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.

2008 Elections

Hannity teased "Clinton Chapters" segment about "the strange and unanswered questions involving the death of Vince Foster"
On the July 19 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity promised to discuss "the strange and unanswered questions involving the death of Vince Foster" on the July 22 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America, which he hosts. Hannity announced the segment as the latest installment of "The Clinton Chapters," an ongoing series on Hannity's America, the assertions of which Media Matters for America has repeatedly debunked. The segment Hannity teased follows his assertion on the previous week's edition of Hannity's America that "the death of Vince Foster" is a "chapter[] remaining open" for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). In fact, Foster's death has been conclusively determined to be a suicide. The Office of the Independent Counsel -- then headed by Kenneth Starr -- completed its inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Foster's death with a report issued on October 11, 1997, which concluded that "based on investigation and analysis of the evidentiary record, that Mr. Foster committed suicide by gunshot in Fort Marcy Park" in Virginia. Read more

CBSNews.com article falsely claimed Obama knocked Edwards for "mak[ing] millions as a trial lawyer"
A July 18 CBSNews.com article on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) July 18 speech about poverty in urban areas asserted, "At one point, Obama seemed to take aim at [former Sen. John] Edwards [D-NC], who has tried to make poverty the main issue of his candidacy." The article quoted Obama -- "This kind of poverty is not an issue I just discovered for the purposes of a campaign; it is the cause that led me to a life of public service almost twenty-five years ago" -- and went on to make the following false assertion: "In fact, Obama pointed out he turned down lucrative offers at major law firms to return to the south side of Chicago as a community organizer, while Edwards went on to make millions as a trial lawyer before beginning his career in public service." But in the speech, Obama did not, in fact, mention turning down offers from law firms, and while the article suggested Obama criticized Edwards for making "millions as a trial lawyer before beginning his career in public service," Obama did no such thing. The full audio of Obama's speech is here. Read more

Hannity gets "Worst Person" runner-up for saying that Whitewater, Vince Foster death are "chapters remaining open"
On the July 19 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named Fox News host Sean Hannity the "runner-up" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for comments Hannity made during the "Clinton Chapters" segment of the July 15 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America, in which, as Media Matters for America documented, Hannity asserted that "there are still many chapters remaining open from [Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY)] time at the Rose Law Firm. Take Whitewater and the death of Vince Foster." Olbermann responded: "No, there aren't. That's what the last of three special prosecutors concluded after six years and $60 million spent investigating her." Indeed, Foster's death has been conclusively determined to have been a suicide, and after extensive investigations, three different Republican independent counsels determined that there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges against the Clintons in the Whitewater matter. Read more

MSNBC's Carlson claimed Obama's sex-ed policy provides "powerful fodder to deride him"
On the July 19 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson asserted that Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) support of "sex education for primary school kids would seem to provide Obama's political opponents with powerful fodder to deride him, as [former Vice President] Al Gore was once derided for inventing the Internet, or [1988 Democratic presidential nominee] Michael Dukakis was once for furloughing Willie Horton." Read more

CNN's King reported Bush admin. attack on Clinton over Iraq request, but not her response
On the July 19 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, guest host John King reported that the Pentagon issued "a stinging rebuke of Senator Hillary Clinton [D-NY]" in which Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman -- a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney -- accused Clinton of "promoting enemy propaganda by asking questions about the U.S. exit strategy in Iraq." King added that the "Associated Press reports" that Edelman "sent that biting reply this week to Senator Clinton about questions she asked the Pentagon back in May." But King did not report Clinton's response and gave no indication that he had attempted to contact Clinton. Clinton's response was readily available and included in the AP report King cited. Read more

NRO's Lopez predicted a Givhan cleavage article a year ago
In a July 20 Washington Post Style section article, headlined "Hillary Clinton's Tentative Dip Into New Neckline Territory," staff writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Robin Givhan wrote that "There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon on C-SPAN2. It belonged to Sen. Hillary Clinton." Givhan added that it was a "startling" display for Clinton, "someone who has been so publicly ambivalent about style, image and the burdens of both," called Clinton's look "unnerving," and asserted "[t]he last time Clinton wore anything that was remotely sexy in a public setting surely must have been more than a decade ago." Givhan wrote, "[I]t was more like catching a man with his fly unzipped. Just look away!" Read more

War in Iraq

Claiming Media Matters is "very angry at me," a broken-hearted Scarborough still insists "no underlying crime" in Plame case
As Media Matters for America noted, on the July 18 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, during a discussion of the CIA leak case with conservative columnist Robert D. Novak, host Joe Scarborough falsely suggested that White House senior adviser Karl Rove was not involved in leaking the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame. On the July 19 edition of the show, on which Novak again appeared, Scarborough claimed that Media Matters was "very upset because of my interview yesterday with Bob Novak, talking about the narrative that the left wing had for a very long time that this whole Valerie Plame leak was a diabolical plot hatched by Karl Rove." Introducing Novak, Scarborough said he was "[h]ere to clear that up and talk about his book, Prince of Darkness" [Crown Forum, July 2007], and, in fact, in response to questioning from Scarborough, Novak acknowledged that Rove was his confirming source. Nonetheless, the two continued to push the false claim, made frequently by defenders of the administration in the media, that special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald -- in Scarborough's words -- "knew that no crime, no underlying crime had been committed" and yet persisted with the investigation that resulted in the conviction of former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false claims. Read more

Fox News' Griffin reported that anti-war lawmakers missed Petraeus briefing, but not their reasons
During the July 19 edition of Fox News' Special Report, national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that several Democratic members of Congress who are "pushing for a troop withdrawal" were "[n]otably absent" from a briefing by Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. Griffin reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV), and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (DE) did not attend the briefing. However, Pelosi, Reid, and Biden have all publicly explained their absences, which Griffin did not report. Nor did Griffin report, as other news outlets have, that several Democratic senators said they were unaware of the briefing because the Bush administration "blast faxed" the invitations to the publicly listed fax numbers for their Senate offices. Read more

CNN's Quijano and Phillips uncritically reported Bush charge that Democrats are denying troops' pay increase
On the July 20 edition of CNN Newsroom, during the 11 a.m. ET hour, correspondent Elaine Quijano uncritically reported that President Bush "essentially admonished lawmakers for failure to come to an agreement on the defense authorization bill," and aired Bush's statement, "Even members of Congress who no longer support our effort in Iraq should at least be able to provide an increase in pay for our troops fighting there." Quijano did not mention Bush's strong opposition -- asserted merely two months ago -- to any pay increase above 3 percent. Nor did she note that the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 itself does not take effect until October 1 and the pay raise provision, not until January 2008, as Media Matters for America noted. Read more

Propaganda/Noise Machine

Savage distorted facts to claim double standard by "this hate group, Media Matters"
On the July 18 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Michael Savage likened the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) criticism of controversial comments by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) to his own July 16 remarks regarding Ellison and stated: "What's interesting is that the ADL agrees with me, and yet this hate group, Media Matters, the homosexual radicals, don't attack the ADL. Isn't that interesting?" Savage was referring to a July 17 Media Matters for America item that focused on a comment he made seconds after his initial criticism of Ellison, a Muslim congressman, for his speech to an atheist organization in which he equated the Bush administration's response to the September 11 attacks to Adolf Hitler's accumulation of power following the 1933 destruction of the Reichstag. After decrying Ellison's remarks as "diminishing what was done to the people by Hitler," Savage went on to say: "Now what would a devout Muslim radical have in common with atheists? Answer: hatred of Christianity and hatred of Jews." Read more

CNN's Situation Room continues to equate conservatives with "values voters"
On the July 19 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, during a segment discussing reports that Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) lobbied in the early 1990s on behalf of a group trying to ease restrictions on federal funding to groups that engage in abortion counseling, CNN correspondent Tom Foreman asserted: "Fred Thompson certainly sounds like a conservative opposed to abortion rights," adding: "And, when he officially jumps into the race for the White House, he's counting on the support of values voters." As Media Matters for America has documented, CNN reporters, generally on The Situation Room, have repeatedly linked "values" and religious faith with conservatives or those opposing abortion rights: Read more

O'Reilly again asserted that "hate-filled" Daily Kos "rivals the KKK and Nazi websites"
During the July 19 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, while discussing JetBlue's demand that its logo be removed from the homepage of the YearlyKos convention, host Bill O'Reilly said of the blog Daily Kos: "[T]he hate this site traffics in rivals the KKK and Nazi websites." In recent days, O'Reilly has repeatedly criticized JetBlue's decision to provide several travel vouchers to the convention organizers and compared Daily Kos to the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. As Media Matters for America noted, O'Reilly responded to a viewer complaint on the July 17 edition of The O'Reilly Factor by asserting that "[t]he comparison is valid" and that "[t]hat website traffics in [hate], as do the Nazi websites. No difference." O'Reilly further asserted during the July 19 program, "Unfortunately, some Americans do wallow in hate. So an Internet site can do some business peddling that garbage, and there are a few radio and ... TV performers ... who make a living smearing people as well. But corporations and powerful people must understand their responsibility to reject the haters and not support them in any way." Read more

National Security/Foreign Policy

A year later, Morgan still defending her comments about NY Times' Keller and treason
On the July 20 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, right-wing radio host Melanie Morgan said, "I still believe" that "anybody who leaks or publishes classified data in a time of war in highly successful program such as the SWIFT [bank-tracking program], they should be tried for treason. If they were found guilty of treason, I would have no problem with them being executed." Morgan was referring to comments she made on the June 26, 2006, edition of Hardball following the publication of a New York Times article three days earlier describing a secret Bush administration program designed to monitor international financial transactions by tapping into a database maintained by a banking consortium known as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). After a commercial break on the July 20 Hardball, Morgan again defended her comments about Keller and the Times. Guest host Mike Barnacle responded: "You're kidding, right?" Read more

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