WND's Prelutsky Lies About Obama, Capital Gains Tax Topic: WorldNetDaily
It's a sign of both Burt Prelutsky's lack of interest in the facts and WorldNetDaily's lack of interest in copyediting that Prelutsky's Dec. 4 column repeatedly misspells Warren Buffett's name as "Buffet." It's also a sign of both that this line appears:
Not content with having helped finance Obama’s re-election, Buffet has spoken out in favor of Obama’s desire to raise the tax rate on capital gains to something like 45 percent. He insists with a straight face it would do nothing to curtail investment. Oh, sure, just like the financial cliff and Obamacare haven’t done anything to curtail investment. I knew that Buffet had a head filled with rocks, but does he also live under one?
In fact, Obama has proposed raising capital gains tax rates to 20 percent for the two highest income brackets -- not 45 percent.
Seems that the person with a head filled with rocks is Prelutsky.
That increasingly desperate attitude has been codified in the new issue of WND's Whistleblower magazine, the theme of which is "THE AMERICAN TRIBULATION: Can the greatest nation in history survive 4 more years of Obama?"
Note that the cover superimposes debris from the 9/11 World Trade Center collapse onto a backdrop of Washington, blaming him for ... something:
The promotion for the issue is equally apocalyptic:
Unthinkable. A cataclysmic disaster. The end of America as we know it.
That pretty much sums up how millions of Americans regard the re-election of Barack Obama.
Actually, that pretty much sums up the view in the WND offices after it destroyed its own reputation trying -- and failing -- to destroy Obama.
But WND wasn't done with the scaremongering, complete with repeating a discredited claim about regulations and proclaiming that only people who hate Obama as much as Joseph Farah and David Kupelian do are "right-thinking":
But amidst all of this sound and fury, the big question remains: What do the tens of millions of Americans – those who see Obama’s re-election as the national catastrophe it really is – do now? With four more years of the Obama juggernaut, with government still spending amounts of money only physicists can comprehend, with an average of 68 new regulations being imposed on Americans every single day, with devastating economic meltdown imminent and the world daily becoming a far more dangerous place because of the U.S. president’s scandalous failure of leadership, what can and should right-thinking people do now?
This difficult question is dealt with forthrightly and comprehensively in the December issue of WND’s acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, titled “THE AMERICAN TRIBULATION: Can the greatest nation in history survive 4 more years of Obama?”
“This was a challenging issue to put together,” said Whistleblower Editor David Kupelian. “We didn’t want to sugar-coat the harsh reality of what has happened, but neither is it cause for good people to fall prey to hopelessness, anger or depression, nor to give up or drop out. Quite the opposite. This issue presents a totally realistic assessment of where we are now, but shows, almost paradoxically, how there is real hope and a definite way forward.
“‘THE AMERICAN TRIBULATION’ provides real direction and inspiration for readers who desire to preserve the America in which they grew up.”
Nah, not so much, unless you count inspiring fear and hatred in its readers as "inspiration."
MRC Complains New Sitcom Is Too Gay-Friendly Topic: Media Research Center
For the second time in a week, the Media Research Center's Culture and Media Institute devotes a post to hating gays.
A Dec. 4 CMI post by Lauren Thompson complained about how gay-friendly Reba McEntire's new sitcom "Malibu Country" is and that McEntire "crowed about how much she cherished her gay following and the show’s gay themes." Thompson grumbled, "'Malibu Country' is one of the many shows on ABC that cater to the gay agenda."
Thompson doesn't explain what this "gay agenda" is, but she and her CMI cohorts (like Paul Wilson) do love to go on about it.
Meanwhile ... Topic: Newsmax
Media Matters details how Dick Morris' Super PAC for America raised $3.7 million in the month before the election -- and paid $1.7 million of that to Newsmax Media, some of which appears to have made its way back to Morris in the form of renting Morris' mailing list (which Newsmax administers) to his super PAC.
WND's Robert Ringer Has Issues With Women Topic: WorldNetDaily
Robert Ringer doesn't like women, apparently.
In a Dec. 5 WorldNetDaily column in which he purports to be in "Andy Rooney" mode, Ringer unleashes a hateful tirade against hose who appear on Forbes magazine's list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and one who's not:
No. 2: Hillary (“Hilla the Hun”) Clinton. Hillary is the ultimate fraud. She’s an accomplished liar, a thief and an embarrassment as secretary of state. The only solace we can take is that she and Bubba genuinely believe that Obama is going to support her bid for the presidency in 2016 as a payback for their supporting his candidacy in 2012. Instead, what they’ll get is his middle finger.
No. 7: Michelle (Big Mac and Fries) Obama. You don’t need any input from me on this one. Best not to go there.
No. 14: Lady Gaga. I have never heard this decadent humanoid sing and wouldn’t know her face if I saw her on the street. But, please America …
No. 32: Beyonce. Brilliant, thoughtful, intellectual – a bold, fresh piece of … well, you know what I mean.
Hard as it is to believe, the princess of frumpiness, Sandra Fluke, didn’t make the Forbes list. Even so, she’s on course (as in intercourse) to be the first recipient of the Nobel Contraceptive Piece Prize. Rest assured that once this caricature of every man’s worst fear about his upcoming blind date gets her masters in contraception, she will be a force to be reckoned with.
That's followed up with this:
Last night I had a nightmare about being held captive by terrorists in a 10-by-10 room with no windows, and my captors told me they were going to throw one of four things into the room with me, to be left there until I died: 1) Rachel Maddow, 2) Hilla the Hun, 3) Frumpy Fluke, or 4) a cup of hemlock.
Then, in a show of mercy, they said they would allow me to choose which one I preferred. It was an easy decision. As I drank the poisonous hemlock, I woke up in a cold sweat thinking about what my fate might have been had I made a different choice.
Yep, the man's got issues with women.
Ringer is not the only WND columnist with that affliction; Vox Day has majorissues as well.
NewsBusters' Motley Bizarrely Likens Chevy Volt to 'Obama Phone' Topic: NewsBusters
Seton Motley turns in another fact-challenged rant about General Motors in his Dec. 4 NewsBusters post, this time centered around the picayune complaing that the Chevrolet Volt tops customer-satisfaction surveys. It doesn't take long for Motley to whine about "government money" being spent to develop the Volt, which he insists is "a lot like the Obama Phone."
Actually, the current federal program of subsidized phone service was created in 1996 and expanded to cover cell phones in 2008, before Obama took office. It's funded by surcharges on phone bills, not the federal government.
From there, Motley launches into more false or misleading claims. He whines that "more-than-$3 billion-in-federal-government-subsidies-alone" on the Volt, ignoring that development of the Volt began in 2007, well before the government got involved with GM.
He also claims "The Volt costs GM $89,000 to manufacture." In fact, GM has pointed out that this number includes development costs, which are spread over the vehicle's lifespan -- meaning that amount per vehicle drops with every Volt sold -- as well as use of the vehicle's techology in other GM products, which will spread those costs out even further.
WorldNetDaily has pushed the completely false claim that President Obama won one Ohio County with "108 percent of the voters registered." But facts don't matter to WND, because it's still pushing it.
A Dec. 2 WND article promoting its meaningless petition demanding an investigation of "fraud and abuse in America’s election system" claims that "And in one Ohio county – widely considered ground zero for the election – Obama received 106,258 votes from 98,213 eligible voters – an impossible 108 percent of the vote."
In fact, the county in question did not have more votes than registered voters. As per usual, WND offers no evidence to back up its claim.
WND also cites "the 59 different Philadelphia voting divisions in which Mitt Romney received zero votes compared to Obama’s 19,605" as evidence of fraud. In fact, the idea of these precincts being an example of voter fraud has been discredited; the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the precincts are "almost exclusively black" with very few registered Republicans.
Curiously, WND fails to mention the fact that there are precincts in Utah where Obama recevied no votes as additional evidence of voter fraud.
NewsBusters Pretends Anti-Immigration Group Isn't Controversial Topic: NewsBusters
Ryan Robertson uses a Dec. 5 NewsBusters post to complain that Roy Beck, leader of the anti-immigration group NumbersUSA, was being unfairly portrayed in an interview in MSNBC. Robertson uncritically insists that "Numbers USA is a grassroots organization and an influential lobbyist group that concerns itself with immigration reform and the threat of mass amnesty."
What "threat of mass amnesty" is Robertson talking about? He doesn't say. As we've previously pointed out, the comprehensive immigration reform that has been put forward by the Obama administration is not "amnesty."
While Robertson doesn't actually quote much of anything from the interview, he nevertheless insisted that MSNBC had "no intention of portraying him in a positive light," adding that "rather than consider it an anti-amnesty organization, in predictable fashion [the interviewer] presented the group as 'racist' in motivation," citing claims from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In fact, the SPLC has documented how Beck has downplayed his work for John Tanton, a figure in the anti-immigration movement linked to white nationalists. The two are so closely linnked that Tanton has called Beck his "heir apparent." Robertson made no mention of Tanton in his blog post.
WND's Farah Flip-Flops, Is Now A 'Conservative' Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah has long denied is a conservative. In 2002, for example, he wrote a column titled "Why I am not a conservative," in which he declared: "I’m not a 'conservative' because I see precious little left in this world worth conserving. Conservatives, from my experience, do not make good freedom fighters. They seem to think a victory is holding back attacks on liberty or minimizing them. They are forever on the defensive – trying to conserve or preserve an apple that is rotten to the core."
Conservatives are too wimpy and not far-right enough for Farah: "Conservatives, it seems to me, only forestall the inevitable slide into tyranny. I don’t want to forestall it. I want to prevent it. I want to reverse that slide. I want to restore the dream that was America."
But Farah is quite willing to call himself a "conservative" when the right opportunity. A Dec. 3 WND article by Unruh details how "More than 100 conservative leaders from across the nation have dispatched a letter to GOP members in Congress encouraging them to “negotiate from a position of strength” with Democrats regarding the trillions of dollars in tax increases Barack Obama is demanding." One of those "conservative leaders" who signed the letter is Farah.
Unruh also does some shilling for his boss, noting that WND's "separate 'No More Red Ink' campaign explains what authority the GOP currently holds as the majority party of the U.S. House, where all national spending bills must originate."
This may be nothing more than an attempt at trying to cash in, but it may also be a bit of reputation repair. After four years of pathological Obama hatred turned WND into a website that nobody believes, and Farah could certainly like to rebuild a little credibility by associating himself with the kind of mainstream conservatives he normally prefers to disdain.
If Farah is so willing to flip-flop on his ideological affiliation in order to make a few bucks and/or save his bacon, can he really be trusted. Farah's newfound conservative compatriots might want to ask themselves that question.
Is there a war on Christmas in the city of Brussels?
The Belgian capital has replaced the city’s traditional 65-foot-tall Christmas tree in the center of the city with an even bigger structure of abstract modernist art, “Electronic Fir.”
Only at CNS can an abstract Christmas tree be considered a "war on Christmas." But then, CNS is a part of the Media Research Center, which has a history of hostility toward art it doesn't like.
WND Still Won't Tell Readers Why its Lawsuit Against Esquire Was Dismissed Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Nov. 30 WorldNetDaily article notes that "A federal appeals court has set a briefing schedule in WND’s appeal of a district court judge’s decision to dismiss its $250 million lawsuit against Esquire magazine." This is followed by the usual blathering by WND's lawyer, perennial courtroom loser Larry Klayman, attacking the judge for allegedly committing "negligently commit[ting] gross errors of fact and law" by dismissing it.
Again, Klayman and WND refuse to mention the main reason WND's defamation lawsuit against Esquire was dismissed: WND editor Joseph Farah admitted at the time the Esquire blog post was published -- which claimed that WND would destroy copies of Jerome Corsi's then-upcoming book "Where's the Birth Certificate?" because Farah had decided that "I cannot in good conscience publish it and expect anyone to believe it" -- that he knew it was a parody.
As the ruling states, Farah "immediately recognized" that the Esquire article was satire -- telling the Daily Caller that the post was “a very poorly executed parody” -- until it became "inconvenient" for him to do so. The judge added: "Political satire can be, and often is, uncomfortable to its targets, but that does not render it any less satiric or any less an expression on a topic of public concern."
What we have here is not only Klayman performing is usual job of bad lawyering, but also WND performing bad journalism by hiding inconvenient facts from its readers that are crucial to a truthful understanding of the case. But we're used to that, aren't we?
Bozell Still Threatening GOP Topic: Media Research Center
Brent Bozell is not done throwing tantrums about cutting off the Republican Party if it fails to be as right-wing as Bozell on "fiscal cliff" negotiations.
CNSNews.com gives Bozell's latest threat the attention you'd expect from Bozell's house organ, in a Dec. 4 article by Susan Jones:
One day after Boehner mentioned an $800-billion tax hike -- half the amount President Obama is seeking -- conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III said the Republican Party is no longer the party of limited government, limited spending and limited taxes:
"It is now officially exactly right behind the Democrats -- on everything," Bozell said. "It is time for conservatives to start looking for a new home. There's precious little left for us here."
Perhaps Bozell might do well to listen to one of his Media Research Center employees, Dan Joseph, who (in a showing of reasonableness unusual in MRC employees) tweeted, "Real' conservatives would have a lot more credibility and power right now if they hadn't spent the last two years calling everyone a RINO."
Meanwhile, Bozell took umbrage at another alleged criticism of conservatives, also lovingly documented by his house organ. This time, the tantrum is directed at David Welch, a former research director for the Republican National Committee, who wrote in a New York Times op-ed that "The modern-day Birchers are the Tea Party,"' and that the Republican Party should weed out “extreme, untested candidates” and “bring adult supervision to the party” the way William F. Buckley denounced the John Birch Society in the 1960s. Bozell is a nephew of Buckley's, and he did not like the sentiment, so much so that a Dec. 4 CNS article by Michael Chapman reports on Bozell's unpublished letter to the Times in response:
“He states that Bill Buckley would have linked the Tea Party to the John Birch Society, expelled it from polite company, and in its place would invite great conservative leaders like Governor Jeb Bush, Governor Chris Christie and Karl Rove to take the helm of our conservative movement,” said Bozell, “because they are ‘ideally suited to drive extremists from the party.’”
He continued, “Let me suggest to you what my uncle would have said instead, while laughing at Mr. Welch’s proposal: ‘Given that the Tea Party is definitely not the John Birch Society, we therefore do not need moderates like Jeb Bush or Chris Christie and operatives like Karl Rove running the conservative movement. They are ideally suited to be driven from our ranks.’”
If the Tea Party "is definitely not the John Birch Society," why are Birchers speaking at Tea Party events? The society has noted that "JBS President John F. McManus has spoken at various Tea Party rallies as well as at meetings of many other conservative organizations." It's also been documented that tea partiers are at least as conspiratorial as Birchers.
It seems Bozell's response stems from a faulty premise. But don't expect the "news" organization he operates to tell you that.
WND Dishonestly Ties Pedophilia to Criticism of Anti-Gay Therapy Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Nov. 30 WorldNetDaily article by Jack Minor dishonestly claims that laws banning "reparative therapy" to change a person's sexual oreintation protects pedophiles. He writes:
A California congresswoman wants to federalize a state law to prohibit counseling to change a person’s sexual orientation, including that of pedophiles.
In fact, Rep. Jackie Speier is offering only a non-binding resolution -- not a proposed federal law -- declaring that "sexual orientation and gender identify or expression change efforts directed at minors are discredited and ineffective, have no legitimate therapeutic purpose, and are dangerous and harmful." The resolution does not address such therapy directed at adults, as Minor suggests.
Minor goes on to claim that "the term 'sexual orientation' is not defined in either the California bill or Speier’s resolution," then cites anti-gay activists who claim that "This language is so broad and vague, it arguably could include all forms of sexual orientation including pedophilia," and that under the language of a bill banning anti-gay therapy targeted at minors, a "mental health counselor could be sanctioned if there was an attempt to get a pedophile to change his behavior or speak negatively about the behavior." Minor adds:
Pedophilia has already been granted protected status by the federal government in a way. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act lists “sexual orientation” as a protected class; however, it does not define the term.
Republicans attempted to add an amendment specifying “pedophilia is not covered as an orientation.” However, the amendment was defeated by Democrats. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., stated that all alternative sexual lifestyles should be protected under the law.
In fact, as we pointed out the last time WND lied about this, the federal government considers pedophilia a crime, not a sexual orientation, so excluding pedophiles would be redundant.
Similarly, a Nov. 30 WND column by professional gay-basher Matt Barber portrays laws banning sexual orientation for minors -- which he calls "Sandusky Laws" -- as stopping "therapeutic help for child victims of monsters like homosexual pedophile Jerry Sandusky." Barber continued on his anti-gay rant, :
Thousands of people, many of whom once identified as “gay,” have received positive, life-changing benefits from such counseling. Yet, among other things, the fact that people can, and do, leave homosexuality bulldozes the politically motivated, scientifically discredited “born that way” meme.
[...]
Under Sandusky Laws, if children begin to experience sexual confusion – such as unwanted same-sex attractions stemming from sexual abuse, trauma or any other factor – these bans force, under penalty of law, parents and therapists to tell the children that they are now “gay” or “transgender” and must live with it – even if they don’t wish to live with it and are otherwise recovering from the abuse-caused sexual confusion.
Wherever one stands on the issue of “gay rights,” any reasonable, caring person should be appalled by these selfish adult activists’ sickening and hateful stunt. What kind of person politicizes the lives of children, treating them as throwaway pawns in a cynical game of political chess?
Barber went on to call Speier's resolution "propagandist," even though Barber himself is merely regurgitating anti-gay propaganda, then calls gay activism a "radical cult."
CNS Puts 'Infinity' In Nancy Pelosi's Mouth Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com has its marching orders -- depict suggestions of eliminating the federal debt limit as increasing it to "infinity" -- despite the inconvenient fact that nobody has ever said that word. CNS has already put "infinity" in Tim Geithner's mouth.
Lest anyone doubts that this deceitful "reporting" is coming straight from the top, a Nov. 30 article by CNS editor in chief Terry Jeffrey carries the headline "Pelosi: Give Obama Power to Personally Lift Debt Limit to Infinity."
Jeffrey goes on to write that "In effect, under the plan Pelosi is endorsing, the only limit on the national debt would be President Obama's willingness to borrow money in the name of American taxpayers." Jeffrey ignores the fact that the debt limit has turned into a political tool in the hands of the opposition -- in this case Republicans. As Business Insider reports:
The debt ceiling is a stupid, arbitrary rule that says Congress has to authorize going into more debt, beyond just the vote on the budget itself. It's the #1 source of vulnerability for the U.S. government. Because the U.S. can create its own money, there's zero chance of default, unless a committed opposition uses the debt ceiling as leverage to go too far.
[...]
In the best of times the Debt Ceiling is a pointless technical vote. In the worst of times, it's an opportunity for one side to hold the nation's economy hostage. At no time, is it a useful mechanism for constraining spending, or having a debate on anything.
Jeffrey's article made no mention of the arguments of those in favor of elminating the debt ceiling, thus violating CNS' own declared mission to "fairly present all legitimate sides of a story."
Conservatives are too wimpy and not far-right enough for Farah: "Conservatives, it seems to me, only forestall the inevitable slide into tyranny. I don’t want to forestall it. I want to prevent it. I want to reverse that slide. I want to restore the dream that was America."
Brent Bozell is not done throwing tantrums about cutting off the Republican Party if it fails to be as right-wing as Bozell on "fiscal cliff" negotiations.
