Giving Context To A Week Of Scott Brown

OutOfContext.comJan 22nd, 2010, 5:29 pm

• “This race was not supposed to be competitive. It’s Democrats in Massachusetts after all, the so-called Kennedy seat in the Senate, but now it may be the political explosion heard across the country.” (NBC Nightly News w/ Brian Williams: 1/19/10)

On Tuesday night Brian Williams reported the news in a responsible, concise, and consummate fashion for his number one rated Nightly News broadcast. A special election in the state of Massachusetts, one of the most liberal states in the union, to fill the late Ted Kennedy‘s Senate seat was not going as the Democratic majority in DC had hoped. A practically unheard of candidate named Scott Brown (R) quickly gained steam as the election neared, and as his opponent Martha Coakley (D) decided to take a vacation. This seemingly inconsequential election in the middle of January became huge news across the media world, as a Brown victory would upset the 60-40 Democratic majority in the Senate and seemingly be a proverbial wrench in the tires of Barack Obama‘s plans.

• “Because of [Barack Obama], Republicans are starting to go where no Republicans have gone before. Places, strange places for Republicans, like New Jersey and possibly now Massachusetts.” (The Glenn Beck Program: 1/19/10)

When Glenn Beck isn’t writing diary entries about Sarah Palin, he takes every chance he can to promote his conservative views. As he celebrated his one year anniversary on camera, Beck’s antics have taken the web by storm and he’s risen to the hallowed ranks of Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, which on an unrelated note are both pretty alluring pub names. Beck took the same stand as many of his counterparts over at Fox News who viewed the rise of Scott Brown as a Republican revolution against the Obama administration. In the past months, Republicans have claimed the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey, but this victory in Massachusetts was representative of a HUGE change in tide. The Bay State has been Democrat friendly since the Red Sox won their last world series without the aid of steroids (1918). More importantly, this particular Senate seat had not only belonged to the Democrats, but had been in the Kennedy blood line for over 50 years. Scott Brown’s victory was certainly cause to party over at Fox News. Free shots at “Sean Hannity’s”!

• “I want a chastity belt on (Scott Brown). I want his every move watched in Washington. I don’t trust this guy…This one could end with a dead intern.” (The Glenn Beck Program: 1/20/10)

So first, Beck is happy that Republicans are back in the mix and then gets angry a Republican won? Pick a side, Glenn! The Senator-elect did auction off his daughters during his acceptance speech and could have gotten top dollar for them, but his wife put him in his place. He could have waited until people stopped talking about this story, but apparently that’s not going to happen anytime soon. But dead interns are no joke, at least not in this country. Even if Brown is a sexist, there are many degrees of flirting and courtship that have to take place before he can have an affair with and ultimately kill an intern. Interns are overworked and underpaid and certainly did not need Glenn Beck to fill their heads with such horrible thoughts.

•“The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office.”( (ABC NEWS: Barack Obama, 1/20/10)

We can’t tell if Obama is trying to downplay the fact that another politician ran on ‘change’ or if he’s jealous it worked for someone else. Emotions seem to be playing a bigger role in elections and if you slip up, the 24-hour media attack force will find you. If we learned anything from Barack Obama, you need to make relationships with the voting public. Politicians need to make voters believe in a strong set of goals that change life for the better, whether or not you choose to fulfill those changes once you take office.

•“In Senator-elect (Scott) Brown, we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, sexist, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees.” (Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann: 1/19/10)

When Keith Olbermann hit the MSNBC airwaves about seven years ago, he was a breath of fresh air, a respite from the likes of the Fox News talking heads. Sure, he seemed to have a couple of anger management issues, but this week’s rant solidifies Mr. Olbermann’s evolution into some sort of Hannity-Limbaugh-O’Reilly monster on the other end of the spectrum. Eight years of George W. Bush turned Keith into some sort of leftist psychopath, which is just what MSNBC needs. Olbermann’s rant, which he repeated two nights in a row, is representative of the liberal backlash to Scott Brown. The left dug up a whole lot of dirt on Brown in the last couple of weeks and have used it to paint the picture of a man unfit for the United States Senate. The voters of Massachusetts didn’t recognize or care for these shortcomings and chose him to take their state in a new direction.

• “Ted Kennedy, his seat is now up for grabs and the election is pretty close, and I was thinking, by God, my money’s on Jay Leno.” .” (The Late Show w/ David Letterman: 1/19/10)

While the political climate in Massachusetts may be changing, David Letterman’s targeting of NBC and Jay Leno remained constant this week. In fact the smart money’s on this onslaught to continue well into until the end of Scott Brown’s term. In the past weeks, Dave has accused Leno of trying to steal everything from unrelated television shows to unsuspecting children’s ice cream cones, and now to vacant Senate seats. The biggest story this week is Scott Brown’s victory in the Bay State but Conan O’Brien’s defeat in late night is still headline news. Today will be Conan’s final appearance hosting the Tonight Show, with Jay Leno slated to return as host on March 1st, once again directly competing with Letterman’s Late Show, renewing the biggest rivalry in late night, or perhaps the second biggest rivalry behind “Team CoCo” vs. NBC.

• “Tonight, Massachusetts voters rebuke Obama by electing a charismatic but inexperienced state Senator who ran on a message of ‘Change’.” (The Colbert Report: 1/20/10)

If you want the facts, and talking heads who know that they are a joke, then tune into Comedy Central. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, which are by no means completely bipartisan, offer the same news with a twist of comedic satire. In the wake of Scott Brown’s huge upset victory, Stephen Colbert was quick to point out that the lefties over at MSNBC chastised Brown for the same reasons that Fox News lambasted Barack Obama one year ago. Fox News and MSNBC are old dogs, who can’t be taught new tricks. We live in an age where network news gets a half an hour followed by an hour of celebrity garbage hosted by rotating members of the Saved by the Bell clan. It’s no wonder the cable news network’s are forced to turn to “journalists” with big personalities, big egos, and in Keith Olbermann’s case, a big cranium.

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