Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center's $5 million campaign to get the media to "Tell the Truth!" about the election also covers trying to intimidate reporters into not telling the truth about Republicans. Read more >>
Monday, November 5, 2012
NEW ARTICLE: Fighting the Facts
Topic: Media Research Center The Media Research Center's $5 million campaign to get the media to "Tell the Truth!" about the election also covers trying to intimidate reporters into not telling the truth about Republicans. Read more >>
Posted by Terry K.
at 3:10 PM EST
Newsmax Tries Last-Minute Obama Smear
Topic: Newsmax Newsmax is trying for a last -minute pre-election smear of President Obama with an article headlined "Obama Campaigns with Celebs as Sandy Devastation Continues":
Newsmax pushed this article by splashing it across the top of its home page on Monday morning: Funny thing, though: The above are the only references to Obama in the entire article, credited only to "Newsmax Wires" -- the rest is dedicated to the Sandy aftermath. That just shows what a deliberate cheap shot this article is.
Posted by Terry K.
at 2:13 PM EST
Updated: Monday, November 5, 2012 4:22 PM EST
MRC's Graham Whines That Reporters Have Informed Opinions
Topic: NewsBusters Tim Graham whines in a Nov. 4 NewsBusters post: "On Friday's Bill Press radio show, several 'objective' journalists agreed with Press that Hurricane Sandy is a big boost for Obama's election hopes." Of course, Press has never claimed to be anything other than a liberal, so Graham really shouldn't be surprised by that. But does Graham really doubt that Obama benefited politically from the Sandy aftermath? Does he really believe that it's "liberal bias" for reporters to note that if they believe it is true? So it seems that, in contradiction of the MRC's $5 million mantra, Graham doesn't want the media to tell the truth.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:36 AM EST
Newsmax Already Pushing Voter Fraud Meme
Topic: Newsmax It's not even election day, but Newsmax is already screaming about "voter fraud." A Nov. 4 article by Stephen Feller declares, "Possible fraudulent voter registrations are being discovered in Ohio and officials fear that this may be a groundswell of thousands more to come." Of course, made-up names on voter registrations -- it's extremely unlikely that the person who registered as "John Adolf Hitler," the fraudulent name Feller cited, would actually have shown up to vote -- is not voter fraud since obviously fake names would be weeded out by election officials. before they become logged into the system. Feller highlights "FieldWorks, a Washington, D.C., based third-party registration firm," as being the source of "many -- if not all" of the suspect voter registrations, but third-party firms are typically required to turn in all filled-out registration forms even though they are obviously fake. In short, Feller has proved no "voter fraud," it's dealt with under the existing system, and it's nothing that wouldn't have been prevented by new voter ID laws. This is a regular ritual by Newsmax -- elections in 2004, 2008, and 2010 were similarly preceded by pre-emptive allegations of voter fraud, presumably designed to undermine a Democratic victory.
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:27 AM EST
WND's Ellis Washington Beclowns Himself on GM Bailout
Topic: WorldNetDaily When your column starts out with going Godwin, we're in for a bumpy ride. Indeed, Ellis Washington's latest self-beclowning of a column at WorldNetDaily does exactly that:
Washington goes on to rant about General Motors building cars in China, citing some less-than-impeccable "news" sources in the process:
Washington's claim that "GM still owes the American taxpayer $42 billion" relies on a column at the right-wing Townall by Katie Pavlich that lumps in $17 billion that was given to "Ally Bank, the company’s lending arm" into the money lent to GM. In fact, GM sold off a majority stake in Ally -- then known as GMAC -- in 2006, before the financial crisis. The federal government currently owns more than 73 percent of Ally Financial -- and it can presumably recoup at least some of the money it lent to Ally by selling ownership as the company stabilizes and becomes more profitable -- and the current GM owns just 4 percent. Further, Washington's ranting about GM and China overlooks the fact that GM's China profits help prop up the rest of the company. Frm U.S. News & World Report's Rick Newman:
After some Ellis-esque Obama-hate and Romney-fluffing, Washington is back to the misinformation:
Actually, Germany -- home of BMW and Audi -- is not a "right to work" country and has very strong unions. According to Forbes, the average auto worker in Germany makes twice as much as the average U.S. auto worker. The difference is that unions and management do not have the adversarial relationship they do in the U.S., says Forbes:
And South Korea, where Kia is based, does have a union for auto workers, and earlier this year it was planning a strike for better wages. But since Washington's strength is nonsensical rants and not the truth, he continues blithely on his rant, repeating the dishonest $42 billion claim again:
Washington just can't stop beclowning himself, can he?
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:28 AM EST
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Noel Sheppard Contradicts Himself In Blaming Obama
Topic: NewsBusters Noel Sheppard has been involved in a pedantic little flame war with Andrew Sullivan over the latter's praise of President Obama. In a Nov. 1 NewsBusters post, Sheppard takes exception to Sullivan saying that "Technically 7.8 percent is the same unemployment rate Obama inherited in January 2009," retorting, "The reality is that when it comes to economic data like unemployment, the clock begins on February 1 after a new president is inaugurated." So Sheppard has established a baseline. But then later in the post, he hangs the entire deficit for fiscal year 2009 on Obama, even though the fiscal year began in October 2008, three months before Obama took office. Sheppard claims it's "sleight of hand" not to do so, adding:
Um, Noel? Do you remember who was president at time? That's right, it was George W. Bush. He could have vetoed any of those measures and forced them to go back for revisions if he thought that spending was irresponsible; instead, he signed them all into law. Indeed, it's a documented fact that the vast majority of the spending in the 2009 can be attributed to policies enacted before Obama assumed the presidency. Congress doesn't have the ultimate say on spending -- the president does. And Obama wasn't president at that time. Sheppard also makes the mistake of putting the entirety of the $787 billion stimulus bill under the 2009 budget. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, only $114 billion of the stimulus was spent in fiscal 2009. And Sheppard is accusing Sullivan of living in a "Bizarro world." Go figure.
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:26 PM EDT
CNS Pushes Bogus 'Real Unemployment Rate'
Topic: Free Congress Foundation A Nov. 2 CNSNews.com article by Matt Cover carries the headline "Real Unemployment Rate 14.6 Percent in October" and claims:
In fact, the U-6 rate Cover is referring to is not an "unemployment" rate, real or otherwise -- as Cover himself admits, it also includes those employed part time who want full-time work. While Cover insists the U-6 rate "is considered a more comprehensive measure of the employment pictures," even the conservative Heritage Foundation admits the the "chief utility" of the U-6 rate is "shock value," and that " the significance of the U-5 and U-6 numbers is far from clear -- and surely not as great as many commentators recklessly suggest."
Posted by Terry K.
at 11:49 AM EDT
Lying Preacher Bradlee Dean Goes Godwin
Topic: WorldNetDaily It seems that self-proclaimed man of God Bradlee Dean just can't stop breaking God's commandments with his hate and lies. This time, Dean uses his Nov. 1 WorldNetDaily column to go Godwin, likening President Obama to Nazis:
Dean is just following in the footsteps of website that publishes him. WND loves to liken Obama to Hitler and other Nazis. Dean concludes:
Such utter filth and hate coming out of Dean's mouth proves that he is no man of God.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:52 AM EDT
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Dick Morris Uses Newsmax to Shill for Romney (And, Of Course, Beg For Money)
Topic: Newsmax Dick Morris has a long history of taking part of Newsmax's financial schemes. Now morris is using Newsmax to forward a fund-raising scheme of his own. Media Matters reports that on Nov. 2, Newsmax hosted a "critical election teleconference" conducted by Morris, Michael Reagan -- which whom Morris runs the anti-Obama Super PAC For America -- and Robert Wiedemer, co-author of the book "Aftershock," which Newsmax built a previous financial scheme around. The teleconference cost $4.95 for the privilege of listening in. Morris declared that he was "very concerned" about the state of the presidential race because Obama's response to Hurricane Sandy has helped him in the polls, a conclusion that directly contradicts the fundraising pitch Morris made right before the hurricane struck. According to Media Matters, Morris smoothly segued into soliciting donations to Super PAC for America. Media Matters concludes: "To sum up Morris' pitch: the race is close and also not close, and there are danger signs but Romney is also going to win almost every swing state. But to be extra sure, you should give money to Super PAC for America."
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:01 PM EDT
AIM's Kincaid Laughably Claims Joel Gilbert 'Has Nothing To Hide'
Topic: Accuracy in Media In his Nov. 1 Accuracy in Media column, Cliff Kincaid proclaims that discredited anti-Obama filmmaker Joel Gilbert has "demonstrat[ed] that he has nothing to hide," citing as evidence Gilbert's interview with Media Matters (disclosure: my employer). Needless to say, Kincaid is lying. Gilbert is hiding plenty of things, not the least of which is where Gilbert is getting the money to mail millions of his film to households in swing states. Gilbert has consistently refused to disclose the source of hismoney, and Kincaid gives him a pass onit, dismissing it by claiming he runs "a private media company that produces and distributes films and is not a political action committee or affiliated with any political campaign." Kincaid also fails to press Gilbert to provide any evidence to substantiate his claim that he "has had his private financial accounts hacked into and the information used by a George Soros-linked journalist who may be part of a 'dirty tricks' campaign against GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney." Unlike WorldNetDaily's Drew Zahn, Kincaid does actually contact the journalist in question, Seth Rosenfeld, who points out that "It is false that I misrepresented myself or engaged in any improper or illegal conduct." But Kincaid then allows Gilbert to deny what Rosenfeld says -- again, without providing any evidence. Further, Kincaid completely ignores the fact that Gilbert's film has been discredited by Loren Collins, who has detailed Gilbert's falsehoods and deceptions on his website. We've contacted both Gilbert and Kincaid to find out when they will respond to Collins' debunking. They have not yet responded.
Posted by Terry K.
at 11:59 AM EDT
WND's Aaron Klein Reduced to Trolling Obama's Website
Topic: WorldNetDaily Aaron Klein is still keeping up his identity fraud trolling of Barack Obama's campaign website, using a Nov. 1 WorldNetDaily article to tout how he's using a "Pakistani proxy server" to run a "grassroots fundraising page titled “Fatwa: Foreign Donations” on President Obama’s campaign website" under the name "Osama bin Laden." You'll recall that Klein wrote an Obama-bashing book earlier this year that essentially went nowhere -- it briefly made the bestseller list on the strength of Klein's appearances on Fox News and local talk radio, not from his association with WND. The book had no impact whatsoever on Obama's campaign. So now, this author and so-called reporter -- who once laughably claimed that he had no anti-Obama agenda -- is now reduced to trolling Obama's website in order to manufacture something, anything to slime Obama one last time before the election. That's all he has left. That Klein is eager to perform such a cheap, lame, meaningless stunt demonstrates the state of Klein's journalistic standards -- and those of his employer. UPDATE: Buzzfeed notes that Klein's identity fraud likely violates election law, and quotes WND editor Joseph Farah ludicrously defending it:
Yeah, remember that time MLK totally trolled everyone by claiming he was Lester Maddox? Good times.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:38 AM EDT
Updated: Saturday, November 3, 2012 10:04 PM EDT
Friday, November 2, 2012
MRC's Graham Has Decided: Sandy Benefit Will Boost Obama
Topic: NewsBusters Tim Graham rants about tonight's NBC networks concert to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy in a Nov. 1 NewsBusters post:
Yeah, New Jersey natives Springsteen and Bon Jovi have absolutely no motivation to take part other than to promote Obama, do they? Apparently, Graham is unable to set aside his rabig right-wing partisanship for even a second in his quest to see "liberal bias" in pretty much everything.
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:56 PM EDT
Newsmax's Ruddy Performs Kessler-Level Romney-Fluffing
Topic: Newsmax Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy stays firmly in Romney-fluffing mode in his Oct. 30 column, which is dedicated to how noble Mitt Romney is for devoting himself to public service instead of making serious money in the financial sector:
Ruddy then touts how well Bain did under Romney:
Are we sure that Romney-fluffer extraordinaire Ronald Kessler didn't ghost-write this?
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:15 PM EDT
Obama Derangement Syndrome Watch, Supersize WorldNetDaily Edition
Topic: WorldNetDaily
-- Jane Chastain, Oct. 24 WorldNetDaily column
-- Ellis Washington, Oct. 26 WND column
-- Barbara Simpson, Oct. 28 WND column
-- David Kupelian, Oct. 30 WND column
-- Barry Farber, Oct. 30 WND column
-- Burt Prelutsky, Oct. 30 WND column
-- Erik Rush, Oct. 31 WND column
-- Phil Elmore, Oct. 31 WND column
-- Robert Ringer, Oct. 31 WND column
Posted by Terry K.
at 3:42 PM EDT
NewsBusters On Anti-Obama Mailer: Fake But Accurate
Topic: NewsBusters In an Oct. 31 NewsBusters post under the complicated headline "CNN: 'Anti-Obama' Mailer 'Cherry-picks' Obama Speech; Yet CNN Article Itself Misrepresents General Thrust of Mailer," Ken Shepherd writes:
Yep, that's the defense Shepherd is going with -- sure, the "Christian nation" quote is out of context, but the rest of it is true! It's apparently so self-evident to Shepherd that the rest of the flyer is "spot-on" that he doesn't bother to prove it to the rest of us. Which should tell us that it probably isn't -- and indeed it's not. One of the other "charges" in the flyer reads: "As a state senator, [Obama] led the fight to deny life-saving care for babies who survive abortions." As we've repeatedly pointed out, Illinois already had a law requiring medical care for a viable fetus that survived an abortion. What the flyer is referring to are efforts in 2001, 2002, and 2003 to expand that law with a "born alive" clause requiring that any fetus that survived an abortion, even ones that could not survive outside the womb, receive medical care. Obama has said he opposed those bills because the law would likely have been struck down in the courts for giving legal status to fetuses, a requirement that a second doctor be present at abortions, and their lack of a "neutrality clause" to make sure the bill would not affect current abortion laws. Despite having essentially conceded that the flyer's "Christian nation" quote is unfair, Shepherd goes on to try and diminish its importance to Focus on the Family's argument -- even though, again, it's the topmost allegation in the flyer. He writes that "To his credit, Hamby links to photos of the mailer, which readers can peruse at their leisure. That being said, if you failed to check out the photos, you'd have the impression that the greatest charge of the mailer if that President Obama doesn't believe America is a Christian nation, when the factually-accurate charges about his stands on other social issues are the more damning charges." But the "Christian nation" quote is the topmost quote in the flyer, directly under the headline "Compare and Decide: Your decision could not be more important." Doesn't that layout decision constitute evidence that Focus on the Family considers it to be the "greatest charge of the mailer"? Then, Shepard insists the misleading quote isn't that important in the first place, except for being cited as a critique of conservatives who cite it:
In fact, there is an unambiguous strain of conservativism that strives to "otherize" Obama, led by MRC fave Rush Limbaugh. Shepherd shouldn't pretend it doesn't exist. Just think of this as merely the latest in the MRC's war on facts.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:46 PM EDT
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