The media reaction to the Obama administration’s handling of the BP Gulf oil spill crisis has been a mixed bag. But it hasn’t been good. Some are arguing President Barack Obama has gone too far and overstepped his legal authority and some are arguing he hasn’t gone far enough with the “boot on the throat” mentality. And on his June 17 Fox News Channel program, Glenn Beck played three separate examples of these differences you normally wouldn’t associate with one another – CNBC’s Matt Nesto, liberal flame-thrower and comedian Rosie O’Donnell and MSNBC’s Ed Schultz. “Even the people at NBC are noticing maybe something is not right,” Beck said. Beck was referring to comments made by Nesto on CNBC’s June 16 “Closing Bell,” which Nesto emphasized his concerned over the President’s action. “I’m very troubled by the fact that the President has again created his own sense of a legal system,” Nesto said. “It’s not his job to create laws. It’s his job to enforce laws.” And Beck noted that Nesto had an understanding of constitutional authority in that regard. “OK, it’s not his job to create laws but to enforce them,” Beck said. “Yes, that’s if you understand the Constitution. CNBC is noticing something is wrong.” Beck’s next example clearly doesn’t. O’Donnell, who has a radio show now, had a different take on how the office of the presidency should exercise its authority as it pertains to BP. “But the President couldn’t get these things to happen unless those who want fundamental transformation are starting to create those conditions where the President can do what he knows is right,” he continued. “We’ve already seen it. Rosie O’Donnell is calling for the government just to seize BP.” He played comments from O’Donnell’s radio show earlier this month . “Seize their assets today,” O’Donnell said. “Take over the country, I don’t care. Issue an executive order. Say, BP, guess what? Call it socialism, call it communism, call it anything you want. Let’s watch Rush Limbaugh explode on TV when he talks. Seize the assets, take over…” And along that same line, Beck pointed out how a particular MSNBC host wanted Obama to go dictatorial on the embattled oil giant. “MSNBC is the same network who said that I was crazy for saying that we are heading down a road that the world has been down before: a big government road that could eventually lead to a dictator — maybe this president, maybe not, maybe the next one or the one after that,” Beck said. “It doesn’t matter. Progressivism will always end in complete control. But listen now to MSNBC and one of their hosts.” Beck played two clips from MSNBC’s June 15 “The Ed Show,” which host Ed Schultz on two separate occasions called for the President to come down harsh on BP. “Mr. President, I want to see the boot on the neck of BP tonight. I want to see some finger-pointing, whether it’s in your personality or not,” Schultz said. “And it’s OK tonight to act kind of like a dictator and call the shots, say, and this is the way it’s going to be.” In the second clip, Schultz had made the suggestion to far-left Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich. “Don’t you think this is a moment where President Obama has to make sure that he lets everybody know that he’s calling the shots?” Schultz said. “In almost in words of maybe a dictator that this is the way we’re going to do it.” And to this, Beck noted the double standard – how MSNBC will criticize him for accusing Obama of acting like a dictator versus MSNBC actually calling on him to act like a dictator. “They’re calling — he went more — they’re calling for him to actually be a dictator or acts like a dictator. No thank you. No thank you,” Beck said. “I get in hot water for showing how we are expanding government so much that if a wrong guy gets in, we will have a dictator. But MSNBC can literally demand that the president start being a dictator and there’s nothing.” The Fox News host accused of MSNBC of trying to create an environment which the White House could exercise more control. “And everyone is saying that the president is in trouble because he’s lost MSNBC, the ‘thrill up the leg’ network – yes, yes, yes,” Beck said. “It’s almost like they are creating the condition to force him to do the things that he knows are right.”
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Beck Highlights the Sharp Contrast of Two NBC Universal Products – CNBC and MSNBC Reactions over BP Oil Spill
