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By Rich Noyes
 Over the past several months, journalists have had no qualms about attacking President Trump on a deeply personal level, calling him an “ embarrassing” “ unhinged” “ liar,” a “ sociopath” and a “ madman” presiding over a “ malignant presidency.”
But eight years ago, many of these same reporters were offended at criticism of Barack Obama and his policies, scorning the “mean,” “ugly,” “offensive” “vitriol” and “idiot talk” hurled at the last President during the same months of his term.
While the media have given plenty of oxygen to anti-Trump protests since his first day in office, the Tea Party protests against Obama in 2009 were disparaged as “orchestrated,” “AstroTurf,” and criticism of ObamaCare was portrayed as a consequence of racist unwillingness to accept a black President.
Today’s journalists see it as a badge of professionalism to harass Trump and his spokesmen, but eight years ago some reporters derided talk radio, Fox News and others in the media who failed to get on board the Obama train as peddling “hateful crap” that “borders on sedition.”
Some in the media even suggested that criticism of Obama was threatening “the President’s personal safety,” with New York Times columnist Tom Friedman raising the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an extremist: “The parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach.”
Eight years later, does anyone in the liberal media worry that their constant negative coverage might be putting President Trump in danger?
Here is a video compilation followed by several transcripts from MRC’s NewsBusters’ archive showing the big difference in how the media, who now disparage President Trump, hated criticism of President Obama eight years ago:
Calling Obama a “Socialist” = “Right-Wing Idiot Talk,” “Old-School Insult”
“Where Obama exudes the new Washington equanimity, [former House Speaker Newt] Gingrich exalts in the old-school insult. He is ruthless in caricaturing anyone who gets in his way as a ‘pagan’ or ‘statist’ or ‘socialist’ or ‘racist’ — all words Newt has hurled in recent days....It is hard to shake the feeling that Gingrich’s new prominence is more a sign of the GOP’s desperation than faith in its future....”
— Newsweek’s Howard Fineman writing in the magazine’s June 22, 2009 edition.
 “There’s become this new ‘idiot button’ on the right, where you have to punch this button in order to be considered a real conservative now: ‘Obama is a socialist on health care. He’s a socialist. All his fiscal programs are insanely socialistic.’ You have to punch that button....If you don’t talk in that, that right-wing, idiot talk you’re not considered a conservative any more.” — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hardball, June 16, 2009.
Obama Critics “Push the Boundaries of Decency”
Co-anchor David Shuster: “Remember the old adage about being able to disagree without being disagreeable?”
Co-anchor Tamron Hall: “Yeah, I remember it, but I don’t think a lot of people who listen to, maybe, certain radio stations believe that. Well, six months after President Obama took office, a lot of sociologists and analysts believe that harsh political discourse against him really amped up and people started to push the boundaries of what might be considered decency.”
— Exchange during MSNBC live coverage, July 17, 2009. The on-screen headline read, “Too Much Political Hate?”
Anti-Obama Protests = “Orchestrated” “AstroTurf”
Anchor Charles Gibson: “Members of the House of Representatives are already back in their districts on summer recess, most holding town hall meetings to find out what’s on the voters’ minds, and what they’re hearing is criticism over health care reform. And some of that criticism appears to be orchestrated....”
Correspondent Jake Tapper: “Clearly, some of it is organized. Bob MacGuffie, a grass roots conservative activist wrote a widely circulated memo advising others at town hall meetings to put the Congressman quote, ‘on the defensive with your questions and follow up.’”
— ABC’s World News, August 4, 2009.
“Everywhere a congressperson holds a meeting, apparently, these people show up. Well-dressed, middle-class people in pinks and limes if you will. Who are they? They’ve been called the ‘Brooks Brothers Brigade.’ Who are these people?...Do you think the health insurance companies that have made money for years on health care are the bad guys here? Do you think they’re behind these so-called AstroTurf demonstrations?”
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews talking about the negative public reaction that some Democratic members of Congress have faced at local town hall meetings, August 4, 2009 Hardball.
“The truth is out about the societal sabotage dressed up as phony protests against health care reform....When Hamas does it or Hezbollah does it, it is called terrorism. Why should Republican lawmakers and the AstroTurf groups organizing on behalf of the health care industry be viewed any differently?”
— MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann talking about anti-ObamaCare protests on Countdown, August 7, 2009.
It Can’t Be Obama’s Policies, So It Must Be Racism
“Is right-wing racism on the rise?...You know, obviously we have got morons like Limbaugh calling Obama an angry black man....I think they are hurting their party and I think we are in a nation tired of hate....I’m going to throw a Jewish slur and call Mr. Limbaugh a putz.”
— Fill-in anchor Donny Deutsch on MSNBC News Live, July 30, 2009.
Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moore: “This is still a pretty conservative country and people are upset about the policies in Washington and they don’t think the politicians are listening.”
Chris Matthews: “Okay, I think, I think some of the people are upset because we have a black President.”
— Talking about the town hall protests on MSNBC’s Hardball, August 11, 2009.
“Look at the image of the Republican Party, all white males with short haircuts. They look sort of angry. No women, no minorities, and it looks like they’ve sort of become unhinged.”
— MSNBC anchor David Shuster during the 4pm ET hour of live coverage, September 10, 2009.
“They’ve waved signs likening President Obama to Hitler and the devil; raised questions about whether he was really born in this country; falsely accused him of planning to set up death panels; decried his speech to students as indoctrination; and called him everything from a ‘fascist’ to a ‘socialist’ to a ‘communist.’ ...And all that was before Mr. Obama’s speech was interrupted by a representative who once fought to keep the Confederate flag waving over the South Carolina state house. Add it all up, and some prominent Obama supporters are now saying that it paints a picture of an opposition driven, in part, by a refusal to accept a black President.”
— ABC’s Dan Harris on World News, September 15, 2009.
Critics Need to Shut Up Before Obama Gets Hurt
“We turn now to the contentious debate over President Obama’s health care agenda. The rising anger is now ramping up concerns over the President’s personal safety....”
— ABC’s Bill Weir introducing a story on Good Morning America, August 14, 2009. The on-screen headline: “Anxious Moments; Threats Growing In Health Care Debate?”
Host Chris Matthews: “The activists on radio are not afraid, because they’re not afraid of anything. But at some point, if we have violence in this country against our President of any form or attempt, people are gonna pay for it, the people who have encouraged the craziness....”
The Politico’s Roger Simon: “I agree 100 percent, but the base of the party, the core of the party, likes the clown show....They’re playing with fire.”
— MSNBC’s Hardball, September 22, 2009.
“It seems to me that there is a sort of meanness that’s settled over our political dialogue. It started this summer at these town hall meetings....President Carter is now saying that he thinks it’s racial. Nancy Pelosi says it could be dangerous. What do you think it’s all about?”
— CBS’s Bob Schieffer to President Obama on Face the Nation, September 20, 2009.
“House Speaker Pelosi worried about the opposition, the tone of it, perhaps leading to violence as it did in the ’70s. There’s more recent examples of anti-government violence — occurring even in the mid-’90s. Do you worry about that?”
— David Gregory to Obama on NBC’s Meet the Press, September 20, 2009.
“I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995....The parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.”
— New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, September 30, 2009.
“Is President Obama at risk, not politically, but physically? Has the political heat over issues big and small gotten so hot, it threatens the President’s life?...Congressman Patrick Kennedy, whose uncles John and Bobby were assassinated, warns that angry opposition to health care reform could lead to violence. There are consequences, he said, to angry rhetoric.”
— Host Anderson Cooper on CNN’s AC360, September 30, 2009.
Still Blaming a “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy”
Moderator David Gregory: “Your wife famously talked about the vast right wing conspiracy targeting you. As you look at this opposition on the right to President Obama, is it still there?”
Former President Bill Clinton: “Oh, you bet. Sure it is.”
— NBC’s Meet the Press, September 27, 2009.
So Much for Sticking Up for Fellow Journalists
“Let me be precise here: Fox News peddles a fair amount of hateful crap. Some of it borders on sedition. Much of it is flat out untrue.”
— Time’s Joe Klein on the magazine’s “Swampland” blog, October 23, 2009.
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By Brad Wilmouth
On Sunday evening, ABC's World News Tonight and the NBC Nightly Newsboth reacted to Vice President Mike Pence walking out of an NFL game in Indianapolis by dismissing his reaction as a "stunt," with ABC fretting that he was "reigniting the fury."
It did not seem to occur to either network that, when several of the '49ers players sparked the move by kneeling during the National Anthem, this display could also be called a "stunt." Preempted by a game, the CBS Evening News did not air.
Introducing the ABC report, anchor Tom Llamas intoned:
Now to a stunning move at an NFL game. Vice President Mike Pence staging a protest of his own. The Vice President -- attending the Colts/'49ers game today with his wife -- walking out when the '49ers took a knee during the National Anthem. And it was all at the direction of President Trump.
Correspondent Ron Claiborne began the piece by fretting that Pence was "reigniting the fury over the flag" as he recalled that the Vice President had flown from Las Vegas to Indianapolis for the game.
After recounting that, after several of the players kneeled for the Anthem, Pence left after the Anthem finished and then tweeted out his reasons, Claiborne added:
Pence's protest appeared planned. Reporters were warned that he could leave the game early. Some '49ers were likely to kneel as their former quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, had started the protests last season. And a number of players have picked it up. President Trump tweeting today: "I asked VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country."
The report continued:
RON CLAIBORNE: It was Trump who fanned the flames in a rally in Alabama last month.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: -- when somebody disrespects our Flag, to say, "Get that son of a (censored) off the field."
After informing viewers of an erroneous report that Colin Kaepernick was willing to stand for the Anthem if he were selected for a team, Claiborne concluded his report by quoting a Democratic congressman dismissing Pence's behavior as a "stunt." Claiborne:
And tonight, one Democrat -- California Congressman Adam Schiff -- questioning the Vice President's travel all the way from Vegas to Indianapolis only to leave that game early. Schiff saying, "How much in taxpayer money was wasted on this stunt?"
On NBC, setting up a report, anchor Kate Snow fretted over the "divisive issue" as she related:
And another divisive issue involving the Trump administration played out today, this one at the Colts/'49ers game in Indianapolis. Vice President Mike Pence walked out of that game after more than a dozen players from the '49ers kneeled during the National Anthem.
After reporter Morgan Radford began her piece by recalling that Pence walked out because of the players who kneeled, she then cut to a soundbite of an unidentified man who reacted negatively to the Vice President: "Makes no sense to me. It is ridiculous what he did. It just doesn't make sense. He doesn't have any reason to do that."
After quoting from Pence's tweet, she then recalled complaints that the walkout was "planned" as she added:
The protests, a divisive issue for millions of Americans, have created political momentum for the Trump administration, which has been using the controversy to woo donors for weeks. A question for some: whether today's walkout was planned.
Radford then quoted Trump's tweet on the matter and showed a soundbite from Republican strategist Joe Watkins complaining: "I think that sending the Vice President to the game was a pre-planned stunt, but I don't think Americans like stunts."
It did not seem to occur to either ABC or NBC that Pence, being a native of Indiana, perhaps has a tradition of attending games in his home state, and did not wish to merely give up on going because of the possibility of provocative actions by some players before they had actually occurred.
Complete transcripts follow from Sunday, October 8:
#From ABC's World News Tonight:
TOM LLAMAS: Now to a stunning move at an NFL game. Vice President Mike Pence staging a protest of his own. The Vice President -- attending the Colts/'49ers game today with his wife -- walking out when the '49ers took a knee during the National Anthem. And it was all at the direction of President Trump. Here's ABC's Ron Claiborne.
 RON CLAIBORNE: Tonight, the Vice President reigniting the fury over the Flag. Flying to Indianapolis from Las Vegas, Vice President Mike Pence stood with hand over heart as the National Anthem was played before today's Colts/San Francisco 49ers game. On the field, several '49ers players took a knee -- and with that, Pence abruptly left the stadium back to the airport, and flew back to the West Coast, minutes later tweeting: "I left today's Colts game because POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem."
Pence's protest appeared planned. Reporters were warned that he could leave the game early. Some '49ers were likely to kneel as their former quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, had started the protests last season. And a number of players have picked it up. President Trump tweeting today: "I asked VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country."
It was Trump who fanned the flames in a rally in Alabama last month.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: -- when somebody disrespects our Flag, to say, "Get that son of a (censored) off the field."
CLAIBORNE: The debate further roiled today by a report that Kaepernick -- an unsigned free agent -- said he would stand during the National Anthem if he were picked up by any NFL team. Not true, says Kaepernick. "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on," he tweeted, quoting Winston Churchill.
And tonight, one Democrat -- California Congressman Adam Schiff -- questioning the Vice President's travel all the way from Vegas to Indianapolis only to leave that game early. Schiff saying, "How much in taxpayer money was wasted on this stunt?" Tom?
#From the NBC Nightly News:
KATE SNOW: And another divisive issue involving the Trump administration played out today, this one at the Colts/'49ers game in Indianapolis. Vice President Mike Pence walked out of that game after more than a dozen players from the '49ers kneeled during the National Anthem. NBC's Morgan Radford has more on that tonight.
MORGAN RADFORD: Vice President Mike Pence greeted fans in Indianapolis - the Colts facing off against the '49ers. When the Anthem played, more than a dozen players took a knee. Pence stood with his hand over his heart and left as soon as The Star-Spangled Banner ended.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Makes no sense to me. It is ridiculous what he did. It just doesn't make sense. He doesn't have any reason to do that.
MORGAN: The Vice President tweeted moments later: "I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem." The protests, a divisive issue for millions of Americans, have created political momentum for the Trump administration, which has been using the controversy to woo donors for weeks. A question for some: whether today's walkout was planned. The President afterward tweeting: "I asked VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled."
JOE WATKINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think that sending the Vice President to the game was a pre-planned stunt, but I don't think Americans like stunts.
MORGAN: Pence's next stop after the game, a fundraiser in California. Morgan Radford, NBC News, New York.
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president and the CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA), appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday for an exclusive interview with host John Dickerson. While there, he felt for the Las Vegas victims, defended the Second Amendment and his organization, and called out those in the media (Hollywood in particular) who got rich off of glorifying gun violence and “ irresponsible use of firearms.”
LaPierre began his interview by first sharing his condolences with the victims and those effects by the Las Vegas shooting. “Can I say first, this has been a tragic week. I mean, we had NRA members out there in the middle of that tragedy, we had NRA families, we had families wounded out there. It just has been horrible,” he told Dickerson.
“But to the people that are trying to politicize this tragedy, I would say this: There are monsters like this monster out there every day. There are menaces out there every day,” he shifted. “That's why they support this freedom.”
He then slammed those who would disarm average Americans but allow themselves to have armed security. “All of the elites that have been speaking out this past week, they all want to protect themselves. If they all protect themselves with armed security.” And for all the heavy criticism the NRA received, LaPierre argued that it belonged to the entertainment industry:
You want to talk about irresponsible use of firearms? The number one person teaching irresponsible use of firearms is all of these elites employer, the Hollywood television gaming industry … We spend millions teaching responsible use of firearms, they make billions every single day, John, teaching irresponsible use of firearms. They’re so hypocritical it’s unbelievable.
“But is it really an elite position for a person to think if there is evil in the world, perhaps there should be something that makes a little harder for the evil person to get their hand on something,” Dickerson prefaced with talking about firearms, including semi-automatic rifles. “That is not elite that’s just somebody trying to figure out how to have less people be dead.”
LaPierre pointed out the fact that no matter what gun laws there were mass shootings still happened. “As we said before Paris wouldn’t have happened, they outlawed fully automatic guns, Brussels, San Bernardino, California has every gun law under the sun, it still happens.”
When it came to the bump stock device for semi-automatic rifles, LaPierre reminded Dickerson that “the fact is that the Obama administration a couple of years ago legalized the device, their ATF, that fuzzed the line between semiautomatics and fully automatics.” He warned that such a blurring of lines was a risk for semi-automatic rifles from craven gun control advocates, like California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who don’t know very much about firearms:
I have been arguing with Dianne Feinstein for years -- she has been trying to ban semi-autos -- saying a semi-auto, is a semi-auto-is a semi-auto. It’s not an assault weapon like you say, Dianne Feinstein and it is not a machine gun. If you fuzz the line, they are all at risk and we are not going to let that happen.
“Well, the fact is, the bump stock does fuzz the line, though, and that's why ATF needs to do its job,” LaPierre said, calling for the ATF to regulate the rifle accessory. “I mean outrage they are trying to stir against the NRA they ought to be stirring against the mental health system, which is completely collapsed.”
His outrage was well warranted. After almost every shooting, the liberal media claimed the NRA was a domestic terrorist organization, with some even saying their members should be killed by a firing squad.
Transcript below:
CBS
Face the Nation
October 8, 2017
10:41:13AM Eastern
JOHN DICKERSON: Senator Feinstein wants legislation to ban bump fire stocks, what is the NRA position on that?
WAYNE LAPIERRE: Can I say first, this has been a tragic week. I mean, we had NRA members out there in the middle of that tragedy, we had NRA families, we had families wounded out there. It just has been horrible.
But to the people that are trying to politicize this tragedy I would say this: There are monsters like this monster out there every day. There are menaces out there every day. People want to be able to protect themselves. That's why they support this freedom. All of the elites that have been speaking out this past week, they all want to protect themselves. If they all protect themselves with armed security.
I mean, they criticize the NRA. You want to talk about irresponsible use of firearms? The number one person teaching irresponsible use of firearms is all of these elites employer, the Hollywood, television gaming industry. We spend millions teaching responsible use of firearms, they make billions every single day, John, teaching irresponsible use of firearms. They’re so hypocritical it’s unbelievable.
 DICKERSON: But is it really an elite position for a person to think if there is evil in the world, perhaps there should be something that makes a little harder for the evil person to get their hand on something that can fire bulls with such rapidity -- and then bump fire stocks which make it available even faster -- that is not elite that’s just somebody trying to figure out how to have less people be dead.
LAPIERRE: Well, I do think this, if we could have legislated morality we would have done it long ago. As we said before Paris wouldn’t have happened, they outlawed fully automatic guns, Brussels, San Bernardino, California has every gun law under the sun, it still happens. The bad people could care.
But on bump stocks let me say this, the fact is that the Obama administration a couple of years ago legalized the device, their ATF, that fuzzed the line between semiautomatics and fully automatics. And if we are able to fuzz that line all semiautomatics are at risk. I have been arguing with Dianne Feinstein for years -- she has been trying to ban semi-autos -- saying a semi-auto, is a semi-auto-is a semi-auto. It’s not an assault weapon like you say, Dianne Feinstein and it is not a machine gun. If you fuzz the line, they are all at risk and we are not going to let that happen.
DICKERSON: Well, let's not fuzz the line. She says this specific piece of legislation just bans bump fire stocks. So does the NRA support that or no?
LAPIERRE: It’s illegal to convert a semi-automatic to a fully automatic. ATF needs to do its job, they need to look at this and do its job.
DICKERSON: Her argument and the ATF’s is they can't rule on this, it is out of their purview, it has to be done in legislation.
(…)
LAPIERRE: Well, the fact is, the bump stock does fuzz the line, though, and that's why ATF needs to do its job. But we really need to get back-- If we are going to do something, let's do something meaningful. I mean outrage they are trying to stir against the NRA they ought to be stirring against the mental health system, which is completely collapsed. All of the police officers know it, they are back on the streets, we dump it on the police officers, we ought to enforce the federal gun laws and do something about our criminal justice system which is catch and release, places like DC are second chance cities, well the second chance is taken out against the good guys.
(…)
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 In the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, much of the political world’s attention was trained on the rifle accessory known as a bump stock. The Las Vegas shooter had 12 rifles fitted with the device which allowed him to shoot his weapons as though they were full auto. Even the NRA had called for greater regulation of the devices. But many in the liberal media, as demonstrated by CNN’s Inside Politics panel on Sunday, questioned if it meant anything and whined that gun control wasn’t advancing fast enough.
Host John King seemed excited by the fact that House Speaker Paul Ryan was open to the idea of having some form of regulation on bump stocks. “The NRA's position, the Trump administration can handle this administratively, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms can issue a new regulation that makes the stocks illegal, let's not have new legislation. Democrats say, oh, no, let's get this on the books,” he added.
But The Washington Post’s Karoun Demirjian fretted that an ATF regulation would just be removed later. “The only reason to be really afraid of the law at this point would be that it is going to be – potentially create momentum for the people that are pro-gun control to say: “Look, we’ve got something.” Because it has been years since they have had any sort of a win on that,” she seemed to lament.
She proceeded to rattle off most of the gun control proposals liberals have been itching to get into place to restrict the Second Amendment:
Even though this is a win that everybody agrees is something that should be done, there are some people concerned about that that means for the next thing down the line, do you then go to semi-automatics, will you then get the background check legislation that Democrats have wanted for a long time, or the law that would prohibit suspected terrorists—if you’re on the watch list, from being able to get your hands on a gun.
But what Demirjian failed to mention here, but brushed off later, was that Pelosi and the Democrats were hoping for just such a slippery slope. She also failed to point out that background checks were already mandated by federal law, there was no gun show loophole, and online gun sales must be shipped to federally licensed gun dealers. That’s not to mention that even the liberal ACLU was against using the terror watch and no-fly lists because they’re amassed in secret and absent of any due process.
“But by and large, if you look at the polling, there is not a whole lot of debate in the American public about wanting a little bit more gun control,” CNN correspondent Abby Phillip chimed in. “It would actually be fairly easy for them to do this basically getting the last vestiges of machine guns off the streets, say they have done something, and then move on.”
But the fact of the matter was, even though a bump stock regulation was warranted, it wouldn’t be so easy to enforce. Since the devices were made of plastic it meant they could just be 3D-printed.
The existence of bump stocks was new to most people, but CNN White House Correspondent Sara Murray whined that they should have been banned sooner. “Frankly the big opportunity to do something like this was in the wake of Sandy Hook,” she spat, seemingly forgetting that the shooter, in that case, didn’t use a bump stock and that the Obama administration ATF okayed the devices.
“And Washington made it very clear there was no appetite to do any kind of real gun control. So however they approach this, sure, it might be a political win for both sides, but it is still very narrow,” Murphy continued. “We're not talking about significant broad gun control.”
 King noted that Republican Steve Scalise, who himself was recovering from an attempted assassination at the hands of a Bernie Sanders supporter, was iffy on a bump stock ban. Demirjian bemoaned about how “ This is going to be so strange seeing Scalise basically versus Gabby Giffords for the next several months on this and it is going to be sad and depressing to watch.”
“Nobody is proposing an Australian style gun confiscation ban sort of a thing. It is background checks, it is the terror watch list, it is not anything more than that for years,” Demirjian then claimed. But that’s not true. After the Sandy Hook shooting, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed an assault weapons ban while New York State passed a similar ban with no grandfather clause turning many residents into criminals overnight.
And before the panel changed their topic, Demirjian shared some advice with the Democrats:
You don’t build momentum if you don’t have the opening step. And Yet Democrats are wanting to pile on more and Republicans are afraid they’re going to pile on more. There is a solution in there: Don’t right now and wait until the next thing.
Clearly, she and the rest of the panel were hoping for that at the very least.
Transcript below:
CNN
Inside Politics
October 8, 2017
8:17:28 AM Eastern
(…)
JOHN KING: That does make it significant. The Republican Speaker of the House, a gun rights advocate, saying we have to do something, but the question is how? A lot of Republicans are saying, and we'll get to the NRA in a minute, the NRA's position, the Trump administration can handle this administratively, the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms can issue a new regulation that makes the stocks illegal, let's not have new legislation. Democrats say, oh, no, let's get this on the books. Even though you have more urgency this time, more bipartisan urgency this time, might it still collapse?
KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: We were talking about Obamacare a minute ago and what the President can, and is doing, when it comes to what the executive orders and the regulations are. Regulations can be undone in the future. That is potentially a problem. If the Republicans are fairly serious about not wanting the automatic weapons, that's been a position they held for a very long time. The only reason to be really afraid of the law at this point would be that it is going to be – potentially create momentum for the people that are pro-gun control to say: “Look, we’ve got something.” Because it has been years since they have had any sort of a win on that.
 Even though this is a win that everybody agrees is something that should be done, there are some people concerned about that that means for the next thing down the line, do you then go to semi-automatics, will you then get the background check legislation that Democrats have wanted for a long time, or the law that would prohibit suspected terrorists—if you’re on the watch list, from being able to get your hands on a gun.
(…)
KING: “Didn't say ban, we didn't say confiscate.” They want the ATF to issue a regulation. And that seems to be -- very politely worded. That seems to be a marker to some Republicans in congress, let us do this our way, do not bring a bill to the floor.
ABBY PHILIP: That's true. But I think this issue is actually really not that great politically for Republicans. I mean, I know the NRA is breathing down their necks. But by and large, if you look at the polling, there is not a whole lot of debate in the American public about wanting a little bit more gun control. It would actually be fairly easy for them to do this basically getting the last vestiges of machine guns off the streets, say they have done something, and then move on. I think that it is an opportunity for them to do it. I'm not sure they will, but it is a relatively easy thing, probably the easiest thing that has come across their desk in over a decade on this issue, and there is not very much debate about it.
(…)
SARA MURRAY: But, you know, frankly the big opportunity to do something like this was in the wake of Sandy Hook. And Washington made it very clear there was no appetite to do any kind of real gun control. So however they approach this, sure, it might be a political win for both sides, but it is still very narrow. We're not talking about significant broad gun control. And I think many people in Washington feel like the moment to look in the mirror and say: “Is this what we want to do? Is this the direction was want to go?” was after Sandy Hook and people didn't do that.
 (…)
KING: But listen to his[Paul Ryan’s] number three, Steve Scalise, just recovered from a life-threatening gunshot wound. Remember at congressional baseball practice? He says slow down, everybody.
(…)
DEMIRJIAN: This is going to be so strange seeing Scalise basically versus Gabby Giffords for the next several months on this and it is going to be sad and depressing to watch. … Nobody is proposing an Australian style gun confiscation ban sort of a thing. It is background checks, it is the terror watch list, it is not anything more than that for years. And so the idea of the slippery slope is the fear and frankly, I mean, yes, Nancy Pelosi has said “We want background checks too.” Other Democrats have said we shouldn't let this go forward. They should take a note, from the lesson of immigration reform, which is that when you for sometimes too big you might miss the little thing you can get, what they're grappling now with DACA.
(…)
Similar situation. You don’t build momentum if you don’t have the opening step. And Yet Democrats are wanting to pile on more and Republicans are afraid they’re going to pile on more. There is a solution in there: Don’t right now and wait until the next thing.
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By Brad Wilmouth
On Friday's Real Time on HBO, liberal host Bill Maher was again hitting the issue of race from the left as he promoted claims that the purpose of the Second Amendment was to help keep the slave population under control, rather than to give the population a right to self-defense.
Additionally, he played the game of finding racial double standards in the treatment of whites and nonwhites with regard to guns and mass shootings. And, for his part, MSNBC Republican Steve Schmidt ridiculously claimed that "It is harder to buy cough medicine than it is to buy an AK-47 or 50 of them."
As he raised the issue of race, Maher claimed that Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore could not have held a gun on stage if he were black, and then asserted that white mass shooters like the Las Vegas gunman are treated differently after the attacks than if they were minorities. Maher began:
I know it drives Republicans crazy when liberals say everything is about race and everything isn't about race. But I feel like guns is the one area where, if you can't see a giant difference between the way black and white are treated in America with guns, I think there's a little racism in you. I mean, show the Roy Moore video. Here's a politician waving a gun at a rally.
The HBO host turned to former Tennessee Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. -- who is black -- and asked: "Could you get away with doing that?"
After Ford answered in the negative, Maher continued:
There you go. And the Vegas shooter himself, you know, it seems like when the shooter -- if he was Muslim, certainly it would have been about, "Let's -- we got to get the ban going." If he was a Mexican, it would be about the wall. And I feel like, when it's the white guy, it's like, "We don't know how this happened." But they don't, you know, we don't --
Maher then had to pause for his liberal audience who broke in with applause.
He then added:
I feel like it never gets to be an isolated incident if you're a minority. They always drag in the, you know, and this guy was from a broken home, his father was a criminal, you know, that would be big on Fox News, I feel like.
Regarding Senate candidate Moore holding a gun on stage, NewsBusters has previously documented that Sheriff David Clarke has held a rifle at right-leaning events on more than one occasion, and is a big hit within the conservative movement.
Additionally, Maher conveniently forgot that when high-profile mass shooters Vester Flanagan, Seung-Hui Cho, and Esteban Santiago -- all of whom were minorities -- committed their attacks, mental illness was heavily implicated in their cases.
After Olivia Nuzzi of New York magazine and MSNBC's Schmidt voiced agreement, Maher went on trying to tie the Second Amendment to slavery. Maher:
All right, let me quote Garry Wills because I've read something he wrote in the New York Times on the Fourth of July about the Second Amendment which I had never been aware of this. And I feel like I was waiting for the moment when I thought people would be paying attention to this issue, and it is apropos to this issue we're talking about.
Reading a quote that seemed like it might have come from a DailyKos account of the New York Times write-up, Maher continued:
Because he says the Second Amendment "shows just how far the poison of slavery pervaded the Constitution. It was intended to protect slave holders who used militias to keep a firm grip on their slaves. It wasn't meant to let individuals prevent federal tyranny. How could it? It was meant to guarantee the legality of well-regulated militias to handle the states' internal problems, especially the problem of a large slave population."
The HBO host added: "Says a lot, doesn't it?"
After Rep. Ford gave his reaction, Schmidt jumped in to insert the kind of left-leaning analysis that one expects from self-identified Republicans who appear regularly on MSNBC, as he oddly claimed that it is "harder to buy cough medicine" than to get an AK-47:
I do think the Founding Fathers, though, they could no more conceive of an AK-47 or an AR-15 firing on full automatic than they could have conceived of a space ship, okay?
These weapons were not conceived of, we not understood, were imagined in the context of the time when the amendment was authored, and we ought to have a real debate in this country about whether we want military weapons -- military weapons -- weapons of war in the hand of every Joe who wants to go in and buy 30 of them. It is harder to buy cough medicine than it is to buy an AK-47 or 50 of them.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday, October 6, Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO:
BILL MAHER: I know it drives Republicans crazy when liberals say everything is about race and everything isn't about race. But I feel like guns is the one area where, if you can't see a giant difference between the way black and white are treated in America with guns, I think there's a little racism in you. I mean, show the Roy Moore video. Here's a politician waving a gun at a rally. Could you get away with doing that?
FORMER REP. HAROLD (D-TN): In succinct? No.
MAHER: There you go. And the Vegas shooter himself, you know, it seems like when the shooter -- if he was Muslim, certainly it would have been about, "Let's -- we got to get the ban going." If he was a Mexican, it would be about the wall. And I feel like, when it's the white guy, it's like, "We don't know how this happened." But they don't, you know, we don't --
(Audience applause)
I feel like it never gets to be an isolated incident if you're a minority. They always drag in the, you know, and this guy was from a broken home, his father was a criminal, you know, that would be big on Fox News, I feel like.
OLIVIA NUZZI: President Trump would already be out there with his own motive for the shooter if the shooter were nonwhite. He does this any time there is any type of attack perpetrated by someone who is nonwhite. He doesn't take the whole "It's too soon to talk about it, that we should speculate before we know the facts." He only does that in very specific cases.
STEVE SCHMIDT: A hundred percent accurate. There's an absolute double standard.on this stuff.
 MAHER: All right, let me quote Garry Wills because I've read something he wrote in the New York Timeson the Fourth of July about the Second Amendment which I had never been aware of this. And I feel like I was waiting for the moment when I thought people would be paying attention to this issue, and it is apropos to this issue we're talking about because he says the Second Amendment "shows just how far the poison of slavery pervaded the Constitution. It was intended to protect slave holders who used militias to keep a firm grip on their slaves. It wasn't meant to let individuals prevent federal tyranny. How could it? It was meant to guarantee the legality of well-regulated militias to handle the states' internal problems, especially the problem of a large slave population."
Says a lot, doesn't it?
(...)
STEVE SCHMIDT: I do think the Founding Fathers, though, they could no more conceive of an AK-47 or an AR-15 firing on full automatic than they could have conceived of a space ship, okay?
These weapons were not conceived of, we not understood, were imagined in the context of the time when the amendment was authored, and we ought to have a real debate in this country about whether we want military weapons -- military weapons -- weapons of war in the hand of every Joe who wants to go in and buy 30 of them. It is harder to buy cough medicine than it is to buy an AK-47 or 50 of them.
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 While the adults were investigating the motives of the man responsible for the Las Vegas mass shooting, and other were discussing new regulations of bump stocks, the man-children at NBC’s Saturday Night Live were attacking all gun owners for the acts of one man. “ The investigation into the tragedy in Las Vegas this week has sparked a larger debate in America between people who want common sense gun control and people who are wrong,” announced fake newsman Colin Jost, setting the tone for the bit.
“This shouldn't be a partisan issue,” Jost declared during the Weekend Update skit. “The guy had 47 guns. No one should own 47 of anything. If you own 47 cats, you are not a responsible pet owner, you're a crazy cat lady.” In a thinly veiled call for gun confiscation, he joked that “unlike with guns, the government will actually come and take your cats away, because everyone agrees that's insane.” Actually, it’s because it’s animal cruelty.
Jost argued that alarms should sound when someone buys too many guns like his bank account does when he spends too much money. “How is no one keeping track of how many guns people own? There is a real law in Texas that says it's illegal to own more than six dildos,” he pointed out, as if that was the evidence needed for greater gun control and not for the repeal of the intrusive Texas law.
Fake co-anchor Michael Che then slammed Second Amendment advocates as unbalanced snowflakes and claimed they shouldn’t need more than six bullets:
I mean, why is it so hard to get gun control in this country? I mean who are these delicate snowflakes that we can't just tell: "No, you are not allowed to have 40 guns anymore, Earl. From now on you can have one gun, max, and six bullets. If you can't hit what's coming for you in six shots, then your ass needs to learn karate. Or use your words."
“I'm sick of this narrative that Americans just love guns so much. It's a not true,” Che announced as he rattled off statistics with no cited source. “78 percent of Americans don't even own a gun. And three percent of Americans own 50 percent of all the guns in the country. That's the problem: that whinny three percent the country that needs to feel secure all the time.”
So Che proposed a lewd sort of buyback program that could suit those insecure gun owners. “For every gun, you trade in, we give you one-half-inch of penis enlargement. That's fair. If you trade in ten guns, you get five more inches,” he pitched to the cheers from the lowbrow audience.
“Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said that he wants Congress to look into some proposals for gun control. But first, he wants to look into this briefcase from the NRA,” he chided as he showed a picture of a briefcase with money hanging out of it. But the joke was on him because the NRA had come out in favor of greater regulation of bump stocks.
According to Che, gun owners were hypocritical for being patriotic and worried about the government. And of course he mocked them as people living in trailers:
Yeah, I noticed that the people who bring up the Second Amendment all the time are always the same people who preach “respect law enforcement, support the troops.” Meanwhile, they have a closet full of weapons because they think those same troops are going to come and drive their house away.
This just proves how elitists on the coast have nothing but pure disgust for the people living in fly-over-country. And it’s was ultimately why President Trump got elected.
Transcript below:
NBC
Saturday Night Live
October 7, 2017
12:11:43 AM Eastern
COLIN JOST: The investigation into the tragedy in Las Vegas this week has sparked a larger debate in America between people who want common sense gun control and people who are wrong. This shouldn't be a partisan issue. The guy had 47 guns. No one should own 47 of anything. If you own 47 cats, you are not a responsible pet owner, you're a crazy cat lady. And unlike with guns, the government will actually come and take your cats away, because everyone agrees that's insane.
Also, this guy bought 33 of his guns in the past year. And that didn't set off any kind of alert? If I buy $100 worth of Chick-fil-A, I get a text message from my bank that says, "Did you just purchase $100 worth of Chick-fil-A? Please, Colin, tell us this is fraud." How is no one keeping track of how many guns people own? There is a real law in Texas that says it's illegal to own more than six dildos. And I get why. No one needs that many. If you own more than six dildos, it's a clear sign you are training for something awful.
 MICHAEL CHE: I mean, why is it so hard to get gun control in this country? I mean who are these delicate snowflakes that we can't just tell: "No, you are not allowed to have 40 guns anymore, Earl. From now on you can have one gun, max, and six bullets. If you can't hit what's coming for you in six shots, then your ass needs to learn karate. Or use your words."
I'm sick of this narrative that Americans just love guns so much. It's a not true. 78 percent of Americans don't even own a gun. And three percent of Americans own 50 percent of all the guns in the country. That's the problem, that whinny three percent the country that needs to feel secure all the time. That’s why I think we should do a buy-back program. For every gun you trade in, we give you one-half-inch of penis enlargement. [ Cheers and applause ] That's fair. If you trade in ten guns, you get five more inches. And if any women want to trade in their guns, don't. Keep your guns. Because you're probably going to need them to fight off all those men in spandex fighting to show off their brand-new penises.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said that he wants Congress to look into some proposals for gun control. But first, he wants to look into this briefcase from the NRA. We have got to do something about the guns this the country. And I know about the Second Amendment. I know you need your guns to protect you from the government.
Yeah, I noticed that the people who bring up the Second Amendment all the time are always the same people who preach “respect law enforcement, support the troops.” Meanwhile, they have a closet full of weapons because they think those same troops are going to come and drive their house away.
It’s hypocritical. It’s like saying, "I love my wife, I trust my wife, but that sneaky bitch is coming for me."
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By Mike Ciandella
 When Republican Congressman Tim Murphy from Pennsylvania resigned in disgrace on October 5, all three broadcast evening shows ran reports on it. NBC’s Today also covered this story the following morning.
But just last year when another Pennsylvania Congressman, Democrat Chaka Fattah, was forced to step down amid a corruption trial that eventually ended in his conviction, not one of the morning or evening shows on ABC, CBS or NBC covered his resignation at all.
Murphy, who had been in Congress since 2003, stepped down after being outed as a hypocrite who touted a strong pro-life message while privately pressuring the woman he was having an affair with to get an abortion. That’s incredibly disgraceful, but not an actual crime – which is what the Democrat, Fattah, was convicted of last year.
In fact, the networks barely covered the entire year-and-a-half from the indictment to the conviction and sentencing of Chaka Fattah (July 2015 to December 2016). CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows only managed to mention the scandal for just over a minute (68 seconds) combined. Meanwhile, ABC morning and evening news never gave the ordeal any coverage. Fattah, who had been in Congress for 21 years, was convicted on federal corruption charges.
In contrast, in just 24 hours the networks gave 3 minutes and 40 seconds of coverage to Murphy.
 Fattah isn’t the only Democratic member of Congress the networks seem to be ignoring. N.J. Senator Robert Menendez has been on trial for a full month now (since September 6) charged with 18 counts of fraud and bribery, and NBC’s Today and all three network evening broadcasts – the same shows that found time to tout Murphy’s embarrassment – have yet to cover it. So far, ABC’s Good Morning America has run just a single story on September 13 (1 minute, 48 seconds), while CBS This Morning has only provided a news brief on September 6 (22 seconds).
Of course, the resignation of a sitting member of Congress is a big deal, and deserves media attention regardless of party affiliation. But there’s obviously a double standard since the networks only covered the resignation of a Republican Congressman, while ignoring the resignation of a Democratic one and barely covering the trial of a Democratic Senator.
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