Media Matters for America summary, July 24, 2007
 
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:03:08 -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/200707240007?src=other">Drudge,  MSNBC "fact-checker" Warren detect Clinton contradiction in  completely consistent statements</a></b><br />
Referring to a statement by Sen. Hillary 
Rodham Clinton (D-NY) 
during the July 23 CNN/YouTube Democratic presidential debate, Internet 
gossip Matt Drudge <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/07/24/20070724_153340.htm" title="http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/07/24/20070724_153340.htm">posted</a> two links, one on top of the 
other: "JULY: Clinton 
slams Obama for willingness to meet with troublesome world 
leaders..." and "APRIL: Clinton 
would begin diplomatic discussions with troublesome world leaders..." -- 
suggesting that Clinton had contradicted herself. But there is no 
inconsistency between the comments Clinton reportedly made in April and her July 
23 statement. During a July 24 appearance on MSNBC, <i>Chicago Tribune</i> managing editor Jim Warren 
echoed Drudge by 
asserting that Clinton&#39;s statements are contradictory.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240008?src=other">Claiming  he's no "partisan hack," Cohen equated Edwards' haircut with Thompson's  lobbying</a></b><br />
In his July 24 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301386.html?nav=rss_opinions/columnsandblogs" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301386.html?nav=rss_opinions/columnsandblogs">column</a>, <i>Washington Post</i> columnist Richard Cohen 
equated the reported assertion by former Sen. Fred Thompson 
(R-TN) through a 
spokesman that Thompson did not 
lobby for the <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nfprha.org/" title="http://www.nfprha.org/">National 
Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association</a> (NFPRHA) 
with what Cohen claimed was former Sen. John Edwards&#39; (D-NC) statement that he 
did not know the cost of expensive haircuts that he received. Cohen alleged that 
Thompson had "lied," while Edwards -- whom Cohen stated he was discussing 
"[l]est you think I am some sort of partisan hack" -- had shown an "apparent 
willingness to trim the truth." However, 
while Thompson&#39;s spokesman 
has reportedly withdrawn the claim that "Fred Thompson did not 
lobby for [the NFPRHA], period," 
Edwards&#39; campaign has 
reportedly said that he 
didn&#39;t know what the haircuts cost because a personal assistant paid, an 
assertion that Cohen did not conclusively 
rebut.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240008?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/200707240005?src=other">O'Reilly  compared Daily Kos to Capone, Mussolini</a></b><br />
On the July 23 edition 
of Fox News&#39; <i>The O&#39;Reilly Factor,</i> 
responding to Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers&#39; assertion that "there&#39;s a lot 
of stuff that [<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.dailykos.com/" title="http://www.dailykos.com/">Daily 
Kos</a> bloggers] do that isn&#39;t horrible," host <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/billoreilly?src=other" title="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/people/billoreilly">Bill O&#39;Reilly</a> said: "It&#39;s kind of like Al 
Capone." O&#39;Reilly continued: "We&#39;ll only do bad things on Thursday, and we&#39;ll 
slaughter a bunch of people, but on Friday we&#39;ll go to church." In response to 
Powers&#39; statement that "there&#39;s a lot of good diaries put up there," O&#39;Reilly 
said: "[Former Italian fascist dictator Benito] Mussolini made the <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/trains.htm" title="http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/trains.htm">trains run on time</a>." 

<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707250001?src=other">Angle's report on  Gonzales hearing falsely identified Specter as a  Democrat</a></b><br />
On the July 24 edition of Fox News&#39; 
<i>Special Report with Brit Hume</i>, 
on-screen text identified Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) as a Democrat during a report from chief 
Washington 
correspondent Jim Angle about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales&#39; July 24 testimony before the Senate 
Judiciary Committee. 
The text appeared during footage of Specter telling Gonzales that the committee 
would be reviewing his testimony about a May 10, 2004, confrontation over the 
Bush administration&#39;s 
warrantless domestic 
wiretapping program to "see if your credibility has been breached to 
the point of being actionable." Angle introduced the footage of Specter as an 
example of "other[]" senators who "urged the attorney general to correct his testimony, vaguely 
warning of legal action." At no time during Angle&#39;s report did anyone say that Specter was, in fact, a 
Republican.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707250001?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/200707240004?src=other">Cheney biographer  Hayes' pattern of falsely defending the Bush administration's  Iraq  policy</a></b><br />
On the July 23 broadcast of NBC&#39;s 
<i>Today</i>, co-host Matt Lauer 
interviewed <i>Weekly Standard</i> 
writer Stephen F. Hayes, author of the forthcoming biography <i><a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061337048/Cheney/index.aspx" title="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061337048/Cheney/index.aspx">Cheney: The Untold Story of America&#39;s Most Powerful 
and Controversial Vice President</a></i>. Lauer noted 
that Vice President Dick 
Cheney "does not like to do a lot of interviews, does not like to 
talk about himself, does not like to share personal feelings, and yet he sat 
down for 30 hours of interviews with you." Lauer continued: "You&#39;ve admitted you 
were somewhat sympathetic to the vice president going in. So, do you think he 
felt this was his best chance to get this written the way he&#39;d want it written?" 
Hayes replied: "I think that&#39;s probably true." To claim that Hayes, however, is 
"somewhat sympathetic to the vice president" drastically understates the 
steadfast support Hayes has shown Cheney and the Bush administration on foreign policy, and particularly on the 
Iraq war -- support based on 
falsehoods and distortions and that has been touted by Cheney 
himself.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240004?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/polling?src=other">Polling</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240006?src=other">MSNBC's Morales  selectively cited polling on  congressional  approval --  and misidentified it</a></b><br />
On the July 24 "Super Tuesday" 
edition of <i>MSNBC Live</i>, host 
Natalie Morales falsely asserted that 
"the latest poll out of 
<i>The 
Washington 
Post</i> shows that there is an all-time low 
of 14 percent of approval for lawmakers in Congress right now." 
Morales then asked, 
"Why is that not affecting Democrats 
more?" In fact, "the latest 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/ssi/polls/postpoll_072307.html" title="http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/ssi/polls/postpoll_072307.html">poll</a> out 
of <i>The 
Washington 
Post</i>" and 
ABC News, 
conducted July 18-21, 
found a 37 percent 
approval rating for Congress.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240006?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/200707240003?src=other">CNN ignored evidence of GOP obstructionism, allowed McConnell to attack Dems</a></b><br />
On the July 23 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0707/23/sitroom.01.html" title="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0707/23/sitroom.01.html">edition</a> of CNN&#39;s <i>The Situation Room</i>, CNN congressional
correspondent Dana Bash referred to the "narrative that we&#39;ve heard more
and more from the Republicans here, which is that they say the Democratic
Congress simply isn&#39;t getting anything done." Bash then showed a video
clip of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) asserting that "the
American people are looking at this Congress and saying, &#39;Where&#39;s the
legislation? What are you going to do to make America better?&#39; " But
in airing the GOP claim that the Democratic leadership "isn&#39;t
getting anything done" -- which Bash did not challenge -- she ignored the
Republicans&#39; record of blocking legislation proposed by the Democratic
majority in the Senate. Indeed, as McClatchy Newspapers <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18218.html" title="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18218.html">reported</a> on July 20:
"This year Senate Republicans are threatening filibusters to block more
legislation than ever before." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200707240003?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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