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

On Hannity & Colmes, Bozell asserted -- despite complete lack of evidence -- that Hillary Clinton was "behind" obtaining confidential FBI files
On Hannity & Colmes, Media Research Center president L. Brent Bozell III asserted: "[W]e knew that she [Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton] was in the middle of things. We knew that she was behind the whole FBI-gates." However, in March 2000, independent counsel Robert Ray determined that: "[T]here was no substantial and credible evidence that any senior White House official, or First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, was involved in seeking confidential Federal Bureau of Investigation background reports of former White House staff from the administrations of President Bush and President Reagan." Read more

Hannity: Clinton had low turnover on White House staff because employees were "scared" to leave
On the November 13 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity said: "All year long, publications like The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, and Newsweek have all reported what they call [Republican presidential candidate] Rudy Giuliani's temper. Well, the subjectiveness aside, couldn't the same questions be asked about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton [D-NY]?" Hannity then asked Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers and Sirius Satellite Radio host Andrew Wilkow whether Clinton has "the temperament to be president." Powers responded: "I think she does. I think she has a temper, as do many politicians. And Rudy Giuliani, your favorite, has a temper, as ... do many people." Powers later asserted: "I think you've got to keep it in the context of what she does ... and who she is. And I'm just telling you -- first of all, I do have to say that while there are people who say that she has a bad temper, she had almost no turnover on her staff in the White House, so that says something." Hannity responded, " '[C]ause they were scared to probably leave," to which Powers replied, "No, I know a lot of them and they like her." Read more

Ignoring his past smears, NY Times reported that McCain "has studiously avoided personally attacking Mrs. Clinton"
A November 14 New York Times article by Marc Santora about Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) response, during a campaign event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, to an audience member, who asked, "How do we beat the bitch?" reported that "McCain has studiously avoided personally attacking Mrs. [Hillary Rodham] Clinton, whom he has said he likes." Santora then quoted from a McCain campaign statement: "Mr. McCain has on many occasions expressed his respect for Senator Clinton [D-NY], just as he did when confronted with the question in South Carolina." However, in reporting that "McCain has studiously avoided personally attacking Mrs. Clinton," Santora ignored McCain's previous smears of Clinton, including naming a dummy "Hillary" during another recent campaign appearance in South Carolina and telling a "disgusting" joke in 1998 for which McCain reportedly apologized to President Bill Clinton. Read more

Limbaugh on purported Clinton "warn[ing]" to Blitzer: "Wolf may want to beg off the debate because who's going to take care of his children?"
Discussing the November 15 Democratic presidential debate, which is scheduled to be moderated by CNN host Wolf Blitzer, Rush Limbaugh again suggested during the November 13 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show that the Clintons were somehow involved in the death of Vince Foster, former Clinton deputy White House counsel. Limbaugh stated, "We know Wolf's already got a reservation he's not aware of to Fort Marcy Park" -- the site in suburban Northern Virginia where Foster committed suicide. As Media Matters for America has noted (here, here, here, here, and here), Limbaugh has a history of invoking Fort Marcy Park, despite multiple official investigations that determined Foster committed suicide. Read more

Wash Post. again falsely claimed Bill Clinton accused Democrats of " 'Swift boat'-style piling-on"
The Washington Post's Michael D. Shear, echoing earlier reports in the Post and other media outlets, stated that former President Bill Clinton accused Democratic "rivals" of his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, "of 'Swift boat'-style piling-on during the latest [Democratic presidential] debate." But Bill Clinton did not accuse Democrats of " 'Swift boat'-style piling-on"; rather, in a November 5 speech, he criticized Republican attacks on Democrats and the role the media play in contributing to such attacks. Read more

During Dem debate coverage, will CNN's Campbell Brown disclose her husband's role in Romney's campaign?
According to a November 9 Broadcasting & Cable article, former NBC News anchor Campbell Brown will "make her debut" on CNN as a "panelist" during the November 15 Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, moderated by CNN host Wolf Blitzer. Brown, who was hired by CNN in July, is married to Dan Senor, a former adviser for the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq who is now reportedly serving as an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Given Brown's role in the upcoming Democratic debate, will CNN disclose her husband's link to Romney's campaign? Read more

Some debate "don'ts" for CNN's Blitzer, Malveaux, Roberts, and Brown
According to a November 12 entry on CNN.com's Political Ticker blog, the November 15 Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas will be moderated by CNN host Wolf Blitzer and will feature questions from CNN anchors John Roberts and Campbell Brown, while White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux "will facilitate audience participation." On the assumption that CNN really does want to offer viewers of the November 15 debate "serious," "specific," and "precise" questions, Media Matters for America offers the following suggested "don'ts" for Blitzer, Roberts, Brown, and Malveaux: Read more

On O'Reilly, Newsmax's Kessler misrepresented Obama and Clinton vote on FISA, Edwards statement on "global war on terror"
On The O'Reilly Factor, Newsmax.com chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler falsely claimed that Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "voted to give Osama bin Laden the same rights that Americans have when it comes to intercepting his calls, even if he made calls within Pakistan, to Pakistan. They voted in August to not revise the FISA act." In fact, Obama and Clinton both voted for legislation sponsored by Sen. Carl Levin that would have amended FISA to allow warrantless wiretapping of foreign-to-foreign calls, regardless of whether they are transmitted through the United States. Read more

Budget

Politico attributed 2006 earmark drop to GOP Congress, ignored its failure to pass spending bills that year
A Politico article suggested that the Republican-led 109th Congress was responsible for a decrease in the number of earmarks approved in 2006 (for the 2007 fiscal year) relative to previous years. But the article did not mention that following the Democratic victories in the 2006 midterm elections, the GOP leadership declined to pass nine of 11 annual appropriations bills and that in order to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal 2007, Democrats placed a one-time moratorium on earmarks. Read more

War in Iraq

CNN's Costello echoed Politico falsehood about Democrats being "Zero for 40 on Iraq"
Echoing the false assertion in a Politico article that Democrats are "Zero for 40" on passing "bills limiting President Bush's war policy," CNN's Carol Costello reported, "Forty times Democrats have forced a vote to curtail the Iraq war and 40 times they've lost." In fact, in April, both the House and Senate passed war funding legislation that included a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal, which President Bush vetoed. Read more

Government and Elections

Hill contradicted itself, asserting that Hoyer asked Reid to "stage more filibusters"
A November 14 article in The Hill reported that Democratic "House leaders have been pressing [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid [D-NV] to intensify the fight with Republicans by forcing them to filibuster major bills rather than holding failed cloture votes and criticizing the GOP after bills are pulled from the floor." But in the next sentence, The Hill reporters Manu Raju and Mike Soraghan wrote that "House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) acknowledged asking Reid to stage more filibusters" [emphasis added] -- falsely suggesting that Hoyer asked for more Democratic-led filibusters. Read more

Electoral Reform

Mercury News claimed CA ballot initiative has "bipartisan support," cited one donor whose "main interest is GOP power"
The November 11 "Capitol Beat" column in the San Jose Mercury News on donors supporting a controversial proposal to award California's electoral votes by congressional district featured the headline: "Election initiative reveals bipartisan support: Election initiative enjoys surprising bipartisan support." Referring to the funding for the initiative provided by a supporter of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (R) presidential campaign, the article asserted that "[t]he Rudy Giuliani California conspiracy theory took a hit last week when supporters of an electoral college initiative revealed their list of donors." The article reported that the list "included those who support other Republican presidential candidates and even -- gasp -- Democratic hopefuls." However, as evidence of this purported "bipartisan support," the article named only a single donor who has contributed to both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates - Robert Day, chairman of the Trust Company of the West, who "has supported [Sen. John] McCain [R-AZ] and two Democrats: U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut." But, the article went on to report, "[T]hough Day has contributed $4,600 to Clinton and $2,300 to Dodd, his main interest is GOP power: He's given $48,000 to GOP causes this year, including $25,000 to the RNC." Read more

On CNN, Politico's Allen defends McCain response to "bitch" question about Clinton: "[W]hat Republican voter hasn't thought that? What voter in general hasn't thought that?"
Discussing a campaign event at which a questioner asked Sen. John McCain, "How do we beat the bitch?" -- presumably referring to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton -- Politico chief political correspondent Mike Allen said, "[W]hat Republican voter hasn't thought that? What voter in general hasn't thought that?" Read more

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