Liberal MSNBC on Tuesday adopted Democratic talking points for the
contraceptive fight. As anchor Chris Jansing offered softball questions
to left-wing Senator Patty Murray, a MSNBC graphic flatly declared: "War on Women: 12 Dem Women Senators Send Letter to Speaker Boehner."
Usually, MSNBC can at least provide a question mark ("War on women?")
as the network spins for Democrats.
Jansing framed the issue as hostile
to females, offering this loaded question: "You were one of 12 Democratic
women in the Senate that sent a letter to House Speaker Boehner asking
him to abandon plans to continue the fight against contraception
coverage in the House."
She
added, "And [Boehner] refused. What's your next step?" Republicans such
as John Boehner would frame their objection as one of religious
liberty, not continuing "the fight against contraception."
Jansing at least mentioned that women are split on the contraceptive
issue, but didn't exactly press the Democratic senator: "How important
do you think this will be in the election, and will it work in the
Democrats favor?"
MSNBC has a history of leading with biased on-screen graphics. On September 26, 2007, then-host Contessa Brewer went after Bill O'Reilly of Fox News as a supposed bigot.
Deciding guilt, the network graphic declared, "Anchor's Racist Comments."
A follow-up graphic was more hesitant and added a question mark:
"Anchor’s Racist Comments? Bill O’Reilly Comes Under Fire For
Description of Black Restaurant."
A partial transcript of the March 13 segment can be found below:
10:35
MSNBC GRAPHIC: War on Women: 12 Dem Women Senators Send Letter to Speaker Boehner
CHRIS JANSING: There's another topic important to you that's
been very much in the news here at home. And that is the contraception
fight. You were one of 12 Democratic women in the Senate that sent a
letter to House Speaker Boehner asking him to abandon plans to continue
the fight against contraception coverage in the House. And he refused.
What's your next step?
SENATOR PATTY MURRAY: Well, look, there are serious issues in this
country. The economy, getting people back to work, what's happening in
Afghanistan, the need we have to focus on both here and at home and
abroad. For the Speaker of the House to say he's going to bring up an
amendment that goes after a core issue for women, and that's their
ability to control their own decisions about contraception, to me is
just the wrong way to go. We have asked him to just move off that issue,
leave it alone, let America's women make their own health care
decisions. I hope he does the right thing.
JANSING: You know, it has been interesting to see how this is all
playing out. And I think the most recent poll that I just saw this
morning show there was something of a split, actually, in how women feel
about mandatory health coverage for religious organizations. But both
sides, Republicans and Democrats, think this is a winning issue for them
in November. How important do you think this will be in the election,
and will it work in the Democrats favor?
MURRAY: Well, I think women don't believe that their employer should
decide whether or not they have access to contraceptives. And I think
that's a very large majority of women in this country. That's the issue.
That's what we're fighting back against. And we're going to continue to
do that.
JANSING: Senator Patty Murray, it is a pleasure to have you on the program.
-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
