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

Matthews' post-forum pressing issues: Edwards' size, Clinton's voice
During MSNBC's August 7 coverage of the AFL-CIO Democratic presidential forum, host Chris Matthews asked Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson about former Sen. John Edwards' (NC) performance: "Why did they seem to be glancing blows that didn't grab the audience? Is the fact that he's a small man -- I mean, literally, physically?" Robinson responded: "He's not physically that small." Later, MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan said that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) sometimes "moves from being strong to being strident," and that "she was getting close to it toward the end." After he added, "She didn't go too high," Matthews interrupted, saying, "You didn't hear the fingernails on the blackboard. ... You didn't hear them." Matthews then asked the panel, which also included former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, "You all agree?" Read more

Kurtz claimed he "didn't see anyone reporting that Obama wanted to invade Pakistan"
In the August 8 edition of his column, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz noted Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) August 6 statement that he "never called for an invasion of Pakistan" in his August 1 foreign policy speech and that "the misreporting that was done needs to be cleared up." Kurtz described Obama as "blaming the media" and responded: "I sure didn't see anyone reporting that Obama wanted to invade Pakistan." Kurtz continued: "I read that he would be willing to conduct raids against al-Qaeda without necessarily getting permission from Pakistan's sovereign government." In fact, numerous media outlets have reported that Obama, in the August 1 speech, stated that he was willing to "invade Pakistan." Read more

Discussing poll question on Clinton's "warmth," Matthews said: "She has to smile when she puts the knife in"
On the August 7 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, prior to the AFL-CIO's Democratic candidates' forum airing on MSNBC later that day, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell referred to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finding that 39 percent of respondents said they "feel positive" toward Clinton on the issue of her "warmth and compassion," while 30 percent said they "feel negative." Saying that Clinton's "negatives are still so high on warmth and compassion," Mitchell asserted that Clinton "has to show some personality and some likability, because she really has to show that she's approachable and a little bit softer than she's been in the past." Hardball host Chris Matthews replied: "I know. She has to smile when she puts the knife in." Read more

Politico claimed that McCain "has generally avoided tough partisan rhetoric"
In an August 6 article headlined "Republicans' offense is their best defense," Politico senior political writer Jonathan Martin asserted that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), "who has generally avoided tough partisan rhetoric, recently indulged in some shots at the expense of" Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). McCain, however, has frequently launched partisan attacks against Democrats, including his assertion that leading Democrats have "embrace[d] the policy of surrender" in Iraq. Read more

Health Care

Discussing what public wants in health care, Luntz left out top priority
On the August 7 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Sean Hannity answered Alan Colmes' question, "Most people want national health care. Don't they?" with a flat "No." Colmes said he wanted guest Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, to answer his question. Luntz did not answer whether the public wanted "national health care," instead claiming that people want "control. What they want is the ability to determine their doctor, their hospital, their pharmaceutical plan, and their insurance company." In fact, polling from May and June found that a majority of the public wants a national health insurance program. Moreover, one of those polls, conducted by a Democratic polling firm, found that a majority of likely voters favored universal health insurance even if it limited choices among health care providers. Read more

Religious Discrimination

Dietl on racial profiling: "[I]f I see two guys that look like Aba Daba Doo and Aba Daba Dah, I'm gonna pull 'em over"
On the August 7 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, Fox News contributor Richard "Bo" Dietl, a private investigator and former New York City Police Department detective, stated: "[I]f I see two guys that look like Aba Daba Doo and Aba Daba Dah, I'm gonna pull 'em over, and I wanna find out what you're doing." Dietl and host Neil Cavuto were discussing the arrest of two college students from Kuwait and Egypt who were allegedly found with pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base in South Carolina. Read more

National Security/Foreign Policy

CNN reported Army's recruiting goal without noting previous CNN report on new recruiting incentives
During the August 7 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, guest host Suzanne Malveaux reported: "The Pentagon says for the first time in two months the U.S. Army expects to meet its recruiting goals. Initial tallies show the Army with 9,000 new recruits for July." Malveaux did not report, however, that a change in Pentagon policy may have assisted the Pentagon in meeting these numbers. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reported on the July 30 edition of The Situation Room that "the Army has been having trouble signing up new recruits. So, it has got a new idea: a $20,000 bonus if you sign up and you agree to ship out for training within 30 days." A U.S. Army statement dated August 2 said: Read more

Gibson radio producer called his Edwards comments "a poor choice of words"
On the August 7 edition of Fox News host John Gibson's nationally syndicated radio program, the show's executive producer, known on air as "Angry Rich," described as "a poor choice of words" his August 3 statement -- documented by Media Matters for America -- that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards "whored his wife's cancer as a fundraising gimmick." Read more

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