On Wednesday, the first female White House press secretary suggested that MSNBC should fire host Martin Bashir for suggesting that someone defecate and/or urinate in former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s mouth.
Dee Dee Myers, who was Bill Clinton’s campaign spokeswoman and his first White House press secretary, said she could not imagine where “such thoughts even come from” and tweeted “#Gottago” while linking to an article in which MSNBC was mum about whether Bashir’s apology was enough.
Honestly…where do such thoughts even come from? #Gottago. MSNBC not saying whether Martin Bashir apology is enough http://t.co/5ElIrTM1bn
— Dee Dee Myers (@deemyers) November 20, 2013
Myers, who has written a book about why women leaders should rule the world, spoke out after Breitbart News reported that feminist and women’s groups had been silent on Bashir’s remarks. Talk radio host Mark Levin suggested women’s groups were silent because Palin is not a left-wing politician.
After Bashir apologized on his show on Monday for words that he admitted were “wholly inappropriate” and “offensive,” Breitbart News exclusively obtained a letter from Palin’s PAC, SarahPAC, that asked MSNBC President Phil Griffin and NBC News President Deborah Turness what action the network would take against Bashir for his “appalling” words. It also mentions that MSNBC has set a precedent of firing and disciplining other anchors for “offensive language.”
“You fired Don Imus for offensive language in describing the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball team, you suspended Alec Baldwin, and yet nothing has happened to Mr. Bashir,” the letter reads. “Are we to assume then, that disciplinary procedures at your network take place based on the target of the remarks rather than the remarks themselves?”
The letter also mentions that MSNBC suspended Baldwin’s show for two weeks after he made anti-gay remarks on the streets of New York off the air, while “Mr. Bashir’s violent rhetoric” was displayed on the air.
The letter concludes by saying, “Americans deserve to know that your network doesn’t condone violent and hateful rhetoric directed at anyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or political persuasion.”