CNS Weirdly Bashes Interviewee Who Gave Answer It Sought Topic: CNSNews.com
The goal of Pete Winn's Sept. 10 CNSNews.com article was to spin away questions about Sarah Palin's use of state per-diem payments for travel expenditures by claiming that what she did was standard practice. Winn found a willing participant in Gerald McBeath, professor of political science at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and, according to Winn, "an expert on Alaska government and politics."
So why did Winn feel a need to attack McBeath when he dared to question CNS' motivations? From the article:
Like the legendary Alaskan grizzly bear, McBeath became testy when asked about the travel reimbursements. He told CNSNews.com that he’s had over 100 phone calls from journalists trying to get dirt on Palin.
“I have to be suspicious about your questions,” McBeath said. “What are you looking for? Are you implying that the governor has been unethical in her travel and not followed procedures?”
When CNSNews.com replied that the intent was simply to find out if such reimbursements were normal practice, McBeath’s response was matter-of-fact.
“The state’s practices are like that of most states,” McBeath said. “People are compensated for their travel costs. That includes the airfare or car fare, and (the state) pays them whatever it costs to keep them alive on the days that they are away from their official station. That’s normal.”
Winn got the answer he was looking for. Why smear the guy as "testy" like a "grizzly bear"?
Bozell Misinforms on 'Fox & Friends' Topic: Media Research Center
Brent Bozell was a veritable font of misinformation in a Sept. 11 appearance on "Fox & Friends":
He baselessly claimed that "If you go to America and visit America, there are women all over America who are outraged" by Barack Obama's "lipstick comment. In fact, there's little actual evidence that the purported outrage extends past anyone who's not on the McCain campaign payroll (and their media apologists, like Bozell).
He called Chris Matthews "left-wing" when he knows that's not the case.
He called Rachel Maddow "Rachel Mandow," apparently sharing colleague Tim Graham's skeeviness toward non-heterosexuals.
And, of course, Bozell's appearance follows the template: he appeared solo and isn't identified as a conservative.
Brennan Ignores Facts on Bridge to Nowhere, Palin Earmarks Topic: Newsmax
Phil Brennan uses a Sept. 10 Newsmax article to regurgitate a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Republican Rep. Jim DeMint's claims that Sarah Palin "killed" the "bridge to nowhere" project in Alaska. In fact, the project was dead as a federally funded enterprise long before Palin "killed" it.
Brennan fails to note that, as Media Matters notes, Congress eliminated the specific earmark for the bridge in November 2005, a year before Palin became governor -- though it allowed Alaska to keep the money from the earmark to spend on other projects, money Palin has made no effort to pay back).
While Brennan repeats DeMint's statement that Barack Obama "voted for numerous wasteful earmarks" and that Palin has "buck[ed] Alaska's decades-long earmark addiction," he and DeMint fail to note that under Palin, Alaska still far outstrips all other states in earmark money per capita. While the national per-capita earmark average is $51, Alaska's per-capita average is $506.
WND Headline Lies about Illegal Immmigrants Topic: WorldNetDaily
The headline on a Sept. 9 WorldNetDaily article reads, "Study proves illegals likely to commit crimes." Not only is that a false statement, it doesn't even reflect what the article actually says (emphasis ours):
A new study reveals 75 percent of illegal aliens who have been deported will commit another crime within a year of returning to the U.S.
The nonprofit Rand Corporation study followed inmates released from Los Angeles County jail in 2002, according to a Los Angeles Times report. The report revealed aliens who have been deported are far more likely to commit a crime – with 28 percent likely to be arrested three or more times after their release.
Thirty-two percent of illegal aliens who had never been deported were arrested within a year, and 7 percent were arrested more than three times.
The study did not examine all illegal immigrants -- only those who already have a history of crime. WND is lying by conflating a criminal population with a general population. The article fails to compare the illegals' recidivism rate what that of native criminals.
Finkelstein's Double Standard on Mind-Reading Topic: NewsBusters
In a Sept. 10 NewsBusters post, Mark Finkelstein took a whack at Howard Fineman for claiming that "Barack Obama was not making fun of Sarah Palin when he talked about some Republican putting 'lipstick on a pig,'" asserting: "Short of sodium pentathol, or Carnac-like gifts, how can Howard possibly know what was in Obama's mind when he uttered his lipstick line?"
But earlier in the day, Finkelstein was doing his own share of mind-reading, declaring, "Obama knew darn well what he was saying."
So, are only conservatives allowed to read minds, or what?
New Article -- Out There, Exhibit 47: Shocked By the Non-Shocking Topic: NewsBusters
NewsBusters' Noel Sheppard has an uncanny ability to be surprised by things that aren't very surprising at all. Read more >>
Aaron Klein Desperate Obama Smear Watch Topic: WorldNetDaily
Aaron Klein does a fine job of shilling for the McCain campaign in a Sept. 10 article desperately trying to keep the "lipstick on a pig" non-controversy alive by trying to suggest that a blog post on the Democratic Party website headlined "McCain's Selection of Palin is Lipstick on a Pig" somehow inspired Barack Obama's statement.
Klein fails to see that the post in question is the exact opposite of what Republicans have accused Obama of doing -- the post states that Sarah Palin "is a red herring, lipstick on the Republican pig," while Obama was baselessly accused of calling Palin the pig.
Klein credits "talk radio host John Batchelor" for this discovery but fails to disclose that he and Bachelor have frequently collaborated in the past (including that dubious interview trying to tie a Hamas endorsement around Obama's neck), or that Batchelor, like Klein, is an Obama-hater.
Not only does Klein baselessly claim that "Some say Obama's 'lipstick' comment was aimed at Palin in response to her joke at the Republican National Convention," he adds, "Others suggested Obama's second quip, regarding 'old fish,' may have been aimed at McCain's age." Who are "some" and "others"? Klein doesn't really say.
WND was quick -- if not eager -- to do the McCain campaign's duty with an earlier story on the "lipstick" remark.
We'll ask again: If Joseph Farah doesn't want John McCain to get elected, why are his WorldNetDaily employees working so hard to get McCain elected? Does Farah have some sort of wink-wink, nudge-nudge deal with McCain, or what?
Weyrich Falsely Suggests Catholic Criticism of Pelosi Isn't Partisan Topic: Free Congress Foundation
In a Sept. 9 column printed at CNSNews.com, Paul Weyrich stated that "a group of [Nancy] Pelosi’s fellow House Members" wrote a letter criticizing her claim that "the Catholic Church has not been able to agree when life begins." Weyrich added: "While partisan differences are typical of doing business in the House, it is highly unusual for Members to deliver such a pointed attack on another Member’s version of her religion."
Nowhere does Weyrich note that all 19 House members who signed the letter to Pelosi are Republicans, which undercuts Weyrich's suggestion that the letter wasn't borne of "partisan differences."
NewsBusters' New Motto: Lies Are Truth Topic: NewsBusters
We've already noted that NewsBusters is spinning away Sarah Palin's lies. It's also performing the same service for John McCain.
A Sept. 10 post by Michael M. Bates defends as an "accurate assertion" a McCain ad falsely claiming that Barack Obama's support for a comprehensive sex education law means he supports "'comprehensive sex education' to kindergartners" and, thus, "Learning about sex before learning to read." After engaging in the apparent scare tactic of describing a sex ed curriculum for kindergarteners that includes "proper anatomical names" for body parts, Bates howled: "Do parents want government schools providing proper anatomical names to their 5-year-olds?"
Similarly, Ken Shepherd, in a Sept. 10 post, claims that Time's Joe Klein is "just plain wrong" to criticize the McCain ad "because the legislation Obama voted for would have authorized kindergarteners to be taught about STDs." Shepherd fails to note that the law in question also stated that "course material and instruction shall be age and developmentally appropriate." Does Shepherd really think that teachers are going to teach kindergarteners about STDs?
Hey, NewsBusters: Clinging to slivers of semi-truth in a sea of lies doesn't make those lies suddenly true.
Speaking of Sticking to the Script ... Topic: NewsBusters
In a Sept. 10 NewsBusters post, P.J. Gladnick complains about an Associated Press article that accuses Sarah Palin of a sticking to a "basic script" on the campaign trail. In response to the article's pointing out that she decided to sell a state plane by "put[ting] it on eBay" is misleading because the plane didn't actually sell on eBay, Gladnick responded: "Palin never claimed the jet sold on eBay. However she did list it on the auction site just as she stated."
Gladnick is not the only NewsBusters writer sticking to the script on that claim:
"Lastly, let us dispense with the meme from the left that Palin 'lied' about selling the jet on ebay. Governor Palin never said she SOLD the plane on ebay. She said she PUT the plane on ebay." -- Warner Todd Huston, Sept. 10
"Palin, in fact, did not lie or mislead about anything. She simply said she put the plane up on eBay." -- Kerry Picket, Sept. 7
"Palin never said she sold the jet on ebay. She says she put it up to sell on ebay. And she did. But it didn't sell there." -- Warner Todd Huston, Sept. 6
Conservatives do know how to stick to a script, don't they? And at NewsBusters, the script is to spin away every false and misleading statement Palin makes.
A Sept. 8 Newsmax column by Lowell Ponte is one long rant against Oprah Winfrey, suggesting she's "a misogynist, a hater of women" for not allowing Sarah Palin to be on her show. Ponte misleadingly claimed that "Oprah has used her program repeatedly to showcase, promote, and lionize Barack Obama"; in fact, while Winfrey has endorsed Obama, he hasn't appeared on her show since October 2006, before he became a presidential candidate.
Nevertheless, Ponte rants on, claiming that "Some might say that Oprah is a traitor to her gender, a turn (petty) coat whose support for Obama destroyed Hillary’s chance in 2008 to become America’s first female president." He doesn't say who "some" are. Ponte also gets in some less-than-factual licks on Obama, asserting without evidence that "Obama promises to unleash capricious and partisan government censors on talk radio when he becomes president."
In a Sept. 10 CNSNews.com article on Barack Obama's comment that "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig," Susan Jones baselessly asserts that "many people think he was making a sly reference to Sen. John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin." Jones quotes only one person (a number far less than "many") making the claim -- former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, a Republican -- but she fails to mention that Swift is a member of the McCain campaign's Palin "truth squad."
UPDATE: Jones repeats the baseless claim in another Sept. 10 article: "[M]any Americans viewed the comment as a sly reference to Sen. John McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin." But again, she quotes nobody who isn't a Republican or aligned with McCain's campaign.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:22 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 12:26 PM EDT
NewsBusters Even Defends Palin's Lies Topic: NewsBusters
Even when Sarah Palin is caught in a lie, the ConWeb will defend her.
A Sept. 9 NewsBusters post by Tom Blumer seeks to draw attention away from the fact that Palin's claim that she "told Congress 'thanks but no thanks' on the bridge to nowhere" is a bald-faced lie by pointing to a statement by Alaska Democrats noting that the bridge was "officially abandoned" under Palin. Blumer then asserts: "We can quibble about specifics. But the fact is that Palin was governor when the project was abandoned, and no amount of spinning can change that."
Blumer neglects that Congress stopped the earmark for the bridge in November 2005, more than a year before Palin took office and that Palin was a supporter of the bridge when she ran for governor. As Josh Marshall points out, "She couldn't say 'No Thanks' because Congress had already said 'Forget It'." Oh, and Palin never returned the money for the bridge, instead spending it on other projects.
A Sept. 8 Newsmax "analysis" -- credited only to "Newsmax Staff" -- purported to make the case that Sarah Palin is the victim of "smears." It states:
Meanwhile, the media has been elevating minor controversies in Palin’s home state of Alaska to national “scandals.” For example, the firing of a state trooper who allegedly Tasered his own 10-year-old son has been elevated to an international human-rights case.
That description of the "troopergate" controversy is completely wrong. The trooper in question hasn't been fired; Palin has, however, fired the trooper's boss, the state public commissioner, for not firing the trooper -- who is embroiled in a bitter divorce battle with Palin's sister -- purportedly upon Palin's demand. Further, the trooper has already been disciplined by state officials over the Tasering incident and others; he has said that the trooper's stepson (not his son, as Newsmax claimed) "wanted to feel the Taser in the same way that troopers tested the device on themselves during training," the device was set on test, and "When it was over he thought it was great and wanted to do it all again. He was bragging about it and telling everyone in the family about it."
Plus, you have to love Newsmax's sudden concern over "elevating minor controversies ... to national 'scandals.'" Isn't that what Christopher Ruddy and Newsmax (not to mention other right-wingers) did to the Clintons regarding Whitewater?
Klein Misleads About Obama -- So What Else Is New? Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Sept. 8 WorldNetDaily article by Aaron Klein is written in a way to suggest that Barack Obama's statement that Hezbollah and Hamas are "going down a blind alley with violence that weakens their legitimate claims" means that Obama believes that those groups' attacks against Israel are "legitimate."
Obama immediately affirmed Hezbollah is "not a legitimate political party." Instead, "It's a destabilizing organization by any common-sense standard. This wouldn’t happen without the support of Iran and Syria."
He continued by stating Hamas and Hezbollah violence weakens the groups' "legitimate claims."
Hamas' official charter calls for the murder of Jews and destruction of the Jewish state. It also calls for Muslims to "pursue the cause of the Movement (Hamas), all over the globe."
The terror group has carried out scores of deadly suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks against Israelis.
Hezbollah claims it is fighting to liberate its "lands," purportedly referring to the Shebaa Farms, a small piece of territory it says is Lebanese but is being held by Israel. The group regularly makes threats against Israel and has carried out numerous terror attacks targeting Israel and the West, including the U.S.
Klein, of course, has no evidence that Obama sides with Hamas and Hezbollah -- because there isn't any, as he very well knows. Still, that won't stop Klein from rehashing yet again a Hamas official's endorsement of Obama in a radio interview with him, as he does here. Klein claims that Obama "previously was embroiled in controversy" over over the Hamas endorsement without noting that the "controversy" was fabricated by Klein himself, along with right-wing radio host John Batchelor -- we've yet to hear either of them explain why someone from Hamas would speak to someone who is aggressively anti-Hamas or whether the Hamas guy knew he was playing into Klein's and Batchelor's anti-Obama agenda.
UPDATE: Joseph Farah buys into his reporter's false implications:
But I for one would really like to know which of the claims of Hamas and Hezbollah are "legitimate" in the eyes of Barack Obama. I think it's a very important question.
Is it Hamas' belief that the U.S. Rotary and Lions Clubs are secret societies doing the bidding of the International Zionist Conspiracy?
Is it Hamas' institutionalized anti-Semitic strain that runs throughout Hamas ideology, including its charter, which doesn't just call for the destruction of Israel, but for the killing of all Jews?
Is it Hezbollah's view that Israel represents the vanguard of the United States of America in the Middle East – "the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve"?
This makes it a little harder for Klein to claim that he wasn't suggesting Obama thinks every evil thing about Hamas and Hezbollah is "legitimate."
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:40 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:02 AM EDT
