CNS' Starr Unhappy That Gays Might Be Considered 'Extraordinary' Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com reporter Penny Starr is ratherprone to anti-gay freakouts. She has another one in an April 17 article over the thought that gays might be considered "extraordinary":
The White House announced it is expanding its “Champions of Change” contest, which “spotlights ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” to include gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
The announcement posted on the White House website cites President Barack Obama posthumously awarding Harvey Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Milk, a gay man who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and later shot to death by a rival politician, served as the inspiration for the expanded contest.
Starr seems to think that gays have never done anything extraordinary ever. That that fits right in with her employer's anti-gay agenda.
WND Pushes Another Dubious Claim From Walid Shoebat Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily continues its irresponsible behavior in reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings with an April 19 article by Bob Unruh, in which he uncritically repeats the unsubstantiated claim that Michelle Obama visited Abdul Rahman Ali Issa Al-Salimi Alharbi -- a former “person of interest” in theh bombing who has since been cleared -- while visiting a Boston hospital and meeting with victims of the bombing.
The only source Unruh cites for this claim is the notoriously unreliable Walid Shoebat -- who has been credibly accused of of lying about his own past as a self-proclaimed Islamic terrorist-turned-Christian -- who in turn cites a report in a Saudi Arabian newspaper named Okaz. Unruh makes no mention of Shoebat offering any verification of the claim other than citing "tweets from members of the Alharbi family."
Unruh is weirdly eager to boost the credibility of the unverified claim by talking up the alleged good reputation of Okaz:
The newspaper is more than half a century old and publishes out of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. It also publishes simultaneously in Riyadh.
One of the oldest newspapers in Saudi Arabia, it also is brave, taking on banned issues such as lesbianism in the repressive Islamic kingdom. Its circulation is estimated at about 150,000 and the online version was reported by Forbes Middle East two years ago to be one of the Top 10 online newspapers in the Middle East region.
Unruh also repeated a pair of false and/or libelous claims:
"WND reported earlier when an expert on terrorism said Alharbi, the original 'person of interest' in the Monday bombing, was going to be deported on national security grounds." He curiously didn't name his expert, Steve Emerson -- perhaps because his assertion has been discredited.
"WND had reported Wednesday morning that the Saudi student Alharbi shares the same last name as a major Saudi clan that includes scores of al-Qaida operatives." As we've documented, WND is implying without proof that Alharbi is a terrorist, which exposes it to a potential libel action from Alharbi if the claim is indeed false.
You'd think that a veteran of three decades in journalism, part of that time with the Associated Press, would know better than to write a story with a single source whose veracity is highly questionable, or to repeat claims that are demonstrably false or potentially libelous. But Joseph Farah is not paying Unruh to follow time-tested journalistic ethics.
"The Five" on Fox News Channel didn't cover more than a few seconds of President Obama's petulant Rose Garden attack on conservatives making Wednesday "a shameful day for Washington." The other networks, which define "news" as anything their Heroic President chooses to utter, including his March Madness picks, were shocked and appalled.
Graham failed to identify what, exactly, was petulant about what Obama said. But then, it appears Graham's petulance detector is way out of calibration, because he sees Fox's petulant refusal to air Obama's remarks as a principled decision, despite the fact that Fox cut away even before Obama finished his first sentence and, thus, could not know the full content of Obama's remarks.
Still, Graham claimed that Fox's Greg Gutfeld, during whose Fox show the channel quickly cut out of Obama's statement, "seemed to protest the brevity of their White House snippet." In reality, Obama-hater Gutfeld seemed to be realizing how bad this looks, even for such an anti-Obama channel like Fox, and this was merely an effort to paper over how partisan and petty the channel looked.
Graham goes on to proudly declare that Fox News "broke out its smackdown machine" in response to its refusal to air Obama's response, despite the fact that Fox's statements sure sound much more petulant than anything Obama said.
So: Obama responding to the failure of a Senate vote is "petulant," while Fox's petulance is principled. Got it, Tim.
WND Columnist: Sandy Hook Survivors Are A 'Disgrace' For Seeking Gun Regulations Topic: WorldNetDaily
The Sandy Hook parents and others running around this nation at taxpayer and DNC front group expense seeking to hold responsible an inanimate object for their grief are, quite frankly, a disgrace. They know perfectly well the truth about Sandy Hook, but they are lying to America. They would have us “sacrifice essential liberty,” to paraphrase Ben Franklin, not for temporary safety, but for their own momentary convenience.
And the truth is very inconvenient. Adam Lanza’s mother knew that her son was a danger. But she blamed “bullying” at the school (not, you will note, the individual bullies, just the process). She excused and enabled her son’s actions. She knew the course her son’s illness would take, yet she did nothing. And neither did anyone else in her circle of friends. She enabled her son.
Just as the Sandy Hook parents and others who have suffered a personal loss are enabling the sick hypocrites and demagogues in D.C. who are shamefully using these family members’ grief to destroy essential American liberties. Why? Because they find individual liberty and freedom from government overreach inconvenient to their hypocritical lives and careers. Stop dishonoring the memory of your loved ones. Stop dishonoring America. Tell the truth.
MRC Just Started Sending Reporter To Trial It's Been Haranguing Others To Cover Topic: Media Research Center
Over the past couple of weeks, the Media Research Center has gotten a lot of mileage out of trying to shame broadcast outlets into covering the murder trial of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell. It's a selective shame, of course -- the MRC has to focus only on broadcast networks and ignore inconvenient facts like how Fox News devoted the least amount of airtime of the three cable news networks to Gosnell's arrest in 2011.
The latest step in the MRC's campaign is an April 18 Culture & Media Institute article by Katie Yoder complaining that "besides the Media Research Center, an average of only 12 – 15 reporters appeared in the courtroom at a time on Wednesday, April 17."
What Philbin doesn't report in his article: April 17 was apparently the first anyone from the MRC attended trial proceedings.
We asked CMI managing editor Matt Philbin via Twitter if that was true -- that April 17 was the first day that an MRC employee attended the Gosnell trial in person. He responded: "Like we have the resources? We don't get Soros $." We'll take that as a yes.
By the way, Philbin's crack about "Soros $" is silly because a) ConWebWatch doesn't receive funding from anyone, let alone George Soros, b) the Scaife and Pickens money the MRC receives surely salves any wound it feels from not being a Soros beneficiary, and c) the MRC has a $12 million budget, and it couldn't afford to send someone from Washington to Philadelphia to cover the trial only until it could justify doing so as a way to further its anti-media activism? Apparently, the MRC has to save that precious cash for important things like Times Square billboards.
So while the MRC was spending money trying to rouse conservatives into harrassing the media to cover the Gosnell trial, it couldn't be bothered to spend money on a hotel room, a laptop and gas money to send someone to Philly to cover the trial until three days ago.
That cynical approach proves once again that the MRC doesn't care about journalism, except when it can be exploited to further its right-wing agenda.
WND Columnists React to Boston Bombings With Muslim-Bashing, Obama Derangement Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily columnists have reacted to the Boston Marathon bombings and the revelation that the suspects were ethnic Chechens the way you'd expect -- with Muslim-bashing, immigrant-bashing, and Obama derangement.
Despite the collective hopes of the Big Media and government at all levels, the perps in the Boston Marathon bombings turned out to be … Muslims.
It’s almost impossible to list all those who speculated and conjectured that this was the work of “right-wing extremists.” It would even be more difficult to chronicle all the wishful-thinkers who hoped and wished out loud that the terrorists would be “white guys.”
What is the psychology that drives people to think in these terms? Or can it even be characterized as thinking?
There are conflicts all over the world, and the vast majority of them involve radical Muslims victimizing non-Muslims. That’s just a fact.
You could even go further and make the case that these conflicts have, with a few notable exceptions defined the history of the world for the last 1,300 years.
Americans not infected by the common disease Potomac Myopia can connect the dots. Ordinary folk assume that a successful immigration system should afford protection against jihadists, not a welcome mat. When citizens say they want our broken immigration system fixed, they think that means securing our borders, real enforcement of immigration laws and better screening against jihadists gaining legal status by way of a green card.
[...]
We granted asylum and eventual citizenship to young Muslim men who harbored a secret hatred for the United States. Does the FBI or anyone at Homeland Security know how many more terrorists-in-waiting there are among the thousands admitted through our humanitarian asylum policies?
Tancredo overlooks the fact that the two suspects came to the United States as children, have lived here more than a decade, and there's no evidence to date that the suspects "harbored a secret hatred for the United States" at the time they entered the country.
And as usual, Larry Klayman is in his own league, spewing his usual Obama derangement:
It is now clearer than ever that the pro-Muslim actions and non-actions of our “First Muslim President” are coming home to roost – with a vengeance. After over four years of his administration, here is where we find ourselves today with regard to attacks and threatened attacks by terrorists and terrorist nations.
[...]
At first, Obama administration officials, as has become the norm, refused to implicate a possible Muslim terrorist plot, Obama himself describing the attack as a mere “tragedy.” Indeed, given the latent and actual claims of persecution of Muslims in this country by Obama and his allies, like the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), even conservative channels like Fox News shied away from using the “M” word until it was crystal clear who had perpetrated the bombing. For example, Bret Baier of Fox News almost choked Friday morning when he broadcast the names and backgrounds of the bombers and sheepishly revealed their Muslim roots. This politically correct sensitivity, orchestrated and furthered by Obama and his minions, has contributed to the rise of Muslim extremism in our country. Terrorists like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to avoid even the appearance of prejudice against Muslims, are even given scholarships to prestigious schools and entrees into other venues of American society, which they can use as cover for their plots. In short, Obama has set the tone and led the way in giving this green light to his fellow Muslims bent on terror.
Klayman is eager to blame Muslims forthings they clearly had nothing to do with, such as the ricin-laced letters to politicians and the Texas fertilizer plant explosion:
Nor was there hardly any mention on any station or other press entity of even the possibility that Muslim terror was involved in the huge explosion that occurred in West, Texas, where a fertilizer plant blew up Wednesday, just days after the Boston Marathon bombing.
Klayman asserted that West, Texas, where the explosion occurred, is "the former home of none other than former President George W. Bush." False -- Crawford, Texas, near which Bush's ranch is located, is more than 40 miles away.
Klayman also claims that the ricin-laced letters have an "apparent similarity in timing and method to the Sept. 11, 2001, anthrax terror attack, which to this day have never been 'solved.'" In fact, officials agree that Bruce Ivins perpetrated the attacks (even if Cliff Kincaid still thinks the Muslims did it).
It's this level of attention to facts that make Klayman the failed lawyer that he is.
WND's Claim That Boston Bombers Were Trained By Iran Is Unverifiable, Of Course Topic: WorldNetDaily
When you're hiding behind a fake name and use only anonymous sources, you can pretty much write anything safe in the knowledge that it's unverifiable by anyone else.
That, in a nutshell, is the career of WorldNetDaily writer "Reza Kahlili," a self-proclaimed former CIA operative who's best known for peddling outrageous claims about Iran. That M.O. is all too clear in an April 19 article by Kahlili:
The two brothers who set off the bombs at the Boston Marathon Monday were assets of a bigger network out of South Asia and were set up to be burned so there would be no link back to their handlers – and Iran.
As reported exclusively on April 16, a source within the Iranian intelligence services told WND that the Islamic regime had links to Monday’s bombings and that Hezbollah terrorists and Quds Forces were involved in the shadows. That information was shared with U.S. officials.
A YouTube video posted apparently by one of the bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, though not yet confirmed, shows a belief in the coming of the Shiites’ 12th Imam, Mahdi, and the rise of an Islamic army with black flags out of Khorasan, a province in Iran.
Not a single claim Kahlili makes is corroborated with an on-the-record source. None. Kahlili could be making up all these alleged anonymous sources for all we know. Because he hides behind a fake name as well, that makes him doubly unaccountable.
But it also makes him the perfect WND employee, where promoting an agenda has a much higher priority than reporting facts.
AIM's Kincaid Can't Let Go Of His Discredited Anthrax Conspiracy Topic: Accuracy in Media
Cliff Kincaid has been pretty much silent about his conspiracy theory that Al Qaeda was responsible for the 2001 anthrax since authorities revealed that government scientist Bruce Ivins was likely behind it.
But Kincaid is back on the case in his April 18 Accuracy in Media column, spurred by the ricin mailings that are reminicent of the anthrax attacks:
It is still not known, officially and by adjudication in a court of law, who sent the post-9/11 anthrax letters because the FBI completely mishandled the case. They ended up paying $6 million in damages to an American scientist, Steven Hatfill, who was falsely termed a “person of interest” and hounded by federal agents. The FBI later argued that another U.S. Government scientist, Bruce Ivins, was the lone culprit, and “closed” the case. But Ivins was also hounded by federal agents, and took his own life. His attorney, Paul Kemp, has strongly argued that the FBI falsely blamed Ivins and never proved its case against him. No charges were filed in what the FBI called the “Amerithrax” case.
In fact, the evidence suggests the letters were linked to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the al-Qaeda operatives behind them.
The 2011 book "The Mirage Man" by David Willman persuasively argues that Ivins was the man who perpetrated the anthrax attacks. Willman states that the letters were mailed from a New Jersey mailbox located outside the offiices of a college sorority Ivins was obsessed with, that Ivins made a career as a civilian microbiologist for the Army despite a history of mental instability -- a psychiatrist confied that Ivins was the "scariest" patient he had ever known -- and that Ivins had created the batch of anthrax that matched the material in the letters and had unrestricted access to it.
Kincaid has apparently never addressed Willman's conclusions in his work for AIM, and he makes no mention of Willman in this column.
Meanwhile, Kincaid is quick to blame Al Qaeda for the Boston Marathon bombings, apparently solely based on the fact that "an al-Qaeda magazine had recommended the use of the same kind of bomb used in the Boston massacre." He continues:
Equally important, terrorism expert Steve Emerson said on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program on Wednesday night that the Saudi national with a student visa apprehended after the bombing is being deported on “national security grounds” in what may be shaping up as a high-level cover-up of Saudi, or other foreign involvement, in the Boston massacre.
“This is the way things are done with Saudi Arabia,” Emerson said. “You don’t arrest their citizens. You deport them. Because they don’t want to be embarrassed…”
Before the bombings, Emerson’s Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) had drawn critical attention in a report to Obama’s recent decision to allow some Saudis to “bypass normal passport controls at major U.S. airports.”
Walid Shoebat reports that the Saudi national who was being detained belongs to a clan that consists of several al Qaeda members and that high-level Saudi government officials have intervened on his behalf.
There are powerful political and foreign interests who do not want such reports to be highlighted or pursued by U.S. authorities. That is why the liberal media will now begin attacking Emerson, Shoebat, and others questioning the official handling of the case.
Emerson is an anti-Muslim activist whose deportation claim has been discredited. Shoebat is an even more virulent anti-Muslim activist who has been credibly accused of lying about his past as a self-proclaimed former Islamic terrorist.
The question is not why the "liberal media" would legitimately question the veracity of Emerson and Shoebat. The question is why Kincaid still thinks they are credible.
CNS' Starr Tries To Link Boston Bombings to Immigration Topic: CNSNews.com
Right-wingers have been trying to suggest that immigration is somehow to blame for the Boston Marathon bombings.
CNSNews.com reporter Penny Starr joins that little parade, declaring in an April 19 tweet, "As terror attack in Boston unfolds -- on the day Napolitano testifies -- "Our borders are more secure than ever."
Given that the suspects are reportedly brothers from Chechnya who came to America several years ago as refugees, border security has nothing whatsoever to do with this.
Starr has apparently decided that her personal (and her employer's) right-wing agenda is more important than the facts.
WND Upset The Muslims It Victimized Are Feeling Victimized Topic: WorldNetDaily
Jack Minor writes in an April 18 WorldNetDaily article:
While the hunt continues for those responsible for the brutal terrorist attack on Patriot’s Day in Boston, Muslim groups and their supporters already have part of the answer: They are the victims.
In an email this week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations – an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorist-finance case in U.S. history – linked to a story in Religion News Service titled, “U.S. Muslims mobilize to prevent Boston backlash.”
Minor doesn't mention that one of the chief instigators of blaming Muslims for the Boston bombings is WND.
WND was quick to forward unproven, anonymous claims that Islamists were behind the bombings, even as it frowned upon speculation that right-wingers were behind them. WND's Aaron Klein libelously suggested a Saudi national who was questioned by police after the bombing (and cleared of any wrongdoing) is a terrorist. And WND promoted the discredited claim that the Saudi national was being deported.
Minor uncritically repeats those last two claims in his article, thus further victimizing the very same Muslims he's criticizing for fighting against victimization.
It must be nice to live like Minor does in a world of complete self-unawareness. But then, WND is not paying Minor to look at this objectively.
WND Promotes Discredited Assertion That Boston Bombing Suspect Is Being Deported Topic: WorldNetDaily
Joe Kovacs wrote in an April 17 WorldNetDaily article:
An expert on terrorism says the Saudi national who was the original “person of interest” in connection with Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing is going to be deported from the U.S. next week.
The foreign student from Revere, Mass., is identified as 20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi.
“I just learned from my own sources that he is now going to be deported on national security grounds next Tuesday, which is very unusual,” Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism told Sean Hannity of Fox News Wednesday night.
Just one problem: None of that is true.
As CNN's Jake Tapper reported, the Saudi national questioned by authorities is not a suspect and is not being deported. A second Saudi national from the Boston area is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for being in violation of his visa, but he has no connection to the bombing.
Kovacs also uncritically repeats Aaron Klein's sleazy implication that Alharbi is a terrorist because he shares the same last name as "a major Saudi clan that includes scores of al-Qaida operatives." Kovacs doesn't even bother with any disclaimer that he has no evidence to prove that Alharbi is, in fact, a member of that clan.
Sounds like the basis for a libel lawsuit against WND by Alharbi is contining to grow. That's not the position WND wants to be in, but as its birther debacle proves, it's incapable of stopping digging activities when finding itself in a hole.
Obama Derangement Syndrome Watch, Wayne Allyn Root Edition Topic: Newsmax
Ninety days is all it took to put the U.S. economy into a coma, to destroy any chance of recovery. Ninety days defined by what I call the Obama "Axis of Evil” — taxation, regulation, unionization, litigation, IRS intimidation, demonization, and government strangulation. The last 90 days of this Axis of Evil have sealed our fate.
There are no new jobs. There will be no new jobs. Creating jobs in Obama's America is like trying to grow healthy plants in a nuclear blast zone. Obama has turned the U.S. economy into a “Hostile Work Environment.” I call it Obamageddon.
[...]
Obama is like a drug addict with giant bills to pay and no income. He has to find a way to pay for his food stamps, disability and unemployment society. The bill to keep this Ponzi scheme going gets bigger by the hour. But with 90 million adults no longer working, and everyone who is willing to work being robbed to pay for a nation of deadbeats, who is left to jumpstart the economy? Who is left to create jobs? The answer is — clearly — no one.
[...]
Ninety days of the Obama "Axis of Evil” showcases what one man, supported by a blind, adoring liberal-biased media, can do to snuff out ambition, drive, work ethic, creativity, inspiration and enthusiasm — all in the name of equality, fairness and social justice.
WND's Klein Courts Libel Suit By Playing Guilt-By-Association With Cleared Boston Bombing Suspect Topic: WorldNetDaily
Apparently, WorldNetDaily is feeling the need to have a libel lawsuit filed against it.
Aaron Klein declares in an April 17 WND article: "The Saudi national questioned by police in the investigation into the Boston Marathon attack shares the same last name as a major Saudi clan that includes scores of al-Qaida operatives."
No, really, that's all Klein has -- the guy shares a last name with "al-Qaida operatives." Not that the guy is an Al Qaeda operative, not that his family members are Al Qaeda operatives -- only that he shares a last name with them.
It's not until the ninth paragraph that Klein gets around to admitting that "it is not clear whether the Alharbi questioned as part of the marathon probe is a member of the well-known Saudi clan."
But the fact that Klein chose to bury his dislaimer so far down in his story while playing up his guilt-by-name-association of someone who is not currently considered a suspect in the bombing suggests that this Saudi national, Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, arguably has a basis for a libel lawsuit against Klein and WND.
We don't know whether or not Alharbi is a member of the clan Klein alleges him to be -- and, more importantly, neither does Klein. He has written a story with the full knowledge that he can't prove what he's claiming, and all the hedging and buried disclaimers in the world don't change the fact that he is strongly arguing that Alharbi is a terrorist solely on the basis of his sharing the last name of someone accused of terrorism.
Further, it appears Klein is basing his article on something published by Walid Shoebat, who even more explicitly ties Alharbi to "Al-Qaeda terrorists" based solely on his last name. Shoebat's not exactly known for his accuracy, and he's been credibly accused of lying about his own past as a self-proclaimed Islamic terrorist-turned-Christian.
If none of this turns out to be true -- which, given WND's track record in such matters, is entirely possible, if not likely -- Alharbi should get his libel suit against Klein and WND (and Shoebat) ready, because Klein's article is the epitome of irresponsible, malicious journalism.
NEW ARTICLE: Biased, Smothered and Covered Topic: CNSNews.com
As CNS' Matt Cover moves on to a new right-wing website, let's review his atrocious record of questionable and false reporting. Read more >>
An April 15 Newsmax article by Jim Meyers fawns over Morris' new radio show in Philadelphia. Meyers sticks to press-release boilerplace, mindlessly spouting things like "Morris, once called 'the most influential private citizen in America' by Time magazine, is a former Fox News commentator and adviser to President Bill Clinton."
No mention, of course, that the reason Morris is a former Fox News commentator is because of his abysmal record of punditry, or that Morris' purported status as "the most influential private citizen in America" was granted shortly before he resigned in disgrace from Bill Clinton's re-election campaign for dalliances with a call girl.
