Topic: WorldNetDaily
Likening the existence of gays to demolishing church buildings pretty much summarizes the WorldNetDaily columnist's wholehearted embrace of homophobia. Read more >>
Friday, February 25, 2011
NEW ARTICLE: Dave Welch, Gay-Basher
Topic: WorldNetDaily Likening the existence of gays to demolishing church buildings pretty much summarizes the WorldNetDaily columnist's wholehearted embrace of homophobia. Read more >>
Posted by Terry K.
at 7:25 PM EST
Keyes Likens Gay Marriage To "Granting Plantation Owners The Right To Own Slaves"
Topic: WorldNetDaily
-- Alan Keyes, Feb. 25 WorldNetDaily column
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:10 PM EST
Newsmax's Ponte Pushes Unsubstantiated Attack On Union
Topic: Newsmax Discussing the Wisconsin union controversy in his Feb. 22 Newsmax column, Lowell Ponte writes, "The head of the teacher union in Wisconsin reportedly is paid around $450,000 a year." Ponte offers no evidence to back up this claim or where he "reportedly" got it. Why? Perhaps because there isn't any. The only reference to this claim we could find was in the middle of a Free Republic post, in which a commenter claims he "learned on Rush over the noon hour" that "the head of AFSCME (the public sector union) makes $450,000 per year." As for where Limbaugh got the evidence for that claim -- or even whether Limbaugh actually said such a thing -- we couldn't find that either. The only reference to Limbaugh and $450,000 we could find was a reference to the Maybach he owns. Ponte should either back up his claim or apologize for making it.
Posted by Terry K.
at 5:35 PM EST
Bozell's In A Denigrating Mood
Topic: Media Research Center Brent Bozell has always portrayed his political enemies in the harshest tones he can think of (i.e., "Christiane Amanpour needs lithium badly"), and this week he has stepped up his attacks. In his Feb. 23 column, Bozell dropped a reference to "public-sector union hacks." That's right -- according to Bozell, every one of the millions of members of public-sector unions, no matter what they do for a living, is a "hack." Bozell went on to dismiss as "politically perverse" the idea that the protests in Wisconsin over a Republican governor stripping public unions of collective bargaining rights could be likened to Egypt's recent revolution. Bozell pushed this theme during his weekly appearance on Fox News' "Hannity," citing ABC's Diane Sawyer as an offender. One problem with that: As Media Matters points out, Sawyer was quoting Republican Rep. Paul Ryan at the time. Bozell wasn't done denigrating, though. In his Feb. 25 column, he defended the male high school wrestler who refused to wrestle a female opponent by attacking the girl's parents, complaining that no one is asking why they are "encouraging their teenaged daughter for years to wrestle competitively with males – with every implication, physical and sexual." Does that mean same-sex wrestling has a sexual component too? Bozell doesn't answer that question.
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:43 PM EST
Cashill Complains He's Being Ignored By Fox
Topic: WorldNetDaily Jack Cashill serves up a special Feb. 21 WorldNetDaily column dedicated to complaining that his conspiracy theory that William Ayers ghost-wrote Barack Obama's book "Dreams From My Father" is being ignored. That's nothing new, of course, but this time he seems to be claiming some sort of right to appear on Fox News to spew his conspiracy theory. Cashill is angry that "several of Murdoch's most prominent hosts on Fox News have made a point of shunning" birther-related issues as well as Cashill's authorship conspiracy. Cashill insists that there is a "conservative media firewall around the White House" and that "no one is more capable of tearing it down" than Murdoch.
Note that he calls Fox News "our guys." So much for all that "fair and balanced" stuff. UPDATE: On a related note, Media Matters takes a look at Cashill's new book "Deconstructing Obama" and finds it, well, stupid.
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:10 PM EST
Updated: Friday, February 25, 2011 7:22 PM EST
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Newsmax Scaremongers About Oil Price Spike
Topic: Newsmax Newsmax takes the early lead in fearmongering about the effect of Middle East turmoil on oil prices with a Feb. 22 interview with former Washington Times editor Arnaud de Borchgrave, which featured the screaming front-page-worthy headline "$400 Oil Imminent with Mideast Upheaval." De Borchgrave was actually a little more circumspect than Newsmax's screaming headline suggests, tying that dire price spike to the unlikely event of a nuclear attack on Iran:
According to the Newsmax article accompanying the interview, de Borchgrave falsely claimed that "Libya supplies around 74 percent of Europe’s oil." In fact, while most of Libya's oil goes to Europe, no single European country's percentage of oil from Libya tops 23 percent, with several countries below 10 percent.
Posted by Terry K.
at 7:30 AM EST
CNS' Jeffrey Dishonestly Reports on Wis. School Achievement
Topic: CNSNews.com CNSNews.com editor in chief Terry Jeffrey -- in an apparent attempt to denigrate Wisconsin teachers currently battling a Republican governor who wants to eliminate the right to collective bargaining for most public employees in the state -- penned a pair of articles that dishonestly portray the level of student achievement in Wisconsin. Jeffrey began his first article began this way:
It's not until the ninth paragraph that Jeffrey notes this:
In other words, the level of eighth-graders reading proficiently in Wisconsin is actually above the national average -- not that Jeffrey ever explicitly states that, of course. Jeffrey kicked off another article in similar alarming fashion:
This time, Jeffrey waits until the seventh paragraph that he tells the full story:
Again, Wisconsin achievement is above the national average -- this time significantly above it. Again, Jeffrey fails to explicitly state that. There is no reason for writing these stories in this fashion unless Jeffrey was trying to falsely distort the record of teachers in Wisconsin. And there is no reason to think that Jeffrey had any other goal in mind. UPDATE: Jeffrey repeats the teacher-bashing statistics in his Feb. 23 column, though that he surprisingly concedes that the numbers are "are slightly better than the national average for public-school students." Jeffrey also portrays students at Catholic schools as doing better on tests, plus Catholic and private schools "can also teach students that there is a God, that the Ten Commandments are true and must be followed, that the Founding Fathers believed in both and that, ultimately, American freedom depends on fidelity to our Judeo-Christian heritage even more than it depends on proficiency in reading and math." Jeffrey, of course, doesn't mention the fact that private schools, by their selective nature due to their tuition fees, tend to attract a more affluent and arguably better student than public schools, and that students who fail in private schools typically end up in public schools, thus skewing achievement figures.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:02 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 7:27 AM EST
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
WND's Farah Applies Coulter's Islam Solution to Gays
Topic: WorldNetDaily Joseph Farah concluded his Feb. 22 WorldNetDaily column -- spent ranting against the idea that gays could be conservatives -- this way:
Of course, that's not all Coulter said about Islam. The full quote, taken from Coulter's post-9/11 column, was that we should "invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." To which she added: "And this is war." Does Farah endorse the full application of Coulter's advice by invading homosexual strongholds -- bars, musicals, etc. -- and kill their leaders as part of converting gays to Christianity? He might want to elaborate.
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:53 PM EST
Obama Derangement Syndrome Watch, Supersize WorldNetDaily Edition
Topic: WorldNetDaily
-- Jane Chastain, Feb. 17 WorldNetDaily column
-- Erik Rush, Feb. 17 WorldNetDaily column
-- Larry Klayman, Feb. 19 WorldNetDaily column
--Barbara Simpson, Feb. 21 WorldNetDaily column
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:23 PM EST
WND's Kupelian to Take Part In Anti-Gay Conference
Topic: WorldNetDaily A Feb. 20 WorldNetDaily article reports that WND managing editor David Kupelian will be taking part in the upcoming "Truth Academy" held by the Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (which WND identifies only as "Americans for Truth") and Mission America. AFTAH and Mission America are two of the more rabidly anti-gay groups out there. AFTAH chief Peter LaBarbera, for example, approvingly quoted Matt Barber -- another conference participant -- describing homosexuality as "one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it 'love.'" And Mission America leader Linda Harvey blames gays for suicides among gay youths because they were under "almost continuous pressure to accept a lie." Kupelian will not ostensibly be pushing an anti-gay agenda during his appearance there; his scheduled subjects to speak on are "Christian Persecution in America and the Role of the Left" and "Propaganda or Journalism? The Role of the Media in Undermining Christianity." But he is hanging out with some of the more vicious anti-gay activists, and WND has been a longtime home for anti-gay attacks, so he is clearly down with that agenda.
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:48 AM EST
Newsmax Touts Biased Poll On Wis. Controversy
Topic: Newsmax A Feb. 21 Newsmax article is a actually a press release from Rasmussen Reports about its latest poll, which found that "48% of Likely U.S. Voters agree more with the Republican governor" in Wisconsin "in his dispute with union workers," while 38 percent "agree more with the unionized public employees. Since all Newsmax did is copy-and-paste the Rasmussen press release -- though it's not labeled as such -- there's no critical analysis of it. But as Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com reports, the Rasmussen poll introduces bias into the poll by asking, "Should teachers, firemen and policemen be allowed to go on strike?" In fact, police and fire services are specifically exempted from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's attempted restrictions on public sector unions. Thus Silver writes, the question is "a talking point posed as a question." Another question in the Rasmussen poll asking whether "the average public employee in your state" earns more or less than "the average private sector worker in your state" is a "pop quiz" that doesn't belong in a poll, Silver writes. In fact, he notes, one analysis found that state employees typically earn slightly less than comparable employees in the private sector.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:02 AM EST
Updated: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 12:07 AM EST
Monday, February 21, 2011
Ellis Washington Pegs the Silly Meter
Topic: WorldNetDaily Ellis Washington reminds us yet again of just what a silly and irrelevant man he is in his Feb. 19 WorldNetDaily column. He starts off by referencing "the progressive revolution in the 1880s" and notes the philosophers and ideas allegedly tied to them, like "Social Darwinism, natural selection, survival of the fittest." The first and third are essentially the same thing, and "natural selection" is a demonstrated mechanism of evolution and accepted scientific theory -- and not linked to the other two, as what has become known as "social Darwinism" had been around well before Darwin. Washington then added:
Really? "Mein Kampf" is a progressive tract? It's just the same as "The Feminine Mystique"? Kinsey's compilation of research was all about "promoting the ideals of the progressive revolution"? This is why no thinking person takes Washington seriously. Nobody, that is, except WorldNetDaily, which inexplicably continues to publish him every week.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:45 PM EST
NewsBusters Tries, Fails To Liken Dem Meeting to Koch Gathering
Topic: NewsBusters Julia A. Seymour has no sense of proportion. In a Feb. 20 NewsBusters post, Seymour complains that an upcoming gathering by Democratic operatives "has gotten little attention or criticism, yet when conservatives gather at the semiannual Koch conference the left mounts elaborate protests." The Politico item Seymour quotes about the Democratic gathering noted that "Participants include Obama campaign pollsters Joel Benenson and Paul Harstad, the 2010 executive directors of the DSCC, DCCC, and DGA, Organizing for America deputy director Jeremy Bird, SEIU political director Jon Youngdahl, and current DSCC executive director Guy Cecil." It is also not funded by billionaire financiers. By contrast, the Koch Brothers-funded gatherings are much larger and include a large array of conservative figures. From a New York Times article discussing a previous Koch gathering in Aspen, Colo.:
Another thing Seymour might want to have mentioned: Her employer, the Media Research Center, has taken money from Koch interests, including the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:11 PM EST
Being An 'Eligibility Activist' = Sending Money to WND
Topic: WorldNetDaily A Feb. 20 WorldNetDaily article details how WND's Joseph Farah has "devised a 10-point program for eligibility activism." Of those 10, eight require sending money to Farah and WND. Farah wants you to donate to his birther billboard campaign, buy his factually flawed birther video, stock up on birther signs, T-shirts, postcards and bumper stickers, "Donate any amount to the investigative reporting fund to find out the truth about Barack Obama," and buy the new book by Jerome Corsi, the same guy who also apparently believes that Obama is having gay sex. Of the remaining two steps, one gives you the option of sending money to WND by buying a "paperback version" of WND's downloadable "Obama eligibility primer" -- which is littered with factual errors too. The final, non-costly item is signing petitions (which, of course, are hosted by WND). Media Matters' Jamison Foser has computed that being the "eligibility activist" Farah wants you to be means sending Farah and WND a minimum of $96.83. Need any more evidence that Farah is in this for the money? You just got it.
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:02 PM EST
NewsBusters Mostly Quiet About Conservatives Insulting Lara Logan
Topic: NewsBusters NewsBusters got a lot of mileage out of denouncing Nir Rosen -- whom managing editor Matthew Sheffield described as "one of the more rabidly left-wing foreign policy commentators out there" -- for making offensive remarks regarding the attack on CBS' Lara Logan by a mob, which ultimately led him toresign his position as a fellow at the NYU School of Law's Center on Law and Security: A post by Sheffield chortling that Rosen "has finally gotten some just desserts." Matthew Balan repeating Rosen's claim that he didn't know Logan had been sexually assaulted before he made his remarks. Balan's complaint that ABC's Ashleigh Banfield "punted" on Rosen by saying she was "certainly not going to cast aspersions" on him. What you won't see at NewsBusters is little definitive condemnation -- let alone barely any mention -- of conservative commentators who made similarly offensive remarks about Rosen. A Feb. 17 post by Noel Sheppard did call conservative Debbie Schlussel's comments about Logan "disgraceful" -- but only after complaining that MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell noted Schussel's remark and not Rosen's. Sheppard followed up in a Feb. 20 post, complaining that Howard Kurtz identified Schlussel as a conservative but didn't identify Rosen as a liberal. Completely unmentioned by NewsBusters, however, were remarks made by prominent conservative blogger Jim Hoft, who blamed Logan for her assault, claiming that "Her liberal belief system almost got her killed." Then again, NewsBusters couldn't be bothered to be insulted when Hoft portrayed Rahm Emanuel as a "Kapo" -- an insulting reference to Jews who collaborated with Nazis -- after Sheppard denounced one commenter using the same word to describe tea party members.
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:50 AM EST
Updated: Monday, February 21, 2011 2:36 PM EST
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