WorldNetDaily doesn't handle losing well, does it? Its March 21 article by Drew Zahn on the passage of health care reform carries the headline "Bloody Sunday, 2010: House OKs health bill."

Posted by Terry K. at 12:31 AM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

Oh, here's a shock: WorldNetDaily has apparently hooked up with another hate group to smear one of its declared enemies -- and the editor's daughter was enlisted to do it.

A March 16 WND article by Kathleen Farah -- a daughter of WND editor Joseph Farah -- claimed that "the World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides held a no-adults-welcome panel at the United Nations in which Planned Parenthood distributed a brochure entitled 'Healthy, Happy and Hot,'" which "targets young people and contains graphic details on sex. It also encourages casual sex in many forms." But Farah offers no evidence to support her claim, nor does she quote anyone in her article substantiating it. Farah also made no apparent effort to contact the Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood, or the United Nations for a response.

Apparently, Farah lifted her claims from the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), a right-wing group that was created by Human Life International, an anti-abortion group with a history of anti-Semitism -- it once blamed Jews for the abortion-rights movement. At no point in her article does Farah credit C-FAM as the source of the information she cribbed.

It's not until a March 19 WND article by Drew Zahn that an actual source is provided for the claim -- a representataive of the right-wing group Family Watch International. Again, C-FAM's apparently contribution is curiously omitted; then again, if we took information at face value from a hate group, we'd try to hide it too.

It's also the first time there's a statement (albeit buried in the 10th paragraph) from the Girl Scouts, which states that the pamphlet was not distributed to the girls but left on a table from a previous presentation.

Zahn, however, ignored that the Girl Scouts also stated:

The Girl Scouts of the USA was not contacted by Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) regarding its initial story to discuss the facts of this event. Had they applied these basic journalistic standards, perhaps the true details of this event would have been reported.

Nevertheless, Zahn began his article by falsely asserting that the Planned Parenthood "teen-sex promoting guide" was "provided for Girl Scouts in attendance."

Zahn does concede that the brochure was "produced by the International Planned Parenthood Federation for young people with HIV." As Right Wing Watch points out: "Honestly, does the right-wing claim even seem plausible?  Are we really supposed to believe that Girl Scout leaders kicked all the adults out of the room so that Planned Parenthood could distribute a brochure to a group of young girls about how to lead sexually fulfilling lives while living with HIV?"

It seems that Joseph Farah has infected another daughter with his shoddy journalism standards; we've detailed how daughter Alyssa Farah has similarly engaged in shipshod writing for WND.

Posted by Terry K. at 12:02 AM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

This is how a March 20 WorldNetDaily news article begins. Repeat, this is a news article:

Will it soon be the U.S.S.A. – the United Socialist States of America?

Tens of thousands of people descended on Washington today, lining up in circles around the Capitol, in protest of a pending vote Sunday on President Obama's trillion dollar plan that would take over health care across America. That's some $500 billion in cuts from funding for U.S. seniors and another nearly like amount in new taxes.

Behold, conservative journalism.

Posted by Terry K. at 9:55 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

As we've detailed, WorldNetDaily's Orly Taitz protection racket includes hiding criticism of her shoddy lawyering by other birther lawyers. Now, another birther lawyer has come out against Taitz.

On the March 1 edition of the Patriot's Heart webcast, Gary Kreep -- who, as WND has stated, "has been involved in several of the cases that have raised challenges to Obama's occupancy of the Oval Office, including two in California" -- Kreep noted that Taitz filed a motion after deadline, thereby complicating one birther case he is also involved in, and the court wrapped her appeal with one that Kreep had filed. Kreep said he planned to make an effort to sever her appeal from his because he fears "she will take actions which are going to damage our attempts to [inaudible] the matter on behalf of our two clients in this case." Kreep went on to say that Taitz's filings in the case "had nothing to do with the issue" and "just makes things more difficult." Kreep continued:

Well, it makes the issue Dr. Taitz rather than the issue of eligibility, because much of what Dr. Taitz has done has been to attract attention to herself, not attract attention to the case. And as you know, she's become a laughingstock in the media, and they've used her antics to basically hurt all of us. ... Becauase she has made a fool of herself in many ways.

 In case Kreep's point wasn't clear, it was summed up on the blog of Kreep's group, the United States Justice Foundation, which linked to the show:

Gary Kreep says Orly’s made a laughing stock of herself and the whole eligibility issue. He seems to have grown cozy with her arch-enemy Phil Berg, despite their policy differences. He really lets Orly have it in a way I haven’t heard him before.

WND hasn't mentioned a thing about Kreep's criticism of Taitz, even though it happened three weeks ago. Then again, Taitz has ordered WND not to report anything negative about her.

Posted by Terry K. at 5:56 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

March 19 was a busy day for Newsmax managing editor David Patten -- he penned no fewer than four articles promoting opposition to health care reform.

First, he wrote that the outcome over reform "remains very much in doubt," with a focus on who which members of Congress were or were not voting for it. Then, Patten promoted the tea party movement's anti-reform rally, calling it "one last push to stop the Obamacare freight train."

This was followed by an article in which Patten allowed Stupak to uncritically claim that the Senate bill contains "pro-abortion language" and violates "the longstanding agreement that taxpayer dollars should not defray the cost of abortions." While Patten portrayed Stupak as responding the an Associated Press fact-check pointing out that the  Senate bill does not fund abortion, Pattenmade no apparent attempt to contact anyone to rebut Stupak's claims (which have been repeatedly debunked).

Finally, Patten uncritically repeats Dick Morris' attacks on reform, failing to disclose that Morris is among the Newsmax writer triumverate working for the anti-Obama League of American Voters stop the bill.Which means Morris' unsupported claims get uncritically repeated as well.

In complaining about "backroom deals" to get the bill passed -- a procedure that, for better or worse, happens with pretty much every piece of major legislation in which the vote is close -- Morris asserts that "There were two congressmen from California who got a multi-, multi-million dollar water project for their district." What Morris appears to be referring to is a report that California's Central Valley, which happens to be reprsented by two Democratic congressmen who were allegedly wavering on health care reform. In fact, allegations of a quid pro quo are baseless -- the water allocation was increased because more winter precipitation broke a drought and filled area reservoirs.

The only thing Patten seems to be managing here is right-wing spin.

Posted by Terry K. at 10:47 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, March 21, 2010 9:12 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

WorldNetDaily was quick to run to the defense of Sean Hannity, using a march 19 article to feature a rebuttal of charges by right-wing blogger Debbie Schlussel that Freedom Alliance, a group founded by Oliver North for which Hannity has organized "freedom concert" benefits, is spending little of its revenue on the scholarships it is supposed to fund, with much of the money raised going to expenses such as transportation for Hannity.

What WND doesn't want to talk about, however, is its tangled relationship with Schlussel.

As we've detailed, Schlussel used to be a columnist for WND for a year in the early 2000s, during which time she engaged in some bizarre accusations. This may be the only documented case in which a columnist has proven to be too crazy for WND to publish.

Schlussel has also been critical of WND in general and Aaron Klein in particular, to the point that WND editor Joseph Farah was moved to respond to "an Internet pundit out there in the blogosphere whose name I will not utter" -- Schlussel. Of course, Farah's defense of Klein contained more than a few misleading claims. The ironic thing is, Klein has lifted at least one story idea from Schlussel.

Given WND's long history of non-disclosure of its interests in subjects it writes about, it's not surprising that it wouldn't tell readers about its relationship with Schlussel. And given WND's long reluctance to identify conservatives as conservatives, it's also not surprising that it wouldn't give Schlussel a political label, which is one reason the story has gotten as much traction as it has. Unethical and lazy, perhaps, but not surprising.

Posted by Terry K. at 12:20 AM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

Pamela Geller's column may have returned to Newsmax after a brief, unexplained hiatus, but Newsmax is making no effort to promote it -- they're not getting linked to from the Newsmax front page upon posting, as other columnists do.

Thus, we almost missed Geller's March 17 column, which is yet another anti-Obama screed. This time, it's over the Obama administration's criticism of Israel's announced plan to build more settlements in a disputed area of East Jerusalem. Geller declared that "America is profoundly pro-Israel; yet Barack Obama is taking on our best friend and most strategic ally in the Middle East and creating an environment, a free zone, for rampant anti-Semitism." In case the smear wasn't clear, she added, "Obama has worked hard to make the world a safe place for Jew-haters to run amok."

Meanwhile, on her own website, Geller declared that Obama "holds a pen like an illiterate. Have you seen it? Like a little kid who just learned how to write and he signs a scribble. He makes an O instead of an X. Just sayin."

Geller's hatred of Obama appears to be nothing short of pathological. Yet Newsmax continues to provide space for her screeds. Why?

If anything, that kind of frothing hate indicates she should be a WorldNetDaily columnist.

Posted by Terry K. at 11:36 AM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

Penny Starr builds an entire March 18 CNSNews.com article around the complaint that a new Smithsonian exhibit called "What Does it Mean to Be Human?" -- which examines human origins -- lacks "references to God, creationism, or pre-natal existence." Even worse, in Starr's eyes, the exhibit "says fossils 'provide evidence that modern humans evolved from earlier humans.'"

Starr went on to question the exhibit curator about "why the exhibit does not include any reference to God or address the debate – even in scientific circles – about Darwinian evolution," and why "why an exhibit on human origins does not include any references to human beings as they develop from conception to birth in the womb."

By contrast, when Starr wrote last October about a new documentary created by the right-wing activist group Citizens United "using in the founders’ own words to describe how God played a role in America becoming a nation of religious liberty and tolerance," she merely noted that the film "is not a commentary on the Founding Fathers’ theology or lack thereof" but did not pepper narrator Newt Gingrich or producer David Bossie on why the film avoided addressing secularism among the Founding Fathers. Instead, she uncritically quoted Bossie as asserting that the film provides "an accurate reflection of history" and Gingrich's claim that "It’s a story, which is in many ways, profoundly different than the secular version that is now authorized in the government schools."

UPDATE: Right Wing Watch adds: "What's next, a CNS article complaining that nowhere does the museum mention the fact that the world is only six thousand years old?"

Posted by Terry K. at 10:14 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, March 21, 2010 9:49 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

The good news is that all hell is breaking loose around the media-perpetrated lie known as "Barack Hussein Obama": Appointees who are communists, who look to Mao for inspiration and who want to sterilize people against their will; so-called stimulus bills that succeed only in stimulating unemployment; terrorists being Mirandized and afforded the same rights as U.S. citizens; an in-your-face determination to foist some form of government-controlled health care and cap-and-trade legislation on the American people against their will ... the list is endless.

[...]

I'm not a conspiracy type guy, but I do know that far-left radicals have made it clear since at least the days of Vladimir Lenin that anything - including, and especially, lying - is justified in the pursuit of ends they deem to be desirable - which is why I keep warning readers to be on the lookout for an event that would justify a phony state of emergency.

There's no way to predict what that event might be, because the possibilities are endless. Remember, the government used a hurricane -- Katrina -- to justify taking guns away from law-abiding citizens. What in the name of hell does a hurricane have to do with a law-abiding citizen owning a gun, other than the fact that his need to protect himself and his family is greater if thugs are roaming the streets, looting and pillaging?

The Katrina excuse was phony, as will be the excuse for a national state of emergency, should it become a reality. For example, if Iran nukes Israel, and Israel nukes Iran in return, that could easily be used as a justification for declaring a state of emergency in the U.S. and suspending the 2010 elections.

It would, of course, be a totally unjustifiable excuse, but Der Fuhrbama and his fascists cohorts would not hesitate to use it - as always, accompanied by an endless stream of lies - to avoid becoming the minority in the House and Senate.

Numerous e-mails from WorldNetDaily.com readers make it clear that I am not the only one who is concerned about a state of emergency being declared. I am becoming more and more convinced that another civil war is on the horizon for the United States of America. It's time for those who believe in freedom to come to grips with the reality that the divide between liberty and tyranny is irreconcilable.

The good guys have the numbers (around 70-30), but the bad guys have the military - which means that our freedom may boil down to whether or not the military will move against American citizens when ordered to do so or turn on their socialist commander in chief.

-- Robert Ringer, March 19 WorldNetDaily column

So it begins. In 2009, for the first time in its history, the people of the United States placed the White House in the hands of a man and a political faction that openly reject the premises of constitutional self-government. Obama made a show of taking the oath of office twice. Had he taken it a thousand times, it would never have been anything but a cynical deception. As thoroughly indoctrinated disciples of Marxist historicism, Obama and his fellow travelers could never see the Constitution as anything but a façade for capitalist domination. Inevitably, it must be swept aside as the lead wave of history's triumphant vanguard dissolves the chains of capitalist imperialism to usher in the historic dictatorship that will make and enforce the only law that matters, the so-called "judgment" of history.

I pity those who now react with shock and dismay to the events unfolding in the U.S. Congress that make clear to all the Obama faction's relentless commitment to overthrowing the U.S. Constitution. To be sure, other elements of the American elite have seen the Constitution as nothing more than a Machiavellian ploy to mollify and delude people so that they can be more peaceably exploited. But even the Machiavellians are taken aback by the brutal and unsophisticated frankness with which the Obama faction has now avowed its intention to eviscerate the scheme of representation that is the conceptual heart of the constitutional republic. The ruling families of the ancient Roman Senate thought to use the first Caesars the way they were accustomed to use ambitious men before them – as the serviceable hounds of their class ambition. Like them, the Machiavellian princelings of our day begin to feel the bite of truth: Their "hounds" are wolves and they themselves the prey.

-- Alan Keyes, March 19 WorldNetDaily column

Obama, Pelosi, and Reid can see opportunity in chaos, just like Hitler, Napoleon and Lenin did. Yet our chaos has not become chaotic enough for the people to bend their wills to this leader. So chaos must be produced by their overspending. This administration will spend until the financial status becomes so chaotic that the people raise their hands and cry, "Do what you will! Save us, Messiah!"

Sun-Tzu's tactic of chaos still speaks from his grave. If you can put a people into enough panic and enough frenzy, they will give you the reins. This is what our leadership is bankning on right now. Yet, we must remember that they are counting on us to cave, to retreat, and not to call upon Congress to oppose this bill.

-- Caroline Lewis, March 19 WorldNetDaily column

The New World Order includes the Obama Census Bureau with its many community organizers who twist arms and violate constitutional rights in a desire to acquire information – for our benefit, of course.

[...]

While the president and his minions think they can trample the U.S. Constitution and assume powers given to Congress, we need to use the constitutional law as our shield from a growing abusive power known as the Obamanation. If I'm going to be counted, I want to be known as one of the defenders of freedom, not a pawn of oppression. Power is derived from the people unless we submit to tyranny. Like my ancestors, I say, "Don't tread on me."

-- Jeff Rayno, March 19 WorldNetDaily "letter of the week"

Posted by Terry K. at 4:09 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

WorldNetDaily has a long history of refusing to identify conservatives as conservatives (even though liberals are almost always labeled as such).

So it's surprising to see a March 17 WND article by Joe Kovacs, which specifically identifies those who claim that "America's system of government based on the U.S. Constitution is being overthrown through illegal legislative 'trickery' Congress is using to pass controversial health-care reform" identified as "on the political right."

Bravo, Joe! Keep up the good work. Too bad it seems to be an aberration.

Unfortunately, Kovacs' co-workers don't understand this simple concept of proper identification. A March 19 WND article by Chelsea Schilling states that "several high-profile groups are calling on millions of Americans to slam Congress with phone calls, e-mails and faxes demanding that lawmakers vote "no" on the health-care bill" without ever identifying those groups -- Liberty Counsel and the American Family Association among them -- as conservative.

Posted by Terry K. at 9:12 AM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

Last week, a U.S. district judge dismissed what had become known as "Filegate" -- allegations that the Clinton administration deliberately used the FBI to gather information for political reasons, illegally obtaining hundreds of files on people. The Washington Post reported:

But Tuesday, U.S. District Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth tossed the case. "After years of litigation, endless depositions, the fictionalized portrayal of this lawsuit and its litigants on television," Lamberth concluded in a 28-page opinion, "this court is left to conclude that with the lawsuit, to quote Gertrude Stein, 'there's no there there.' "

The plaintiffs, he wrote, "after ample opportunity . . . have not produced any evidence of the far-reaching conspiracy that sought to use intimate details from FBI files for political assassinations that they alleged.

"The only thing that they have demonstrated is that this unfortunate episode -- about which they do have cause to complain -- was exactly what the defendants claimed: nothing more than a bureaucratic snafu."

Curiously, the Media Research Center has been completely silent about this development -- it hasn't even been mentioned at NewsBusters. Why is it so curious? Because the MRC was a dutiful Clinton-hater and pushed Filegate for years. As Joe Conason points out, MRC chief Brent Bozell was ranting as late as 2007 that Hillary Clinton was "behind" the supposed obtaining of confidential FBI files, which flies in the face of reality, as defined by independent counsel Robert Ray, who determined "there was no substantial and credible evidence that any senior White House official, or First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, was involved in seeking confidential Federal Bureau of Investigation background reports of former White House staff from the administrations of President Bush and President Reagan."

You'd think that Bozell would either be apologizing for his baseless Clinton-hate or ranting that Hillary Clinton was still the villain and 14 years wasn't enough time to examine all the evidence.

Instead, crickets. Perhaps we can interpret that as the closest he'll get to an actual apology.

Posted by Terry K. at 12:32 AM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

Newsmax touted a March 17 Jerusalem Post article quoting Hagi Ben-Artzi, the brother-in-law of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smearing Barack Obama as an "anti-Semitic president." But Newsmax couldn't be bothered to tell readers the rest of the story.

As the Politico reported, Ben-Artzi later appeared on an Israeli TV show, where he was greeted with archival footage bashing Netanyahu himself as a small-time, weak and petty politician.

Seems like Ben-Artzi is the Billy Carter of Israel. But Newsmax doesn't think you need to know that.

Posted by Terry K. at 9:49 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

The desperation and mistrust currently observable amongst congressional Democrats would be pathetic if they did not actually wield substantial power. Like mindless creatures in a cult film featuring flesh-eating zombies, they are devouring their own, ritually sacrificing, extorting, bribing and bullying one another to pass the Senate health-care reform proposal, affectionately known as Obamacare.

Few Americans really understand that a bloodless coup is essentially taking place in Washington via these actions, nor how important this is to such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. Socialized medicine, this Foundation Stone of collectivism, is one they perceive will cement their power for all time.

While this is not entirely off the mark, its actualization is also far from guaranteed. The turmoil within their party - as opposed to the Republican opposition of which they have complained - still threatens to torpedo the legislation. Having passed, it is also eminently questionable as to whether it could survive the multitude of legal challenges that would be sure to arise.

The obsessive mania they are exhibiting is something I have seen before in drug addicts, every fiber of their being focused on obtaining the next fix.

-- Erik Rush, March 18 WorldNetDaily column

Posted by Terry K. at 5:19 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink

We've previously detailed Ronald Kessler's man-crush on Mitt Romney (and a really creepy crush on Romney's wife), and how Kessler had to make the painful transition from McCain-basher to McCain fluffer after Romney lost the Republican presidential nomination.

Well, Romney has a new book out, and Kessler's man-crush is flaring anew.

In his March 17 Newsmax column, Kessler gives themost positive review possible of Romneys book, claiming that it's "hardly surprising" that it's debuting at the top of the New York Times best-seller list because "Polls consistently rate Romney the No. 1 choice among Republicans as a presidential candidate," adding that "the book’s popularity also comes from its quality and depth."

Kessler's slobbering continues:

Romney spares us the expected how-I-grew-up chapters. Instead, he weaves in anecdotes from his youth when they are relevant to a point he is making. In contrast to his restrained remarks during his presidential campaign, he takes on President Obama, launching stinging criticism of his domestic and foreign policies.

Two qualities make the book stand out: First, because of Romney’s background as one of the country’s most successful businessmen, the former Massachusetts governor injects real-life examples from his own experience of how free-market principles work and can be applied to bolster the U.S. economy and improve the way government works.

Second, Romney brings a candid, thoughtful approach to many of the most sensitive issues. 

After several long excerpts from the book, Kessler concludes: "In contrast to Obama, who constantly knocks America, Romney sees only greatness in this country. That refreshing outlook alone is worth the price of the book."

Kessler found a way to throw some of his trademark Obama-bashing into his Romney-fluffing. He must be in nirvana.

Posted by Terry K. at 12:02 PM EDT

Share This Post

Permalink