»» Columnists

MSNBC Really Believed Orly Taitz Could Become A Real GOP Candidate. Why?

by Frances Martel | 8:31 pm, June 9th, 2010

» 30 comments

Orly Taitz became a household name by using whatever spare time she had from her careers as a dentist, lawyer, and real estate agent to file frivolous lawsuits against Barack Obama, on account of his being from the Kenyan province of Indonesia. She decided to make a run for California Secretary of State as a GOP primary candidate, and lost yesterday by nearly 50%. If you were watching MSNBC last night, those numbers might shock you, because for a minute there, it seemed like everyone on MSNBC prime time saw Taitz as a viable threat.

All three of their primetime programs dedicated some time to Taitz’s campaign and the possible repercussions of the Republican Party. None was quite as concerned as Chris Matthews, who took a great deal of time to emphasize what a victory for her would mean about the character of the GOP:

In the next hour, Keith Olbermann discussed Taitz’s chances with Lawrence O’Donnell in a much more playful manner, who, as a California resident, said it was certainly possible “only in California,” partly due to the fact that no one ever campaigns for that position, and Taitz tried to do so, as meek as that attempt was:

Then it was Rachel Maddow‘s turn to, slightly less enthusiastically, note that “it is conceivable that Orly Taitz could win this race”:

The only other media outlets to give Taitz this much attention were political satire blogs and Taitz’s official webpage– MSNBC made a conscious effort last night to talk about the possibility of Taitz officially joining the Republican party. Why give her the attention? Well, there’s the fact that, to a certain extent, Taitz is a creation of MSNBC itself. She may have picked herself up by her bootstraps, but it wasn’t until she engaged in a barely-intelligible shoutfest with David Shuster last year that anyone noticed her. And from that appearance was born a dozen hilarious posts across the blogosphere, one-woman protests, personal embarrassments, and a California Secretary of State campaign. But, for the most part– WorldNetDaily notwithstanding– the birthers have been rejected by both leaders of the Tea Party movement and major right-wing figures like Glenn Beck and the American right in general.

Over at Hot Air, Ed Morrissey notes the recurring Taitz references on MSNBC and notes that there was never a serious chance of Taitz winning: “No one I’ve read took Taitz’ campaign seriously — not this campaign, nor her Birther campaign, either. And for good reason; except for the fact that she was first on the ballot, Taitz had little else going for her.” But perhaps for a laugh, there was a larger turnout than expected: Over at the Washington Post, Dave Weigel described the results as “disturbingly high, but nowhere close to a majority,” comparing her numbers to Democratic Senate candidate/blogger Mickey Kaus.

Perhaps all three hosts made a big fuss about her because, let’s face it, she makes for great TV– and she has made for better TV for MSNBC than anyone else. Or perhaps they genuinely believed it was possible she could pull through. Either way, the Taitz triple-headed gave the night a strange narrative, that the fringe was taking over, while moderates like Alvin Greene Blanche Lincoln were the real victors of the night.

2010 elections, california, Chris Matthews, Countdown, Dave Weigel, Hardball, keith olbermann, msnbc, Orly Taitz, Rachel Maddow, Washington Post, World Net Daily

SteveMG

Or perhaps they genuinely believed it was possible she could pull through.

If one lives in an ideological echo chamber – whether it’s on the right or left – one can make very odd and very wrong conclusions about the world. This perhaps tells us something about the quality of the journalism that MSNBC is practicing (yes, similar judgments can be made about Fox).

There is no doubt – none to my mind – that there are some dangerous and ugly people in the Tea Party movement. Very. They need to be watched. Closely. But I don’t believe that they represent more than a fraction – a dangerous fraction again – of that movement (Taitz’s complete failure is perhaps evidence of that).

This is really poor journalism on the part of these MSNBC hosts. They clearly based their views on little more than their own bias against the Tea Party movement and wished to use guilt-by-association to tie this nutjob to that cause.

And if someone wants to reply, “But Fox does it, too!” Yeah, you’re right but that doesn’t excuse this lousy journalism
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn-Soya/1088592828 Shawn Soya

“Orly Taitz became a household name…”

No she didn’t
You guys need to get out more.
timzank

Quite simply, every entity needs an enemy. To MSNBC, that would be anybody NOT a roll over progressive/socialist.
http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

Poor Chris was worried what her nomination would mean for the character of the GOP. LOL. Why wasn’t he worried what the nomination of Obama, Clinton, Rangle, Dingle, Franks, Boxer or any Kennedy would do to the character of the Dems. These crooks define the party.
TROLLING4LIBS

Dobermann and Tingles , continue to embarass, themselves and their networks credibilty ( not that it had any )on election nights. Tingles at one point assumed Orly ( who is a nut ) won, with only 7% of the vote reporting in , and was ranting and raving for 5 minutes about ” what this meant “. She ended up getting smoked.

In other fun facts Dailykos dropped their pollster today Research 2000.
Rusty Shackelford

Matthews continues to harp on a so called “Birthers Movement,” which no one but him really knows about nor cares about. Once he started talking about birthers it was like peanuts,he could’nt stop.

Its a dead subject to everyone but Chris and MSNBC.
http://politicsofdestruction.com/ Bobomatic

MSDNC was just sandbagging to it’s pathetic audience. Create the aura of winning around a candidate that didn’t possibly have a snowballs chance in hell and then claim … oh whatever.. why am I even writing this comment. MSDNC is not even worth it.
http://trickletown.vox.com/ Trickletown

Tweety Bird Matthews has an upcoming special called ” The New ReichRight”. A hair-on-fire speculation that a whole bunch of racist assassins are learning jihad across the bible belt. Only on MSNBC.
http://trickletown.vox.com/ Trickletown

Dang, there was supposed to be a line thru the word ‘Reich’. I thought I knew how to do that.
Johnny M

Here is what I said last night when this was going on, and it stays the same today:

Johnny M says:
June 9, 2010 at 12:27 am
The saddest part of tonight’s election coverage is the amount of time MSNBC (Olbermann and Matthews, specifically) have spent talking about Taitz and how the Republican party will handle her on the ticket. In the meantime, in reality, Taitz is being beaten 3:1 by her primary competitor.

Horrible journalism.

…You even didnt catch the clip of Matthews on his late night live show with Chuck Todd continuing the Taitz discussion and Todd sheepishly trying to point out to him that she was getting destroyed. Dont let the facts stop you from propagandizing the GOP!
badr

They wanted her to lose so the Republicans would win obviously, such geniuses.
lazzzlo

If Orly Taitz would have won….then a story would have existed. I was amazed by all the “couda, shouda…what if” scenarios might have been.

Instead, it was what it was…polls called it.

It’s easy to call panic and then announce that everything is OK.
lazzzlo

Or you can project that if this happens…..this has to happen.

How did that work for Arkensas?
lazzzlo

That’s some bad spelling on my part….Arkansas? Halter losing to Lincoln.
da-wdc

I believe MSNBC picked up on a story run that morning in The Politico, actually.

Though the scenario was extremely implausible, the headline successfully got attention, and so The Politico was able to go on and WIN THE DAY.
jrcmi

“But Fox does it, too!”

MSNBC was mulling the longshot possibility of Taitz winning her contest.

By (significant) contrast, Fakes News blatantly “pimps” for politicians like “Senatorfold” Brown and actively recruits Tea Partiers.

“Quite simply, every entity needs an enemy. To MSNBC, that would be anybody NOT a roll over progressive/socialist.”

Taitz wasn’t treated like an “enemy.” Fox sometimes treats the TRUTH like an enemy.

From Markos Moulitsas, Dailykos.com:

“I believe in accountability, in accuracy, and in making sure we provide the absolute best information not just to this wonderful community, but also to the outside world. As such, Daily Kos will be on polling hiatus the next several months as we evaluate our options and decide how to best proceed.”

Kos deserves credit for seeking accurate polling results.

The “birthers” – Taitz prominent among them – have repeatedly and relentlessly badgered and burdened the courts and state authorities with frivolous lawsuits and repeated requests for the same information, over and over.

Taitz was sanctioned by one court for engaging in excessive frivolous litigation. She filed suit against her REPUBLICANT opponent, questioning his eligibility. Hawaii had to pass a law to stop her and her fellow fruitcakes from wasting state resources.

Taitz’s loss was “Kahleefornyuh’s” gain.
Sean68

It’s an old propaganda technique. The left wants to make this woman the face of the Republican Party and all opposition to Obama. The first time I ever heard the woman’s name or saw her face was on MSNBC.
jrcmi

“It’s an old propaganda technique.”

It’s an old FAKES NEWS propaganda technique. They’ve presented countless Lefty/Commie/Marxist/Socialist/Percussionist “straw men” over the years, few of whom ever amounted to much more than “boogeyman-of-the-moment” for their dubious “analysis.”

Glenn Blech-h-h recently made “social justice” his b-o-t-m, for instance – indicting most organized religions in the process and gaining yet more free publicity.

MSNBC did not represent Taitz as anything more than she is – a liar, an opportunist and a nuisance. Though Matthews may have overstated her importance somewhat, the fact is she would have presented a considerable problem for the G-NO-P had she won.
sarainitaly

If something is said on MSNBC, and no one hears it, is it really relevant?

I didn’t even know she was running. I didn’t know she was even still around.

“it is conceivable that Orly Taitz could win this race”: “it seemed like everyone on MSNBC prime time saw Taitz as a viable threat.”

The Place for Politics. HA
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

So, Orly the Tea Party candidate lost.
The Real Royal King

I think the point missed in the various vacuous efforts to skewer MSNBC is that California Republicans suddenly saw Taitz as a viable threat. Their actions during the preceding two week certainly underscore that. Sorry, my dear members of the Rightist Rabble. In this instance, MSNBC was reporting the facts on the ground. And, wouldn’t it have been fun if it happened. Not often that one gets Extension School Attorney/Dentist/Real Estate Agent/Wig Model/Contemnor even running for office, much less having a chance to win.
paulmdoro

Far more interesting than the nutty birther is the Tea Party candidate who actually won, Sharron Angle in Nevada (if this was mentioned already my apologies). It will be interesting to see how her race against Reid plays out. I realize he is quite unpopular in Nevada, but I don’t know what their general electorate is like. Plus, she is a little wacky herself. Outlawing alcohol? Abolishing the Education Department, the Energy Department, the EPA, the United Nations and most of the IRS? And she’s not a fan of Social Security or Medicare. Let me be clear that I know some of those beliefs have a lot of fans. However, beyond the Tea Party, how do moderate and independent voters feel about those things, and how many of them will be voting in this race?
The Real Royal King

A very good point, Paul. I do believe Ms. Angle far more toxic than Ms. Taitz.
cindylei96

Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He- is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at an age gap dating site[ S E E K C O U G A R *c-o-m_]—a nice and free place for Younger- Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or- tell your friends
Grammie

cindylei96 says:
June 10, 2010 at 9:43 am

I congratulate you, Cindy, for giving the response the “Leftist Rabble” above deserve. You are more relevant, it seems, than they are.
The Real Royal King

Janet, Janet, Janet. Well, it’s just too easy …!
SteveMG

I do believe Ms. Angle far more toxic than Ms. Taitz.

That’s sad: seem like there’s always a target of hate for ideologues to go after.

For ideologues on the left and ideologues on the right. Limbaugh and Olbermann are masters at this tactic. Create a target, use guilt-by-association to tar the entire side, and then fire away.

So much for the competition of ideas.
SteveMG

Their actions during the preceding two week certainly underscore that

And those actions were? And what facts on the ground did MSNBC report? Polls? Surveys? Attendance at her campaign appearances?

From what I saw, neither Matthews nor Olbermann nor Maddow nor Schultz cited any polling data showing that this fruitcake was going to win. Perhaps they did but I never saw it.

This nut lost by 50 points. What was the Establishment afraid of?
da-wdc

Frances, I checked just now, and in fact a major outlet did give this story some play on primary day – it was indeed Politico. This was on the front page of their website that afternoon.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38212.html
“California Republicans optimistic about their prospects in November could find themselves with a bit of a problem after the votes are counted in Tuesday’s primaries — a statewide ticket with the so-called “Birther Queen” as one of their candidates.”
jrcmi

“Create a target, use guilt-by-association to tar the entire side, and then fire away.”

Limbaugh and much of the right too often CREATE those “associations.” Left-leaning hosts know that their audiences expect them to try to make a case for their assertions

On her Thurs. show. Maddow compared-and-contrasted the bogus bloviations by congressional Republicants who raged against ACORN’s alleged wrongdoings but have hardly uttered a peep against BP’s criminal incompetence. Her presentation was made all the more damning by its use of readily available source materials.

Radio talker Thom Hartmann is one of the smartest, best-prepared hosts on the air. He identifies his sources and welcomes opposing views. If you call, be ready to defend your position with more than just “hot air.”

By comparison, the “Fox Fakes” frequently start with their conclusions – i.e., Obama/Dems/liberals are all wrong – THEN “backfill” with half-baked or completely made-up allegations or rumors. Compliant stooges are found who will spout whatever “proof” needs to be found . . . or created.

I don’t take anything Fox says as accurate because they have demonstrably lied/distorted/misled so many times that they have destroyed whatever credibility they may have ever possessed.

If Glenn Beck says it’s nighttime, I’ll look out a window before I believe him.

MSNBC isn’t perfect, but they’re consistently more accurate and credible than Fox, Michael Savage, the Washington Times and much of the corporate/right media.

Guilt-by-association? I got your guilt-by-association right here . . .

From: http://mediamatters.org/research/201006100070 :

“Beck crops video to absurdly claim “the mask is coming off” a plot to take over the country”

From: http://mediamatters.org/research/201006100037 :

“Appearing on Fox & Friends, purported business expert Stuart Varney made extensive revisions to U.S. economic history, among them: the false suggestion that President Obama has not cut taxes; the false suggestion that President Bush presided over strong job growth; and the false claim that after President Clinton took office, the economy did not improve until Republicans took control of Congress.”

From: http://mediamatters.org/research/201006090031 :

“Straining to paint President Obama as “alien” and out of touch with the rest of America on terrorism, the Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz misrepresented remarks made by Obama officials — going so far as to fabricate a quote she attributed to John Brennan. Rabinowitz also attacked the administration’s descriptions of terrorism when in fact, similar language was used by the Bush administration.”

From: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201006100049 :

“Big Nonsense: Breitbart scribe tries, fails to link Obama aid to Gaza with Helen Thomas”