Update: Jerome Corsi, Terrorist Enabler

On April 15, Tancredo suggested that it "may be a productive move" for Senate majority leader Tom DeLay to step aside while ethics charges against him are sorted out; he had said earlier that "[i]f he chose to resign as majority leader until these matters are resolved, that's probably not the worst idea."

WND hasn't reported a word about this. Even NewsMax reported the original remarks (granted, it was an Associated Press reprint), though on April 17 it ran a follow-up article attacking the media because it "all but ignored Tancredo's main point: that the DeLay allegations 'lack merit' and were 'trumped up.'"

* * *

Also on the DeLay defense front, NewsMax took a shot against the Democratic National Committee on April 12, criticizing a "fake mug shot" of DeLay that it claimed was "designed to give the impression that the top Republican had been arrested and charged with a crime."

NewsMax then adds: "The DNC's fake photo notwithstanding, DeLay has not been charged, let alone arrested, in connection with any of the allegations touted by Democrats and their handmaidens in the media -- and has never been implicated in any criminal activity."

Well, if the fact that a person "has not been charged, let alone arrested" in alleged criminal activity is the threshold for whether to report on said activity -- and NewsMax is pretty clearly implying that nobody should be reporting on DeLay's alleged misdeeds -- what would NewsMax do about the Clintons, who also have never been "charged, let alone arrested" in the many, many things NewsMax has accused them of?

* * *

What is with NewsMax's fascination with Catholic prophecy?

As it did in the immediate aftermath of Pope John II's death, when it asserted that prophecy dictated just two more popes, NewsMax cited prophecy again upon the the selection of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who will take the name Benedict XVI.

"When Cardinal Ratzinger was chosen to be the next pope, NewsMax did a Web search for "Benedict XVI" and we were surprised how many prophecies -- some rather eerie and apocalyptic -- had predicted the name this new pope would take," NewsMax claimed in an April 19 story.

WorldNetDaily joins in the prophecy-as-news parade, reciting some of the same claims as NewsMax as well as other claims from discredited prophet-slash-WND columnist Hal Lindsey. An April 20 follow-up cites a Roman scholar who claims that Ratzinger chose his moniker in honor of a sixth-century saint "and his quest to protect Rome from invading German pagans," adding that "she is not impressed with those who point to the prophecy of St. Malachy as having been further fulfilled with the election of Pope Benedict XVI."

We're not sure so-called "news" organizations are best spending their time treating 12th-century soothsaying as breaking news, but whatever.

* * *

NewsMax also renews its fascination with Sen. Robert Byrd's 60-year-past association with the Ku Klux Klan. An April 19 article attempting to distract from Tom DeLay's ethics problems calls for an investigation into alleged "unanswered questions" about an association that ended long before NewsMax editor Christopher Ruddy was born.

* * *

More of that "uncompromising" WorldNetDaily coverage: An April 20 story gleefully told the tale of a Vietnam veteran who spit tobacco in the face of Jane Fonda, complete with comments from "online messageboards" (read: someone at WND hangs out at Free Republic) approving of the action.

Missing from WND's account: the fact that Fonda has apologized for her behavior during the Vietnam war.

What was that we wrote about conservatives not being able to get over things?

* * *

Once again, NewsMax tries to spin an Associated Press story, getting it wrong in the process.

The headline of an April 20 article reads: "Dems to Government: Protect Us From Right-Wingers!" Of course, that's not what the story's about; it's about a Homeland Security document about possible terror threats that curiously fails to mention the threat posed by right-wing extremists (like Eric Rudolph). And somehow, we suspect that's not the headline the AP put on it.

* * *

* * *

Slantie-contender headline of the week: "Homosexual Nazis are savaging the church."

That comes from an April 12 WorldNetDaily commentary by Tom Ambrose (WND's commentary editor), blithely overlooking the fact that the Nazis persecuted and killed homosexuals. It contains such statements as, "Frankly, I have never understood why homosexuals continue to justify putting their private body parts in places where they were never intended to be placed – never mind why the priests in black robes who occupy America's courts would create special rights for such repulsive activity" and this:

I've also heard "gays" assert that homosexuality should be considered "normal" because it occurs in various animal populations. This mindless rationalization falls flat on two counts. First, some animals also eat their young – does this mean humans should emulate that behavior, too? Second, humans are gifted with minds that can reason, rather than acting like a beast blindly driven by hormones to copulate with whatever opportunity presents itself, as anyone who owns a male dog can likely attest.

One gets the feeling that, as an adjunct to his gay-Nazi fantasy, Ambrose would approve of a Nazi approach to homosexuality, such as Paragraph 175.

Yup, throw him in the Slantie hopper. And while we're at it, we'll throw in an April 20 Accuracy in Media column by Cliff Kincaid that starts like this:

The pro-marijuana lobby and much of the media have been silent about the fact that the killer student in Red Lake, Minnesota, Jeff Weise, was a pothead, and that scientific studies link marijuana to mental illness. This is an inconvenient fact because we have been led to believe there is such a thing as "medical marijuana" and that dope has medical benefits.  Let's face it: some journalists may not want to discuss it because they use pot themselves as a "recreational" drug.

* * *

Then and Now, David Limbaugh edition:

"[President Clinton] has not only committed crimes; he has succeeded in confusing and redefining those laws he has violated."

-- Feb. 11, 1999

"To paraphrase some familiar aphorisms: When there's this much smoke there must be a raging fire..."

-- Feb. 15, 1999

"By their unwavering and unprincipled support of Clinton, congressional Democrats have acquired ownership of the president and figuratively adopted his felonies -- even, to some extent, those not in issue at the time of the trial."

-- March 12, 1999

"I am not saying DeLay should be exempt from scrutiny, House rules or the law. But he is certainly entitled to a presumption of innocence, which should remain until a credible case for his misconduct has been proven. ... It is important that we separate the issue of DeLay's conduct from the conduct, motivations and hypocrisy of his accusers."

-- April 15