Bozell Heathers Joe Scarborough For Not Lying About Romney's Prospects Topic: Media Research Center
Brent Bozell's Nov. 20 column is a massive fit of Heathering directed at MSNBC's Joe Scarborough for being insufficiently right-wing.
More to the point, Bozell is upset that Scarborough told the truth about Mitt Romney's faltering prospects during the 2012 presidential campaign:
Let's take just a few samples of evidence from 2012, when Republicans nominated Mitt Romney.
—On March 31, Scarborough mocked Romney for mutilating himself (rhetorically) — "He is a cutter, a political cutter" — and then ridiculed a poll result showing the GOP losing by 25 to Obama among women. "I guess that idea of chaining women to a radiator in the kitchen, that the Republicans wanted to put on platform, not going over."
—On April 4, Joe "Damn Tired of Losing" Scarborough announced on his show: "I've yet to meet a single person in the Republican establishment that thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the general election this year. They won't say it on TV because they've got to go on TV, and they don't want people writing them nasty emails. I obviously don't care."
—On Sept. 8, Scarborough appeared on "Today" to trash Romney's chances. "This is one of the worst weeks for any presidential candidate in a general election that any of us can remember ... Unemployment is still 8 percent-plus, the economy is still in tatters, and Mitt Romney is blowing this race." At the end of the segment, he added, "I'm going to go put a bag over my head now, so I will talk to you soon."
—On Sept. 14, Scarborough lashed into Romney for a "horrific, irresponsible press conference" after the attacks in Benghazi. (Romney spoke before word came of four Americans dying.) "If Mitt Romney had kept his mouth shut, if he had not acted like a rank amateur, if he had not embarrassed himself — and by the way internally the campaign understands they screwed up, he's moved on, they know that. So no conservative can say, `Oh, the mainstream media, blah, blah.' ... Romney got in the way of the media looking at the president."
—On Sept. 28, Obama-loving CBS late-night host David Letterman publicized "Morning Joe" with the title "Joe Scarborough: Sweet Jesus." CBS then played an MSNBC clip that began with an incredibly standard campaign event where Romney encouraged the crowd to chant "Romney-Ryan." It ended when the camera switched back to the set showing Scarborough with his hands covering his face in shame as he said, "Sweet Jesus!" The Letterman audience roared.
—On Oct. 29, Scarborough appeared on "Today" to insist Hurricane Sandy would help elect Obama. "Mitt Romney had momentum ... This was Mitt Romney's best weekend, and it stops. The momentum stops."
If Scarborough were really "damn tired" of losing, he might wonder why he's crushed daily in the ratings by "Fox & Friends." It's not just ideologically indulgent Republicans he's tried to defeat; it's all Republicans. Please, Joe, no more lectures about your conservative credentials.
Bozell offers no evidence that anything Scarborough said was incorrect -- he's mad that it was said at all. In Bozell's media bubble, conservatives and Republicans must be praised even if they're wrong, must be touted as winners even if they're losing. He's essentially saying that Scarborough should have lied about Romney in order to prove his conservative bona fides.
Bozell is also hacked off that Scarborough's new book will be "reviewed by The New York Times, while Mark Levin's truly important, best-selling books are not." He doesn't mention that his Media Research Center is paying Levin to promote it on Levin's radio show.
Bozell demands ideological loyalty over the truth when it comes to conservatives -- the opposite of what he expects from the "liberal media." Double standard much?
WND's Cashill Absolves Zimmerman of Responsibility For His Behavior Topic: WorldNetDaily
When WorldNetDaily punted and cribbed another media outlet's report on George Zimmerman's latest arrest, we predicted that Jack Cashill -- the WND columnist who wrote a book lionizing Zimmerman as a civil rights martyr -- was hard at work figuring out a way to blame anyone but Zimmerman for his actions.
Hoo boy, were we right. In a Nov. 19 WND article, Cashill pushes the idea that Zimmerman has post-traumatic stress caused not by, you know, killing a teenager, but by being held accountable for it:
Journalist and author Jack Cashill, who covers the Zimmerman case in his new book, “If I Had a Son: Race, Guns, and the Railroading of George Zimmerman,” believes that the Florida man’s latest actions are uncharacteristic of the person Zimmerman was before the Trayvon shooting and may be a sign that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD
“I’ve talked to his father and his brother and they said he’s just not the same person. I would say PTSD is probably a pretty good description of what’s going on,” Cashill told WND. “They took his job, took his marriage, the whole thing cost him tremendously and the media gloried in his screw-ups.”
[...]
Cashill said believes Zimmerman exhibited the thousand-yard stare, the limp, unfocused glaze of a battle-weary soldier that is often a symptom of PTSD.
“He had the thousand-yard stare. You saw it during the trial. He didn’t look sane when he was in that trial – he was utterly disengaged,” he explained. “That he is suffering from some total breakdown seems totally obvious at this point.”
[...]
Cashill said he believes the media and federal government’s relentless pursuit of Zimmerman drove the man to ruin his own life.
“Soon as the verdict came in, everything changed,” he said. “There’s a weekend of hubbub, but then they didn’t want to talk about it anymore. They didn’t want to revisit it because they know how guilty they are. His life is ruined by what they’ve done to him.”
Gee, we thought conservatives like Cashill were all about personal responsibility. Well, apparently not when it conflicts with Cashill's ideological agenda -- and he's written a book whose sales are being jeopardized by Zimmerman's increasingly criminal behavior.
CNS Hides Ideology of Group Whose Study It Touts Topic: CNSNews.com
Barbara Hollingsworth writes in a Nov. 18 CNSNews.com article:
The cumulative effect of three “economically significant government regulations” is a 20 percent reduction in employment in the targeted industry, according to a new study by the American Action Forum (AAF).
“Economically significant” regulations are defined by federal agencies as those having a net annual effect on the U.S. economy of $100 million or more.
Unlike past studies, which tended to focus on how individual regulations affected specific industries or particular geographic areas, “we looked at the cumulative effects of many regulations over time,” Sam Batkins, AAF’s director of regulatory policy and author of the study, told CNSNews.com. (See AAF research regulations and jobs.pdf)
Curiously, Hollingsworth never tells us what the American Action Forum is. Turns out it's a group headed by conservative economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
A real reporter would have disclosed the AAF's ideology. Hollingsworth apparently isn't into that.
MRC's Graham, WND Push Bogus Obama-Gettysburg Address Non-Controversy Topic: Media Research Center
Media Research Center director of media analysis Tim Graham dutifully regurgitates right-wing propaganda in a Nov. 19 NewsBusters post:
Chris Plante at WMAL Radio in Washington reported on his show Tuesday that President Obama joined a cast of 61 "noted lawmakers, politicians, news anchors and celebrities, including every living President, in reciting the Gettysburg Address" for PBS star Ken Burns, who made "The Civil War" documentary series.
Everyone else delivered the address as Lincoln had written it, including the phrase, "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom." But in his version of the address, President Obama omitted the words "under God." (Video below, at about 1:35.) Will the networks notice this gaffe?
WorldNetDaily, meanwhile, cut out the middleman and simply copy-and-pasted the WMAL article.
Just one little problem with this narrative: It's not exactly true.
In fact, Obama was reading the first draft (out of five) of the Gettysburg Address -- known as the Nicolay version -- which omits "under God." Documentarian Ken Burns, who put together the project of Obama and others reading the address, requested that Obama read that version, as the website for the project states.
The real question is not whether "the networks" will "notice this gaffe" -- it's whether Graham and WND (and WMAL) will correct their posts.
Newsmax Examines 'Who Really Killed JFK,' For Some Reason Topic: Newsmax
Jim Meyers writes in a Nov. 19 Newsmax article, under the headline "Who Really Killed JFK? Newsmax Looks Into the Story":
Fifty years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, his murder continues to mystify and intrigue.
Now Newsmax TV presents a new video documentary, "The Assassination of JFK: Case Closed?" which takes an extraordinary look at some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination and introduces viewers to the researchers who have been dedicated to finding the truth.
We also talk with experts who back up the Warren Commission’s report that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
The compelling documentary debuts on Wednesday, a half-century after the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination of America's 35th president.
Why is Newsmax bothering to do this? This may be one clue:
Legendary political consultant Roger Stone, author of the new bestselling book "The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ," argues that there is "overwhelming evidence" Vice President Lyndon Johnson masterminded the assassination.
Stone, once a top aide to Richard Nixon, cites the former president as telling him that LBJ was the mastermind behind the death. In his book, Stone claims at the time JFK arrived in Dallas, Johnson was under several congressional and press investigations that could easily have led to his imprisonment.
No mention of Jerome Corsi's book on the JFK assassination, though, so there's that. (Newsmax did interview Corsi in September about it, however.)
Larry Klayman Threatens To Sue Us For Telling the Truth Topic: WorldNetDaily
Larry Klayman (left) and Joseph Farah.
We couldn't resist going to Larry Klayman's coup kickoff in Washington's Lafayette Square earlier today. Approximately 100 people showed up -- including speakers Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily, Roger Aronoff of Accuracy in Media, and Bradlee Dean (who attended but did not speak) -- and they didn't say anything you haven't already heard from them before or read at WND.
We attempted to tell some truth at the event, in the form of a flyer about Klayman that we posted around the periphery of the crowd. (Print off a copy for yourself right here.) Everything in the flyer is factual and protected under the First Amendment.
Klayman didn't seeit that way, however. I noticed that my flyers kept being removed as soon as they were posted. In trying to repost them, I was confronted by someone who identified herself as Klayman's chief of staff. (Wait -- Klayman has a staff, let alone enough of one to require a "chief"? Wasn't it just two short years ago that Klayman was claiming that his "financial situation continues to be dire" and that "I cannot afford bankruptcy counsel, having been asked for a $5000.00 retainer which I cannot afford"?)
The woman asked us to refrain from posting the flyer, suggesting unspecified consequences if I continued to do so. I pointed out that the flyer contained the truth, to which she responded by bandying about words like "libel" and "slander." I continued to disagree with her -- the truth cannot be libel, after all -- to which she responded by asking if I was a lawyer. I said that I was not, but that I used to work in journalism, which gave me a very good grounding in libel law, and that my flyer, because it was truth, was not libel.
She then went over to chat with Klayman, who then came over to talk to me. He asked me my name, which I told him. He then asked me to spell it, to which I responded that it was on this website. He then said something to the effect that he would sue me for distributing the flyer.
The last time that Klayman tried to sue someone for telling the truth about his past, it was the Minneapolis alternative weekly CityPages. In his lawsuit against them (which was just dismissed for Klayman's refusal to follow court procedure), Klayman provided no substantive evidence that he was ever cleared of an Ohio magistrate's finding that -- as stated on my flyer -- Klayman inappropriately touched his children and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when asked if he had. Klayman simply claims that he "has never been found by any legal entity or agencay to have sexually abused his children," despite the fact that this is not what he was accused of doing.
Meanwhile, Klayman feels he can libel President Obama with impunity, calling him a "mullah-in-chief" and worse.
The truth is on our side' it is not on Klayman's. Any attempt to sue us should be considered a nuisance lawsuit by a vexatioius litigant. He will fail in court, as he so frequently does.
By the way, all the speakers at the event -- which also included former Rep. Bob Barr and retired Adm. James Lyons, a member of AIM's kangaroo court posing as a "citizen's commission on Benghazi" -- had gushing praise for Klayman. They are apparently unaware of who exactly they've crawled into bed with.
Klayman (left) and Roger Aronoff of Accuracy in Media.
CNS Promotes Mark Levin, Won't Disclose It's Paying Him Topic: CNSNews.com
Mark Levin is sure making its way to CNSNews.com a lot lately:
A Nov. 15 blog post by Craig Bannister touted an appearance by Sen. Ted Cruz on Levin's radio show.
A Nov. 18 article by James Beattie promoted an anti-Obama rant by Levin.
Neither article discloses that CNS, through its Media Research Center parent, has a financial relationship in which Levin promotes the MRC on his radio show and the MRC uses Levin's endorsement on its network of websites. In fact, CNS has prominently placed on its front page an offer featuring Levin's picture in which one can obtain a "Free Bumper Sticker!" The signup page includes quotes from Levin praising CNS: "The left-wing media in this country are so out-of-control. That’s why I read CNSNews.com every day for news that I can trust."
That's a textbook example of a conflict of interest. Journalistic ethics demands that CNS properly disclose its relationship with Levin in articles about him.
UPDATE: Beattie faithfully transcribes another Levin rant in a Nov. 19 post, which also fails to disclose Levin's business relationship with the MRC.
WND Punts On Zimmerman's Latest Arrest Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily has a lot to lose by George Zimmerman's extralegal shenanigans -- after all, it just published a book by WND columnist Jack Cashill portraying Zimmerman as a civil rights martyr. But WND pretends to be a news source, so it can't simply ignore what Zimmerman does.
With Zimmerman's latest arrest on domestic violence charges, WND chose to punt -- well, to steal the work of the Orlando Sentinel and repost it.
We're sure Cashill is hard at work right now pounding out a column that will blame anyone but Zimmerman for his actions.
Newsmax Touts Ben Stein's Claim That Obama Paving Way For 'Annihilation' of Jews Topic: Newsmax
Todd Beamon seems quite proud of repeating Ben Stein's words in a Nov. 14 Newsmax article:
Commentator Ben Stein said on Thursday that President Barack Obama's "deeply naïve" premise that Iran would suddenly end its nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of sanctions that have crippled its economy for five years would make the "annihilation" of Jews possible.
"Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror," Stein said in The American Spectator. "The Iranians in the recent past have pledged to destroy the Jewish people in the Middle East.
"Some of their leaders have boasted that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, Iran will have 'a holocaust in an afternoon' by rocketing a few nuclear weapons into Israel," Stein added. "Naturally, the Israelis are desperately worried."
[...]
"This is no time to reduce the sanctions," he added. "If Iran actually destroys its nuclear factories and labs, that’s a better bet. But just for a promise of a freeze to stop the sanctions that can be reversed in hours?
"Have we learned absolutely nothing from Hitler? Will we have the most-wicked stain possible on the human race again within one lifetime?
"Obviously, Mr. Obama is willing to take the chance — with the lives of seven million Jews," Stein said. "Maybe Congress will have more heart."
Beamon repeats Stein's words uncritically, failing to identify them as the Obama derangement they are.
WND's Maloof Misleadingly Blames Obama for Sequestration Military Cuts Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily's Michael Maloof is expanding his unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that President Obama is systematically firing top military officers for the heck of it to blame him for pilots leaving the Air Force to take jobs in the private sector. Maloof writes in a Nov. 17 WND article:
Sequestration, those mandatory percentage cuts set up by President Obama and implemented when Congress failed to address cuts in other areas, has not only cut back operations, but necessary investment in new-generation aircraft.
[...]
The cutbacks come as the Navy continues to operate under 2012 budget levels because of a congressional continuing resolution. Like the other services, the Navy hasn’t received its 2013 funding, where it had hoped for a $4.6 billion increase.
More than half of Obama’s $1 trillion sequestration cuts were imposed on the military.
In fact, Republicans also endorsed the 2011 Budget Control Act , which included the sequester cuts, and it was the result of a bipartisan agreement between Democrats and Republicans. The sequester could not have been approved without Republican support.
But Maloof won't mention that because it conflicts with his WND mandate to demonize Obama.
NewsBusters Heathers Joe Scarborough Again Topic: NewsBusters
Jeffrey Meyer brings the Heathering to Joe Scarborough in a Nov. 12 NewsBusters post:
MSNBC’s quasi-conservative darling Joe Scarborough seemed right at home as he guest-hosted ABC’s The View on November 12, walking on set arm-in-arm with Barbara Walters before taking aim squarely at folks who dare to be further on the right than he.
Meyer, of course, is denigrating Scarborough because he dares to be slightly to the left of Meyer.
Meyer goes on to complain that Scarborough said “people that would judge Chris Christie because he hugged Barack Obama, first of all, they're too obsessed on hating Barack Obama," insisting that for conservatives, "hugging Barack Obama was merely a symbol for the Republican’s failure to confront President Obama’s failed first term as president. Instead, Scarborough’s misguided views caused him to believe that it’s all about 'hating Barack Obama.'" Is Meyer denying that conservatives hate Obama?
Echoing earliercomplaints from the Media Research Center, Meyer gets further upset that Scarborough accurately blamed conservatives for forcing the government shutdown in October:
Once again, Scarborough buys into and furthers the liberal media's fallacious narratives rather than challenging the conventional wisdom. After all, the Republican House passed numerous bills up to the Democratic Senate which leaders failed to act on. What's more, President Obama threatened vetoes on pretty much every Republican proposal, yet those actions were overlooked by the media or accepted as legitimate rather than obstructive.
Meyer doesn't mention that Republicans had been planning this tactic for months, or that attempting to fund the government piecemeal by issuing numerous bills to fund everything but Obamacare deviated from standard, longstanding congressional practice.
Did WND's Farah Get Paid To Endorse Cuccinelli? Topic: WorldNetDaily
We thought it was somewhat unusual for WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah to send out an email-only endorsement of Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, while WND writer Garth Kant launched a last-minute barrage of attacks on Cuccinelli's Democratic opponent (and eventual winner), Terry McAuliffe.
But there might have been something else going on. Right Wing Watch reports that the Republican Party of Virginia paid nearly $80,000 to a PAC operated by the Home School Legal Defense Association that sends homeschoolers to campaign on behalf of conservative candidates across the country. An HSLDA-affiliated group, Generation Joshua, also sent dozens of homeschooled teens to campaign for Cuccinelli.
WND is a regular advocate for homeschooling (to a sometimes disturbing extent), and it regularly promotes the HSLDA and its leader, Michael Farris, in doing so. Farris is also the founder and president of Patrick Henry College, a school that caters to Christian homeschoolers where Farah has sent at least one of his children.
We have to wonder: Did any of the money Cuccinelli's campaign paid to Farris' group make its way to WND to pay for hit jobs on McAuliffe and an endorsement from Farah?
Farah might want to explain the relationship between himself, Farris and the HSLDA -- and whether that relationship benefited Cuccinelli.
CNS Is Unhappy That Gays Are Allowed To Ride Trains Topic: CNSNews.com
Eric Scheiner sounds a bit appalled in a Nov. 15 CNSNews.com article:
Amtrak has announced the launch of three microsites targeting specific segments of the population: MyBlackJourney.com, AmtrackRideWithPride.com and DescrubeNotreAmerica.com.
In an Amtrak news release, the government-funded intercity train service company says the new websites launched last week, “provide connections to Hispanic, African and LGBT travelers.”
“AmtrakRideWithPride.com speaks to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) traveler. The site is loaded with photos, testimonials and blog posts from Amtrak’s LGBT editor Mark Mastro,” the release says.
It's unclear from the tone of the article whether Scheiner is appalled that gays are allowed to ride trains or if he thinks Amtrak should not engage in the type of niche marketing every other business does.
Given that, as Scheiner concedes, "Amtrak received $1.3 billion in government funding for 2013," he should be happy that Amtrak is trying to expand its reach, even if it's to those dreaded homosexuals Scheiner apparently despises enough to be concerned that they might sitting next to him on a train.
Kathleen Willey Wants You To Buy Her A House (And WND Wants To Help) Topic: WorldNetDaily
Kathleen Willey is not done trying to cash in on her infamy on the fringes of the Clinton administration -- and WorldNetDaily is eager to help her cash in.
WND -- which published Willey's factually flawed memoirs in 2007 -- has published an unbylined Nov. 14 article which claims that Willey is "is fighting through a maze of refinancing pitfalls and money shortfalls to stabilize her life." What does that have to do with us? Turns out she's started a Kickstarter-esque website in which she begs for donations to help her pay off her house.
The article helpfully adds: "A $50 donation will earn an autographed copy of her book, donated by WND." Books no doubt long ago amortized as losses and collecting dust in WND's warehouse since 2007.
The article touts how Willey has talked about "The possible identity of the mysterious jogger sent to threaten her, and his Clinton connection." In fact, the person she claims was the "mysterious jogger," Cody Shearer, was documented to be thousands of miles away at the time of the purported threat.
The article states that Willey claims she "was drawn 'unwillingly' into the Paula Jones lawsuit, the Ken Starr investigation and impeachment proceedings." She does, however, seem very willing to try and cash in on her infamy while she still can.
Alveda King Hides Full Truth In Case of Anti-Abortion Teacher Topic: Newsmax
"Dr." Alveda King writes in a Nov. 12 Newsmax column:
Bill Diss has a passion for teaching young students. He has risked and sacrificed much of his life to make a difference in the lives of his students. Parents extol his efforts, and youngsters cherish his role as a mentor in their lives. Yet school authorities are making a grandstand effort to tar and feather him.
His teaching license is being challenged because he advises his students to make healthy choices which don't include the agenda being forced upon students by Planned Parenthood and other agencies who promote "free sex" and similar agendas.
Mr. Diss and indeed all teachers who genuinely care about teaching and empowering students with the ability to think, learn, and live long, healthy, and productive lives need our help. If you live in the Portland, Ore., area, please attend the November 14 hearing where charges are being brought against him. If not, please call or write the authorities to demand justice for Bill and his students and their families who appreciate him.
[...]
Please, let's pray for Bill Diss, his students, and their families, and indeed all educators who are being attacked for exercising their constitutional rights of freedom of speech while their adversaries are being paid by our tax dollars to distribute condoms, easy access to abortions, harmful birth control products, and deceptive propaganda that will stunt the intellectual and moral development of the generations to come.
King makes sure not to mention evidence of questionable and unprofessional behavior by Diss toward his students. The Oregonian reports:
According to multiple district employees questioned by (school district legal counsel Stephanie) Harper at the hearing, Diss frequently prompted complaints from students who said he yelled at them. One student told district officials Diss said they would end up on Southeast 82nd Avenue, a reference the student associated with prostitution or drug addiction, according to Carol Campbell, Benson’s former principal.
Campbell, who is now at Grant, also testified that Diss had used another student’s name in a test question, in which the student was in a burning building. Other students told Campbell that Diss had frequently picked on that same student, she testified.
Frank Scotto, the human resources regional director, said he was concerned about reports of Diss often yelling and ordering students to address him as “sir.”
“It was beyond firm and strict,” said Scotto, calling Diss “militaristic” and “harsh.”
King doesn't mention that there is a body of evidence against Diss that has nothing to do with his anti-abortion advocacy.
Brent Bozell's Nov. 20 column is a massive fit of Heathering directed at MSNBC's Joe Scarborough for being insufficiently right-wing. 
When WorldNetDaily punted and cribbed another media outlet's report on George Zimmerman's latest arrest, we 
Barbara Hollingsworth writes in a Nov. 18 CNSNews.com 
Media Research Center director of media analysis Tim Graham dutifully regurgitates right-wing propaganda in a Nov. 19 NewsBusters 
Jim Meyers writes in a Nov. 19 Newsmax 
Mark Levin is sure making its way to CNSNews.com a lot lately:
WorldNetDaily has a lot to lose by George Zimmerman's extralegal shenanigans -- after all, it just 
Todd Beamon seems quite proud of repeating Ben Stein's words in a Nov. 14 Newsmax 
WorldNetDaily's Michael Maloof is expanding his 
Jeffrey Meyer brings the 
We thought it was somewhat unusual for WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah to send out an 
Eric Scheiner sounds a bit appalled in a Nov. 15 CNSNews.com 
Kathleen Willey is not done trying to cash in on her infamy on the fringes of the Clinton administration -- and WorldNetDaily is eager to help her cash in.
"Dr." Alveda King writes in a Nov. 12 Newsmax 
