Media Matters for America summary, September 11, 2007
 
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:03:05 -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/war_in_iraq?src=other">War in Iraq</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110008?src=other">Limbaugh  misquoted Clyburn,  identified him as "of  the Congressional Black Caucus," rather than as majority whip</a></b><br />
On his radio show, Rush 
Limbaugh asserted: "Three weeks ago, you had Jim Clyburn of the Congressional 
Black Caucus saying, 'You know, if this report is good, it presents problems for 
us,' meaning the Democrat [sic] 
Party." In fact, Clyburn did not say that good news from Iraq is 
bad news for Democrats in electoral terms, but rather that a recommendation from 
Gen. David Petraeus 
against withdrawal would impede Democrats' efforts to garner support in Congress 
for legislation to begin withdrawal. 
And while Limbaugh identified Clyburn merely as "of the Congressional Black 
Caucus," Clyburn is also 
House majority whip, the third-highest position in the House.

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110005?src=other">Olbermann awarded  Hume a Worst Person  "bronze" for claiming Al Qaeda was in Iraq  "before we got there"</a></b><br />
During the September 10 edition of 
MSNBC&#39;s <i>Countdown</i>, host Keith 
Olbermann awarded Fox News anchor <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/brithume?src=other" title="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/people/brithume">Brit Hume</a> the "bronze" during his 
nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for, as <i>Media Matters for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200709090003?f=h_latest" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200709090003?f=h_latest">documented</a>, asking co-panelist Juan 
Williams on the September 9 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.&#39;s <i>Fox News Sunday</i>, "Who are we fighting 
there [in Iraq] now, Juan?" and then answering his own question by claiming: "Al 
Qaeda in Iraq. They were there before we got there, and they&#39;re there now.&#39; " Olbermann observed: 
"Yeah, except our 
government says bin Laden&#39;s Al Qaeda wasn&#39;t in Iraq before we invaded, and that actual group called Al Qaeda in Iraq, that wasn&#39;t founded until after we invaded. 
They didn&#39;t pledge loyalty to bin Laden until October of 2004, and it&#39;s not 
under his control now. Brit just thought it was OK to make all that stuff 
up."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709120001?src=other">NBC,  <em>Wall Street Journal  </em>reported  Petraeus claim of reduced violence without noting contrary  evidence</a></b><br />
Several 
media outlets covering 
Gen. David Petraeus' September 10 congressional testimony reported without 
challenge statistics Petraeus presented to support his claims that the 
U.S. troop escalation in 
Iraq has been successful in 
lowering violence in Iraq. But Petraeus' statistics 
regarding civilian casualties and sectarian violence differ from the findings in 
two recent congressionally mandated reports -- findings these media outlets did 
not report.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709120001?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110007?src=other"><em>NY Times </em>poll found majority favors withdrawal plan resembling Democrats' -- but Vieira didn't report that</a></b><br />
NBC's Meredith Vieira told viewers that a <em>New York Times</em>/CBS News poll found that "76 percent of
Americans say they'd only withdraw some troops, keeping enough to train Iraqis
and fight Al Qaeda or they would keep the same number of troops in Iraq
until the country is stabilized." But Vieira did not report that the same poll
question found that 78 percent of respondents favor either withdrawing all
troops from Iraq (22 percent) or leaving troops "to train Iraqi forces, conduct
raids against terrorist groups and protect American diplomats" (56 percent), a
position resembling proposals by leading Democrats.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110006?src=other">Fox  News' Petraeus coverage commentary not fair, not  balanced</a></b><br />
During Fox News&#39; 
coverage of congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. 
ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET on September 
10, the channel presented commentary from only one Democrat or progressive: Rep. 
Bob Wexler (D-FL), who appeared opposite Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). The other 
seven people appearing on Fox 
to provide commentary consisted of two 
conservative pundits (columnist <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/anncoulter?src=other" title="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/people/anncoulter">Ann 
Coulter</a> and former Sen. Rick 
Santorum [R-PA]), two former public 
officials who praised Petraeus 
(former Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan Senor and former 
CIA agent Mike Baker), Iraq war veteran Marco Martinez (who wrote a September 7 
<i>USA Today</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070907/opcom07.art.htm" title="http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070907/opcom07.art.htm">op-ed</a> 
critical of Democrats who purportedly "view success in Iraq as an electoral 
problem"), Fox News defense 
analyst retired Gen. Bob Scales, and <i>Politico</i> executive editor Jim 
VandeHei.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/terrorism?src=other">Terrorism</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110001?src=other">Russert, Harwood  did not challenge  Brody's claim about  Dems and terrorism</a></b><br />
On <em>Meet The Press</em>, Christian 
Broadcasting Network's 
David Brody asserted: "At the end of the day ... this issue [terrorism] 
helps the Republicans more than the Democrats because they're going to be able 
to enforce this idea that the Democrats want to go at this with law enforcement 
and the Republicans 
don't." Neither Tim 
Russert nor his other guest, CNBC's John Harwood, challenged Brody's assertions; in fact, Democrats have offered<strong> </strong>strategies for 
fighting both Al Qaeda in Iraq and the main Al Qaeda terrorist 
organization.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110001?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/200709110002?src=other"><em>Politico</em>'s Martin: "Is Code Pink to the left  what the Westboro  Baptist Church is to the right?"</a></b><br />
In a September 10 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0907/Heckuva_job_Code_Pink.html" title="http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0907/Heckuva_job_Code_Pink.html">blog 
entry</a>, <i>Politico</i> senior 
political writer Jonathan Martin compared the anti-war group <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.codepink4peace.org/" title="http://www.codepink4peace.org/">Code Pink: Women for 
Peace</a> to the "<a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp" title="http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp">virulently 
homophobic</a>" <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/index.html" title="http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/index.html">Westboro Baptist 
Church</a> (WBC), asking: "Is Code Pink to the left what the 
Westboro Baptist Church is to the right?" According to Martin, the groups are 
comparable because of their "bizarre tactics" that are "so self-defeating as to 
give credence to conspiracy theories that they&#39;re not what they seem." 

<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709110002?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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