Media Matters for America summary, April 17, 2007
 
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:03:04 -0400


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<p>Here are today's news items from <i>Media Matters for America</i>, 
click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story.</p>
<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/2008_elections?src=other">2008 Elections</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170009?src=other"><em>Wash. Post</em>'s Balz alleged "Clinton fatigue" but did not quote anyone tired of Clintons</a></b><br />
In an April 17 <i>Washington
Post</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/16/AR2007041601705.html">article</a>
about recent fundraising reports from several presidential candidates,
including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), staff writer Dan Balz claimed: "Among Democrats, a
sense of &#39;Clinton fatigue&#39; has led some major fundraisers to
reassess with whom they want to align." The phrase "Clinton fatigue," despite appearing in quotes, was
not attributed to anyone cited in the article, and Balz did not provide any
additional information to support the notion of "Clinton fatigue." Additionally, though
Balz reported that Sen. John McCain&#39;s (R-AZ) first-quarter fundraising
was "anemic," he did not raise the possibility of "McCain
fatigue."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170003?src=other">Townhall.com cartoon shows bin Laden wearing "Obama 2008" button</a></b><br />
A sidebar on the conservative website
Townhall.com features a cartoon of a bearded man with a rifle -- presumably Al Qaeda
leader <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/binladen.section.html">Osama bin Laden</a> --
wearing a button that reads "Obama 2008." In the image, the man is
smiling and giving a thumbs-up. As of April 17, the sidebar appears aside every column on
the website and invites visitors to "Click Here" for "More
Funnies." The image is linked to Townhall.com&#39;s "<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.townhall.com/Funnies/Default.aspx">The Funnies</a>," a collection of
political cartoons by "Townhall.com Cartoonists."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170003?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/race_affirmative_action?src=other">Race/Affirmative Action</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170014?src=other">Boortz, who's said congresswoman "looks like a ghetto slut," blasted "denigration of black women through rap music"</a></b><br />
On the April 16 broadcast of his
nationally syndicated radio show, Neal Boortz responded to a <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704120004?src=other">statement</a> released by <i>Media Matters for America</i> President and
CEO David Brock identifying Boortz as one of many sources of bigotry in the
media by asking, "[T]hat George Soros-funded group <i>Media Matters</i>, who are they going to focus
on next?" In fact, <i>Media Matters</i>
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704130012?src=other">has not</a> received funding from progressive
philanthropist George Soros.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170014?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170006?src=other">Debbie Schlussel suspected VA Tech shooter might be a "Paki," part of "terrorist attack"</a></b><br />
Responding to the April 16 mass shooting at Virginia Tech,
right-wing pundit <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/search_results?qstring=Debbie+Schlussel">Debbie Schlussel</a> "speculat[ed]" in
an April 16 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/04/who_is_the_asia.html">weblog post</a> that the shooter, who had
been identified at that point only as a man of Asian descent, might be a
"Paki" Muslim and part of
"a coordinated terrorist attack." "Paki" is a
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paki">disparaging</a> term for a person of
Pakistani descent.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/war_in_iraq?src=other">War in Iraq</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170007?src=other">CBS' Schieffer let Cheney falsely claim Reid is "adamantly opposed to any funding for the troops"</a></b><br />
On <em>Face the
Nation</em>, Bob Schieffer
did not challenge Vice
President Dick Cheney's false claim that Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid "now has said he's adamantly opposed to any funding for the
troops." In fact,
Reid voted for the supplemental funding bill that the Senate passed March 29.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170010?src=other">Myths and Falsehoods: Congressional war spending bills</a></b><br />
The House of
Representatives <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll186.xml">passed</a>
an emergency supplemental spending bill on March 23 that provides nearly $100
billion for the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
In addition to appropriating funding,
the bill includes a series of <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032300531.html">provisions</a>
that mandate standards for training, equipping, and resting combat troops;
establish security benchmarks for the Iraqi government; and, most notably,
require that U.S. combat
forces begin to withdraw from Iraq
in March 2008 and leave Iraq
completely by September 1, 2008. On March 29, the Senate <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&amp;session=1&amp;vote=00126">passed</a>
a similar spending bill that provides funds for both wars and also <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/29/us.iraq.ap/index.html">mandates</a>
that U.S. troops begin redeploying from Iraq within 120 days of the bill&#39;s
passage, with a nonbinding goal of ending combat operations in Iraq by March
31, 2008. In reporting on the subsequent standoff between Congress and the
White House stemming from the inclusion of these withdrawal plans, media
figures and news outlets have uncritically reported numerous baseless and
misleading criticisms that Bush and members of his administration have directed
toward the Democratic leadership: 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170010?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/propaganda_noise_machine?src=other">Propaganda/Noise Machine</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170012?src=other">Savage called <em>Media Matters'</em> David Brock "a straight-out maniac"</a></b><br />
On the April 13 broadcast of his nationally
syndicated radio show, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/michaelsavage?src=other">Michael Savage</a> said of <i>Media Matters for America</i>:
"They&#39;re people who attack me. It&#39;s run by a homosexual
activist who hates anybody in the media who does not kowtow to the homosexual
agenda." Referring to <i>Media
Matters&#39;</i> CEO and President David
 Brock, Savage added, "The man who runs it is, in my
opinion, a straight-out maniac. He would belong much more happily in the
ex-Soviet Union." Savage has previously <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200702280010?src=other">referred</a> to <i>Media Matters</i> as "a gay website that attacks me every
day" and <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704120012?src=other">called</a> Brock "a
psychopath." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170012?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170015?src=other">On <em>O'Reilly Factor</em>, Bruce alleged left-wing hit list of conservative media figures</a></b><br />
On the April 16 edition of his television show, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/billoreilly?src=other">Bill
O&#39;Reilly</a> invited Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce to
comment on the firing of Don Imus, which, according to O&#39;Reilly,
"has metastasized into an ideological witch-hunt by evil forces."
Bruce asserted that "small groups of people" are engaged in an
"effort" to "silence[]" and "destroy[]"
"people who are not intimidated" and that these groups "have
a list of individuals that are to be targeted." She said to
O&#39;Reilly, "[W]ell, you&#39;re on it of course." She
continued: "We start with [right-wing pundit Ann] Coulter a few months ago, and it&#39;s moved
to Imus. And of course, they will move down their list, because we&#39;re
moving into this election." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170015?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/government_and_elections?src=other">Government and Elections</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170005?src=other">Pelosi didn't botch Israeli message to Syria; U.S. media did</a></b><br />
In reports repeating <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/search_results?qstring=pelosi+syria+israel">false and baseless attacks</a>
on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#39;s (D-CA) recent trip to Syria, major media outlets continue
to omit an important fact that undermines those attacks. According to a <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/844730.html">report</a> Israeli newspaper <i>Ha&#39;aretz</i> published before
Pelosi&#39;s visit to Syria, the
real message Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked Pelosi to deliver to
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was that Israel
has no plans to launch a pre-emptive military strike on Syria this summer. Three members of
Pelosi&#39;s congressional delegation, including Pelosi herself, have since
confirmed this was the message they received from Olmert. Yet outside of a
single Associated Press report, major American news organizations have
altogether ignored what appears to have been the essential element of
Olmert&#39;s message, even as they reported a "clarification" by
Olmert&#39;s office stating that Israel&#39;s policy toward Syria remained the same as it was
before Pelosi&#39;s visit. 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/immigration?src=other">Immigration</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170013?src=other">O'Reilly: VA Beach will have "more dead girls" if mayor, police chief aren't fired</a></b><br />
On the April 11 edition of his nationally syndicated radio
show, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/billoreilly?src=other">Bill
O&#39;Reilly</a> again attacked Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf,
claiming that "she has no clue at all" and stating: "[T]he
honest reporting is that Mayor Oberndorf has no clue, none, shouldn&#39;t be
there and neither should the police chief. And that&#39;s the truth. And if
you don&#39;t get them out of there, you&#39;re gonna have more dead girls
in the street." O&#39;Reilly made the comment while discussing a March 30
automobile <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=122113&amp;ran=7606">crash</a> that resulted in
the deaths of two teenage girls, reportedly at the hands of an illegal
immigrant who said he had been drinking the night of the accident.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170013?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/gun_control_second_amendment?src=other">Gun Control/Second Amendment</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170011?src=other">Ignoring McCain and White House, <em>LA Times</em> claimed gun rights advocates "generally kept their heads down" following VA Tech shooting</a></b><br />
In an April 17 article headlined "<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-gunlaw17apr17,1,2333005.story?coll=la-headlines-politics">Gun
control debate resumes, on one side</a>," the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> asserted that
"Monday&#39;s deadly rampage at Virginia Tech sparked a largely one-sided
response in the long-running debate over guns." The article continued: "Gun control
advocates said the shootings pointed to the need for tougher laws, while
supporters of gun rights generally kept their heads down." As evidence, the <i>Times</i> simply reported that Rep. Carolyn
McCarthy (D-NY) "added a political note to her statement of sympathy.
&#39;The unfortunate situation in Virginia
could have been avoided if congressional leaders stood up to the gun
lobby.&#39; " But, in fact, gun rights
supporters hardly "kept their heads down." In the aftermath of the
mass shooting, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), White House deputy press secretary Dana
Perino, and various conservatives reiterated their belief in a "right to
bear arms."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170011?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/ethics?src=other">Ethics</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170008?src=other">McClatchy article recycled weekly's claims against Feinstein without noting inaccuracy in report</a></b><br />
In an April 13 McClatchy Newspapers <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/michael_doyle/17075217.htm">article</a>, reporter
Michael Doyle reported on freelance writer Peter Byrne&#39;s <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein/feinstein-resigns.html" title="blocked::http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein/feinstein-resigns.html">repeated</a> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein/" title="blocked::http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein/">claims</a> made in the Bay Area&#39;s free <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.metroactive.com/index.html" title="blocked::http://www.metroactive.com/index.html"><i>Metro</i></a> weekly
newspaper that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) had a conflict of interest
"by serving through last year as chair and ranking member of the Senate&#39;s
military construction appropriations subcommittee (MILCON) at the same time
that her husband had financial interests in two firms that rely on defense
contracts." Doyle wrote, "The Metro stories also contended that
Feinstein had &#39;resigned&#39; from the military construction
subcommittee, suggesting she departed under pressure." But Doyle did not
note a central falsehood in Byrne&#39;s reporting: His second <i>Metro</i> article bore the sub-headline
"Senator exits MILCON following <i>Metro</i>
expos&eacute;, vet-care scandal." But, in fact, Feinstein did not leave the
subcommittee "following [the] Metro expos&eacute;." The Senate
Appropriations Committee announced its new subcommittee assignments in a January 10 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.ntra.com/content_pac.aspx?type=pac&amp;style=red&amp;id=22762" title="blocked::http://www.ntra.com/content_pac.aspx?type=pac&amp;style=red&amp;id=22762">press release</a> --
approximately two weeks <i>before</i>
the first of Byrne&#39;s articles appeared in the January 24-30 edition of <i>Metro</i>. That press release did
not list Feinstein as a member of MILCON. It
reported that she is a member of the following subcommittees: agriculture, rural development, and FDA; commerce, justice, and
science; defense; energy and water development; transportation and Housing and
Urban Development; and interior and environment.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704170008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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