Here are today's news items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story.

Propaganda/Noise Machine

MSNBC's Corke claimed "the White House has remained consistent" in criticizing both parties for going to Syria
In an April 4 report on the White House's criticism of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) decision to meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, MSNBC correspondent Kevin Corke claimed that "the White House has been fairly consistent on this particular issue." Corke noted that the Bush administration views such visits as sending "sort of a mixed message," adding that "there have been other delegations that have gone there, including some Republicans, and yet the White House has remained consistent." But, contrary to Corke's claim, the White House's public statements have been entirely inconsistent -- initially chiding Pelosi while remaining silent about a Republican-led delegation to Damascus on April 1, and only recently denouncing these trips in general terms without singling out any Republican members of Congress who went on them. As Media Matters for America has noted, numerous news outlets have reported the White House's attacks on Pelosi without also reporting on the GOP-led trip to Syria. Read more

CNN trumpeted baseless accusation against Pelosi from "bombshell" Wash. Post editorial
On the April 5 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN International's U.S. affairs editor Jill Dougherty repeated the baseless accusation from an April 5 Washington Post editorial that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had, in Dougherty's words, "allegedly botch[ed] a message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert" about Israel's willingness to begin peace talks with Syria. Dougherty called the editorial a "bombshell," and on-screen text during the report referred to a "'Pratfall in Damascus,' " the headline of the Post editorial. Although Dougherty noted that Pelosi's staff disputed the accusations in the Post editorial, she left out other statements Pelosi made at her April 4 press conference with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, which were reported in the Post's news pages. As Media Matters for America documented, those statements undermine the Post editorial's assertion that Pelosi "misrepresented Israel's position" by failing to communicate to Assad that Israel continues to demand that Syria cease its support of groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah prior to negotiations. Read more

Media quoted criticism of Pelosi for wearing headscarf in Middle East without noting that Rice, Laura Bush have also done so
News reports in the Associated Press and the New York Post, and an editorial in Investor's Business Daily, quoted Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) by saying that "being seen in a head scarf and so forth is sending the wrong signal to the people of Syria and to the people of the Middle East," without noting that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and first lady Laura Bush have both done the same when visiting the Middle East. Read more

Koppel called "[c]ongressional Republicans" "critics" of Pelosi's trip; did not note uncritical Republicans who also went to Syria
On the April 4 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, while reporting on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) visit to Syria, CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel stated, "Congressional Republicans accuse Speaker Pelosi of acting like the secretary of state." Koppel did not note that a congressional Republican accompanied Pelosi to Syria as part of her Mideast trip delegation. Additionally, Koppel's report included no commentary from anyone speaking in support of the speaker. Koppel is the latest CNN reporter to fail to report that a Republican-led delegation met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on April 1, or that after returning from the trip, Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL) was quoted in an April 4 Associated Press article disagreeing with White House objections to Pelosi's trip. Aderholt was quoted as saying: "This is an area where we would disagree with the administration." Read more

CNN's Malveaux asked if Pelosi's trip to Syria is "big wet kiss to President Al-Assad"
On the April 4 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, guest host Suzanne Malveaux again asserted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had "no official capacity to negotiate" during her visit to Syria. Malveaux then asked Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the United States, why anyone should "see" Pelosi's trip as "any more [than] a political stunt here, a publicity stunt, a big wet kiss to [Syrian] President [Bashar] Al-Assad?" As Media Matters for America noted, Malveaux made similar comments on the April 3 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, saying that Pelosi had no "standing" and was not acting in an "official capacity" despite Democratic strategist Paul Begala's assertion that "Pelosi has standing. She's the speaker of the House," and Malveaux herself noting that Pelosi "will be the highest level U.S. official ever to meet with Assad." Read more

Wash. Post editorial omitted key facts from Post news report that undermine its attack on Pelosi
In an April 5 editorial, The Washington Post left out the full content of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) statements to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, as reported by the Post itself, which would have undermined the editorial's attack on Pelosi for telling Assad that Israel was ready to negotiate. Pelosi, the editorial asserted, had "misrepresented Israel's position" when she announced, at an April 4 press conference with Assad, that she had told Assad that "Israel was ready to engage in peace talks" with Syria. "Only one problem," the editorial asserted: "The Israeli prime minister had entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message," and instead had "quickly issued" a statement that "[w]hat was communicated to [Pelosi] does not contain any change in the policies of Israel" regarding the terms under which it would negotiate with Syria. In fact, in what has become a familiar pattern, the Post editorial's assertion was undermined by reporting in the Post's own news pages. Read more

2008 Elections

Despite contrary poll data, Matthews claimed Midwestern voters "may not like people like Hillary"
On the April 3 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews responded to Republican presidential candidate Tommy Thompson's assertion that "the only way a Republican can win in 2008 is carry the Upper Midwestern states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa" by saying: "You're speaking my language. I agree with you. That is the vulnerability of a [Sen.] Hillary [Rodham Clinton (D-NY)] campaign." Matthews added: "Michigan, Ohio, those states in the industrial Midwest, they're sort of -- well, I think they're macho states. They're gun owner states. They may not like people like Hillary." Matthews did not offer any evidence to support his claim and, in fact, recent polling in Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio -- three of the four states Matthews and Thompson named -- suggests Clinton would run strongly in a general election campaign in those states: Read more

NY Daily News' Goodwin: Sen. Clinton "better put the muzzle and the leash on Bubba"
In his April 5 New York Daily News column, Michael Goodwin wrote that because Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) first-quarter fundraising total rivals that of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Clinton has "less room for error, which means she better put the muzzle and the leash on Bubba" -- a reference to Sen. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton. Read more

National Security/Foreign Policy

Wash. Post left out full extent of Hastert's circumvention of Clinton admin. in working directly with Colombians
A Washington Post article on Nancy Pelosi's recent trip to Syria reported that former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert had "infuriated the Clinton White House by working directly with Colombian police officials on their U.S. aid requests, bypassing diplomatic channels." But Hastert allegedly went further, urging Colombian military officials to circumvent the administration and work directly with Congress, even assuring them that he would work to reduce the impact of legal restrictions that Colombia objected to. Read more

Terrorism

On Beck, Politico's Allen denounced Dems for "1984"-like objection to term "war on terror" -- what about Bush admin?
On the April 4 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, Politico chief political correspondent Mike Allen agreed with host Glenn Beck's claim that a recent decision by Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee to refrain from using the term "global war on terror" amounts to "political garbage." Allen called the move "silly" and asserted that "Democrats are trying to make Iraq the president's personal war." But Allen did not say why he views Congress' efforts to clarify what funds are being appropriated for what efforts as "silly." Nor did he explain why he did not describe as "silly" the Bush administration's continued use of a term that some in the administration have criticized, and that serves to conflate efforts on different fronts, some of which -- Iraq, in particular -- are strongly opposed by the public. Read more

War in Iraq

NY Times, McClatchy uncritically reported Bush claim that congressional actions will extend troops' tours of duty
An April 4 New York Times article -- titled "Bush Blames Democrats for Impasse Over Iraq Bills" -- uncritically reported President Bush's April 3 assertion that in the Times' words, "a failure by Congress to approve the $100 billion" Bush "had requested for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would prolong some tours in Iraq and shorten time at home between tours for others." Similarly, McClatchy Newspapers reported on April 3 without refutation Bush's claim that, "[t]he bottom line is this, Congress's failure to fund our troops on the front lines will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines," and "[o]thers could see their loved ones heading back to the war sooner than they need to." In fact, although both articles noted that the House and Senate have passed funding bills (undermining Bush's accusation that it's the Congress that would be denying funding to the troops), by simply reporting Bush's claim about having to force extended tours in Iraq and curtail troops' time away from battle -- they both left out a key point: The administration has already forced extended tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has curtailed thousands of soldiers' time at home, away from a war zone -- and reports indicate that this will continue in the future. Read more

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