Topic: WorldNetDaily
Certainly WorldNetDaily's dauntless tracker of terrorist endorsements will get right on the story and tell his readers all about Al Qaeda endorsing John McCain.
Uh, right?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Calling Aaron Klein ...
Topic: WorldNetDaily Certainly WorldNetDaily's dauntless tracker of terrorist endorsements will get right on the story and tell his readers all about Al Qaeda endorsing John McCain. Uh, right?
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:40 PM EDT
Clinton Derangement Withdrawal Syndrome
Topic: Accuracy in Media We figured some members of the ConWeb would have problems getting over the fact that they don't have Hillary Clinton to kick around anymore for this presidential campaign. That seems to be the logical explanation for Roger Aronoff's Oct. 21 Accuracy in Media column. Declaring that "It is an open secret, despite the protestations, that the Clintons do not want Obama to win," he constructs his own little Clinton conspiracy:
In the full conspiracy spirit, Aronoff buys into the birth certificate canard despite acknowledging that both FactCheck.org and WorldNetDaily have debunked it and even stating that "We at AIM looked at it at the time, and didn’t feel there was enough to go on to run with the story." But that means nothing when there's a Clinton involved, however tangentally:
So even though Aronoff doesn't think the birth certificate lacks evidence and even though it's been debunked by third-party sources he appears to consider authoritative, it must still be "resolved." Is Aronoff really that desperate to indulge in some nostalgic Clinton conspiracy-mongering?
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:22 AM EDT
Ponte Pushes Obama Birth Certificate Lie (Among Others)
Topic: Newsmax In an Oct. 20 Newsmax article ostensibly trying to prove that what the obama campaign calls "smears" against their candidate are in fact "mostly true," Lowell Ponte focuses on one that is utterly false -- questions about Obama's birth certificate:
Ponte fails to note that FactCheck.org proves the critics (and Ponte) wrong:
Ponte further fails to note that even his right-wing fellow travelers at WorldNetDaily agree (even if WND forgets that it did so):
(Ponte's not the only Newsmax writer embracing the birth certificate lie; Geoff Metcalf insisted in an Oct. 20 column that a "Certified copy of original birth certificate" has not been released.) Ponte also perpetuates other falsehoods under the guise telling the "truth." Ponte writes of the Obama website's statements regarding William Ayers: "It does not mention that Obama and Ayers worked together on the board distributing millions of dollars with the aim of radicalizing Chicago schoolchildren. Nor does the site acknowledge that Obama kicked off his first political campaign in the living room of Ayers, the former Weather Underground leader." Ponte fails to mention that the Chicago Annenberg Challege, on which both Obama and Ayers worked, was funded by prominent Republican Walter Annenberg, and contrary to his claim that it had "the aim of radicalizing Chicago schoolchildren," educational reviewers found that the project, in fact, "reflected ... mainstream thinking among education reformers." Further, according tothe Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, "Obama's formal kick-off to announce his run for state senate was at the Hyde Park Ramada Inn on Sept. 19, 1995," and the coffee reception in Ayers' living was one of several held around the same time. -- Ponte also claims that Obama "pocketed more than $105,000 in political contributions, the third-highest amount given to any lawmaker, directly from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." But he fails to mention that McCain McCain has accepted at least $169,000 from "directors, officers and lobbyists" connected to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the 2008 election cycle. -- Ponte repeats his previous false claim that Project Vote was run by ACORN when Obama ran an operation for the group in 1992. -- Ponte falsely suggested that when Obama said of his daughters, "[I]f they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at the age of 16," that he was referring to abortion. In fact, Obama was answering a question on sex education.Ponte also claims that "Nurses have reported instances in which surviving aborted babies were left by abortionists to die without water, food, or warmth," without also noting that the claims made by that nurse, Jill Stanek were never substantiated. -- Ponte suggested that the reason that Obama canceled a planned visit to wounded soldiers in a German military hospital was because Pentagon officials said he "could not have his visits with hospitalized soldiers videotaped by the media," adding, "Prominent liberal mainstream media reporters such as NBC’s Andrea Mitchell rushed to defend Obama, saying that the press had never planned to cover his visits to military sickbeds." But Ponte never disproves Mitchell's claim.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:21 AM EDT
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Obama Derangement Syndrome Watch
Topic: WorldNetDaily
-- Janet (Folger) Porter, Oct. 21 WorldNetDaily column (with video!) Sadly, No! has more.
Posted by Terry K.
at 11:06 PM EDT
Meanwhile, Over At HuffPo...
Topic: WorldNetDaily In case you haven't read it yet, our expose of Jerome Corsi's dubious documents is now up at Huffington Post.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:57 PM EDT
WND Misleads on GOP Voter Fraud Arrest
Topic: WorldNetDaily An Oct. 20 WorldNetDaily article by Drew Zahn reports on the arrest of a Republican activist for alleged voter fraud but reported only the man's defense, curiously omitting the evidence against him. Zahn largely relies on the claims of Hector Barajas, communications director for the California Republican Party, in defense of Mark Jacoby, uncriticially reporting Baraja's claims that Jacoby was within his rights to claim his "childhood home" as his legal residence. But that was not the charge against him; rather, that the address he put down as his legal address in California was not where he resided:
Zahn does not indicate that Barajas provided any evidence that Jacoby's "childhood home" is, in fact, the "legal residence" he declared. Zahn buries the much more serious charge against Jacoby -- that, according to the Los Angeles Times, registrants were they were tricked by Jacoby's firm, Young Political Majors, into switching parties to Republican while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters -- by portraying it as a distraction from voter registration fraud allegations against ACORN. Indeed, five paragraphs of Zahn's article reference ACORN -- even though his article is not about ACORN -- while only two paragraphs reference the voter-duping charge against Jacoby's firm.
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:17 PM EDT
Obama Derangement Syndrome Watch
Topic: WorldNetDaily
-- Linda Harvey, Oct. 20 WorldNetDaily column
-- John L. Perry, Oct. 20 Newsmax column
Posted by Terry K.
at 2:50 PM EDT
Where Is Kessler's -- And Newsmax's -- Moral Compass?
Topic: Newsmax An Oct. 20 Newsmax column by Ronald Kessler accuses Barack Obama of 'lack[ing] a moral compass." We would argue that, by his flip-flop embrace of a candidate he despises out of an apparent desire to stay on the good side of his Republican buddies, Kessler has demonstrated the same lack of moral compass he accuses Obama of having. Kessler cites Obama's "being 'friendly' with admitted domestic terrorist William Ayers" as evidence of Obama's purported lack of moral compass. The question thus arises: What's Ron Kessler's relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorist G. Gordon Liddy? There doesn't appear to be much of one. Kessler and Liddy appeared twice together on CNN in May 2005 to discuss the revelation that Mark Felt was the Watergate scandal's "Deep Throat," and while they didn't appear to agree on whether Felt was a hero, neither did Kessler take the opportunity to condemn Liddy for his actions in Watergate, as well as the murders and bombings he planned. Liddy earned only a passing mention in Kessler's book on the FBI, "The Bureau." But Kessler's employer, Newsmax, has had closer ties-- and even less criticism of Liddy's domestic terrorism:
None of these articles make mention of Liddy's terrorism and, indeed, seem eager to whitewash the criminal acts of Liddy's that they do mention. It looks like Kessler's employer has lost its moral compass too. Does Kessler have the integrity call them out on it? History suggests he won't.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:21 AM EDT
AIM Embraces Andy Martin-Citing Author
Topic: Accuracy in Media An Oct. 19 Accuracy in Media "briefing" by Irene Warren ("an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia") features the book "Obama: Why Black America Should Have Doubts," which appears to be yet another right-wing attack book. It also appears to be self-published; author William Owens Jr. seems to be the same William Owens who runs iTouch/Higher Standard Publishers, or it could be his father. There are a couple things that raise questions about Owens' book. The first is the blurb page, whichfeatures the usual right-wing suspects -- Jerome Corsi, Jesse Lee Peterson, Alveda King, Star Parker. The second is treating Andy Martin seriously, which Warren does as well. Warren wrote:
Warren fails to mention that Martin is a discredited anti-Semite who shouldn't be trusted just because he says nasty things right-wingers like to hear about Obama. Indeed, Warren writes nothing at all about Martin's background, let alone what it says about Owens for his embrace of Martin. So, for her ignorance of Martin, does AIM and AIA give intern Warren a failing grade for this story -- or a passing one?
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:52 AM EDT
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Truth Makes Them Unhappy
Topic: WorldNetDaily Some folks over at RightNation.us don't like the idea that we've exposed Jerome Corsi's fake documents. Rather than addressing the evidence, they're attacking us. One choice comment: "Krepel's mother was inseminated by the same leaking colostomy bag that Paul Krugman's and Michael Moore's were. Must have been some party." Stay classy, guys...
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:18 PM EDT
Aaron Klein's Favorite Terrorist Plays Into His Anti-Obama Agenda -- Again
Topic: WorldNetDaily Barack Obama is ahead in the polls. WorldNetDaily's lies about Obama aren't taking hold. What's an Obama-hater like Aaron Klein to do? Why, fire up the ol' Mighty Wurlitzer and play the Ahmed Yousef key, of course! Yousef, if you'll recall, was Klein's go-to guy earlier this year when he needed an quick and dirty Obama smear. The "senior Hamas official" appeared with Klein on John Batchelor's radio show, where he said that he hoped Obama would get elected. Klein inflated this into an "endorsement" of Obama by Hamas, making sure to downplay Obama's actual opinion of Hamas -- that it should be isolated until it recognizes Israel. But it's getting late in the campaign, and Klein needs a little October surprise. So he's getting the band back together for another appearance on Batchelor's radio show, this time to slime Joe Biden. From Klein's Oct. 19 WND article:
It's not disclosed until nearly the end of Klein's 22-paragraph article that both Obama and Biden have previously criticized Hamas. This raises even more questions about collaboration between Yousef, Klein and Batchelor. As he did earlier, Yousef just happens to pop up regularly on Batchelor's show, with Klein as a co-interview, to advance Klein and Batchelor's partisan anti-Obama agenda. Klein seems to want his readers to believe this is not a coincidence. Are Klein and Batchelor working with Yousef to clear his remarks? Would Yousef be allowed to appear on the show if he didn't endorse Obama and Biden? Indeed, there appears to be a working relationship with Yousef that Klein and Batchelor have not disclosed. Perhaps Klein should concentrate on reporting the news instead of manufacturing it -- and fully disclose the nature of his relationship with Yousef.
Posted by Terry K.
at 2:42 PM EDT
NewsBusters Pretends Obama Comment Wasn't Taken Out of Context
Topic: NewsBusters An Oct. 19 NewsBusters post by Dave Pierre criticized Los Angeles Times columnist Rosa Brooks for writing that Barack Obama's words were "enthusiastically ripped out of context" by the McCain campaign when he remarked in 2007 about the need for more troops on the ground in Afghanistan so that the U.S. military is not "just air-raiding villages and killing civilians." Pierre asserted that "nothing was taken out of context," then linked to a YouTube clip of Obama saying the words. But the clip is only 12-seconds long -- the very definition of taking someone out of context. Pierre's own quoting of Brooks takes her out of context as well. Pierre cuts off his excerpt of Brooks' column after the words, " Not exactly eloquent, but Obama's fundamental point is unassailable," hiding from his readers what Brooks wrote next, which put Obama's words in their proper context:
In fact, at the time Obama made his statement, the Associated Press reported: "A check of the facts shows that Western forces have been killing civilians at a faster rate than the insurgents have been killing civilians." So: Obama is right, Brooks is right, and Pierre is not just wrong but dishonest by pretending he's offering the full context of Obama's (and Brooks') words while hiding the full truth.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:34 PM EDT
Updated: Monday, October 20, 2008 1:35 PM EDT
WND Laughably Pretends To Be Moral Arbiter of News Media
Topic: WorldNetDaily The new issue of WorldNetDaily's Whistleblower magazine has the theme, "The Day the Media Died." It's ostensibly about how "America's 'mainstream media' have finally, during 2008, dropped the façade of fairness and impartiality" -- a rather hilarious argument from a "news" outlet that never bothered with the pretense and tells outright fabrications to its readers. Indeed, the entire issue appears to be an in-kind contribution to the McCain campaign (like much of WND's news coverage). Among the featured claims:
Of course, at WND, it's a steady diet of Obama sleaze, hate, lies, and fake documents while refusing to report anything negative about McCain. And Kupelian curiously fails to mention his own partisan affiliation -- he has endorsed McCain, and WND's news coverage is a direct reflection of that endorsement. In other (italicized) words, WND ignores all negative news about McCain because, very simply, Kupelian just really wants McCain to be president -- making a mockery of boss Joseph Farah's claim to support "none of the above." Kupelian is also quoted as saying, "By pushing so unashamedly and openly for Obama, the Old Media are throwing away what little is left of their credibility." Given that Kupelian's own website is outright lying about Obama, how much credibility could he and WND possibly have? Which makes Kupelian and WND setting themselves up as moral arbiters of media behavior so roll-on-the-floor hilarious -- that is, if it wasn't so utterly dishonest and pathetic. If a "mainstream media" outlet lied as much as WND, it would have died a painful death a long time ago. Yet WND remains in business. Where's the justice?
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:12 AM EDT
New Article: Jerome Corsi's Bogus Journey
Topic: WorldNetDaily The WorldNetDaily writer's trip to Kenya on a quest to smear Barack Obama resulted in a run-in with authorities -- and a fistful of documents are clearly fake. Read more >>
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:19 AM EDT
WND Whitewashes Anti-Abortion Extremist -- Again
Topic: WorldNetDaily An Oct. 19 WorldNetDaily article by Jay Baggett features a case involving anti-abortion extremist Neal Horsley, a fringe candidte for governor in Georgia, being charged with obscenity for carrying around a campaign sign displaying the head of an aborted fetus. But Baggett whitewashes Horsley's background, though not as much as a 2003 WND article that, as we detailed, airbrushed all controversy out of Horsley's behavior. Baggett wrote:
But Horsley didn't just "cross out names of doctors who had died or who had been killed"; as Salon wrote, those "Deadly Dozen" posters -- which also included the doctors' home addresses, their social security numbers, and the names of their children and where they went to school -- appeared on Horsley's website.HOrsley also posted thousands of photographs and videos of patients, clinic workers and clinic defenders as an apparent attempt at intimidation. Further, contrary to Baggett's assertion that Horsley's website was not linked at all to the group at the center of the lawsuit, Salon stated: "The now defunct American Coalition of Life Activists morphed into the aboveground political apparatus of the violent Army of God -- with Horsley as its most prominent front man. Indeed, the Army of God Web site celebrates Horsley as 'A Hero of the Faith.'" None of this information appears in Baggett's article. Baggett also fails to mention that Horsley's actions were condemned by none other than anti-abortion activist and WND favorite Alan Keyes. From Salon:
One would think that such information would be relevant to WND readers. But then, WND has some peculiar ideas about journalism.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:22 AM EDT
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