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

MSNBC's Carlson suggested women may be "so sensible, they don't want to get involved in something as stupid as politics"
On the November 5 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, while discussing "the so-called gender card in the '08 presidential race," host Tucker Carlson asked Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation: "You don't sort of look down a little bit on women ... who would vote for [Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)], partly because she's a woman?" Smeal responded, "No, absolutely not. ... [L]et's face it, she's very qualified. But the reality is, you also would like to break this glass ceiling. You would like to have some representation," adding, "I mean, it's embarrassing, Tucker. We're 68th in the world for representation of women in our Congress." Carlson replied: "I'm not embarrassed. I almost -- when I get up at a baseball game and sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' I don't hang my head because we don't have enough women in Congress. I'm actually not embarrassed by it at all." Smeal responded, "Well, it has nothing to do with your baseball game obviously," to which Carlson said: "I don't know why that's embarrassing. You could make the counter case that most women are so sensible, they don't want to get involved in something as stupid as politics. ...They've got real things to do." Read more

On Glenn Beck, Penn Jillette said recent Clinton statement "sounds like Charlie Manson"
On the November 2 edition of his CNN Headline News show, Glenn Beck claimed that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) supports "higher taxes" and "bigger government," while his guest, comedian Penn Jillette, asserted that a comment she made in a recent interview with the editorial board of The Boston Globe "sounds like Charlie Manson." But, according to a Boston Globe editorial, when she made the comment -- "I have a million ideas. The country can't afford them all" -- Clinton was "saying she opposes big government spending, not the other way around." Read more

Willey rehashes Vince Foster conspiracy theories, draws parallels to her husband's death, Hsu's attempted suicide
In her new book, Kathleen Willey rehashes conspiracy theories regarding Vince Foster's 1993 suicide and suggests possible parallels between Foster's death and the suicide of her husband, a Clinton fundraiser, as well as the reported suicide attempt of Norman Hsu. In fact, numerous investigations have determined that Foster's death was a suicide. Also, independent counsel Robert Ray found that Willey had given conflicting and false information related to her allegations against President Bill Clinton.
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Kathleen Parker falsely claimed President Clinton "ordered all records kept under seal until 2012"
In her November 2 syndicated column, Kathleen Parker asserted that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) "refused to answer candidly when asked if she would release communications between her and then-President Bill Clinton that might illuminate her claims to White House experience," and falsely claimed that "[t]he former president has ordered all records kept under seal until 2012." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, President Clinton has not ordered that "all records be kept under seal until 2012", nor, as October 30 debate moderator Tim Russert claimed, has he imposed a "ban" on the disclosure of communications between himself and Sen. Clinton until 2012. Read more

ABC News still ignoring O'Reilly's Obama/GMA falsehood
On the November 5 broadcast of ABC's Nightline, ABC News correspondent David Wright reported that "some are accusing" Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "of being too frivolous," and aired a clip of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's recent statement, "Look, Obama -- and I told him this ... Tyra Banks ain't gonna get you elected, OK? You gotta go on the Factor." Wright's clip, however, omitted what O'Reilly said next during that October 29 appearance on ABC's Good Morning America: "[Y]ou gotta go on GMA and answer the questions," a statement that, as Media Matters for America noted at the time, falsely suggested that Obama had not appeared on Good Morning America. In fact, Obama was interviewed from New Orleans by co-host Robin Roberts on the August 27 broadcast of the show. Wright went on to report, without noting O'Reilly's falsehood: "Obama may not be a regular guest on the Factor, but O'Reilly has a point. Obama's star power hasn't yet translated into a real bump in the polls." Read more

Hyping Willey's new book, WorldNetDaily falsely claimed she ID'ed "the person who threatened her just prior to her testimony against" Clinton
In a September 5 article previewing Kathleen Willey's forthcoming book, Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton (World Ahead Publishing), WorldNetDaily.com news editor Art Moore claimed: "Among its revelations is Willey's identification of the person [also known as "the jogger"] who threatened her just prior to her testimony against President Clinton -- a man who turned out to be linked to the Clintons." However, in her book, Willey writes: "I do not know who the jogger was." Read more

Global Warming

Limbaugh: Teenager's testimony about global warming "reminded" him of 1970s ad of "Crying Indian"
During the November 5 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, after airing an audio clip of part of the testimony of Cheryl Charlee Lockwood, who said that she is a recent high school graduate and works in the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action program, before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Rush Limbaugh stated: "So, once again, it's the Democrats exploiting a young child, ladies and gentleman, for the advancement of a political issue that will grow the size of government and increase their control over -- I really want to puke. I just want to throw up." On November 5, Lockwood went before Congress to talk about the impact of global warming on her community. Later in the broadcast, Limbaugh said of Lockwood's testimony -- during which she said, "I've seen so many changes in our community that it just hurts to not be able to have our -- it's really scary to ... lose our tradition, our culture ... and it's not just that we're losing our food, it's losing our homes" -- that "I'm just reminded here" of the 1970s public service announcement featuring a representation of a Native American. Limbaugh said: Read more

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