CNS Misleads on Estate Tax Topic: CNSNews.com
A Feb. 11 CNSNews.com article by Nathan Burchfiel, part of CNS' saturation coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), paints a highly simplistic and misleading portrait of the estate tax, which Burchfiel calls the death tax (without quote marks) throughout his article. Only once does Burchfiel use the term "estate tax":
The death tax, also called the estate tax, places a tax on the assets of deceased individuals' before the heirs can gain access to the assets.
But that's an extremely simplistic and misleading view of the estate tax ("death tax" is a conservative term). As the friendly folks at the IRS tell us:
Most relatively simple estates (cash, publicly-traded securities, small amounts of other easily-valued assets, and no special deductions or elections, or jointly-held property) with a total value under $1,000,000 do not require the filing of an estate tax return. The amount was $1,500,000 in 2004 and 2005. For 2006 through 2008, the amount is raised to $2,000,000.
Burchfiel might want to have told his readers that the "death tax" applies only to large estates and that the vast majority of estates are untaxed.
Humor, NewsBusters Style Topic: NewsBusters
In a Feb. 13 NewsBusters post, Noel Sheppard declares that he doesn't think Al Franken is all that funny, particularly the line about Dick Cheney shooting his hunter companion "just to watch him die."
Perhaps, as an expert on humor, Sheppard would like to further explain why Franken isn't funny, but "Gaggle" is.
And as a bonus question, Sheppard could note why, if he finds "tasteless satire" offensive, he blogs for an organization that has a history of telling Clinton sex jokes.
A Distinction Without a Difference Topic: Newsmax
A Feb. 11 NewsMax article noted that Michael Steele, Maryland lieutenant governor and Republican Senate candidate, apologized for saying the following about embryonic stem cell research to the Baltimore Jewish Council: "Look, you of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool."
But NewsMax claims that "Steele was falsely accused of linking embryonic stem cell research to the Holocaust, which killed 6 million Jews," adding that "he was referring to inhuman Nazi research experiments and not the Holocaust."
In fact, many of those experiments were performed on Jews, including those in concentration camps, which makes the experiments a part of the Holocaust. (see here, here, and here).
NewsMax is making a distinction without a difference in order to protect a conservative; it has previously repeated without challenge the dubious claim that Steele was "pelted" with Oreo cookies at a 2002 debate.
More On Lynne's Less-Than-Whole Story Topic: WorldNetDaily
In our December review of Diana Lynne's book on the Terri Schiavo case, we noted that Lynne made no mention at all of anti-abortion extremists Randall Terry and Gary McCullough, who served as spokesmen and advisers to the Schindler family. We speculated that Lynee didn't mention them because Terry's and McCullough's history of extremism would taint the Schindlers as extremists as well. We've discovered another possible reason: Lynne didn't want her readers to know how much orchestration and manipulation went into putting the Schindlers' version of the Terri Schiavo story in the public eye.
Terry lays it all out in an article on the website for his group, the Society for Truth and Justice, written in October 2003, shortly after a judge granted the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube (which was reversed via the passage of "Terri's Law" by the Florida legislature). Terry leads off with a quote from Bob Schindler, Terri's father:
Our family asked Randall Terry to come, and we gave him carte blanche to put Terri's fight in front of the American people. He did exactly what we asked, and more. Randall organized vigils and protests, he coordinated the media, he helped us meet with Governor Bush, which gave us the momentum to pass the law that has saved Terri, for now, from death. My daughter is alive today because of Randall Terry's efforts.
Terry also laid out his seven point plan for publicizing the case, which he developed with McCullough, who Terry calls "my 'media man,' " adding that he "has worked with me since the early days of Operation Rescue. He helps me with the press in every conceivable way":
1. A 24-hour a day, non-stop vigil in front of the hospice where Terri was held starting the next day (Monday) at noon.
2. Focus our public cry for help squarely on Governor Jeb Bush.
3. To garner national press coverage, we would use a noon press conference Monday to notify the media that Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, was leading efforts to make Terri’s plight known to the nation. (We did this because in the news media world, this announcement was sure to get their interest, and get the press present at the hospice. The family’s voice could then be heard across the nation through the media, who up to this point had largely ignored Terri’s plight.)
4. We crafted a short statement asking Florida Governor, Jeb Bush to intervene ("Governor Bush, I appeal to you as one father to another, please save my daughter") and communicating to Terri’s errant husband ("he could have the money, we just want our daughter.")
5. We would need a motor home to park near the hospice where we could strategize and rest. We needed food, water, and signs for those who responded to our call to join the vigil.
6. We would solicit local clergy and politicians for support.
7. Those present would send out emails and make phone calls to everyone they knew locally to come to the vigil. Furthermore, we would utilize larger lists, such as "conservativepetitions.com" and "Terri’s list" to alert people around the nation to what we were doing, and implore their help. (People came from all over Florida as well as Georgia, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. And Focus on the Family and other national organizations rallied their troops, as well.)
So, far from being the "grass-roots effort" portrayed by Lynne in her book, the Schindler family publicity machine was an orchestrated campaign conducted by professional, committed activists.
Why does Lynne want people to think differently? Because, as we demonstrated in our article, she's biased toward the Schindlers, perhaps as much as Terry and McCullough.
We've added this to our original article on Lynne's book. While we don't normally don't do such major additions to an article this long after it was originally posted, it's important enough to make sure all this stuff is in one place.
As We Predicted ... Topic: NewsBusters
NewsBusters' Noel Sheppard is so far living up to our prediction: He has written another post complaining that the media isn't paying enough attention to the AP's Reid-Abramoff story without noting that the story leaves out key information.
Sheppard Proves Us Right Topic: NewsBusters
NewsBusters' Noel Sheppard is so far living up to my prediction: He has written another post complaining that the media isn't paying enough attention to the AP's Reid-Abramoff story without noting that the story leaves out important information.
UPDATE: Added headline. Oops.
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:03 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:17 AM EST
NewsBusters Nonsense, 2/10 Topic: NewsBusters
-- Note to Lyford Beverage: You might appear more credible bashing the media for calling the NSA surveillance program a "domestic spying program" if you weren't slavishly using the Bush administration's preferred term for it, "terrorist surveillance program."
-- Megan McCormick frowns upon CNN's Miles O'Brien noting that scientists who deny the existence of global warming tend to be "bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry," fails to note that people like Steven Milloy are.
-- Noel Sheppard thinks the media isn't giving enough attention to Harry Reid's alleged ties to Jack Abramoff, as reported in an Associated Press article. Any chance Sheppard will give any attention at all to the fact that the AP article left out exculpatory information about Reid? We don't think so, either.
Debunked? Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Feb. 10 WorldNetDaily article claimed that the death of Matthew Shepherd "was believed to be an 'anti-gay' hate crime – a charge recently debunked in an investigation by ABC's '20/20.'"
Debunked? If you call trusting the current version of an ever-changing story told by a convicted murderer and demonstrated liar, then yeah.
Fred Phelps, Leftist? Topic: Horowitz
A Feb. 9 article by Mark D. Tooley at David Horowitz's FrontPageMag is a laughable, poorly written attempt to pull off a bizarre bit of guilt by association: claiming that virulently anti-gay Kansas preacher Fred Phelps is a leftist.
Headlined "The 'God Hates Fags' Left," Tooley's article falls way short of proving that Phelps is a leftist. Tooley writes that Phelps "supported Saddam Hussein and has been appreciative to Fidel Castro," but he offers no supporting evidence to back it up; If Phelps has a "God Loves Saddam" website, Tooley didn't mention it. Details of Phelps' Democratic links -- he ran for office as a Democrat and "actively supported Al Gore in 1988 and 1992" -- may be true, but they are meaningless because Tooley offers no evidence that Democrats currently support Phelps, particularly after launching his "God Hates Fags" campaign.
Tooley also ignores evidence to the contrary. Phelps promoted a 2005 vote in Topeka, Kan., his hometown, to repeal a city ordinance prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals in city government hiring -- a position that puts him in the mainstream of social conservatism. And when Phelps' granddaughter, Jael Phelps, ran against the state's first openly homosexual officeholder for a Topeka City Council seat (and got clobbered), the Souther Baptist Convention-owned Baptist Press newswire deemed it worthy of coverage.
In short, it's the kind of reporting we've gotten to know and love from the Horowitz organization.
The Daily Les, 2/9 Topic: The Daily Les
Les Kinsolving was in full Gannon mode today:
KINSOLVING: The New York Post notes the following – and this is a quote – "Jimmy Carter's disgraceful performance at Coretta Scott King's funeral marks him as the most shameless," while The New York Times Page 1 report mentioned "the overt political jibes." And my question: Did any of the King sons or daughters thank the president for his tribute to their mother and his extraordinary control, despite the performances of Jimmy Carter and Joe Lowery?
[...]
The New York Post also noted, "Carter couldn't quite bring himself to note that the wiretappings of Dr. King was conducted under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and was originally ordered by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, all Democrats." And my question: Can the president deny that Jimmy Carter was, in this statement, revenging himself on Teddy Kennedy for running against Carter's re-election [in 1980]?
WND Columnist Issues Death Threat Against Cartoonist Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Feb. 9 WorldNetDaily column by Jon Dougherty takes the Islamic approach to offensive cartoons: calls for death.
Dougherty rants in his column against Tom Toles, the Washington Post editorial cartoonist who drew a cartoon featuring an amputee U.S. soldier. He doesn't explicitly say he wants Toles dead, but the headline leaves no ambiguity as to his intent: "Why is this man still alive?"
Dougherty goes on to call Toles "an amazingly insensitive pinhead," adding that "this obscene cartoon goes beyond dissent and crosses well into the realm of material our society ought to -- and used to -- reject." Dougherty adds:
But the reason why this man is still alive is due far less to his cunning and courage under fire, and much more because the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines he mocked are protecting him from the bad guys.
Even if he doesn't deserve it.
Does Toles need to be protected from Dougherty? Sounds like it.
Dougherty offers no explanation why another editorial cartoon featuring an amputee soldier has not generated similar outrage.
Media Criticism: Compare and Contrast Topic: NewsBusters
Here's why the MRC/NewsBusters approach to media criticism is intellectually bereft:
-- A Feb. 8 post by Noel Sheppard purports to detail how "something odd happens when he steps on the soundstage of MSNBC to host “Hardball” – his ultra-left, San Francisco Chronicle columnist side emerges…and then some" (despite copious evidence to the contrary). Again citing "Matthews’ San Francisco liberal side," Sheppard went on to attack the entirety of the Feb. 7 editon of "Hardball" -- except for one part, which he quickly skimmed over as "speaking with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) about his spat with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)."
-- A companion post by Mark Finkelstein addresses the McCain segment on "Hardball," but he seems irked that McCain was on TV at all (despite his unambiguously conservative record). "Other Dems and MSM types might back away from McCain in the wake of his shot across Obama's bow, but Matthews is obviously loving the political theater and the grist for his nightly mill," Finkelstein wrote.
-- Media Matters (my employer), meanwhile, pointed out the bottom line of that McCain segment: Matthews gave McCain a forum to attack Obama without giving Obama an opportunity to respond.
C'mon now, Noel and Mark: Is denying a Democrat a chance to respond to an attack by a Republican really the behavior of a "San Francisco liberal"?
The One-Source Wonder, Back in the WND Saddle Topic: WorldNetDaily
His online Voices Magazine looks to be a bit on the defunct side, so Slantie winner Jon Dougherty is writing more for WorldNetDaily, where he was a reporter and columnist before briefly decamping for NewsMax (he left NewsMax in early 2005 to start Voices and to freelance for WND).
Which brings us to Dougherty's Feb. 8 WND article, the sole purpose of which is to blame Congress for the controversy over the Bush administration's domestic spying program and to explain away claims that the administration acted illegally. Dougherty trotted out Jed Babbin, a conservative activist who has previously made false claims in support of the Bush administration, to claim that the administration didn't tell anyone about the program because Congress would have leaked it. Babbin also suggests without evidence that Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV leaked news of the program.
Dougherty also claims: "As to the overall legality of the NSA program, experts say Bush was operating within constitutional and statutory parameters." There are experts -- including some conservatives, like Bruce Fein and Bob Barr -- who believe otherwise, but Dougherty doesn't mention them.
It looks like Dougherty is picking up right where he left off in offering slantedcoverage at WND.
Hillary the Cadaver Topic: NewsBusters
In a Feb. 8 NewsBusters post, Tim Graham scoffs at a claim by ABC's Jake Tapper that everything Hillary Clinton does is "dissected like a cadaver on CSI." Graham writes: "Hillary, probed like a cadaver? Ridiculous. She is the probed about as often as the teacher's pet. She is the anchorman's pet. She's even more the anchor woman's pet."
Graham then claims that "Tapper did not focus on another New York paper whose coverage of Hillary has been ignored by most," citing a claim that Hillary "had some nasty things to imply about Republicans and black voters."
Who Do You Trust? Topic: Media Research Center
Brent Bozell writes in his Feb. 8 column that coverage of the domestic spying scandal is "extremely politicized. Americans can’t trust a liberal media, so partisan in this debate, to tell it to them straight."
But Bozell makes so many bogus claims in his column that you trust him even less. Way to undermine yourself there, Brent.
