] and I also apologize to viewers. And we hear this all the time – parents come up and say, ‘Hey, by the way, we don’t just watch the show, our kids watch the show.’”
Fuck TIME MAGAZINE. Halperin has NO CREDIBILITY after such disgusting behavior. NONE.
Carney ‘Expressed’ To NBC that Halperin Was ‘Inappropriate’
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/carney-expressed-to-nbc-that-halperin-was-inappropriate.php
White House spokesman Jay Carney may have played a direct role in MSNBC’s decision to sack — er, suspend indefinitely — Time magazine’s Mark Halperin for calling President Obama a “dick” on Morning Joe.
Carney said he personally told MSNBC that he didn’t appreciate Time magazine’s Mark Halperin’s obscene name-calling.
“The coment that was made was inappropriate,” Carney told reporters at a briefing Thursday. “It would be inappropriate to say that about any president from either party. On behalf of the White House, I expressed that sentiment to the network.”
Carney did not say whether he called NBC to complain or they called him, and he had no comment on MSNBC’s decision to suspend Halperin from his role as an analyst.
In announcing its decision to suspend Halperin, MSNBC issued a statement calling the “dick” comment “completely inappropriate and unacceptable” and apologizing to the President, the White House and all of the cable network’s viewers.
Mark Halperin comes up with great excuse to fire Mark Halperin
http://www.salon.com/news/msnbc/?story=/politics/war_room/2011/06/30/fire_halperin
It seems wrong, to me, that in a conversation involving Joe Scarborough and Mark Halperin, a third party was somehow called a “dick,” but that is what happened on “Morning Joe” today, when MSNBC “senior political analyst” Halperin said, “I thought he was a dick yesterday,” to much laughter and delight all around.
Halperin has apologized, and has been “suspended indefinitely.” Scarborough, of course, blamed a producer for not hitting the delay button, instead of… blaming the person who actually said it.
According to Scarborough, there had been a mishap with the seven-second delay button – a new executive producer apparently didn’t know how it worked. “You are supposed to know how to do the job,” Scarborough said of his producer. “I would tell you what I think of him, but he doesn’t know what button to push.”
When you have a wacky “cocktail party” morning show where “anything can happen,” sometimes what will happen — especially if your guestlist features a lot of useless tools like Mark Halperin — is that someone will call the president a “dick” because he thinks it’s endearingly naughty. There was even a big, smirky build-up to Halperin calling the president a “dick.” It didn’t just slip out. Everyone got really excited that Halperin was about to use a bad word, because these people are children, and Halperin looked very pleased with himself after he said the bad word on the TV. Chuckle chuckle chuckle! Faux-outrage! Fun and hijinks! High-quality political analysis, everyone.
I don’t care what Halperin calls Barack Obama. But for the record, President Obama did not really act like a dick yesterday, which is unsurprising, because Mark Halperin is a horrible political analyst who is wrong about everything. (Also for the record, it takes one to know one.)
This is a great excuse for MSNBC to fire Halperin, though! I mean if they won’t fire him for being incompetent at understanding and explaining politics they now have an opportunity to fire him for being disrespectful and vulgar. (Ed Schultz was suspended over as much.)
Being a professional observer of the “horserace” is bad enough, but Halperin doesn’t even understand the horserace element of politics. He fails at being a hack. He’s too dumb to correctly parrot conventional wisdom. He is pretty sure Sarah Palin and Donald Trump are 2012 front-runners. He thought “suspending his campaign” to fix the economy and not knowing how many houses he has were both huge messaging victories for John McCain. He wrote a book about how to win in 2008 that predicted everything Hillary did, but in his world it all worked. He thought Bush’s political comeback would come any day now throughout the entirety of the years 2006-2008. He can’t interpret polls or see through the spin of GOP consultants who are much smarter than he. If I were revising the Hack list I’d put him above number one.
So this indefinite suspension is a nice first step, but I bet it won’t be long before they allow him to come crawling back into Mika and Joe’s little parlor of inanity. (And will Joe get in trouble for egging him on? Does Joe get in trouble for anything?)
Lillian @ HP stated:
Well if you thought you were getting unbiased professional political analysis from Halperin, this should dispel you of that notion.
Any time a reporter makes the NEWS about him/herself, ***looks @ you too Anderson Cooper,*** you know they are not PROFESSIONALS. It’s personal with dudes like Halperin. He was only speaking for his white frat buddies who get knocked out with KNOWLEDGE by President Obama.
Heads up, 3Chics!
Starbucks sponsors Morning Joe. Call and voice your outrage:
1-800- 782-7282
Drive by Buckies every morning. I’ve stopped buying from them since 2009.
If we go after the money and cut it off…Joe will go! Hit’em in the pocketbook, that’s the only thing they understand and they’ll get the message loud & clear.
Yes! And…..
TIME: IS IT REALLY ON OUR SIDE? Let Halperin go, or so goes the SUBCRIPTION!
MSNBC hires Joe, whose acquaintance with that DEAD intern is still QUESTIONABLE, Mike Barnacle who lied and plagiarizes in the BOSTON GLOBE: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/09/business/former-boston-globe-columnist-is-returning-but-to-a-rival.html?ref=mikebarnicle
and now this HACK Halperin as some political analysist who can’t report facts, but attacks teh president by calling him a dick on tee vee…. Deadbeat white guys who get in front of the camera posing as real journalist and reporters. SMGDH
ALL OF THIS
The tweets, emails, and calls have been fierce!
To Whom it May Concern,
Now, I want to know why someone like Mark Halperin, a writer for Time’s “The Page” felt it necessary to ask for a 7 second delay, and then deliberately say, “I thought he acted like a dick.” Referring to our PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Honestly, I don’t subscribe to this behavior from a so-called journalist. It’s unprofessional & disrespectful, and I would hope that you don’t subscribe to this type of behavior from your staff/associates.
It is my understanding that Mr. Halperin apologized for his foul depiction of President Obama. Apology NOT accepted! Not from me, as Mark Halperin knew exactly what he was going to say. And regardless of whether he asked for a 7 second delay or not, I think his intentions were to say what he said about the president. Please correct me if that is not the case.
Perhaps it time, PUN intended, to provide Mr. Halperin with some coaching or time off to reflect on his behavior on a national cable network.
Sincerely,
Ametia
Good post! Get’em! We will not tolerate this kind of disrespect against our President. Hell No!
Ah HELL NAW; we gotta let’em know this shit will not be tolerated and will be challenged at every turn. Thank God for TWITTER too!
The blogosphere and Twitter erupted and it was on and poppin!
Rippin’ Halperin a NEW A-HOLE. It really is pathetic that he had to stoop so LOW to garner attention and once again become a DISTRACTION, when the Dems and POTUS are hammering the GOP for their treasonist BEHAVIORS.
…And that’s why he’s mad because the President went after lazy ass Congress. Congress needs to do their fk job!
Breaking:
Mark Halperin Suspended Indefinitely from MSNBC
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/mark-halperin-suspended-obama-dick_b73992
MSNBC has suspended Mark Halperin from being its senior political analyst after he called Pres. Obama “kind of a dick” on “Morning Joe” today. Statement from MSNBC:
Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.
Statement from Halperin:
I completely agree with everything in MSNBC’s statement about my remark. I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate. Again, I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it.
BYE BOY! SG2; we need some graphics for this punk ass bitch, Halperin.
No way this prick is sorry. He requested a 7 minute delay; 7 minutes! Mark Halperin had every INTENTION of saying what he said. It was PREMEDITATED AND DELIBERATE.
BYE BYE, MARK HALPERIN!
Translation:
Halperin: Who this Negro think he is? He’s acting like he is really the President.
Halperin= Impotent penis envy sob!
BWA HA HA You got it, SG2. White boy can’t handle the truth. oh oh oh,,,
OBAMA TO PRESS & CONGRESS:
good
They need to go after Morning MURDERER too; he sat there knowing full well Halperin was going for the jugular. Then he and Mika laughed about it. I loathe these fuckers, really, I do.
Mike and Joe laughed! WTF? They both need to go.
Oh it was a regular lil party on the Morning Murderer set. Joe couldn’t contain the giggles. Mika turned her head, all the while giggling. You have to see the entire segment, if they haven’t snatched it yet. DISGUSTING, disrepectful, envious, racist.
MSNBC suspends Mark Halperin for Obama comments
Thu Jun 30, 2011 10:33 AM EDT.Statement from MSNBC:
Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.
Statement from Mark Halperin:
I completely agree with everything in MSNBC’s statement about my remark. I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate.
Again, I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it.
http://mojoe.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/30/6981880-msnbc-suspends-mark-halperin-for-obama-comments
GASP! My eyes! My eyes!
I can’t believe this! How dare this penis envy sob! Mark Halperin need to be gone. Oh, I’m calling right now!
Cue FOX; I’m sure Ed Henry can use some company, Markie Mark Halperin.
I want Mark Halperin & Co. to take another look at this video of POTUS’ news conference; if they’ve seen it at all, and tell 3 Chics where in the conference did PRESIDENT Obama turn into a dick?
Joe Scarborough: Mark Halperin, What was the president’s strategy? We are coming up on a deadline and the president decided to please his base, push back against the Republicans.I guess the question is, we know a deal has to be done. Is this showmanship? A lot of times you go up there and both sides and they act tough so their base will be appeased, then they quietly work the deal behind the scenes.
Mark Halperin: Are we on the seven second delay?
Mika Brzezinski: Lordy.
Halperin: I wanted to characterize how the president behaved.
Scarborough: We have it. We can use it. Go for it. Let’s see what happens.
Brzezinski: We’re behind you, you fall down and we catch you.
Halperin: I thought he was a dick yesterday.
Scarborough: Delay that. delay that. what are you doing? i can’t believe — Iwas joking. Don’t do that. Did we delay that?
Halperin: I said it. I hope it worked.
Scarborough: My mom is watching! We’ll know whether it worked or not.
TWEETED APOLOGY:
http://static01.mediaite.com/med/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/halperin_tweet.jpg
Instead of Mark Halperin and Co.addressing what’s really at stake with the lame ass congress, and the obstructionist GOP, he’s name calling the POTUS to distract from the President’s message. The press and congress got an ass whooping because they are LAZY, NONCOMMITTAL, and they expect a free ride from this president.
Halperin’s a loser; the white frat boys are losers who can’t handle this president’s intelligence and truth-telling.
Did you notice teh caption at the bottom of the MSNBC “Morning Murderer” Joe screen?
“GOP NOT BACKING DOWN FROM OPPOSITION TO HIGHER TAXES”
Well if fire in the belly is ‘a dick’….
wait till they see angry black man…
then they can say he’s a MOFO
…. any day now, one of the white men will call POTUS a nigga,,,,,, ANY DAY NOW!
Ametia,
Call Phil Griffin’s Direct line 212-664-2456 He is the President of MSNBC.
Thank you, Opulent. Did you email Time as well? We need to let these folks know that Mark halperin calling the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA a dick will NOT go unchallenged!
Mark Halperin needs to be gone from NBC. They suspended David Schuster, Keith Olberman, and Ed Schultz, all regulars. Get that MOFO off the air.
TIME MAGAZINE-IS IT TIME HONORED NOW? Mark halperin’s white male privilege showed itself this morning.
By Steve Benen
It’s hard not to love that “liberal” media.
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the three-hour program co-hosted by a conservative Republican former congressman, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin was asked for his assessment of President Obama’s White House press conference. “I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday,” Halperin said.
If you can watch the video, note how Halperin, ostensibly one of the nation’s most influential pundits, was smiling, with a smug satisfaction. It wasn’t a word he just blurted out in the heat of a larger discussion — Halperin thought about it, asked about whether the broadcast was on a seven-second delay, and then took his shot.
A few minutes later, Halperin’s smile had disappeared. Apparently realizing he’d royally screwed up on national television, Halperin added, “Joking aside, this is not a pro-forma apology, this is an absolute apology, heartfelt to the president…. I shouldn’t have said it. I apologize to the president and to the viewers who heard me say that.”
Later in the program, Halperin apologized again, conceding that his carefully-chosen on-air words were “inappropriate” and “disrespectful.”
There are a couple of angles to keep in mind here. The first is that Halperin’s credibility as an objective observer of political events has long been dubious, at best, but this morning’s little stunt should remove all doubt. In candor, I don’t much care that Halperin sides with the right over the left, and takes cheap shots at Democrats. I care that Halperin is presented to the public as a neutral, even-handed expert, when that’s plainly not the case.
To this extent, the “dick” comment only helps bring an end to a thin pretense.
The other point that’s worth remembering is the larger dynamic. Forget Halperin’s choice of words, and instead consider the argument he and his “Morning Joe” colleagues were pressing. They were annoyed, apparently, because President Obama wasn’t docile and conciliatory during his press conference. He showed some backbone, and this seems to have troubled the political establishment to no end.
If the president stays cool, he’s an emotionless Mr. Spock. If the president shows some fire in the belly, he’s “a dick.”
What passes for mainstream political punditry in 2011 is too often a national embarrassment.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_06/mark_halperin_and_the_quote_of030598.php