RNC To Boycott MSNBC After Controversial Tweet

[Capt. Obvious]

Source: Talking Points Memo

In the aftermath of a Twitter firestorm, the Republican National Committee is shunning MSNBC.

RNC chairman Reince Priebus said in a memo Thursday that he's demanding an apology from MSNBC president Phil Griffin after a controversial tweet from the liberal cable news channel's account.

....

"Until [Griffin] takes internal corrective action and personally apologizes—not just to the RNC but to all right-of-center Americans—I’m banning all RNC staff from appearing on, associating with, or booking any RNC surrogates on MSNBC," Priebus said in the memo.

It's not the first time Priebus has issued an ultimatum to the peacock. He demanded last year that NBC pull a planned miniseries on Hillary Clinton or risk losing its partnerships with the RNC for 2016 presidential debates. The network eventually scrapped the miniseries.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/reince-priebus-rnc-msnbc

---

Can you take Joe Scarborough with you?

[Scuba]

1. Gee, however will they get their message out?

Priebus is sneaky, not stupid. He knows his tools look mighty dull when exposed to anybody on MSNBC except "Dead Intern Joe" so he's just finding a way to play victim while hiding from the truth.

[Fred Sanders]

12. Confining their message to Fox News and other Ailes owned outlets would be a good thing.

[Squinch]

2. Sorry, but there was nothing untruthful in that tweet. Reap the whirlwind, Rinse Partybus.

[elleng]

84. Or controversial!!!

[tblue]

3. Is that a promise?

Frankly, I think they're given too much airtime as it is. You won't see me crying.

[Mass]

4. Good news. They look like idiots each time they come on MSNBC to justify their positions.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

34. Maybe that's their out. Saving face without looking stupid.

Though, this new "crisis" is pretty stupid, but they're reactionaries, so they can't tell the difference.

[DeSwiss]

5. Door-Hit-Ass-Etc. n/t :-|

[denverbill]

6. Remember when Obama boycotted Fox News and the entire media went nuts?

I'm sure they will go nuts about the RNC doing the same to NBC.

[Lasher]

49. I remember that and every major news network refused to participate unless Fox got invited.

Every single one. That was during the first days of Obama's presidency. He caved, of course. And he's never demanded apologies or corrective action from the network that routinely criticizes Democrats in the same manner that so offends wingnuts in rare cases when they get a taste of their own medicine.

[dawn frenzy adams]

91. INDEED!

Jake Tapper formerly of ABC, and now with CNN, was the weasel that screamed foul all over the media when President Obama did that. The Mainstream Media being the monopoly it is, told Obama that if Fox was denied accessibility, they would not cover the White House.

Here is an posted by Gawker on 10/29/09

Excerpt:

Jake Tapper Demands White House Apologize To Fox News

ABC White House correspondent and alleged tool Jake Tapper is furious with the White House for saying Fox News is not a "legitimate news organization." He had an argument with Robert Gibbs about it!

Why bother? Because the TV news portion of the White House Press Corps is an exclusive country club of identical privileged tools who've convinced themselves that arguing with a stonewalling flack for an hour a day is doing the dirty work of democracy. And insulting one of them is tantamount to censorship.

White House communications director Anita Dunn said Fox News doesn't behave "the way that legitimate news organizations behave," which is an objectively true statement, as long as your definition of "legitimate news organizations" means organizations in operation after the death of William Randolph Hearst.

This outraged Tapper!


CONTINUE

http://gawker.com/5386687/jake-tapper-demands-white-house-apologize-to-fox-news

[madashelltoo]

7. Was there another tweet I did not see?

The one I read was not an insult . . . It was simply fact. Oh, that's right. Facts are cryptonite To Rinse and his crew.

[Seeking Serenity]

8. I read the offensive tweet.

It was stupid, gratuitous, and not helpful. Wholly unworthy of a national news network. And Richard Wolffe did apologize, stating that it's "not who we [MSNBC] are."

I'm calling on ALL national news organizations (as well as liberal political groups) to immediately get rid of these children overseeing their social media departments who seem to think snark is the same as (or, heaven forfend, superior to) reasoned political analysis.

[Capt. Obvious]

15. Here is their response

#LOL

[VanillaRhapsody]

53. Tweets are "reasoned political analysis"?

tweets are just tweets.

[mac56]

72. Good. Then we can all link arms and sing Kum-ba-yah.

[blackspade]

79. I hope you forgot the sarcasm smiley....

[Jack Rabbit]

89. Maybe the rightwing will hate (the new Cheerios ad featuring a bi-racial family)

It's very interesting that this should offend Mr. Priebus. He is tacitly admitting what I've been saying for years: the Republican Party is nowadays characterized not be sober conservatives, but by the far right.

I was half of a mixed marriage for twenty years and I am the proud father of two half-Korean sons, now both over thirty. I take it personally when someone takes exception the idea of a bi-racial marriage. Such people are just stupid and vicious. They may as well be wearing white sheets when they make such pronouncements.

The MSNBC tweet said "the rightwing will hate it," not the GOP will hate it. A conservative is not a far right loony. He argues for keeping a proper balance between taxes and spending and errs on the side of keeping taxes low. It's hard to argue with that. While I'm left of center, I believe that the taxpayer should be getting some bang for their bucks. If a spending program isn't working, the money is being wasted. There's nothing wrong with admitting that. We on the left, whether we're socialists or liberals, might have a different idea of when the money is being wasted and err on the side of social spending. Too often, political rhetoric descends into sophistry where the two sides of the taxation/spending dialectic don't mean anything more than "vote for members of my party" rather than a serious discussion based on common sense. For example, both Republicans and Democrats have been known to promote spending programs for some military hardware that actual career military don't want. While that seems to be a Republican folly, it was President Clinton who pushed the Seawolf submarine down the Pentagon's throat.

The Republican Party began losing its bearings in this argument in 1980, when ultra-conservative and rightwing factions with the GOP coalesced and successfully nominated and elected Ronald Reagan president. Reagan's rhetoric, if not always his actions, led many to believe that taxes and government spending were evils that America could do without. Even before Reagan's election as president, anti-tax demagogues flexed their muscles by passing Proposition 13 in California, limiting property taxes and making it difficult to raise them. True, it seemed as though whenever the politicians wanted to spend money, they simply increased property taxes. That put a squeeze on the middle class, so the problem was real. However, Proposition 13 was not a good solution. Since it required a 2/3 majority from both houses of the state legislature to enact the budget, California's budget was perennially late. Since the voters had to almost pass a constitutional amendment to raise enough revenue repair the roads, California's infrastructure fell into disrepair and the state eventually fell into debt, especially after the deregulation of the state's energy market allowed speculators like Enron to push Californians' energy bills higher almost overnight in 2001. This is being written at a time when the Republican Party, after decades of cheer leading for lower taxes and deregulation, has been relegated to almost splinter party status in the California.

In spite of its failures, the traditionally conservative Republican position in the taxation/spending dialectic isn't necessarily right wing. To be right wing, the argument must be imbued to rightness of a social hierarchy that is justified either by nature or divine providence. Some people, the right wing holds, are simply better than others and, as a result of their natural superiority or favor with the Lord, have a right to rule over and oppress others, or, in more extreme variations of right wing ideology, even kill them.

The "Southern strategy" adopted by the GOP in the late sixties made the tax-cutting craze in the GOP even more toxic when far right voters were brought into the GOP fold. These voters are politely called "social conservatives" although there is really nothing conservative about racism, misogyny or sectarian bigotry. These voters were, and still are, very receptive to the argument that black Americans are lazy, stupid and violent and that any amount of social spending for their benefit is wasted. The Republicans were elected to office and taxes on the wealthy were cut. The largest tax cuts were passed early in the administration of George W. Bush, who was such a spectacular incompetent (now, guys, who was lazy, stupid and violent?) as to follow such a reduction in federal revenue with two foreign wars, one of which should have lasted only a matter of weeks but will soon end after 12 long years while the other was completely unnecessary in the first place. By the end of Bush's two terms in office, served in spite of his never winning a clean national election, most Americans laid aside the characterization of black people as lazy, stupid and violent long enough to elect one President. The hard core racists, however, were ready by calling Barack Obama a Marxist Nazi Muslim terrorist (as if Marxist Nazi Muslim could make any sense) and asserting that he was born in Kenya.

All of this is to point our that Mr. Priebus' assertion that MSNBC's tweet was anti-Republican is a quite an admission from the chairman of the Republican National Committee that the Republican Party has morphed into a broad faction aligned with the forces of racism rather than the party of traditionally conservative economic positions of free enterprise and personal freedom. Mr. Priebus demands that MSNBC apologize to "not just the RNC, but to all right-of-center Americans" he is including members of the Ku Klux Klan in the big tent of today's Republican Party. In Mr. Priebus' view, the GOP is not the party of Lincoln, but the party of Jesse Helms.

MSNBC need make no apology.

[Vashta Nerada]

9. That sounds like good news to me.

I hope they don't apologize.

[Iliyah]

10. What cry babies, ugh

It just confirms it. They are racist.

[Plucketeer]

11. Reince LOOKS the part......

That of official RNC CRYBABY!

[starroute]

13. They sure are afraid of being called racists, aren't they?

The crucial part of the story, not included in the OP's excerpt, is that the tweet in question suggested the right wing might hate the latest adorable biracial Cheerios ad.

I'll grant that the wisecrack was an exaggeration -- there are surely some people on the right who aren't racists. But it's interesting that, as usual, the right is freaking out over anything that links them with racists, white supremacists, or hate groups. Perhaps they just remember how successful they were for so many years at tarring the left with communism and want to preemptively make sure the same thing doesn't happen to them.

Or maybe they really are all covert racists. That's always a possibility.

[Mike Daniels]

32. the right is freaking out over anything that links them with racists, white supremacists

You'd think they've never seen the signs at a Tea Party rally.

[lostincalifornia]

52. That is what the Republican party is today

[3catwoman3]

55. unintentional duplicate erased

[3catwoman3]

56. The right wing...

...might hate the ad? I'm not much of a betting woman, but I'd put down a few bucks on that wager in a heartbeat. Guaranteed that they will hate it.

[adieu]

14. The tweet...

that was it?

Who did get their panties all twisted up last year? Yes, the rightwing.

And BTW, the tweet didn't mention the RNC or GOPs at all. Just the right wing. It was a golden moment for RNC PR BS to toss the shackles of rightwing nutjobbery off the GOP by disassociating the GOP with "right wing". But no, he helped cement the party to the fringe nut cases.

Stupid move, RNC PR BS.

[BrotherIvan]

35. Eggsactly!

But shhhh! don't tell them!

[The Wizard]

66. So Rinse is defending the right wing's bigotry.

They're bigots and proud of it. The guy doesn't know when to keep his big mouth shut.

[amb123]

16. The Finger is the ONLY appropriate response

by MSNBC to the RNC.

You (the GOP) made your bed with a mattress stuffed with HATE, now YOU LIE IN IT!

[question everything]

17. So what is the offending tweet?

Instead of providing the explanation, why not offering the meat?

[Control-Z]

24. I know, right?

I did a search and believe the following is the "offensive" tweet:

"Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family,”."

[question everything]

47. Oh, thanks. I thought this was an old issue

This ad has been around for a while - on and off - and I thought racist comments were issued then.

Oh well.

[Control-Z]

50. I think this is a new ad (featuring the same family)

for Super Bowl, though, I may be way off base. I guess I should go do a search and try to educate myself.

[3catwoman3]

61. New ad...

...with the same "family" of actors, and the mom is pregnant (gasp...OMG...you mean they were DOING IT??? - sarcasm on, just in case there's any doubt).

This ad, if possible, is even more charming than its predecessor.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

18. FANTASTIC :) No more Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi eruptions after speeches. YIPPEEE

No more Rancid Prienus.

No more LimpBlob sound bytes (for after all he IS the vice chair).

No more threats to throw reporters off the balcony.

MSNBC will become a much nicer place.

Thank you.

[Gothmog]

19. The RNC is looking very weak

MSNBC must be very worried about this threat

[aggiesal]

20. Here is a link to the tweet image ...

Will the RNC do the same to Fox News when they display offensive statements?

[nyquil_man]

31. Methinks the Priebus doth protest too much.

But hey, at least he's finally admitting they're right wing.

[MsPithy]

78. I think Priebus saw Heulskamp's jawdroppingly stupid

interview with Rachael after the SOTU. I'd be tempted to stop the hemorrhaging by muzzle all my folks, too.

[nyquil_man]

83. Good point. nt

[MynameisBlarney]

21. Good goawd...

They got their frillies in a bunch over that?

What a bunch of WATB's.

[MrScorpio]

22. If some Republican pitches a fit over the commercial, the RNC is going to look way stupider...

Than it already is.

[irisblue]

23. Phil Griffin, Richard Wolfe, get this in writing n/t

[MyNameGoesHere]

25. Hey MSNBC boycott the RNC.

Don't be stupid, they need you more than you need them.

[gordianot]

26. Extreme Right Wing covers many groups as apologies go he is offering support for those took offense

Obviously the GOP is in solidarity with those who took offense as long as they are extreme right wing. Mr. Priebus may have had his feelings hurt once again.

[Grassy Knoll]

27. Hahahaha...

[kydo]

60. LOL

That's the best rofl image.

[KamaAina]

28. Maybe they can get a RNC PR BS puppet

like the Daily Show had for his predecessor.

[2naSalit]

29. Just wow.

The since-deleted tweet referred to a Super Bowl ad from Cheerios that portrays a biracial family.

“Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family,” the tweet read.

Wow, they're all in a tizzie about that? F'ing crybabies looking for unwarranted attention.




ETA:

[aggiesal]

37. Here's the tweet

[2naSalit]

41. Indeed, I included it in my post.

[nyquil_man]

30. You see, Scarborough is a "moderate."

In other words, he agrees with everything the right-wingers say while criticizing the way they say it.

[MissNostalgia]

33. Well.. Okay then...

Unless Ads are generated towards particular areas, and out of their control, I do hope this boycott leads to MSNBC to stop running RNC spots. The last time I watched MSNBC, every commercial was either anti ACA, or or a gun commercial.

[fredamae]

36. Lol-Well "Hiding" these

arses won't really change anything-it'll embolden them---they'll get more careless and end up in the "news" anyway--but the Real benefit I see--for me, anyway-I don't have to "suffer" those interviews/appearances

[Eugene]

38. MSNBC apologizes for tweet taunting conservatives over Cheerios Super Bowl ad starring biracial...

Source: New York Daily News

MSNBC apologizes for tweet taunting conservatives over Cheerios Super Bowl ad starring biracial child, RNC calls for boycott

BY LESLIE LARSON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014, 9:11 AM
UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014, 12:41 PM

The Republican National Committee is calling for supporters to boycott MSNBC, after the network posted a tweet taunting conservatives over the Cheerios ad starring an interracial family that will air during the Super Bowl.

"Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family," read a tweet posted late Wednesday on the MSNBC account, providing a link to a short article on the news website about the ad.

MSNBC apologized for the "offensive live tweet" and then deleted the message.

"The Cheerios tweet from @msnbc was dumb, offensive and we've taken it down. That's not who we are at msnbc," MSNBC.com Executive Editor Richard Wolffe tweeted.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/msnbc-apologizes-tweet-taunting-conservatives-article-1.1596432

[3catwoman3]

62. Should've either told them to stick it...

...or, better yet, given it the attention it deserved - NONE!

[blackspade]

81. shit...

[truebrit71]

39. What a p*ssy....

...Somebody call the Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaambulance....

And as usual the "liberal" backs down....Just once I wish SOMEONE would stand up to these bullies and tell them where to get off....

[oldandhappy]

40. Bye Bye RNC

Hope you get some help getting your knickers straightened out! Good luck keeping the windows shut. Somehow information usually does get thru -- emails to your party representatives do work ya know. We will keep you posted!!

[libnnc]

42. Hey RNC, if the hood fits...n/t.

[world wide wally]

43. Why did Priebus take that so personally?

[2naSalit]

44. What a novel way to

clean up the TeeVee programming!!

I wonder... if we we ignore them will they go away?

I can't believe they have RP as their chair, the guy makes W look like an f'ing genius! But then again, how could they convince anyone - with an actual intellect that registers on the positive side of 0 on a numberline - to spew the BS that emerges from his mouth?

[greymattermom]

45. It's a good thing

Now no one from the right wing can hate the commercial, right?

[Faux pas]

46. They are the party

of thin skinned pussies. WaaaWaaa rinse repeatus.

[ladym55]

48. Let me get this straight

Voices on the right regularly spew hate, threats, lies, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and sexism, and those of us who take offense can't take a joke.

I'm still waiting to hear Bill O'Reilly apologize for all of his "Tiller the baby killer" comments.

I'm still waiting for Sarah Pallin to apologize to all of her "lock and load" comments and for the picture of Gabby Giffords with crosshairs over her face.

HOWEVER, there is a tweet that reflects a reaction that DID happen with the original Cheerios biracial family commercial, the whiny Reince Priebus gets his panties in a twist.

And MSNBC apologizes.

[narnian60]

87. +1. Well said.

[stg81]

51. Obama Derangement Syndrome - Stage 4

[Lint Head]

54. Reince Priebus and repeat.

I Reinced my Priebus once. I had therapy and it's OK now. I think have PTSD from it. Priebus Traumatic Stress Disorder.

[no_hypocrisy]

57. It's a classic fake-out.

Priebus was looking for an excuse to avoid having his flunkies go on MSNBC and either giving lame answers or not knowing an answer at all.

By feigning insult, he has his device to sidestep hosts who ask questions that demand answers.

[albino65]

58. truthsome

I read the tweet and there is nothing untruthful nor disrespectful to the r/w. However, it will be refreshing not to hear from those SOB's on MSNBC. Oh, and YES, take Joe the should-be felon with you.

[giftedgirl77]

59. MSNBC caved & apologized.

Fuckin wimps

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4694242/?ir=Politics

[Berlum]

63. The poutrage is palpable. Proving once again that Repubbies cannot handle the truth.

[dsharp88]

64. Should have said,"Maybe the rightwing will hate it again."

Adding "again" would reference this based on a statement of historical fact. The rightwing threw a fit when the first commercial aired with this family.

[Madmiddle]

65. Who cares.

MSNBC is not exactly a liberal news network. Preepuss is doing the old bait and switch.

[toby jo]

67. This after we let the duck boys piss all over our collective

progressive values ? Wasn't duck dad invited to something political, put up front ?

'The boy was jus aspeakin' his miyund' - rights to speech and all .

Nope, not ok, msnbc. Grow a backbone.

[mac56]

74. ^ THIS ^

[kpominville]

68. Cons earned that tweet

Through their own behavior when the last ad came out.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/cheerios-commercial-racist-backlash_n_3363507.html

[okaawhatever]

70. Exactly! There's a reason one would assume the right wing would be offended. It's called history. nt

[santroy79]

69. Can they also pull morning Joe ?

Please

[George II]

71. Was that the sound of the door hitting the ass of Rinsed Penis?

[Voice for Peace]

73. they're just looking for an excuse to hide.

[The Blue Flower]

75. And this is a bad thing because...?

Go, Rinse! Then Rinse again!

[Botany]

76. They are upset over this?

“Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family,” the tweet read.

The truth hurts.

[DFW]

77. Pity the Republicans

Sending their ignorant politicians and pundits on a station where they are not shouted down or interrupted when they spout total bullshit, but are allowed to have their say and THEN get totally destroyed by hosts armed with facts and IQs double theirs.

If I ran the RNC, until I found some candidates with IQs in double digits, I wouldn't let my people go on MSNBC either.

[Sheepshank]

80. RNC tolerance #RWfail

maybe when it's no longer a #RWfil, they can argue with a little more credibility

[SoapBox]

82. Oh fuck off.

Cry Baby, CRY.

[heaven05]

85. everyone know the tweet is true

RW land heads are going to explode on viewing that commercial. jerk!

[WhiteTara]

86. This says it all

...although he indicated that the RNC still respects MSNBC programs like "Morning Joe."

[dembotoz]

88. a boycott is a boycott, lets throw in joe scar

[MsPithy]

90. Didn't the Cheerios company have to take down the comment board

for the original commercial because of all the vile racist comments.

[SnakeEyes]

92. What I found amusing was...

all of the right wingers tweeting pictures with the stupid #MyRightWingBiracialFamily. As if they think we are dumb enough to believe that many on the right have biracial families.