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

NBC's Gregory, Lauer didn't challenge Romney's claims on religious test
On NBC's Today, David Gregory stated that, in his speech, Mitt Romney "urged voters to reject a religious test for his candidacy," then aired clips of Romney saying, "I will serve no one religion," and "[a] person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith." Similarly, Matt Lauer did not challenge Romney's claim that he "do[es]n't believe that the people in this country are going to choose a person based upon their faith or what church they go to." Neither Gregory nor Lauer noted that Romney has asserted, on several occasions, that Americans "want a person of faith to lead them." Read more

Rove touted Russert question on Clinton library docs based on falsehood
On Hannity & Colmes, Karl Rove referenced a question posed by Tim Russert to Hillary Clinton during the October 30 Democratic presidential debate, in which Russert stated: "[T]here was a letter written by President Clinton specifically asking that any communication between you and the president not be made available to the public until 2012. Would you lift the ban?" In fact, President Clinton did not ask that such communications "not be made available"; he listed them as documents to be "considered for withholding." Read more

Wash. Post's Milbank compares Edwards' haircuts to undocumented workers at Romney's home while "he's complaining about illegal immigrants"

On Countdown, Keith Olbermann asked Dana Milbank about the repeated references in The Washington Post to the cost of John Edwards' haircuts, including in his own column. Milbank replied that he is "guilty of the haircut slander" and added: "[T]he $400 dollar haircut speaks of that the same way Romney having the illegal immigrants twice return to work in his home even ... as he's complaining about illegal immigrants." While Milbank identified an inconsistency between Romney's actions and his stated views, he offered no justification for suggesting a similar inconsistency in Edwards' efforts to fight poverty while paying for expensive haircuts. Read more

Dick Morris misrepresented facts of DuMond case in purporting to explain Huckabee's focus
On Hannity & Colmes, Dick Morris asserted that "the reason everybody was focused on him [Wayne DuMond] is he was castrated while he was in prison by his fellow inmates by a knife." But that was not the reason Mike Huckabee gave for "focus[ing]" on DuMond, and it is not what Huckabee -- or news reports -- said happened. In his book, From Hope to Higher Ground, Mike Huckabee wrote of DuMond: "Prior to his trial, two men broke into his home, hog-tied him, and castrated him. They left him to bleed to death." Read more

Scarborough: "[I]t seems to me you have your Holocaust deniers ... then you have your Giuliani deniers"

On Morning Joe, without citing any examples, Joe Scarborough stated, "[Y]ou have your Holocaust deniers ... then you have your Giuliani deniers. And Giuliani deniers will tell you he had nothing to do with September 11th." But as Mika Brzezinski later noted, "There are a lot of people who have a lot of criticisms for Rudy Giuliani, and how he handled 9-11 before it happened."
Read more

Couric did not challenge Romney's claim that "[n]o religious test should ever be required for qualification for office"
On the CBS Evening News, Katie Couric asked Mitt Romney "why he didn't spend more time explaining the tenets of his Mormon faith in his speech last week." Romney replied: "I can't imagine doing that in a speech as you're running for president. ... [T]hat would really open the door to the kind of religious test where people would listen and say, 'OK, do I believe that?' " He later stated that "[n]o religious test should ever be required for qualification for office in these United States." But Couric did not note that Romney has repeatedly asserted that Americans "want a person of faith to lead them." Read more

Media

Imus: "Why don't you like Huckabee? Because you're gay, or what?"
On the December 12 edition of ABC Radio Networks' Imus in the Morning, while discussing Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee with nationally syndicated radio host Jay Severin, host Don Imus asked, "Why don't you like Huckabee? Because you're gay, or what?" Following Imus' comment, co-host Charles McCord exclaimed, "Oh, come on, what the hell was that?" Sound engineer Lou Rufino added, "Stand by for the drive-by." Read more

Olbermann named Hannity, Wash. Post's Ignatius in "Worst Person" segments

On December 10, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann awarded Washington Post columnist David Ignatius the "bronze" in his "Worst Person in the World" segment for asserting that "there's still a nagging uneasiness about having these two complicated Clintons back together at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave." Polling does not support Ignatius' assertion. On December 11, Olbermann named Sean Hannity the "runner-up" "Worst Person" for asserting that Rep. John P. Murtha had "gone to the other side" after his recent assessment of President Bush's troop-increase strategy in Iraq. Read more

Iran

CNN's Sesno asserted Iran is "still proceeding" with highly enriched uranium processing -- not according to NIE
In CNN's investigative report, Iran: Fact & Fiction, Frank Sesno said that Iran's nuclear "weaponizing program" has "apparently ... stopped," but that Iran is "still proceeding with" its development of highly enriched uranium. However, the most recent National Intelligence Estimate noted that "Iran's civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing," not that Iran is currently processing highly enriched uranium. And in its report, the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that from "samples taken by the Agency from cascade components and related equipment" in Iran, it has found, so far, only uranium enrichment consistent with a civilian nuclear program. Read more

Propaganda/Noise Machine

Limbaugh misrepresented Bill Moyers, said "I'm pretty sure he's lost his mind"
On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh aired a clip of Bill Moyers saying: "And you couldn't say, 'How are we going to defeat the nigger?' How are we going to -- which is the word that was so common when I was growing up in the South. 'How are you going to defeat the kike?' referring to Jews -- you wouldn't do -- that woman would not have done that, I don't think." After the clip, Limbaugh said: "I have no idea what he's talking about. I do -- I'm pretty sure he's lost his mind. Meanwhile, they accuse us of saying those words and harboring those thoughts, and now look who's out saying them on PBS." At no point during the show did Limbaugh note that Moyers was discussing Sen. John McCain's response to a woman who asked him: "How do we beat the bitch?"
Read more

This mail was sent by Media Matters for America to 'news@energy-net.org'. Please visit us at http://mediamatters.org

You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.

To change your email subscription preferences, visit http://mediamatters.org/users/prefs.html

If you'd like to unsubscribe from all Media Matters for America emails, you can just click on http://mediamatters.org/users/unsub/_TFiSm6WIkiaci7iLu6ZtH8gu6JaPh8t_vLvpt4dfhY.

To contact us directly, reply to this mail or visit http://mediamatters.org/contact_us