Media Matters for America summary, October 04, 2007
 
Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:03:03 -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/2008_elections?src=other">2008 Elections</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040016?src=other">Fox's Carlson did  not challenge Huckabee's apparent inconsistencies on "free  speech"</a></b><br />
On <em>Fox &amp; Friends</em>, Mike 
Huckabee criticized senators for denouncing Rush Limbaugh regarding his recent 
"phony soldiers" comments, saying that "it is not the business of government to 
infringe upon the free speech of anybody, including a talk show host." But host 
Gretchen Carlson did not point out that Huckabee supported -- and attacked Sen. 
Hillary Clinton for opposing -- a Senate amendment that condemned the "General 
Betray Us" MoveOn.org ad.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040016?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040010?src=other"><em>Wash. Post </em>reported Giuliani's McGovern reference in "swipe[]" at Clinton, but not that Giuliani voted for McGovern</a></b><br />
An October 4 <i>Washington
Post</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302036.html">article</a>
by staff writers Dan Balz and Jon Cohen reporting on the latest poll numbers
for presidential hopefuls noted that Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani
"has reveled in taking swipes at [Sen. Hillary Rodham] Clinton [D-NY] in
recent weeks and yesterday offered an unflattering comparison of her to 1972
Democratic nominee George S. McGovern." The article later reported:
"Giuliani has made attacks on her a major focus of his campaign. ... The latest came
Wednesday, when he attacked her proposal to establish a $5,000 savings account
for each child, comparing it derisively to a 1972 proposal by then-Democratic
nominee McGovern to give every American $1,000." Balz and Cohen, however,
did not note that Giuliani has said he voted for McGovern in 1972. 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040010?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040009?src=other"><em>NY  Sun</em> editorial  falsely claimed Obama advocates "abandon[ing] economic sanctions" against  Iran</a></b><br />
A <em>New York Sun </em>editorial claimed that Sen. 
Barack Obama and "many Democrats" advocate that the United States "abandon 
economic sanctions" against Iran. In fact, Obama introduced the 
Iran Sanctions Enabling Act on May 17, which would "authorize State and local 
governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies 
with investments of $20,000,000 or more in Iran's 
energy sector."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></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/200710040008?src=other">On <em>Fox &amp; Friends, </em>Tyrrell falsely  asserted Limbaugh had  apologized for "phony soldiers"  remark</a></b><br />
On the October 4 edition of Fox 
News&#39; <i>Fox &amp; Friends</i>, during a 
discussion of <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/rushlimbaugh?src=other" title="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/people/rushlimbaugh">Rush Limbaugh</a>&#39;s September 26 
"<a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200709270010?f=h_top" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200709270010?f=h_top">phony soldiers</a>" comments and 
MoveOn.org&#39;s September 10 <i>New York 
Times</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html" title="http://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html
http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=other&http://cdn.moveon.org/pac/content/pac/pdfs/PetraeusNYTad.pdf
http://cdn.moveon.org/pac/content/pac/pdfs/PetraeusNYTad.pdf">advertisement</a> headlined "General 
Petraeus or General Betray Us?" <i>American 
Spectator</i> founder and Editor-in-Chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. asserted, "It&#39;s 
absurd to compare a carefully written ad by MoveOn that claims -- accuses a 
general in the field of treason -- to compare that with a flip remark by Rush 
Limbaugh during a three-hour discourse, which he&#39;s already apologized for in the 
event that he offended anyone." In fact, while Limbaugh <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200710020002?f=h_top" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200710020002?f=h_top">apologized</a> "to all of the members of 
the United States military, 
both in uniform and out, active duty and retired, for <i>Media Matters for America</i>," he has not 
apologized for <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200709270010?src=other" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200709270010">characterizing</a> service members who 
advocate U.S. withdrawal from 
Iraq "phony 
soldiers."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040015?src=other">In  column, DeLay claimed Limbaugh was discussing "Global War on Terror critics" who  faked military credentials</a></b><br />
Tom DeLay claimed that "[a] few days back," Rush Limbaugh "and a caller were 
discussing Global War on Terror critics who have either exaggerated or entirely 
invented their military and combat service in order to bolster their 
credibility" when Limbaugh referred 
to "phony soldiers." In fact, during his 
September 26 broadcast, Limbaugh did not 
restrict his comments. DeLay also falsely 
claimed that <em>Media Matters </em>was 
"George Soros-funded."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040015?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/200710040013?src=other">Limbaugh on wounded Iraq vet: "I didn't call this guy a suicide bomber"</a></b><br />
On October 4, Rush Limbaugh
asserted that he "didn't call" wounded Iraq veteran Brian McGough "a
suicide bomber" on his October 2 show and said he was
"grateful" for McGough's service. Limbaugh said on October 2:
"[T]his is such a blatant use of a valiant combat veteran, lying to him
about what I said, then strapping those lies to his belt, sending him out via
the media in a TV ad to walk into as many people as he can walk into."

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040013?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040014?src=other">Limbaugh website featured image of Stalin with <em>Media Matters</em> logo on his chest</a></b><br />
On October 4, nationally syndicated radio
talk show host Rush Limbaugh&#39;s <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/">website</a> prominently
displayed an image of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin with a <i>Media Matters for America</i> logo over the
left breast pocket of his uniform. The headline above the image read:
"Stalinists Have Taken Over the Left," while the caption read,
"They&#39;ve gone beyond ideology to totalitarianism."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040014?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/health_care?src=other">Health Care</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040004?src=other">CNN's Henry reported that Bush "wants to expand" SCHIP, but not that his proposal would underfund program</a></b><br />
On the October 3 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0710/03/cnr.05.html">edition</a>
of <i>CNN Newsroom</i>, during a report
on President Bush&#39;s <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Bush-Childrens-Health.html">veto</a>
of a bill that would expand the State Children&#39;s Health Insurance
Program, co-host Kyra Phillips asked CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry,
"[T]he president back in 2004 -- in his Republican Convention speech --
didn&#39;t he declare that SCHIP was a great program and he promised to expand it?
Now, he&#39;s backpedaling. I mean, what&#39;s going on?" Henry
responded: "[I]n the 2004 campaign, the president made clear that he
liked SCHIP, and he promised that if he was re-elected, he would expand it. And
the White House notes that the president is on record right now in saying he
wants to expand it by only $5 billion, though, whereas the Democratic plan
would be $35 billion. And so that&#39;s where the rubber meets the
road." Henry did not point out that the Bush proposal to
"expand" SCHIP by $5 billion over five years would underfund the
program by $9 billion during that period, according to the Congressional Budget
Office. As <i>Media Matters for America</i>
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200709210009?src=other">has</a> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200709210015?src=other">documented</a>, in May, the CBO <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/80xx/doc8092/05-10-SCHIP.pdf#page=26" title="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/80xx/doc8092/05-10-SCHIP.pdf#page=26">estimated</a>
that "maintaining the states&#39; current programs under SCHIP would require
funding of $39 billion for the 2007-2012 period." But a $5 billion
increase from baseline funding -- Bush&#39;s proposal -- over five years
would total $30 billion.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040004?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/gender_discrimination_equality?src=other">Gender Discrimination/Equality</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040011?src=other">Coulter:  "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another  Democrat president"</a></b><br />
An October 2 <i>New York Observer</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.observer.com/2007/coulter-culture" title="http://www.observer.com/2007/coulter-culture">blog 
post</a> featuring excerpts of an interview with right-wing pundit 
Ann Coulter quoted her as saying: "If we took away women&#39;s right to vote, 
we&#39;d never have to worry about another Democrat [<a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200608160005?src=other" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200608160005">sic</a>] president. It&#39;s kind of a pipe 
dream, it&#39;s a personal fantasy of mine, but I don&#39;t think it&#39;s going to happen. 
And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at 
least single women." Coulter went on: "It also makes the point, it <i><i>is</i></i> kind of 
embarrassing, the Democratic Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that 
it has so much difficulty getting men to vote for it. I mean, you do see it&#39;s 
the party of women and &#39;We&#39;ll pay for health care and tuition and day care -- 
and here, what else can we give you, soccer moms?&#39; 
"
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040011?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/immigration?src=other">Immigration</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040006?src=other">Cafferty omitted  mention of business groups joining labor in challenging immigration  rules</a></b><br />
In a report on a federal court ruling temporarily blocking new immigration enforcement 
rules by the Department of Homeland Security, CNN's Jack Cafferty reported that 
"[t]he lawsuit challenging the government was brought by the American Civil 
Liberties Union, the AFL-CIO, and several San Francisco labor groups." However, 
while the lawsuit was initially brought by those groups, the San Francisco and U.S. 
Chambers of Commerce, among others, were allowed to join the lawsuit on 
September 11.

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/national_security_foreign_policy?src=other">National Security/Foreign Policy</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040005?src=other"><em>USA  Today</em>, <em>LA Times</em> reports on Blackwater hearing  didn't note Prince's contributions to Republicans</a></b><br />
In articles on Blackwater USA 
chairman Erik Prince's congressional testimony about his security contracting 
company's performance in Iraq, <em>USA Today</em> and the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> did not report, as other media outlets have, 
that Prince has made more than $226,000 in political contributions to Republican 
organizations and candidates.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200710040005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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