Now, for every liberal who claimed Bush lied. For every printed article that passed on the claim, and every TV channel that did as well. Will you devote yourself to pursuing the claims of Gen. Sada as aggressively as you passed on the disinformation about Bush's truthfulness?
Only if you explain why the Bush administration has not expressed any support of Sada's claims and why Sada appears to be hanging out only with right-wing Christians who won't challenge his claims.
NewsMax, CNS Ignore Boehner's Ethics Problems Topic: Newsmax
A Feb. 2 NewsMax article by Paul Rodriguez plays up newly elected House majority leader John Boehner's claims to be a reformer on ethics. Missing from the article are any references to Boehner's own ethicial problems, such as passing out checks from tobacco lobbyists on the House floor or receiving $32,500 from Indian tribes linked to Jack Abramoff, a problem since the tribes dramatically increased their donations to Republicans after hooking up with Abramoff.
Twoarticles at CNSNews.com also fail to mention Boehner's ethics problem, though one obliquely refers to DNC chairman Howard Dean being critical of Boehner's "ties" to Abramoff.
CNS Fulfills Low Expectations Topic: CNSNews.com
In her Feb. 2 CNSNews.com article on Georges Sada's claims regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Sherrie Gossett does exactly what we predicted she would -- presents his claims without challenge (beyond previous reports on the issue that Sada was contradicting), doesn't bring up Sada's affiliation with conservatives or his Christian-oriented publisher.
As good as it feels to be proven right, CNS had a very low bar to clear. It's still just stenography, not journalism.
Then and Now Topic: Media Research Center
"How much did Baldwin believe in the 'legal process' during the impeachment effort? Recall how on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien on December 11, 1998 he jumped up from his chair and shouted: 'I'm going to stone Henry Hyde to death!'"
"Tasteless, perhaps, but clearly not to be taken literally."
-- MRC's Tim Graham, in a Feb. 2 NewsBusters post on a New York Times report that noted a blogger writing about the producers of the Christian-oriented film "End of the Spear" who cast a gay actor in a lead role that "it would probably be an overreaction to firebomb these men’s houses."
NewsBusters Schadenfreude Topic: NewsBusters
Wow -- Mithridate Ombud (aka Bruce Rheinstein) really wants to see the video ABC's Bob Woodruff was shooting before the bomb went off. Or does he just want to take a little sadistic pleasure in watching a journalist get blown up?
We've added this to our new article on NewsBusters' extreme rhetoric.
New Article: Going to Extremes Topic: NewsBusters
Writers and commenters at the MRC's NewsBusters blog dehumanize journalists and whitewash terrorist acts. Is this any way for a division of a multimillion-dollar organization to behave? Read more.
WND Rented House for Klein in Gaza Topic: WorldNetDaily
Well, this is interesting. In an interview with Jewish Press on the implication of wearing (or not wearing) yarmulkes in Israel, WND Jerusalem reporter Aaron Klein drops this little factoid in reference to his coverage of the Gaza disengagement:
Several months before the Gaza evacuation, WorldNetDaily rented part of a house in Gush Katif and I went there regularly.
So WND can afford to rent houses in Gaza -- presumably from the same settlers Klein got to be so buddy-buddy with to the point that he whitewashed their violent extreme-right backgrounds in his articles on the Gaza disengagement. Such a relationship indicates further that he has no intention of reporting a straight story; as we've noted, he's doing the same thing in his coverage of conflicts in the West Bank.
Jewish Press calls itself "the largest independent Jewish newspaper in the United States," though it appears to be a right-leaning publication. It considers Meir Kahane, he of the right-wing, violence-linked Kach/Kahane Chai movement, as merely one of its "colorful and thought-provoking writers." Klein writes a column called "Quick Takes" for Jewish Press, which, judging by his Feb. 1 column, are summaries of his WND work.
Klein also adds: "I have been privileged with the opportunity to report news accurately to millions of people every day. I'd rather get to the areas so that I can report and people can read what is really going on and not what CNN is reporting." Of course, as we've documented, "reporting news accurately" is not what Klein is doing.
Kerry Hostility Topic: NewsBusters
In a Feb. 1 NewsBusters post, Rich Noyes used the following words to describe John Kerry's appearance on NBC's "Today":
rant complaining sarcastically shot back plowed on finally paused for air screed
But where's the reference to Kerry being haughty and French-looking? In a companion post by Mark Finkelstein.
NewsMax, Malzberg Lie About Ginsburg Topic: Newsmax
A Feb. 1 NewsMax article accepts at face value a claim made by New York radio host (and NewsMax columnist) Steve Malzberg that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg "favored lowering the age of consent for women to 12."
This is false. As we've previously pointed out, Ginsburg has never "argued the age of sexual consent should be lowered to 12"; rather, she merely discussed a child-rape law in which she approved the fact that the law's language was gender-neutral and never spoke to the age aspect.
The same goes for Malzberg's false claim that Ginsburg is in favor of "legalized prostitution"; Ginsburg merely said that an argument for legalized prostitution could be made but has never made one herself.
Malzberg forwarded yet another falsehood: denying that Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch recommended Ginsburg's nomination. Wrong again.
NewsMax was more concerned with pointing out that National Organization for Women president Kim Gandy said "That is such bullshit" on the air when Malzberg made the false claim about Ginsburg wanting to lower the age of consent. The article also falsely attributes the source of Gandy's anger, claiming it was because Samuel Alito was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice even though the transcript of the Malzberg-Gandy exchange included in the article makes it clear that it's over his false statements about Ginsburg, not about Alito.
This puts NewsMax and Malzberg in the company of Mychal "Bull Connor" Massie in making this false claim.
Negativity = Bias? Topic: NewsBusters
NewsBusters (and, presumably, the rest of the MRC) is employing a new standard in "liberal bias" detection: If you say or write negative things about the Bush administration, no matter how truthful they are, you're biased. A few State of the Union-related posts on NewsBusters illustrate the concept:
BlackwellNetDaily Topic: WorldNetDaily
Continuing with its policy of stroking Ohio's Ken Blackwell, today's WorldNetDaily commentary page features outside links to a pair of pro-Blackwell articles, promoted thusly:
NewsBusters' Ginsburg Distortion Topic: NewsBusters
In a Jan. 31 NewsBusters post, Clay Waters peddles a favorite conservative distortion: that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was considered an unrepentant liberal at the time she was nominated for the Supreme Court.
Complaining that a New York Times article on newly confirmed Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito "emphasizes Alito’s conservatism again and again" (Waters seems to have a problem acknowledging the simple and uncontested fact that Alito is, in fact, conservative), Waters wrote that "the Times covered the Senate vote that made liberal former ACLU lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg a Supreme Court Justice." Waters does not explain how being a "former ACLU lawyer" automatically makes one a "liberal."
In hurling the "liberal" tar brush and dangling the ACLU bogeyman, Waters ignores Ginsburg's record as a moderate on the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, where she served for 12 years after her ACLU stint, often voting with respected conservative judges as Kenneth Starr, Robert Bork and Laurence Silberman. Waters also ignores the fact that she was recommended to President Clinton by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch as a candidate whom Republicans would approve.
NewsBusters Nonsense, 1/31 Topic: NewsBusters
-- Tim Graham takes a whack at a Time magazine reporter for "flacking" for a convicted murderer who proclaimed his innocence (later DNA testing showed him to be guilty). Graham's employer has not been bothered by that before. CNSNews.com has run five articles (here, here, here, here, and here) that cite Gary McCullough, mostly in his role as "media coordinator" and spokesman for Terri Schiavo's relatives, and none of them mention McCullough's murderer-flacking history: He was a media consultant to Paul Hill, who was convicted and executed for the murder of a doctor who performed abortions (and is quoted as saying, "Paul Hill is my friend. No, I won't denounce his actions").
-- Mark Finkelstein unearths another insidious example of "liberal media bias" in the woodwork: a sports columnist who was exhibiting "blatant blue state/red state bias" claiming that Detroit is "a real city" because "[y]ou can get the New York Times here", while calling Jacksonville, Fla., a "yahoo town."
-- Lyford Beverage complains that the Washington Post offered an "apparent attempt at humor" on the State of the Union address that is "a mocking, snarky piece, that is ... not close enough to reality to actually be funny." And that differs from NewsBusters' "Gaggle" comic how?
