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Thursday, June 13, 2013
No, Jerome Corsi, People Are Not Being Punished For Criticizing Obama
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Jerome Corsi uses a June 10 WorldNetDaily article to tell a one-sided story:

The U.S. attorney who warned last week that “inflammatory speech” against Islam could violate civil-rights laws was the prosecutor who brought firearms charges against a Navy veteran who challenged the validity of President Obama’s birth certificate.

[...]

The Navy veteran, Darren Huff, came on the federal government’s radar in 2010 when another Navy veteran living in Tennessee, Walt Fitzpatrick, attempted to file criminal actions in court charging President Obama with treason. The veterans claimed Obama assumed the presidency while refusing to prove he was born in Hawaii by presenting to the American public a 1961 original long-form Hawaii birth certificate that could be independently authenticated by court-recognized document experts.

According to the Department of Justice website, Huff, on April 20, 2010, traveled from his home in Dallas, Ga., to Madisonville, Tenn., upset at the refusal of the grand jury in Monroe County, Tenn., to indict Obama for treason. He allegedly carried with him a .45 caliber handgun and an AK-47 with ammunition for both weapons and subsequently was arrested.

“Huff told people that day that he had 300-400 rounds of ammunition with the AK-47,” the DOJ website said. “During a traffic stop by a Tennessee State Trooper on his way to Madisonville, Huff stated, ‘I’ve got my .45 because ain’t no government official gonna go peacefully.’”

Huff was sentenced in U.S. District court to serve four years in prison following a criminal conviction for transporting firearms across state lines with the intent to cause a civil disorder. He currently has currently some 22 months of his prison sentence.

Sharon Rondeau, editor of The Post and Email, who has reported on the case since 2010, contends Huff was framed.

“Huff was stopped by the Tennessee state police trooper for allegedly running a stop sign on his way to Madisonville on April 20, 2010, and was allowed to continue on his way after locking his legally-owned firearms in his truck toolbox,” Rondeau argued in an email to WND.

“Huff arrived in Madisonville unarmed and had lunch at a restaurant, then returned home uneventfully. No one was arrested or named as having carried a gun into town that day. Surprisingly, he was arrested ten days later on two federal firearms charges. There has been no police footage showing that Huff was doing anything wrong. There were no plots or accomplices. It was all fabricated by the government.”

The Post and Email is a very birther-friendly website, so it makes sense that Corsi would trust it without question. Because Corsi has chosen to trust such a clearly biased source, he leaves out certain pertinent details.

As we detailed the last time WND came to Huff's defense, Talking Points Memo reported that Huff had intended to take over a county courthouse in Tennessee and conduct citizens arrests on local judges and politicians. Since he clearly declared his violent intent, whether or not he actually carried it out is irrelevant, because declared intent to carry out a violent act is itself a crime. Huff was convicted of transporting firearms across state lines with the intent to cause a civil disorder, which is clearly what he did.

Corsi also writes:

Rondeau said Huff “was framed by an FBI agent’s affidavit which was based only on hearsay evidence emanating from unnamed Monroe County officials; by members of The Fogbow, who called in false threats to the Madisonville mayor that Huff had planned to ‘take over the courthouse’ on April 20, 2010; and a massive deployment of FBI, local police, sheriffs’ departments, TBI, a SWAT team and snipers present on April 20.”

That is a demonstrable lie. Huff was not "framed" on "hearsay evidence," but due largely to a video of the traffic stop in whcih he stated his intent:

Jurors also heard at length from Huff thanks to a dashboard camera video taken after he was stopped and given a warning for driving too closely. In the tape, Huff chatted for an hour about religion and guns with officers, volunteering many details about what he was planning to do in Tennessee.

"I like y'all," Huff told the officers in the recording.

He said he was motivated to go to Madisonville by Walter Fitzpatrick, a Navy retiree who has had a beef against the federal government since he faced a court martial decades ago.

Fitzpatrick was facing charges in the eastern Tennessee town about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga because he tried to use a citizen's arrest warrant to take into custody local officials who wouldn't pursue a legal case to oust Obama. Fitzpatrick's warrant called the local officials "domestic enemies" and Obama an "illegal alien, infiltrator and impostor."

Huff said in the video that he and others were ready to help carry out the citizen's arrests Fitzpatrick wanted.

"I've got my .45 because ain't no government official gonna go peacefully," Huff told the police.

Corsi describes Huff only as a "Navy veteran," but he fails to mention that Huff is also a member of a militia-style called Oath Keepers (which WND has insisted is not a militia).

(Corsi also fails to mention, as Wonkette did, that according to the FBI’s “Returned Property” document, the items that were given back to Huff after his arrest included a "one (1) pink dildo with remote," "one (1) DVD containing pornographic material 'Tranny Hunter'," "four (4) condoms," and "one (1) bottle of KY Gel.")

 

Following up on Rondeau's mention of the Fogbow -- an anti-birther message board --  Corsi writes:

Radical Obama supporters known by their critics as “Obots,” or “Obama Robots,” bragged that some of their colleagues had worked behind the scene to inflame the Huff case. The operatives fed to law enforcement authorities concerns that Fitzgerald and Huff were not patriotic veterans concerned about the Constitution, but right-wing radicals who aimed to incite armed rebellion or acts of violence against the government.

In June 2011, WND reported that William L. Bryan, posting under the username “PJ Foggy,” had created the pro-Obama website Fogbow.com. On the site, various Obots bragged that they promoted Obama birth certificate documents known to be fraudulent.

They also boasted they were responsible for having some 100 armed law enforcement officers, including FBI and DHS agents along with state and local police, present in Madisonville, Tenn., on April 20, 2010, prepared to imagine Fitzgerald and Huff were arriving to implement an armed insurrection.

P.J. Foggy posted on the Fogbow.com website a self-introduction in which he claimed, “We’re the ones who got more than 100 cops ready for Cdr. Walt Fitzpatrick, when he showed up on April 20 with a group of armed men who thought they’d take over the Monroe County courthouse.

Fogbow members have spent a lot of time pointing out Corsi's lies and shoddy reporting. Perhaps that's why Corsi considers them "radical."

What does all of this have to do with criticizing Obama supposedly being punishable? Nothing, really, aside from that silly grand jury that wouldn't indict Obama for treason. As we've previously noted, Fitzpatrick was mostly upset that the same guy has been heading the county's grand jury for 27 years (and wouldn't indict Obama for treason, as if such a claim by a county-level court would be legally binding).

No, Mr. Corsi, Huff and Fitzpatrick weren't punished for criticizing Obama. They were punished for expressing threats of violence and interfering with the government.


Posted by Terry K. at 4:28 PM EDT
MRC's Double Standard on Obituaries
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center has a double standard on what should appear in a person's obituary (just has it has as double standard on everything else).

In a June 8 NewsBusters post, Tim Graham complains that "The loving eulogies for Sen. Frank Lautenberg, heavy on the praise for curbing teenage drinking and in-flight smoking, have obscured just how sleazily he regained office in 2002." But that's followed by an admission that New Jersey Supreme Court  unanimously ruled that the Democratic Party could replace scandal-tarred Robert Toricelli on the general election ballot with Lautenberg.

However irregular and unorthodox it may be, the replacement of Torricelli with Lautenberg was done legally and approved by New Jersey's highest court, ruling that state law did not prohibit such a switch.

Somehow, we don't think that Graham would call the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore to be "sleazy" since it produced his desired outcome.

The MRC previously complained that the obituary of the founder of Cracker Barrel restaurants included too much sleazy behavior by mention the chain's historyof anti-gay discrimination, and it thought that the media reporting on the death of Christopher shouldn't have mentioned his scathing criticism of Mother Teresa -- arguably the most notorious thing he ever did -- and instead highlighted how he flipped off the audience at Bill Maher's TV show.


Posted by Terry K. at 11:58 AM EDT
WND's Cashill Ignores Zimmerman Brother's Racist Tweets
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily's Jack Cashill has given up for now on trying to prove that Barack Obama's books were ghostwritten by Bill Ayers (and it's not because it's not true). He's now glommed onto the Trayvon Martin shooting.

Cashill's bias is pretty obvious so far -- he thinks George Zimmerman is innocent in Martin's death. He's also writing a book on the case that will "be released after the trial."

Meanwhile, Cashill's also promoting the anti-media narrative of Zimmerman's brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr. From a June 11 WND article:

Among the first questions Robert received was whether he would continue to send tweets that the media consider provocative or worse. He defended the practice vigorously.

“It’s important to a lot of people who support the family that they have a front row seat,” said Zimmerman. “They don’t trust the media and, I think, rightfully so.”

Zimmerman has a point.

In the first month after the shooting, ABC was caught doctoring a police surveillance video. NBC was caught doctoring the audio of George Zimmerman’s initial call to the police.

But Cashill is strangely silent about those "tweets that the media consider provocative or worse" that Zimmerman has previously sent.Which is strange because WND promoted them at the time they were made.

In a March 27 WND article, Michael Thompson touted how Zimmerman's tweet featuring an image likening Martin to the alleged killer of a baby was "his attempt to correct the establishment media’s false portrayal of the Florida teen in the racially charged case."

But a few hours later after the interview appeared, Zimmerman backed away from his racially charged tweets, admtting they weren't the "right thing to do." CNN added that George Zimmerman's lawyer was furiously trying to distance his client from his brother.

The fact that Cashill is covering up for Robert Zimmerman Jr.'s inflammatory racial attacks is another sure sign of Cashill's bias -- and another reason not to trust anything Cashill writes about the case.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:36 AM EDT
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
NewsBusters Disingenously Defends FBI Wiretapping of Martin Luther King
Topic: NewsBusters

In a June 11 NewsBusters post, Mike Bates takes on a columnist's claim that Martin Luther King Jr. was wiretapped by the FBI "because he was campaigning for civil rights":

That was not the reason for King’s wiretap, which was carried out by the FBI after Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy authorized it on October 10, 1963.  Kennedy believed that two of King’s associates had ties to the Communist party.  

The AG passed that information to his brother the president.  In a May 20, 1963 White House meeting on civil rights, President Kennedy said that "King is so hot that it's like Marx coming to the White House" (approximately at 40:55 of the tape.)

The following month, the president met privately with King at the White House.  As detailed in Richard Reeves’s book “President Kennedy,” assistant attorney general of the civil rights division Burke Marshall first told King he would have to get rid of the two advisers.  “A paid agent of the Soviet Communist apparatus,” he called one.  Then Robert Kennedy spoke with King.  According to Reeves, “When it was clear that King did not believe either Marshall or Robert Kennedy, the President took over.”  Walking in the Rose Garden alone with the civil rights leader, he put a hand on King’s shoulder and said: “They’re Communists, you’ve got to get rid of them.”  King didn't, and wiretapping was then authorized by the administration. 

So, no, King wasn’t wiretapped “because he was campaigning for civil rights.”  At least not according to the Kennedy brothers. 

That's a disingenuous defense. Does Bates really think the FBI would be so interested in King's alleged links to communists if he wasn't campaigning for civil rights? Unlikely.

Addtionally, according to the Atlantic article to which Bates links to support his claim,  FBI surveillance of King continued for years after it realized he was no communist (yet leaked misleading reports insisting that he was), and the agency's focus turned from communism to King's "sexual endeavors."

Again, would any of this have happened if King was not a civil rights leader? Unlikely. But Bates apparently thinks otherwise.


Posted by Terry K. at 5:07 PM EDT
WND Removes Column Calling For 'War' And 'Martyrdom' To Restore 'Judeo-Christian Heritage'
Topic: WorldNetDaily

It's not often that WorldNetDaily deletes a column after publication apparently because it's too crazy, but it has happened in the past. WND deleted Anthony LoBaido's post-9/11 god-damn-America column after its unhinged rhetoric -- he blamed the attacks on America's immorality since "all that is evil in the world can be found in New York" and, for good measure, called Hillary Clinton "openly Marxist, treasonous and abortion-mongering, occultic" -- caused so much negative attention that WND felt it had to make the column quietly disappear (though it lives on in the Wayback Machine).

It appears that WND has pulled another disappearing act on another whacked-out column.

On June 5, WND published a column by David Lane, who runs evangelical outreach for Sen. Rand Paul. Under the headline "Wage war to restore a Christian America," Lane went on a massive anti-gay tirade, declaring that "Those who embrace homosexual marriage and homosexual Scouting – or homosexuality in general – know little and practice nothing of Christianity."

And it just gets more insane from there, with lots of talk of war and martyrdom:

The last paragraph of Peter J. Leithart’s “Between Babel and the Beast” frames properly the battle facing America:

“Throughout Scripture, the only power that can overcome the seemingly invincible omnipotence of a Babel or a Beast is the power of martyrdom, the power of the witness to King Jesus to the point of loss and death. American Christianity has not done a good job of producing martyrs, and that is because we have done such an outstanding job of nurturing Americanists who regret that they have only one life to give for their country. Americanists cannot break Babelic or bestial power because they cannot distinguish heretical Americanism from Christian orthodoxy. Until we do, America will lurch along the path that leads from Babel to Beast. If America is to be put in its place – put right – Christians must risk martyrdom and force Babel to the crux where it has to decide either to acknowledge Jesus an imperator and the church as God’s imperium or to begin drinking holy blood.”

Where are the champions of Christ to save the nation from the pagan onslaught imposing homosexual marriage, homosexual scouts, 60 million babies done to death by abortion and red ink as far as the eye can see on America? Who will wage war for the Soul of America and trust the living God to deliver the pagan gods into our hands and restore America to her Judeo-Christian heritage and re-establish a Christian culture?

[...]

As demonstrated by the give-and-take with the pagan media elite and pagan National Education Association, it is impossible to hold a conversation with someone bent on delivering a monologue. Christian America must war to make our nation a better place for our kids and grandkids.

If the American experiment with freedom is to end after 237 years, let each of us commit to brawl all the way to the end because, “Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization.” [Winston Churchill]

[...]

You ask, “What is our goal?” To wage war to restore America to our Judeo-Christian heritage with all of our might and strength that God will give us. You ask, “What is our aim?” One word only: victory, in spite of all intimidation and terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, America will ultimately collapse.

“But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, come then let us go forward together with our united strength.” [Winston Churchill]

Will a Gideon or Rahab the Harlot please stand.

But sometime in the past few days, WND has made this column disappear -- the link to it now states, "This story or column has been removed." WND has offered no public explanation for why it removed the column; we've contacted WND for an explanation, but had not heard back at this posting.

WND has few journalistic standards, so it's unclear why it would suddenly and quietly pull Lane's column when it doesn't seem any crazier than other things it has posted on its website. Telling lies is hunky-dory with the WND powers that be, as is calling President Obama "our American 'führer,'" and claiming that dogs can form "black mobs."

(h/t Wonkette, Good As You)

UPDATE: Right Wing Watch reminds us that Lane was on the tour of Israel Rand Paul took earlier this year with WND editor Joseph Farah.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:00 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 5:29 PM EDT
AIM's Sex-Obsessed Kincaid Upset At Being Called 'Sex-Obsessed'
Topic: Accuracy in Media

In a June 10 Accuracy in Media column, Cliff Kincaid takes some potshots at Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story about the NSA's surveillance program, dismissing him as a "far-left columnist" and irrelevantly attacking his personal life:

An American by birth, he currently works for a foreign publication, the Guardian, and has a “lover” in Brazil he calls his “husband.” He apparently doesn’t live in the U.S. because of its alleged oppressive treatment of homosexuals.

Then, after writing that, Kincaid takes hilarious exception to Greenwald once calling him "sex-obsessed":

In fact, Greenwald called this writer “the truly deranged, sex-obsessed, conspiracy-monger Cliff Kincaid,” and said my criticism would prompt him to place his “Izzy” award “on an even more prominent shelf” in his office.

The term “sex-obsessed,” when used against this columnist, was apparently a reference to opposition to giving special rights to practitioners of the homosexual lifestyle, such as Glenn Greenwald and Bradley Manning.

Kincaid provides no evidence that Greenwald's sexual orientation has anything to do with his reporting, which makes his insistence on making sure we know that Greenwald is gay the very definition of "sex-obsessed." Besides, Kincaid has long obsessed over homosexuality-- huffing that Rachel Maddow is "a lesbian with hair so short that she looks like a man," portraying the homosexual "lifestyle" as more dangerous than smoking, and endorsing a proposed law in Uganda that would allow execution of people for mere homosexuality.

Strangely (or maybe not), Kincaid doesn't take exception to be called "deranged" or a "conspiracy-monger."


Posted by Terry K. at 12:23 PM EDT
NEW ARTICLE: Joseph Farah, Without A Prayer
Topic: WorldNetDaily
How can a liar and deceiver like WorldNetDaily's editor lead a "national Day of prayer and fasting" when he pretends it's not about his anti-Obama agenda and won't repent for his own journalistic misdeeds? Read more >>

Posted by Terry K. at 2:17 AM EDT
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
MRC Whines That Minor Blip In Economic News Is Being Ignored
Topic: Media Research Center

Mike Ciandella omniously wrote in a June 3 Media Research Center business & Media Institute item:

Manufacturing activity dropped to its lowest pace in four years, according to The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index for the month of May, released June 3. However, none of three broadcast networks’s evening shows made any mention of it that night.

According to the ISM, this is the first time that U.S. manufacturing has contracted since 2012, reaching 49.0, the lowest level since June 2009.

But Ciandella offers no evidence that the report's one-month drop in manufacturing equals the economy "contracting." Nor does he mention that the number, while "the lowest level since June 2009," is significantly higher than that month's 45.8.

Ciandella goes on to whine, "The networks have repeatedly hyped economic optimism, but downplayed bad economic news." As long as Obama is president, you can expect Ciandella to hype bad economic news and downplay economic optimism.


Posted by Terry K. at 6:42 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 2:01 PM EDT
WND Uncritically Repeats Woman's Allegations Of Child Abuse Against Her Ex
Topic: WorldNetDaily

In an unbylined June 6 WorldNetDaily article purporting to document "atrocities" committed by California's "powerful Department of Child Protective Services," there's this tidbit:

Such cases are not isolated. Another, making headlines in Orange County, contends that CPS testified in defense of the abuser.

There, Ruby Dillon’s 7 year-old daughter was removed from her family due to a custody battle, and has been held for 15 months.

Dillon accuses the father of sexual abuse that she says she has on tape. Bryan Claypool, her attorney in the case (who is suing CPS for $1 million per month), contends that CPS does not want the custody battle between the estranged spouses to end because it wants to profit off of the case.

According to a local CBS affiliate, Claypool commented that, “Simply put, the more children that are removed from a household (whether lawfully or not) the more money that flows to CPS through state and federal funding.”

Claypool further alleged that CPS is more motivated to protect its $2.2 billion budget than it is focused on child safety and adoption efforts. He calls it a “legal kidnapping.”

Claypool told WND the institutionalized corruption goes much deeper, and farther than the cases he represents. “Every word we have said we can back up,” he said.

CPS declined to comment on the case.

There's lots of stuff missing here. For instance, why wasn't Dillon awarded custody of the child? What did Dillon do to help make the divorce atmosphere so toxic that she was not given custody? Are these attacks merely a further act of vengeance against her estranged husband? Shouldn't Claypool make the divorce and custody records of this case public so we can judge the situation for ourselves, instead of making inflammatory accusations then hide behind sealed documents?Is Dillon -- who is a dentist and can presumably afford to keep legal actions going -- merely paying her lawyer to accuse her ex-husband of child abuse and drag out the custody case as a way to punish her ex?

There are too many unanswered questions here for WND to present her side of the story without question or rebuttal. And what does that say about the rest of the WND article, which similarly presents such attacks uncritically?


Posted by Terry K. at 12:45 PM EDT
NewsBusters' Sheffield Hates Jonathan Alter
Topic: NewsBusters

Matthew Sheffield's June 7 NewsBusters post begins, "It’s hard to pity someone as smarmy and self-righteous as Jonathan Alter." So you know you're in for some primo right-wing ranting.

Indeed, Sheffield's post is a massive anti-Alter tirade, featuring Fox News chief Roger Ailes' response to claims made about him and Fox News in Alter's new book, "The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies." He touts how Ailes claimed that what Alter wrote is "patently, provably false," but it somehow escapes him that Ailes doesn't actually prove Alter false -- it's just a he-said, he-said.

Sheffield goes on to repeat an anonymous claim that "there is some personal bitterness at work on Alter's part" because Fox News allegedly wouldn't hire Alter as a contributor. But Sheffield offers no evidence that this is true -- he's simply privileging its purported truth because it comes from Fox News and makes Alter look bad.

After Alter responded to Ailes by noting that “Roger is a bully. And like a lot of bullies, he can dish it out but he can’t take it," Sheffield retorted that "Alter might consider reacting with a little less knee jerking." That's right -- the guy who cranks out no small amount of right-wing knee-jerk attacks has decreed that others should not be acting the same way.

The vitriol of Sheffield's attack of Alter would seem to indicate how much of a threat the Media Research Center considers him to be to the right-wing agenda.


Posted by Terry K. at 10:52 AM EDT
How Is Larry Klayman Beclowning Himself This Week?
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Larry Klayman began his June 7 WorldNetDaily column by calling President Obama "our American 'führer,'" and it just kinda goes downhill from there. with Klayman ramping up his already heightened sense of paranoia:

Coupled with the government’s stockpiling of guns and ammunition, intimidation with internal security forces, which deploy black helicopters over our cities firing practice rounds, and other coercive tactics, it is no longer beyond imagination that Obama and his comrades may be intending to seize absolute power with the goal of relegating We the People as his slaves – never relinquishing power.

Because calling the president a "führer" and ranting about black helicopters is a surefire way to be taken seriously in the public arena.

Speaking of not being taken seriously, Klayman has been active on the nuisance-lawsuit end of his so-called lawyering. Wonkette details how Klayman has been suing various media outlets (though, surprisingly, not us or Wonkette) for reporting on a judicial finding in his very litigious divorce that he had apparently engaged in "inappropriate behavior" with his children and that "Klayman would not even answer the simple question regarding what he thought inappropriate touching was" and even invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering it.

The news organizations in question have filed a motion to dismiss Klayman's lawsuit , arguing that Klayman failed to substantiate how what was written about him was defamation. Klayman's apparent response to that was to sue the judge who made that finding about him.

And here's where the real beclowning begins. Klayman kicks things off by insulting the judge as "Jewish, a Democrat and a leftist" who purportedly "detests" Klayman "because he is a Jew who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Son of God and us a cibservatuve activist who has brought many successful lawsuits and taken hard hitting legal actions against Democrats."

Klayman goes on to essentially call his children and ex-wife liars by citing statistics about false child abuse reports, and he complains that he wasn't allowed to enter a polygraph test, "which he easily passed," into evidence as proof of his innocence.

We're not lawyers, but even we can see that the polygraph is utterly meaningless. The questions Klayman was asked in the polygraph involved whether he "sexually abuse[d]" his children or touch his children's "private sexual parts." But he wasn't accused of "sexual abuse." According to the news organization's motion to dismiss, the judge had noted in finding that Klayman had "inappropriately" touched his children:

  • Allegations that Plaintiff inappropriately touched his son's genitals;
  • Allegations that Plaintiff kissed his son and daughter "all over" their bodies;
  • Allegations that Plaintiff had his daughter wash his genitals;
  • The children's pediatrician contacted a child welfare agency to report that Plaintiff had possibly molested his son;
  • A state social worker found that sexual abuse was indicated;
  • One of Plaintiff's female friends took Plaintiff's nine year old daughter to alingerie store and purchased thong underwear for the daughter, which Plaintiff encouraged his daughter to wear;
  • Plaintiff's complete lack of credibility; and
  • State and federal judges across the country having found Plaintiff to have acted with complete disregard for the judicial process.

The polygraph address only one of the allegations, and  asks about a "sexual abuse" allegation that was never specifically made.

WND and its leader, Joseph Farah, have yet to comment on these allegations against its main attorney. Perhaps it's time he does.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:32 AM EDT
Monday, June 10, 2013
Newsmax Still Misleading About Its Popularity
Topic: Newsmax

Last month, we caught Newsmax deceptively promoting the popularity of its website. It's still doing so in a June 3 article:

Newsmax Media, Inc., a leading independent publisher, has announced that its Newsmax.com sites have held the No. 1 position in comScore’s News/Politics category for the second month in a row.

In data released last week week, comScore reports that during April, 65 million Americans viewed online content in its News/Politics category. In this period, Newsmax sites led all other sites in web traffic with more than 14 million monthly unique visitors. ComScore notes that Newsmax exceeded such competitors as HuffPost Politics and Fox News Politics with these recent April numbers. Newsmax also was No. 1 in the same category for personal computer users who read News/Politics online.

But if you look at the list provided in the article, Newsmax is once again pitting its entire website -- which, judging by the "Newsmax Sites" description, include its dedicated financial news, world news and health  sites -- against sub-sections of other websites: Huffington Post Politics, CNN Politics and NBCNews.com Politics.

That's not an apples-to-apples comparison, no matter how much WND would like to portray it.


Posted by Terry K. at 3:22 PM EDT
WND's Flaherty Thinks Dogs Can Form Black Mobs, Too
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Did you know dogs can form "black mobs" just like black people? We didn't either, until we read Colin Flaherty's June 6 WorldNetDaily article:

Sometimes reporters just cannot ignore black mob violence: Especially when they are the victims.

The latest example comes from Providence, R.I. Local newshound Abbey Niezgoda and her photographer were dutifully asking a mother what she thought about the alleged shooter of her daughter turning himself in.

Melissa Lawrence did not like the question. She screamed and threw a rock at the cameraman’s head, hitting his arm as he tried to shield his face. All on video.

“Are you going to throw rocks?” asked Abbey with a remarkably calm demeanor.

The woman answered by running up the stairs to get a baseball bat while at least two other people watched.

“Get away from me,” she yelled at the reporters upon her return, who were standing in the street.

But before they had a chance to leave, Lawrence released her hounds, instructing them to attack. Two pit bulls came flying out of the fenced yard, straight at the cameraman. Not finding fair game there, they attacked Abbey while she ran down the street.

[...]

This is hardly the first time that local TV news reporters have been under assault from black mobs.

To sum up: A black woman with two dogs equals a "black mob" in Flaherty's race-baiting mind. And the dogs aren't even black.


Posted by Terry K. at 1:48 PM EDT
Noel Sheppard Loves It When Liberals Are Censored
Topic: NewsBusters

In a June 8 NewsBusters post, Noel Sheppard takes a perverse glee in Fox News' Neil Cavuto petulantly shouting down a guest he didn't agree with:

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about.

Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Saturday cut the mic of the incredibly "offensive" and "obnoxious" liberal shill Julian Epstein for refusing to have a serious discussion about the current White House scandals and instead insisting on echoing Democrat talking points[.]

[...]

When Epstein continued to speak, Cavuto said, “Cut his mic. Guys, cut his mic, he’s going nowhere fast. Cut his mic.”

Cavuto then moved onto to Stein before once again saying, “Cut his damn mic!”

Which raises a question: Julian Epstein is a shill willing to say anything without any regard for its veracity to advance Democrats. As such, why would Cavuto have him on?

He’s a broken record of Democrat talking points – nothing more, nothing less. As a result, he adds absolutely nothing to the discussion - never has, never will.

His place is on MSNBC where he can repeat the White House line with all the other parrots.

Therefore, unless the folks on Fox like these kinds of fights on Saturday mornings, maybe they should think better of scheduling people such as Julian Epstein.

Certainly, there have to be many far more intellectually honest people on the left interested in having a meaningful discussion about the important issues facing the nation than this shameless shill.

Funny that Sheppard doesn't ding Cavuto for repeating right-wing talking points attacking the Obama administration. Indeed, Sheppard fails to mention Epstein's accurate statement that Cavuto is "playing the Obama-hater game."

This is the kind of media Sheppard -- and, by extension, the Media Research Center -- wants, a media where only conservative viewpoints are forwarded and liberals are ridiculed and shouted down.


Posted by Terry K. at 12:21 PM EDT
WND Is Taking the Video Plunge (With Molotov Mitchell)
Topic: WorldNetDaily

What is WorldNetDaily's next big move after its four-year campaign to personally destroy Barack Obama resulted in nothing but the destruction of any credibility it may have had?

Take on the cloak of religion and move into video.

The latter is made clear in a form of a weird reality series dreamed up by Molotov Mitchell, as described in a June 5 WND article:

Produced by Molotov Mitchell, head of Illuminati Pictures, “Zero to Superhero” follows the travails of Urquhart, an overweight (341 pounds) and unremarkable 32-year-old, as he pursues his dream of becoming a real-life superhero.

“But this show isn’t just about a guy ‘dressing-up’ in costume,” explained Joseph Farah, co-founder and CEO of WND. “It’s about a group of specialists getting together and actually training and equipping a superhero-wannabe from the ground up.”

Led by Mitchell, the hand-picked specialists will take Jeeves through intense fitness training, drill into him new skills (like Krav Maga, the hand-to-hand combat technique used by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency) and outfit him with cutting-edge tools.

“We’re going beyond comic books and caricatures,” Mitchell said. “We’ve never seen what actual superhero-making would look like. It will be incredible to watch Jeeves drop tons of weight. It will be amazing to see him learn incredible fighting skills and face his worst fears.”

[...]

When asked what’s next for Urquhart, Mitchell gave WND a sneak peek at what’s in store for the would-be superhero: “After he’s lost the weight, after he’s a proficient fighter, Jeeves plans to patrol the streets of Durham, reporting crime and assisting people in need.

Will Mr. Urquhart be beating up gays as part of ol' Molotov's desire to achieve "the abolition of homosexuality"? Guess we'll have to watch to see.

Or -- given that Mitchell is also responsible for the likes of hate-spewing, homophobic, painfully unfunny "comedy" videos starring his wife, D.J. Dolce -- perhaps not.

But at the end of that article is a clue to the bigger agenda WND wants to pursue -- and, presumably, try to make people forget about its self-disgracing birther obsession in the process:

For WND-TV, “Zero to Superhero” is the beginning of higher goals as well.

George Escobar, WND’s vice president of film and television and an award-winning filmmaker in his own right, explains WND-TV is planning to launch several new online programs and hopes “Zero to Superhero” will become the kind of “breakout hit” that only serves to expand WND’s audience.

Yes, WND is apparently going full force into churning out video content. As for the religious aspect, that's made clear in another June 5 WND article:

WND announced today that it will host the annual Advent Film Workshop at its new studio facilities in Chantilly, Va., June 14-15.

Advent co-founders George Escobar and Michael Snyder will lead the workshop. Hour-long sessions include: film funding, micro-budget producing, hiring professional actors, effective marketing and distribution techniques, story development secrets and film career planning for filmmakers of all ages.

“We are excited about this new chapter in our film training program,” Escobar said. “Previously we’ve held the workshop at Patrick Henry College, the home of our first feature film, ‘Come What May.’ Now we have the additional opportunity to work alongside WND, a powerhouse in online independent news, attracting over 7 million unique visitors a month and more than 40 million pageviews.”

By the way, Chantilly is located not too far from WND editor Joseph Farah's residence elsewhere in Fairfax County, Va., which has the second-highest median household income in the country.

One wonders where WND is getting the money to do this in the aftermath of making itself into a national laughingstock for its birther obession, not to mention doing so in a fairly high-rent area of the country. Perhaps it's coming from "The Isaiah 9:10 judgment," a WND-produced film riding the coattails of the religious prophecy book "The Harbinger."

In addition to his WND work, Escobar (who directed "The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment") also heads Advent Film Group, a maker of right-wing-leaning Christian films and documentaries.  His company made a film in 2009 called "Come What May," which was inspired by a moot court case on abortion that was argued by the moot court team of Patrick Henry College. The school -- which caters to evangelical Christian homeschooled children, and which at least one child of Joseph Farah has attended -- helped in the making of the film to the extent that college founder and president Michael Farris has a starring role.

Everyone's getting into online video these days. But with Molotov Mitchell playing a key role in WND's take on it, perhaps Farah should save some of his prayers from his Obama-bashing 9/11 day of prayer for hoping that Mitchell's patented hate doesn't drag the whole operation down. But since Farah seems quite comfortable with the bottom-scraping level of his website, maybe a sleazy, hateful video operation is exactly what he wants.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:11 AM EDT
Updated: Monday, June 10, 2013 2:28 AM EDT

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