MRC's Clay Waters Doesn't Know What Amnesty Means Topic: Media Research Center
We've documented how CNSNews.com insists on calling any attempt at immigration reform "amnesty" even though none of the proposals forwarded do not fit the definition of the word. Now, another MRC employee wants in on that action.
Clay Waters complains in a Jan. 14 MRC TimesWatch item that the New York Times "has long been pushing for immigration 'reform' that would include amnesty for illegal immigrants and a path to citizenship." Earth to Waters: If there's a path to citizenship, it is by definition not amnesty, which implies no preconditions.
Waters followed that up with a Jan. 16 item again insisting that the Times backs "immigration 'reform,' involving mass amnesty for illegals in the United States. " Again, Waters offered no evidence that what the Times supports fits the dictionary definition of amnesty.
WND Still Telling Lies About Texas School Curriculum Topic: WorldNetDaily
John Griffing uses a Jan. 13 WorldNetDaily article to repeat misleading claims and outright lies about a Texas school curriculum while largely ignoring that his attacks have been debunked.
Griffing (pictured) begins by asserting that the "controversial" Texas CSCOPE online curriculum teaches that “Allah is God.”He goes on to assert that "CSCOPE lessons promote Islam, teaching conversion methods and presenting verses from the Quran that denigrate other faiths" and that "the Boston Tea Party is likened to an act of terrorism on par with 9/11."
As we've documented, Griffing is simply repeating a chain email attacking the program, and even before Griffing wrote his first misleading article attacking CSCOPE, a Texas education official gave the members of one Dallas-area school board that had received the chain email "a 72-page handout listing every religious reference in the CSCOPE curriculum, from kindergarten to high school." That report debunks Griffing's claims about CSCOPE "promoting" Islam.
Griffing makes no mention of this handout in his article, even though it addresses the accusations he makes -- and it's likely he ignores it because it undermines the premise of his article.
Griffing goes on to state that "The CSCOPE website has posted a response to concerns about certain lesson plans, including an extensive discussion of the Boston Tea Party." But he doesn't link to CSCOPE's response, nor does he say what it contains. (A copy of it is in the handout, which may be another reason why Griffing doesn't want his readers to know about it.)
Griffing
In CSCOPE World History/Social Studies, Lesson 2, Unit 3 under the heading, “Classical Rome,” students are told that Christianity is a “cult,” and given a link to a BBC article saying the early Christians were “cannibals,” i.e. the Eucharist, which students are then led to conclude is the reason for Roman persecution.
Griffing is simply lying here. At no point does the handout he links to describe Christianity as a "cult" -- indeed, the word "cult" does not exist in the handout. Here's what the BBC article actually says about Christianity and cannibalism:
Why were Christians persecuted? Much seems to have depended on local governors and how zealously or not they pursued and prosecuted Christians. The reasons why individual Christians were persecuted in this period were varied. In some cases they were perhaps scapegoats, their faith attacked where more personal or local hostilities were at issue.
Contemporary pagan and Christian sources preserve other accusations levelled against the Christians. These included charges of incest and cannibalism, probably resulting from garbled accounts of the rites which Christians celebrated in necessary secrecy, being the agape (the ‘love-feast’) and the Eucharist (partaking of the body and blood of Christ).
The article reports that early Christians were accused of being cannibals as a pretense for persection -- not that they are cannibals.
Griffing has also picked WND's penchant for untraceable anonymous sources. He claims that a "source in the Texas education system" says that "operatives in the U.S. Department of Education are actively pursuing CSCOPE as a way around the Texas legislative process." Given that his article is already filled with lies, there's not reason to believe Griffing about this, either.
This is an incredibly shoddy article, even by WND's abysmal standards. You'd think WND would have learned its lesson in the Clark Jones lawsuit about fact-checking submissions from freelancers, but apparently not.
CNS Lets Alveda King Falsely Call Herself 'Dr." Again Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com published a Jan. 15 column by Alveda King in which she is allowed to refer to herself as "Dr."
As we've pointed out previously when CNS has done this, and as others have detailed, King's doctorate, from Saint Anselm College, is honorary, not earned.
It's standard journalism practice to use the "Dr." title only for those with medical degrees, and most certainly not for honorary degrees. But then, between the mysteriously disappearing false articles and its creeping NewsBusters-ism, journalism doesn't seem to be a high priority these days.
Colin Powell Derangement Syndrome Topic: WorldNetDaily
Now, along comes one of the great frauds of our time, Colin “Putz” Powell. For years, Gen. Putz has used the Republican Party to boost his career, with nary a negative word about the GOP.
But all that ended when a black presidential candidate came along – a candidate with virtually no credentials other than his ties to notorious anti-American radicals. Gen. Putz quickly jumped on the race bandwagon and enthusiastically supported him. For sure, it was “racism, straight up.”
[...]
Gen. Putz then went on to complain that some Republicans had dared to question Barack Obama’s birth certificate. As with his credentials, how dare anyone question his place of birth, even though he refused to allow anyone to see his birth certificate for years, then finally “settled” the matter by having a multi-layered PDF version of it posted on the Internet.
Gen. Putz also cavalierly alluded to Sarah Palin’s statement that Obama was “shuckin’ and jiving” on the Benghazi issue. Sorry, but as painful as it may be for the far left to hear it, the truth is that Obama shamelessly goes into his shuck-and-jive act whenever it suits his purposes – especially when he addresses black audiences or labor-union events.
But Gen. Putz also has a sense of humor, which was on full display when he lamented that a “significant shift to the right” in the Republican Party has produced “two losing presidential campaigns.” He then added, “I think the Republican Party right now is having an identity problem” and that “if it’s just going to represent the far right wing of the political spectrum, I think the party is in difficulty.”
First of all, Gen. Putz, the Republican Party has been shifting to the left – not the right – for at least the last 25 years – so much so that it literally handed Obama another four years to carry out his anti-American plans when millions of Republicans refused to vote in 2012. Listen up, Gen. Putz: The Republican Party is “in difficulty” because it has shifted in the direction of the Romneys, the McCains, the Boehners and the McConnells.
[...]
So, am I ready to anoint Colin Powell chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Putzes? Not so fast. Let’s be fair to hard cases like Putz Buffett, Putz Christie and Putz Boehner. After all, these men have invested a lot of time honing the art of putzing and have shown no signs of letting up. I say, putzes of the world, unite!
Brent Bozell Heathers Colin Powell Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center loves to give conservatives who dare to deviate from the right-wing party line the Heather treatment, questioning their conservative credentials with attitudes that range from snark to viciousness. Now the MRC's head honcho wants in on the act.
Brent Bozell's Jan. 16 column is one big Heather-fest, starting off with his usual whining:
The Republican Party is desperately in need of some good advice. It needs to return to Ronald Reagan conservatism and give America a two-party system, not a tinny echo of Obama. But our liberal media keep desperately inviting fake Republicans to offer advice to the GOP.
They want to create a new Republican Party, one that rejects the principles of the man who championed freedom.
After complaining about Michael Bloomberg -- who was a Republican only for the purpose of running for mayor of New York City and is currently an independent, thus making him a poor example -- Bozell turns his Heathering sights on Colin Powell:
Exhibit B: Colin Powell, who voted for Obama twice, but still insists he's a Reagan Republican. Indeed, since becoming a Republican, all he's done is criticize the GOP. NBC brought him on "Meet the Press" to declare, "If it's just going to represent the far right-wing of the political spectrum, I think the Party is in difficulty. I'm a moderate but I'm still a Republican."
Powell thinks he's a Republican, and the GOP has an "identity problem." But the "identity problem" is Powell's — voting for Obama is neither Republican nor "moderate." Today's Republican establishment isn't to the right of Reagan. It is to the left of the man who won one of the largest landslides in history with an unequivocal conservative agenda.
In other words: Powell is not as rigidly dogmatic as Bozell is, therefore he's not a real Republican.
By the way, what's happening with Bozell's big threat to "start looking for a new home" if Republicans agreed to a tax hike in fiscal cliff negotiations (which they did)? If Bozell is still defending the honor of the Republican Party, that means his threat was just a petulant bluff.
Bozell goes on to give the Heather treatment to another heretic, Republican strategist Mike Murphy:
Mike Murphy and his friends in the media are on the very same page: To "modernize" the Republican Party is to put conservatism through a shredder. On NBC back in November, Murphy warned if "we don't modernize conservatism, we can go extinct ... We've got to get kind of a party view of America that's not right out of Rush Limbaugh's dream journal."
By the by, how does one "modernize" principles?
Limbaugh's dream is Reagan's dream. You can't be against Rush and for Reagan.
Unless Bozell is tellins us that Reagan called women sluts and advocated conducting abortions with guns, we're pretty sure you can separate the two.
Prayer Breakfast Organizer Flip-Flops on Farah's Invitation Topic: WorldNetDaily
Last week we noted how Media Matters (disclosure: my employer) reported on WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah being removed from the guest list of a Inauguration Day prayer breakfast. Since then, somebody's story has changed.
Media Matters' source for the story was Rev. Merrie Turner, organizer of the prayer breakfast. But Turner is suddenly singing a different tune.
A Jan. 15 WND article by Bob Unruh said that Turner has "repudiated" what she told to Media Matters:
“The misinformation resulted from a number of factors: a confusion over the exact status of guests combined with the fluidity of the program, erroneous assumptions, miscommunication, a train of questioning by Media Matters as to whether we would allow anyone to use the event as a platform to attack the president, my desire to clarify that the event was not about anyone doing so, and what appears to be the aim of Media Matters to attack and humiliate Joseph Farah.”
She explained, “Joseph Farah was asked for his help regarding the event. He graciously gave it. He never invited himself to the event. Nor did he ever ask or expect anything in return. We affirm that the event is to pray for America at a critical time and juncture, for the American presidency and government. We also want to clearly state and affirm that it would be an honor to have Joseph Farah be part.
“I am truly sorry for anything said or spoken, any confusion and miscommunication, and for any distress this may have caused Joseph Farah,” she said.
Media Matters responded to the WND article by pointing out that Turner "has made no effort to contact Media Matters with any complaint about the report or any requests for corrections or clarifications about her comments," and that Turner is refusing to respond to requests for clarification and even hung up on a Media Matters reporter.
What happened? Did Turner get caught telling the truth and then had to backpedal to salvage relationships with Farah allies? We don't know; we do know that WND has no interest in finding out.
Meanwhile, Farah used his Jan. 16 column to rehash Unruh's artile, bash Media Matters and its "libel" against him , and whine that "the Media Matters story was picked up uncritically by news outlets, especially ones labeling themselves as 'Christian.'"
Curiously missing from Farah's column: any mention of Media Matters' response to Turner's flip-flop, even though it was published several hours before Farah's column appeared.
Farah seems to have not considered the possibility that Turner is only telling him what he wants to hear to get himself out of trouble.
Also, Farah obviously does not know the definition of libel, even though he has worked in journalism for three decades. Here's a refresher for Farah:
Accurately reporting what a source said before deciding he didn't actually say it, but never contacted the reporter to change his story or demand a correction, is not libel.
We hope that clears things up a little. Now, will Farah give up his persecution complex, start acting like the reporter he pretends to be and figure out which story Turner told is the truth?
Newsmax Fearmongers About Obama's Executive Actions on Guns Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax's Jim Meyers turns up the fearmongering over President Obama's executive actions on gun regulations in a Jan. 16 article:
You’re visiting a doctor because you have flu symptoms. After checking your heart, pulse and other vital signs, the doctor says, “By the way, the federal government has authorized me to ask you: What type and how many guns do you have in your home?"
Sound like George Orwell’s 1984?
No. It’s 2013.
And if President Barack Obama gets his way by executive order, doctors across the country could play a key role in his new gun control initiative.
In fact, Obama's executive action does not require doctors to ask patients about guns, nor does it require doctors to report gun owners to law enforcement.
Newsmax promoted Meyers' story on its front page with this misleading graphic:
Not even Meyer offers any evidence to back up the suggestion that doctors will turn children into snitches against their parents.
To WND, "America" = Right-Wing Activists Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Jan. 16 WorldNetDaily article by Taylor Rose carries the subhead "America's reaction to sweeping gun control agenda." And who does Rose think is "America" for the purposes of his article?
Representatives of two right-wing pro-gun groups, the Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners of America.
A representative of the right-wing Heartland Institute.
And a sheriff who vows not to enforce any law he disagrees with.
That may be an accurate depiction of WND's readership and staff (especially the plagiarism part), but it's hardly representative of America.
Also, Rose seems to be picking up some bad habits from his WND colleagues -- is harticle includes only right-wing activists criticizing Obama and no one is permitted to respond to the criticism.
The utter and rank hypocrisy of NewsBusters associate editor Noel Sheppard knows no bounds.
We recently highlighted Sheppard's complaint that Stephen Colbert called the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre Wednesday, "f--ked in the head"; Sheppard went on to use Colbert as an example of the deplorable state of political discourse, despite Sheppard's own record of condoning insults against non-conservatives.
Now, just a mere five days after his rant against Colbert and "the toxic political tone in our nation," Sheppard flip-flopped again. In a Jan. 15 post, Sheppard approvingly quotes Colbert telling CNN host Piers Morgan to "get the f--k out of Dodge." Sheppard added: "Colbert's expletive was obviously deleted, and meant as a joke. Despite this, I quite imagine many across the fruited plain - including those that have signed a White House petition for Morgan's deportation - agree with him."
Funny that Colbert gets the joke defense here, when Sheppard refused to concede that Colbert's similar remark to LaPierre was a joke. Doesn't Sheppard understand how silly he looks by having such blatant double standards?
WorldNetDaily -- which has longengaged in fearmongering over vaccines -- devotes a Jan. 14 article to an anti-vaccine rant by right-wing radio host MIchael Savage:
“The flu vaccine?” he asked. “No, I wouldn’t take it.”
Savage noted “not everything your government tells you is true.”
“So it’s good to have a cynic in radio who questions authority,” he said.
[...]
The vaccine, he pointed out, contains formaldehyde and thimerosal – an organic compound containing mercury, which impairs the neurological and immune systems – along with detergents, antibiotics and allergens that cause infertility.
The CDC itself, he noted, lists some of these ingredients on its own website as harmful, though it insists the amounts in vaccines is negligible.
Someone may well say, Savage acknowledged,” Well, I took the shot and it didn’t kill me.”
But when you’re older, he argued, “and you get ALS or Alzheimer’s disease or MS, or you watch your kid develop seizures, or your kid becomes autistic, God forbid, what are you going to say?”
The relationship between the vaccine and any one person acquiring these diseases can’t be known for certain, he said, “But why increase the chances of inducing such illnesses in yourself and your children?”
Needless to say, WND made no attempt to talk to an actual medical expert for a response to Savage's paranoia. Nor did WND disclose its business relationship with Savage in the form of hosting his website. Such refusal to disclose a conflict of interest runs counter to accepted journalistic ethics.
NEW ARTICLE -- 2013 Slanties: Oppa Slantie Style Topic: The ConWeb
Biased reporting, wild claims, bizarre conspiracy theories -- it must be time to review the year in the ConWeb. Hey, sexy lady, let's do this! Read more >>
WND's John Rocker Thinks We Should Emulate Alex Jones -- Then Says Armed Jews Could Have Stopped Holocaust Topic: WorldNetDaily
John Rocker writes in his Jan. 14 WorldNetDaily column:
Now, there are many areas where Alex Jones, the host of “The Alex Jones Show” and man behind InfoWars.com, and I disagree politically, but having appeared on his show before I can say that his stance for freedom, American sovereignty and the Second Amendment deserves not just respect but emulation.
Appearing on “Piers Morgan Tonight” with Piers Morgan, a British expatriate who serves as a 21st century version of a King George Redcoat championing the disarming of the American people, Jones let him have it in a way that no individual from the GOP or the NRA – save the late, great Charlton Heston who is sorely needed now – has dared when confronting any mouthpiece for Obama’s gun-grab.
Here’s the main point of the conversation, with Jones telling Morgan, “The Second Amendment isn’t there for duck hunting, it’s there to protect us from tyrannical government and street thugs.”
He’d even go one step further, saying, “1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms.”
Jones has the type of energy I like and, more importantly, that is desperately needed by patriotic Americans who are beginning to view the actions of the Obama administration as treasonous and the milquetoast response by the GOP as pedestrian.
Meanwhile, Rocker does his best Alex Jones emulation:
Absolute certainties are a rare thing in this life, but one I think can be collectively agreed upon is the undeniable fact that the Holocaust would have never taken place had the Jewish citizenry of Hitler’s Germany had the right to bear arms and defended themselves with those arms.
Despite this being a popular talking point by some on the right wing, this is demonstrably false. Gun ownership was never widespread in Germany, even when there were few if any controls on people’s rights to own firearms. To suggest, then, that the Holocaust was made possible by the lack of armed Jews is pure nonsense on the facts alone.
More significantly, Rocker’s nonsense here downplays if not ignores the fact that it was not some tangential gun policy that led to the Holocaust, but the actual policy of implementing the Holocaust which led to the Holocaust. Jews were not targets of opportunity by the Nazis, seized upon because, hey look, they’re unarmed. They were intentionally and systematically targeted for persecution and extermination by the government, which had millions of troops under its command, armed with state-of-the-art weaponry. To suggest that some “Red Dawn”-style uprising would have prevented the Nazis from committing their crimes against humanity is pure, facile revenge fantasy, the likes of which can only be espoused by a person who has no experience with persecution.
Or maybe it’s worse. Perhaps Rocker and his ilk really don’t think that armed Jews would have stopped the Nazis and, instead, are cynically using the Holocaust as a prop in the latest act of political theater. Perhaps they view the Holocaust as a useful and emotionally-laden example with which to guilt, shame or manipulate their opponents in a modern day political dustup.
If so, it’s more despicable than it is ignorant. Way more despicable than anything the younger Rocker told Jeff Pearlman in that interview that got him into trouble back in the 90s.
Thanks, John Rocker, for providing yet another reason why nobody believes WND.
Newsmax Takes Another Dip In the Birther Pool Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax has never had the rabid birther obsession that WorldNetDaily does, but itdoesdabblein the birther cesspool on occasion.
It takes another dip with a Jan. 13 "Insider Report" item:
The mainstream media initially gave little or no coverage to presidential candidate Barack Obama's failure to produce a birth certificate, then lambasted those who questioned his eligibility for the White House.
But the press is already bringing up the question of Cruz's eligibility for president — which suggests that Democratic sympathizers are worried about his possible run for the White House in 2016.
Obama was born in Hawaii to an American mother and a Kenyan father, although some questioned his Hawaiian birth. Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father who were working in the petroleum industry, and he lived in Canada for four years before his family moved to Texas.
Newsmax overlooks the fact that not only did Obama produce a birth certificate before the election, he produced another one afterwards.
Newsmax also names nobody in "the press" or the "mainstream media" who is, in fact, making this an issue -- it quotes only legal experts and campaign spokespeople.
The next question is: will WND pick this up? We shall see.
WND Fake-Name Reporter Pushes Yet Another Anonymous Claim Topic: WorldNetDaily
The pseudonymous "Reza Kahlili" keeps piling up the anonymity gambits in his latest WorldNetDaily article:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is convening an emergency meeting Monday of his cabinet and others from the Supreme National Security Council over WND’s revelation of the Islamic regime’s secret nuclear facility.
The exclusive WND report on Jan. 7 said the secret facility is in Khondab near the city of Arak in central Iran.
According to a source in the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit with access to Iran’s nuclear program, Iran is scrambling to find out who leaked the information.
Needless to say, "Kahlili" offers no actual proof of any of this. As we've detailed, his claimed source for this is the same one who reportedly said that Iran has has "genetically altered" smallpox, which can't possibly be true because naturally occuring smallpox was eradicated in 1977 and the only place the disease exists is in two highly secure laboratories in the U.S. and Russia.
But then, following journalistic standards is not exactly high on WND's priority list -- fear and smear is, which is why it has hired someone hiding behind a fake name and unverifiable anonymous sources to be a "reporter."
Noel Sheppard: Stop With The Nixon Jokes! Topic: NewsBusters
Leave it to Noel Sheppard to defend the honor of Richard Nixon, which he does in a Jan. 9 NewsBusters post complaining that NBC's Brian Williams said that fellow NBCer Al Roker's unfortunate post-stomach-stapling incident of incontence in the White House "hasn't happened in the West Wing since Nixon discovered the tapes."
This leads to a lengthy rant from Sheppard:
Yet why did Williams feel the need to go so far back in history to something that likely most of the audience would be too young to understand?
Certainly there have been other things that have happened in more recent American history that have similarly shocked and disturbed a president.
For example, Williams might have said, “That kind of thing that happened to Al hasn't happened in the West Wing since Carter heard about hostages being taken at our embassy in Iran.”
Or how about, “That kind of thing that happened to Al hasn't happened in the West Wing since the Drudge Report broke the news about Clinton and Monica Lewinsky?”
Or “That kind of thing that happened to Al hasn't happened in the West Wing since Clinton heard he was being impeached?”
On the other hand, if he really wanted to express how rare such an occurrence is, Williams might have said, “That kind of thing that happened to Al hasn't happened in the West Wing since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.” At least this wouldn’t have involved a political scandal.
No, the butt of this distasteful joke about a president having an embarrassing accident in the White House of course had to be a Republican.
Color me very unsurprised.
And color us unsurprised that Sheppard is exactly the kind of partisan hack would defend a notoriously corrupt politician simply because he's a Republican.
Griffing (pictured) begins by asserting that the "controversial" Texas CSCOPE online curriculum teaches that “Allah is God.”He goes on to assert that "CSCOPE lessons promote Islam, teaching conversion methods and presenting verses from the Quran that denigrate other faiths" and that "the Boston Tea Party is likened to an act of terrorism on par with 9/11."
