Media Matters for America summary, May 02, 2007
 
Date: Wed, 02 May 2007 22:03:03 -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/200705020004?src=other"><em>Tucker</em>, <em>Hannity &amp; Colmes</em> guest called on Obama to repudiate pastor's 9-11 claims, but he already has</a></b><br />
On the April 30 edition of MSNBC&#39;s <i>Tucker</i>, host Tucker Carlson called Rev.
Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Sen. Barack Obama&#39;s (D-IL) church, the Trinity
United Church of Christ in Chicago, "a full-blown hater," citing
statements by Wright in which he, according to Carlson, "attack[ed]
Israel as a racist state" and claimed the terrorist attacks of September
11, 2001, were "payback for white racism<b>.</b>"
Carlson asked MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan and nationally syndicated
radio host Bill Press, "Should Obama distance himself from Dr. Wright, and
if so, can he effectively do that?" Carlson later added: "I want
Barack Obama to be as reasonable as he seems. I really do. I have nothing
against Barack Obama at all. I like him. And I just want him to distance
himself from this stuff." Syndicated columnist Bill Press told Tucker,
"I&#39;m sure if he were sitting here and you read those quotes to
Barack Obama, he would say -- he would denounce every one of them as he has
many things that Reverend Wright has said," but at no point did Carlson or his guests note that <i>The New York Times</i>
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/us/politics/30obama.html?ex=1335585600&amp;en=e9014787da35c685&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss">reported</a> on April 30
that Obama had, in fact, stated that he specifically disagreed with
Wright&#39;s 9-11 claims, saying: "The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable
and without justification."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020004?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020008?src=other">After repeatedly touting Giuliani as 9-11 hero, Matthews wonders why people think of him that way</a></b><br />
On <em>Hardball</em>,
Chris Matthews asked, "So, why do people think [Rudy Giuliani] did serve well and perform
well, as the leader of New York,
during that crisis [9-11]?
Why do people think that?" In
fact, Matthews himself has repeatedly reinforced the notion of Giuliani's purported heroism on
9-11, calling him a "hero,"
"gutsy," and "tough."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020009?src=other">Blitzer did not challenge Martinez's claim that Republican Party raised more money than Democrats</a></b><br />
On the April 30 edition of CNN&#39;s <i>The Situation Room,</i> in response to host
Wolf Blitzer&#39;s statement that "the three Democratic front-runners
raised a lot more money than the top three Republican presidential
candidates" in <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/politics/2008_EG_FINANCES.html">quarterly earnings</a> for
the 2008 presidential election, Sen. Mel Martinez (FL) -- who is also the
chairman of the Republican National Committee -- asserted: "Well, here&#39;s
what I&#39;ll tell you, is the Republican Party raised more money than the
Democratic Party." Blitzer did not challenge Martinez&#39;s assertion. In fact, while the RNC raised more
money than the Democratic National Committee in the first quarter of 2007, the
Democratic Party raised more funds than the Republican Party during that period
overall, counting contributions to the parties&#39; House and Senate campaign
committees.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/global_warming?src=other">Global Warming</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020007?src=other">Olbermann named Beck "Worst Person" for comparing Gore to Hitler</a></b><br />
On the May 1 edition of MSNBC&#39;s <i>Countdown</i>, host Keith Olbermann named CNN
Headline News&#39; Glenn Beck the winner of his nightly "Worst Person
in the World" segment for, as <i>Media
Matters for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200705010003?f=h_side">documented</a>, comparing former Vice
President Al Gore to Adolf Hitler during the April 30 edition of his nationally
syndicated radio show. Olbermann quoted Beck:
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020001?src=other">CNN's Glenn Beck to host hour-long global warming smear-fest</a></b><br />
A CNN press release declared
that Glenn Beck's upcoming "special report" will "deflate what Beck perceives as the media hype surrounding global
warming" and "question[] the accuracy of Al Gore's claims in
the Oscar-winning documentary <em>An Inconvenient
Truth</em>." Beck has repeatedly advanced falsehoods related to
global climate change, cited debunked scientists to support his doubts that
"we're causing" global warming, and regularly attacked Gore.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020001?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020012?src=other">In preview of special, CNN host allowed Beck to repeat comparison of global warming consensus to Hitler eugenics</a></b><br />
On the May 2 edition of <i>CNN
Newsroom</i>, while previewing his May 2 special, "<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/beck.climateoffear/" title="blocked::http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/beck.climateoffear/">Exposed: The Climate of Fear</a>," CNN Headline News
host <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/glennbeck?src=other">Glenn
Beck</a> told host Don
Lemon that he is doing the special because "the scientific consensus in
Europe in the 1920s and &#39;30s was that eugenics was a good idea," adding:
"I&#39;m glad that a few people stood against eugenics." Those
comments recall <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200705010003?f=h_top">remarks</a> Beck made
on the April 30 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, in which
he likened former Vice President Al Gore&#39;s fight against global warming to
Adolf Hitler&#39;s use of eugenics as justification for exterminating 6 million
European Jews. On that program, Beck stated: "Al Gore&#39;s not going to be
rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however. The
goal is different. The goal is globalization. The goal is global carbon tax.
The goal is the United Nations running the world. That is the goal. Back in the
1930s, the goal was get rid of all of the Jews and have one global
government."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020012?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/200705020010?src=other">O'Reilly, disputing Powers' accurate account of their exchange on immigration bill: "You're crazy"</a></b><br />
On the May 1 edition of Fox News&#39; <i>The O&#39;Reilly Factor</i>, host <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/billoreilly?src=other">Bill O&#39;Reilly</a>
disputed Fox News analyst Kirsten Powers&#39; statement that the immigration
bill sponsored by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ) in 2006
contained several provisions aimed at improving border security. Powers
recalled: "I sat on this show and read a list to you of the bill of all
the different things he [Kennedy] wanted to do." O&#39;Reilly
responded: "You&#39;re crazy."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020010?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/200705020011?src=other">Meet the new Note, same as the old Note</a></b><br />
In ABC's
The Note, senior
political reporter Rick Klein wrote that "Democrats will still need to
move toward the Republican position, unless they want to shut down [Iraq] war funding." In doing so, Klein suggested that unless congressional Democrats compromise and send President Bush a bill
he finds acceptable, they will be responsible for cutting off
funding to the troops, rather than
Bush being responsible.



<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020011?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/200705020006?src=other">Schlussel claimed <em>Media Matters </em>is "Nazi-funded"</a></b><br />
In a May 1 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/05/bombs_away_hmmm.html">weblog post</a>, right-wing
pundit <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/search_results?qstring=Debbie+Schlussel">Debbie Schlussel</a> speculated that a
Canton, Michigan, resident who had <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.journalgroup.com/Canton/4214/police-investigate-after-man-injured-by-homemade-bombs">allegedly</a> suffered "extensive" injuries to his hand when a
homemade "cherry bomb" he and his friends created accidentally
exploded might be Pakistani. Asserting that "[s]ince Muslim terrorists are generally more
clandestine -- and occasionally more clever," Schlussel said that the alleged cherry bomb maker and his friends in fact "might not be
Muslim." The only basis she cited for
her speculation that they might be
Pakistani was that, according to
her, there is a "large Muslim Paki, er ... Pakistani population" in
Canton. As <i>Media Matters for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704170006?src=other">noted</a> when Schlussel used the term in an April 16 blog post, "Paki" is a <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paki">disparaging</a> term for a person of
Pakistani descent. Schlussel used the term "Paki" twice in the
May 1 post, and said in her second use
of the
term: "I would be remiss in not pointing out the large Muslim
Paki, er ... Pakistani population in Canton.
After all, I wouldn&#39;t want to disappoint my friends from the deceptively-named,
Nazi-funded
Media Matters for America."

<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705020006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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