Media Matters for America summary, December 11, 2007
 
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:03:16 -0500

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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/200712110010?src=other">O'Reilly suggested celebrities' support for Edwards is akin to that of serial killers Dahmer and Gacy</a></b><br />
On <em>The
O'Reilly Factor</em>, Bill O'Reilly noted that Harry Belafonte had endorsed John Edwards and commented: "Oh, I
guess that means Edwards has a lock on the Fidel Castro vote." After noting that actors Danny Glover and Tim Robbins also support Edwards, O'Reilly stated:
"[W]hy don't you get Jeffrey
Dahmer, John Wayne
Gacy. ...
Look, these people are
so kooky."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110010?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110005?src=other">In  "Front-runners" profile of Edwards, four <em>Wash. Post</em> pieces mentioned expensive  haircuts</a></b><br />
In its "Front-runners" package on John Edwards, <em>The Washington Post</em> published four pieces that each 
highlighted the cost or "expensive" 
nature of Edwards' haircuts. The media have extensively 
scrutinized Edwards' haircuts, his North Carolina estate, and his work as an 
adviser to a hedge fund, often baselessly suggesting that they conflict with his 
anti-poverty campaigning.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110006?src=other"><em>Politico  </em>called Clinton's Sunday-show laugh "calculated" and  a "cackle," but  Giuliani's laugh "good-natured[]"</a></b><br />
Reporting on Rudy 
Giuliani's December 9 
appearance on 
<em>Meet the 
Press</em>, the 
<em>Politico</em>'s Jonathan Martin asserted 
in a blog post that 
Giuliani "seemed to 
even good-naturedly mock and welcome [Tim] Russert's line of questions when the 
matter of" his business ventures' 
clients came up.<strong>"</strong> By 
contrast, in <em>Politico</em> articles about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 
September 23 appearances on all five Sunday talk shows, Mike Allen and John F. 
Harris wrote that Clinton's laugh "sounded like it was programmed by computer," 
and Ben Smith described Clinton's laugh as a "cackle."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/books?src=other">Books</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712120002?src=other">Despite numerous  errors and flaws, Sally Bedell  Smith book on Clintons largely escaped factual  scrutiny</a></b><br />
Sally Bedell Smith's book <em>For Love of 
Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years </em>has largely 
escaped factual scrutiny, although Smith has appeared on several network and 
cable news programs to publicize the book. <em>Media Matters </em>has identified several 
errors and flaws in Smith's 
book.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712120002?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110004?src=other">Dershowitz review of O'Reilly <em>Kids</em> book concluded "it should be placed ... with the joke books"</a></b><br />
In his review of Bill O'Reilly's book, <em>Kids Are Americans Too</em>, which
O'Reilly co-wrote with Charles Flowers, Harvard Law professor Alan
Dershowitz wrote:
"This book is so riddled with errors, inconsistencies, bad advice and
hypocrisy that ...
it should be placed in the adults-only section of the bookstore. Or better yet,
with the joke books." Dershowitz also noted comments O'Reilly has
made on his nationally syndicated radio show that <em>Media Matters for America</em> has highlighted, including
O'Reilly's 2005 comments about calling on the FBI to arrest the
"clowns" at Air America Radio; his on-air description of his trip
to Sylvia's restaurant; and his comments about the media and Phil
Spector.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110004?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/taxes?src=other">Taxes</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712120001?src=other">O'Reilly claims  Buffett "being deceptive" on issue of tax disparity between him and his  secretary -- but he's  been clear</a></b><br />
On his Fox News show, Bill O'Reilly stated that Warren Buffett "was not being 
truthful" when he said that, in Kirsten Powers' words, "he doesn't think his 
secretary should be paying a higher tax rate than he is." O'Reilly asserted, 
"His secretary isn't paying a higher tax. ... Mr. Buffett gets no salary. He gets 
return on his interest. And he gets capital gains tax at 15 percent. That's what 
it's taxed as," adding that Buffett was "being deceptive because he doesn't make 
a salary." But Buffett has acknowledged that most of his income is 
not salary, saying, "Most of my income is taxed at 15 percent, and 
doesn't pay a payroll. Mainly it's dividends and capital gains."

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712120001?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/media?src=other">Media</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110012?src=other">O'Reilly named  "Worst Person" "runner-up" for claim that two illegal immigrants are dead  because of "Houston's sanctuary city  policies"</a></b><br />
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Fox News' Bill O'Reilly the "runner-up" in his 
nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for his recent statements regarding 
the November 17 killing of two undocumented immigrants. O'Reilly stated: "All 
right, look, these two illegal aliens are dead because of Houston's sanctuary city 
policies. That's why they're dead. ... [T]hese guys are dead because of chaotic 
immigration policies."

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110012?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/200712110009?src=other">CNN compared Gore  to Jerry Lewis; Miles O'Brien said Gore "may be the Nutty  Professor"</a></b><br />
On <em>American Morning</em> and <em>CNN Newsroom</em>, Veronica De La Cruz, Heidi Collins, Miles 
O'Brien, and Competitive Enterprise Institute senior fellow Chris Horner all 
compared Al Gore to Jerry Lewis, with De La Cruz stating that "like Jerry Lewis 
in France and David Hasselhoff in Germany, Al Gore seems to be more popular in 
Europe than he is here in the United States." During a report on Gore receiving 
the Nobel Peace Prize, which included a clip of Lewis in <em>The Nutty Professor</em>, O'Brien said, 
"[President] Bush's approval rating in Europe? About 12 to 15 percent. Al Gore 
may be the Nutty Professor, but whichever side of the ocean he is on, he is 
still faring better than the man who beat him seven years 
ago."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200712110009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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