By Scott Whitlock
Senior News Analyst

In April, CBS and NBC found no time to cover the protests against Michelle Obama’s planned graduation speech to high school students in Kansas. But both networks on Monday hyped the bullying of Condoleezza Rice from speaking to Rutgers University. Some of protest signs included an ugly caricature of the first female African American Secretary of State. Instead of discussing this, CBS This Morning journalist Elaine Quijano reported that “some felt” Rice “didn’t deserve the honors because she championed war in Iraq and supported harsh questioning of detainees.” [MP3 audio here.]

Quijano included two clips of liberal students chanting, “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Condi Rice has got to go!” She then featured a clip of a professor deriding, “A person who has condoned and been involved in torture is not an appropriate person to receive an honorary degree of laws, no less.”

On Sunday Today, David Gregory did find it to be a “surprise” that “otherwise progressive institutions take a stand that they don’t want to hear certain people’s points of view.” But he then quickly explained away the protests: “But I think that, certainly on college campuses, it’s still an issue that resonates. And the legacy of the war and some of those feelings have not abated.”

Almost shrugging, he added, “So, you know, figures, major figures in the Bush administration are going to be subjected to that kind of protest.”

Neither NBC nor CBS reporters discussed the protest signs that showcased Rice with large buck teeth. (CBS featured them on-screen with no comment.)

In April, students in Kansas objected to having Michelle Obama at their commencement, fearing it would lead to a single ceremony that limited the number of guests. All three networks avoided this development, thus dismissing it as a controversy.

Journalist Juan Williams slammed Rutgers for treating a conservative African American so poorly:

See Video and Read More: http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/cbs-downplays-ugly-side-protests-against-condoleezza-rices-commencement-address