"La Raza," or "the Race," is a designation by many Mexicans who see themselves as part of a transnational ethnic group they hope will one day reclaim Aztlan, the mythical birthplace of the Aztecs. In Chicano folklore, Aztlan includes California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Texas.
In fact, as David Neiwert details, "la Raza' actually translates more closely as 'the people,' that is, the Latino people -- who are constituted of multiple races. That is, it is an ethnic identity -- one that specifically repudiates racial distinctions."
WND then writes the following about the Latino group MEChA:
MEChA, founded at U.C. Santa Barbara in 1969, has the stated goal of returning the American Southwest to Mexico.
In fact, according to Neiwert, "the MEChA version of 'Aztlan,' conceptually speaking, is of an explicitly spiritual homeland based on their heritage as native American peoples."
Well, we can take some comfort in the fact that, unlike Michelle Malkin, WND didn't claim that MEChA is in favor of "killing all non-Latinos" in the Aztlan territory. But give 'em time -- WND will certainly get around to doing it.
NewsBusters Commenters Revel in Violent Anti-Media Fantasies Topic: NewsBusters
The wounding of CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier in Iraq and the the deaths of her cameraman and sound man has once again brought out the violent anti-media fantasies of commenters at NewsBusters.
From comments in a May 30 post by Warner Todd Huston complaining that too much attention was being given to Dozier:
I'm curious, is there a breakdown of these "journalists?" I wonder how many worked for the terrorists.......er.......al Jazeera? Or who worked for the insurgency.........er........al Reuters?
I guess it just shows you the average journalist is pretty good target practice and has an IQ around room temperature
Shameful that they dont have any sense to duck or get out of the way or that they report lies and falsehoods. Or shameful in the way the dead are exploited by the MSM for political purposes and even more so their colleagues. [...] I doubt from any reporting in the MSM that any of the MSM reporters know the score. They rolled the dice and it came up snake eyes.
Q: What do you call 100 journalists at the bottom of the ocean? A: A good start.
So whats so special about journalists that were killed? What makes them so special? More so than the troops that are killed and injured? I dont get it Scotty. What makes them worthy of special treatment? More special than the troops?
...aren't there a lot more journalists in Iraq than there were in Viet Nam...? Just like the terrorists - it's much better to have them all gather in Iraq - much easier to kill them all in one place!! I'm kidding, of course...but go ahead libbies - feel free to trash me with your trademark "tolerance" anyway...
From the comments in a June 1 post by Clay Waters complaining that the New York Times quoted the president of NBC News criticizing conservative radio host Laura Ingraham for claiming that reporters are covering the Iraq war from hotel balconies, a claim that Dozier's injuries and her co-workers' deaths put the lie to:
Either way, I will not lose any sleep over this journalist or any other journalist being struck by an IED. Maybe next time, they will consider who the real bad guy is.
Compassionate conservatism doesn't apply to journalists, apparently.
WND keeps up the self-promotional lies in a May 30 article listing the most popular items for sale at its bookstore:
David Kupelian's "The Marketing of Evil" – banned by faculty of Ohio State University as "hate literature" and "homophobic tripe" – maintains the top spot on the ShopNetDaily list.
In fact, as we've pointed out, Kupelian's book was never banned at the school; even the WND-penned article linked as support for the claim, despite being headlined "University faculty bans WND book," never states that the book was banned. Criticized for repeating the factually dubious Kinsey-bashing of Judith Reisman, sure, but not banned.
Such easily disprovable claims hardly inspire trust in the journalistic integrity of WND.
Quote of the Day (And More) Topic: Media Research Center
"Unger's 'Swift-Boating' characterization presumes, of course, that there was some unfairness with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's ads against John Kerry."
-- Brent Baker, in a May 31 MRC CyberAlert item (and NewsBusters post) claiming that MSNBC "Countdown" guest host Brian Unger "ludicrously" documented the "Swift-Boating of Al Gore" by conservatives over his anti-global-warming movie "An Inconvenient Truth."
But the fun doesn't stop there. Baker downplayed the Nazi references used against Gore because 1) they were either originally documented by "left-wing" sources or were plucked from the "78th paragraph" of a Washington Post article, and 2) Gore himself once drew "a parallel between fighting global warming and fighting the Nazis."
Baker then goes on to claim that "In fact, during the 2004 campaign, Gore 'Swift-Boated' the Bush administration" because Gore used the term "digital brownshirts" to describe conservatives who attack the media for purportedly "undermining support for our troops."
NewsMax Peddles Distorted Stats on Iraq Topic: Newsmax
We'll let Sadly, No! handle the false claim made by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who, according to a May 29 NewsMax article, claimed that "Iraq actually has a lower civilian violent death rate than Washington, D.C."
Needless to say, it's highly distorted to the point of being false. And also needless to say, don't look for NewsMax to correct the record anytime soon.
Inaccuracy in Media: Kincaid Ignores Facts Topic: Accuracy in Media
Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid, in his May 31 AIM column, is still having trouble with the facts.
First, Kincaid claimed that MSNBC's Chris Matthews has a "determination to exploit anything remotely considered bad news for Bush or Cheney." Would this be the same Matthews who, just the other day, likened President Bush to Abraham Lincoln? Who has called Bush "charming," that he "glimmers" with "sunny nobility," who has also likened Bush to Atticus Finch, and whose program is lopsided with conservative-leaning guests?
Kincaid then continued his factually dubious attacks on Washington Post reporter Dana Priest over her Pulitzer-winning stories on secret CIA prisons in Europe. He called the stories "unsubstantiated," adding: "One of her sources was the fired CIA officer Mary O. McCarthy, a John Kerry campaign contributor." But as we've preveiously noted, neither the CIA nor Priest have claimed that McCarthy was a source for Priest's stories.
New Article: Stories Gone Bad: The MRC's Double Standard Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center bashes ABC News for a story it claims is wrong -- but a story the MRC promoted is quietly buried when it turned out to be false. Read more.
Ford Supports What? Topic: WorldNetDaily
"Ford backs homosexual polygamy" reads the headline of a May 31 WorldNetDaily article. Well, not exactly; Ford merely has an ad in an issue of the Advocate magazine, which has an article that, according to WND, is "pressing for homosexual polygamy."
Does this mean that we can claim that Swiss America Trading Corp., Voice of the Martyrs and other WND advertisers support, among other things, plagiarism and the execution of adulterers?
CNS Labeling Bias Alert Topic: CNSNews.com
A May 30 CNSNews.com article by Susan Jones on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage keeps up CNS' tradition of labeling bias. She describes the American Family Association as "a staunch defender of traditional marriage," but the Human Rights Campaign is described as "a homosexual advocacy group." Apparently, Jones doesn't think the AFA engages in "advocacy."
LeBoutillier Still Pimps Discredited Hillary Book Topic: Newsmax
In his May 30 NewsMax column, John LeBoutillier is still promoting Ed Klein's "The Truth About Hillary," which comes out in paperback soon, hyperbolically claiming: "It will - in the end - have done more to keep her out of the Oval Office than any other book." He also recounts NewsMax's "yeoman's work to publicize the book. Newsmax repeatedly covered all of the twists and turns as the MSM showed its true colors as an adjunct of team Clinton."
But as we reported when the book first came out (here and here), NewsMax's coverage of "the twists and turns" of Klein's book failed to note the fact that book contains numerous factual errors and misrepresentations. And, needless to say, LeBoutillier makes no mention of the book's errors in his column.
CNS Ignores Whole Story on Jesus Cartoons Topic: CNSNews.com
A May 26 CNSNews.com article by Dawn Rizzoni about a student newspaper at the University of Oregon that ran controversial cartoons featuring Jesus omits some pertinent information. While Rizzoni noted a statement from the publication, the Student Insurgent, that it published the cartoons in response to a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons featuring the Islamic prophet Mohammed, she fails to note, as Media Matters does, that another University of Oregon student publication -- which, like the Insurgent, also receives student activity fund money -- also ran the Mohammed cartoons, and that the Insurgent's Jesus cartoons were also a response to that.
Getting It Wrong: Hal Lindsey Topic: WorldNetDaily
In his May 26 WorldNetDaily column, Hal Lindsey makes several misleading claims. Up first:
The fact that Bill Clinton was the president did not exempt him from his obligation to tell the truth under oath. And the fact that he was the president didn't stop the Arkansas Bar Association from disbarring him after the presiding judge ruled he had perjured himself in her court.
Clinton was not "disbarred"; while a disbarment proceeding had been initiated, he in fact agreed under a voluntary settlement to a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license and his paying of a $25,000 fine to the Arkansas Bar Association. That is arguably not the same thing as disbarment. Additionally, the "presiding judge" did not rule that Clinton "had perjured himself in her court"; in fact, Judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in civil contempt of court for his "willful failure" to obey her repeated orders to testify truthfully in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. That is not the same thing as perjury, which has a specific legal definition.
Lindsey also falsely conflates the opposition raised by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to an FBI search of the offices of Rep. William Jefferson with opposition to any investigation or prosecution of Jefferson:
But none of that outrage, anger and angst was reserved for the congressman who sold out his Louisiana constituency for a hundred grand. The lawmakers reserved their fury for the law-enforcement officers that made the case.
While we could find no explicit reference by Hastert to the corruption case against Jefferson, Pelosi has asked Jefferson to step down from the House Ways and Means Committee "in the interest of upholding the high ethical standard of the House Democratic Caucus."
Further, while Lindsey claims that "The rule of law is the principle that governmental authority is legitimately exercised only in accordance with written, publicly disclosed laws adopted and enforced in accordance with established procedure," he makes no mention of the fact that President Bush has claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, which presumbably is a violation of Lindsey's definition of the rule of law.
Oh, the Irony (WND Division) Topic: WorldNetDaily
For all the complaining that WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah does about WND reporting being plagiarized by others -- which he does in a May 27 column, complete with Farah's "threat of a copyright infringement lawsuit" -- you'd think that Farah and WND didn't have its own history of plagiarizing the work of others.
WND Scrubs Vox's Nazi Reference Topic: WorldNetDaily
Remember when WorldNetDaily columnist Vox Day cited the Nazis approvingly as a prior example for removing millions of people from a country? It's gone.
That reference has been deleted from his May 15 column, apparently by orders of WND editor Joseph Farah. Mr. Day writes on his blog:
I actually turned this one in early, so this was clearly on Mr. Farah's orders. I happen to know that he really, really, really didn't like it.
But, to his credit, he didn't get on my case or even shake his finger at me, he merely exercised his prerogative to edit a piece that appears on his web site. His house, his rules, I have no problem with that.
The column contains no indication that it was altered after its posting, nor has WND alerted its readers to that fact. WND has never acknowledged the controversy surrounding Day's column, even as it has played up controversial comments by others.
Day still stands by his original remarks and is still mocking criticism of them.
Oh, The Irony Topic: NewsBusters
Noel Sheppard -- the NewsBusters writer who scolded the media for not immediately picking up the Iran badges story but failed to tell his readers that the story turned out to be bogus -- has joined the MRC attack bandwagon, compiling reports claiming that the ABC News story stating that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is "in the mix" in the Jack Abramoff corruption investigation.
We're glad Sheppard is showing an interest in this sort of thing. We just wish he would show a similar interest when his own writing turns out to be flawed.
