2011 Slanties: The ConWeb's LegacyWho was responsible for the ConWeb's worst reporting and craziest opinions last year? We honor those achievements.By Terry Krepel
Well, whatever. Let's get down to business, shall we? * * * The first award is for the most egregious example of bias in "news" coverage. Among this year's contenders: WorldNetDaily's attempt to pretend it never made allegations about Barack Obama's birth certificate or questioned his citizenship and cares only about his "eligibility"; the ConWeb's full embrace of the repeatedly discredited claim that Obama's trip to India and Asia cost $200 million a day; the Media Research Center's "Tell The Truth!" campaign, which applied to everyone but itself; WorldNetDaily reporter (and previous Slantie winner) Aaron Klein's increasingly desperate and false attacks on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan; Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid and WorldNetDaily's Molotov Mitchell endorsing state executions of homosexuals in Uganda; and Newsmax's violation of journalistic ethics by slanting its news coverage to promote a candidate in the Republican primary for Florida governor, Bill McCollum, without disclosing that Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy held a fundraiser for McCollum's campaign -- then, after McCollum lost to Rick Scott in the primary, flip-flopping to promote Scott in the general election while all the mean things it wrote about him during the primary went down the memory hole. But in the end, there was one clear winner: The Media Research Center's attack on a gay-themed art exhibition at a Smithsonian museum. It was so clearly a manufactured story -- CNSNews.com reporter Penny Starr had attacked two previous Smithsonian exhibits, then trolled congressional leaders to obtain a response to goose the story along -- yet it managed to gain traction, helped in no small part by MRC chief Brent Bozell's invocation of homophobic stereotypes of gays as deviants. The fake controversy actually got a tangible result: the Smithsonian pulled from the exhibit a video with an 11-second clip of ants crawling over a crucifix that Bozell and crew deemed blasphemous while ignoring the artist's intent in creating that image. In the end, nobody was happy -- art patrons threatened to pull their support for the Smithsonian for the removal, and Bozell demanded that Congress cut the Smithsonian's funding over the exhibit (never mind that the exhibit itself wasn't funded by the government). All this because the MRC was gunning for the Smithsonian and wanted a place in the day's news cycle for its manufactured controversy du jour. * * * The next award is the LoBaido Award for the silliest statement made by a writer for a conservative news Web site (named after Anthony LoBaido, who wrote a post-9/11 column for WorldNetDaily that was so unhinged -- 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" -- that WND eventually pulled it from its site). And we have a bumper crop of nominees to choose from (with a mere two portrayals of Obama as a rapist): Every time you mention something blacks, even if you're right and 100 percent right, and even if you're insulting the whites, somehow the blacks are the ones offended. This is perverted, this is sick, this is deranged, and this need that black people have to make you feel that you're a racist is a power trip. It's a phony power trip to make you feel that somehow you're destined to be the bosses and they have to serve you and cater to you and they have to be humbled in front of you and humiliated in front of you and they have to be eating humble pie for the rest of their lives just because they're white. -- Jackie Mason, Jan. 14 WorldNetDaily video Abe Foxman has come out against a great and wonderful friend of the Jews, Rush Limbaugh. -- Pamela Geller, Jan. 25 Newsmax column His name should be changed to Barack Hugo Obama. If he gets his agenda passed and implemented, Cleveland, Ohio, will look more like Caracas, Venezuela. It is said, "Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery." Mr. Chavez must be so proud of his protégé. -- Craig R. Smith, Jan. 25 WorldNetDaily column "Fatal Attraction," the Washington version is playing on a television near you as Obama's bipartisan summit on healthcare approaches. Like a possessed, rejected maniac the president refuses to allow the idea of a massive restructuring of our healthcare system to fade. -- Andrea Tantaros, Feb. 24 Newsmax column The spectacle of a far leftist president literally forcing socialized medicine down the throat of an unwilling center-right America is reminiscent, perhaps more than any other contemporary metaphor, of date rape. -- David Kupelian, March 5 WorldNetDaily column We don't want to have a president who lies like Hitler and who has the killing of human beings in the womb of their mothers on his political platform and who, together with his accomplices Reid and Pelosi, is working to make us, our children and our grandchildren slaves of the godless global socialist/communist establishment. What else could be the reason for his not listening to the people, spending trillions of dollars on nonsense and refusing to present his birth certificate? -- Hilmar von Campe, March 11 WorldNetDaily column If President Barack Obama gets his trillion dollar healthcare bill passed this week by the Democrats in Congress, parents will be required to pay for their unmarried kids' healthcare coverage until the age of 26. -- Richard Grenell, March 14 Newsmax column On March 21, 2010, a day that will live in infamy, our beloved constitutional republic came to an end. Its murder was committed by a slim majority in the House of Representatives by socialist Democrats who have given us a new form of government: state socialism. By that vote, the great legacy of freedom given us by our Founding Fathers was thrown on the trash heap. And the man most responsible for making this happen is the socialist despot in the White House, Barack Hussein Obama. -- Samuel L. Blumenfeld, March 23 WorldNetDaily column In World War II, we faced the National Socialist Party in Germany. Now we face it at home. -- Janet Porter, April 6 WorldNetDaily column Obama is Mr. Blonde, the Left’s hatchet man, groomed for power for decades. Is it any wonder that this is what Obama is doing to America? -- David Swindle, April 6 NewsReal post If Americans can find the courage to consciously reject the myth of the melting pot and expel the Mexicans from the American Southwest, the Arabs from Detroit and the Somalis from Minneapolis, they can reclaim their traditional white Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture. This is highly improbable because so many descendants of that culture have rejected it in favor of the vibrancy of diversity while those who haven't are far too frightened of criticism and social rejection to even articulate their thoughts. -- Vox Day, May 10 WorldNetDaily column Right now feminists are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Pill, lauding its effects and congratulating society for allowing women to act like rutting cattle. See how far we've advanced in the past half-century? -- Patrice Lewis, May 15 WorldNetDaily column The MASH television spectacle of Corporal Klinger wearing women’s dresses to get out of the military may now give way to the Pentagon actually permitting transgendered male soldiers to openly wear women’s military uniforms. This is what repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” could mean. -- Cliff Kincaid, May 25 Accuracy in Media column From the way he walked to the way he talked, Bush was the butt of constant derision by the press. Every action he took to protect America was portrayed as a sinister plot. -- Ronald Kessler, June 3 Newsmax column And to conservatives, the troubling aspects of the game aren’t confined to the pros. Soccer requires comparatively little from children but the ability to run after the ball the risk of failure for anyone except maybe the goal keeper is zero. Even the strong chance that any given game will end in a tie makes it attractive for parents reluctant to impart life’s difficult lessons to young kids. -- Sarah Knoploh and Matt Philbin, June 8 MRC Culture & Media Institute article Our soldiers and Marines are dying because we put a fool in the White House; perversity is being increasingly glorified in federal policy for the same reason. We did it; we must fix it, with God's grace and help. -- Dave Welch, June 26 WorldNetDaily column San Francisco recently celebrated its 40th annual gay parade. Seriously, homosexuals, you want us to believe that you're trustworthy, safe, upstanding pillars of the community, and you dress up like this? America, would you let this babysit your kids? Much less adopt a kid? -- D.J. Dolce, July 6 WorldNetDaily video Right now, a year and a half after Barack Obama's election as president, many Americans are experiencing what I experienced a second and a half after being confronted by an armed robber. Maybe in the broad sweep of history, years are like seconds. Or, perhaps we've all just been so indoctrinated and confused by leftist education, media and culture that it takes a while to recognize a smiling revolutionary for what he really is. In any event, for millions of us, the two seconds of denial and wishful thinking are ending as we approach the November midterms, while finally coming to grips with the outrageous reality staring us in the face: -- David Kupelian, July 29 WorldNetDaily column I think I've finally figured out who Obama really is. Not his identity and citizenship, which unlike any other president in history remains a mystery. No, I mean who he is. Here's a very brief biography: -- Craige McMillan, July 29 WorldNetDaily column Yes, Obama is our very own George Costanza. Except that Obama is a Marxist, and he’s not lovable. Obama is leading America towards tragedy, insolvency and bankruptcy. -- Wayne Allyn Root, Aug. 2 Newsmax column A world away from her husband's dirty little war was the first lady's ostentatious sojourn to Spain. I must say that the Marie Antoinette metaphor for Michelle did not do it for me. Despite the motorcades and the session with the Spanish monarchs at their Marivent Palace the mental imagine that I got was made in America; it came from reality TV or MTV. Shades of the shows "Pimp my Ride" and "Cribs" came to mind. Coloring my imagination was a vivid, prior mental image of the "sedate" soiree the first lady held for Mexican President Felipe Calderon, down to the disco ball and the half-nude, pelvis-grinding Beyonce. (Bibi Netanyahu was confined to the cellar.) -- Ilana Mercer, Aug. 13 WorldNetDaily column This isn't easy to write. It's not fun to say. It's virtually unthinkable to realize and acknowledge. -- Pat Boone, Aug. 21 WorldNetDaily column Hello America, My Name is Barack Gump. -- Christopher Grey, Aug. 30 WorldNetDaily column Another of my late grandmother's many sayings was: "Sometimes it's hard to tell which is worse the smell from the pile in the pasture or the flies it draws." Thus, in 21 words, she summed up my thoughts, feelings and disgust for the Obamas and their view of America. -- Mychal Massie, Sept. 7 WorldNetDaily column In 1978, 912 members of the People's Temple, a predominantly African-American cult formed in San Francisco by Jim Jones, were either murdered or voluntarily committed suicide in Jamestown, Guyana. Those who committed what Jones referred to as revolutionary suicide drank Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. Many who refused to take their own lives were shot. Interestingly, Jim Jones was a community organizer who chided his subjects as they faced death, telling them that crying was not appropriate because that was not how socialists or communists should die. -- Karl Day, Sept. 10 WorldNetDaily column In case you missed it, Obama removed the reference to the "Creator" when he quoted a portion of the Declaration at a meeting of the Congressional Hispanic Congress. -- Joseph Farah, Sept. 22 WorldNetDaily column So the next time you women see an ad featuring an emaciated, skeletal chick, remember gay men find that attractive, not real men. Men, do not do this, but women, you could borrow a copy of Maxim. Those are the figures men prefer, not the gay Ralph Lauren fantasy that we've all been sold. So be healthy, exercise and ignore the Madison barrage because you are a woman. Be a woman. Don't be anything else. -- Molotov Mitchell, Oct. 6 WorldNetDaily video I also just can't help but be amazed that Obama has done nothing personally to help his destitute relatives in Kenya or here. I'm glad that he feels a sense of compassion for them. But doesn't he have the material wealth to aid them himself? Has he done so? Can he show us through that example how transferring wealth results in long-term success? If it doesn't work on a personal basis family member to family member why does he expect it to work through the coercive power of government? -- Joseph Farah, Oct. 8 WorldNetDaily column Christiane Amanpour needs lithium badly. She is just out of control with her Christian bashing. -- Brent Bozell, Oct. 15 Newsmax interview America is now under siege by a Marxist, progressive, leftist, radical, socialist, communist dictator drunk with power. His name is Obama. -- Victoria Jackson, Oct. 14 WorldNetDaily "open letter to Gloria Estefan" But in the last two years, this pride has turned to deep-seated resentment and horror as we have witnessed Obama seemingly favoring his own race and true religious allegiance over whites, Christians and Jews. On the eve of the congressional elections of 2010, when most experts predict that Obama's Democrats will lose control of at least the U.S. House of Representatives, it has become increasingly clear to not only tea partiers, but also most of the white Judeo-Christian electorate, that President Obama is not a ruler for all of the people, but rather "his people." -- Larry Klayman, Oct. 22 WorldNetDaily column If Obama and his comrades genuinely wish to restore economic health and prosperity to America, they would resign even if they win on Tuesday. -- Lowell Ponte, Nov. 1 Newsmax column It's a classic, war-time sneak attack. -- Nov. 1 WorldNetDaily promotion for its Whistleblower magazine To be honored as one of Glamour magazine’s “Women of the Year,” a woman must have made a huge impact, changed the world for good, broken boundaries, stereotypes, etc. Except when she doesn’t. Sometimes all she needs to do is complain to the ACLU that her high school is refusing to let her bring a lesbian date to prom. -- Erin Brown, Nov. 3 MRC Culture & Media Institute column During World War II, America launched a "de-Nazification" campaign to try to erase Hitlerism from the hearts and minds of German POWs. We could now use a de-liberalization campaign. My friends know the ugly truth about me. I'm not really a conservative. I'm a liberal in remission. I speak their language. -- Barry Farber, Nov. 3 WorldNetDaily column We then have to ask ourselves: Was our president paid off by Islamic foes to bow down and pander to them and their professed radical religion? Only time will tell, but I for one am not going to rock back in my easy chair and not try to get to the bottom of this outrage. -- Erik Rush, Nov. 11 WorldNetDaily column Voting for people to govern other human beings is, at best, a questionable and corrupt activity an activity that is all about lies, smear campaigns, money, pandering, bribery and thugs trying to intimidate voters with nightsticks. But if we must elect officials to govern us, I would go much further than just repealing the 26th Amendment. -- Robert Ringer, Nov. 19 WorldNetDaily column The Obama administration has now engaged in a systematic campaign of terror against those that refuse to be submitted to an illegal search of their person by way of the invasive porno scanners. The punishment for not obeying the federal government is the humiliating experience of having to undergo a sexual assault as TSA thugs grope traveler's genitalia. There have been repeated instances of little children being sexually molested by TSA agents, the elderly being traumatized and the chronically ill being humiliated. -- Joe Sansone, Nov. 25 WorldNetDaily column Is Harry Potter in cahoots with hell? -- Headline on Nov. 29 WorldNetDaily article The difference between calling Obama an anti-colonialist, a socialist, or a Marxist mentored by a top operative of the CPUSA is that one category should immediately earn you an FBI investigation. Former FBI agent Max Noel says the Bureau used to investigate candidates for federal employment by analyzing Character, Associates, Reputation, and Loyalty to the United States. The first letters in those words make up the acronym CARL. -- Cliff Kincaid, Dec. 8 Accuracy in Media "AIM Report" A happy home is one in which moms teach their daughters how to cook tasty meals for their future families and dads teach their sons that one of their roles in family life is drying the dishes and otherwise doing chores around the house to lighten mom's burdens. -- Michael Reagan, Dec. 17 Newsmax column No, there's no question that, like the tragic election of Barack Obama, God is giving America what we apparently want. And even though the recent November election promises us relief in early 2011, like all disasters, there's still the interim clean-up of the wreckage. But can this mess be cleaned up? -- Linda Harvey, Dec. 22 WorldNetDaily column During the 2008 election campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly informed the American people that he would call on the country's best minds to advise him. "You know," he told an audience back in May 2008, "my attitude is that whoever is the best person for the job is the person I want." -- Ben Shapiro, Dec. 23 syndicated column, published at CNSNews.com And the winner is ... Joseph Farah accusing Obama of deicide. Farah is no stranger to accusing presidents of murder -- witness his trying to blame Bill Clinton for the death of Vincent Foster -- but claiming that Obama is trying to kill God is not just insane, it's actually the only choice he had. So what will he accuse the next Democratic president of killing? It's harder to go higher than God on the food chain. * * * Our final award is the Slantie Award for Career Achievement in Conservative Bias. This goes to a reporter or commentator with a consistent record of biased and slanted reports that fly in the face of time-honored journalistic practice, the truth and/or common sense. And the winner is ... WorldNetDaily's Chelsea Schilling. As near as we can tell, Schilling is no longer a WND employee -- she hasn't written a bylined article since July -- yet she remains on the WND masthead as of this writing. For someone who wrote for WND for a little over two years, Schilling racked up an impressive list of misleading claims and falsehoods, as ConWebWatch detailed. For instance:
Even more amazing than Schilling's record of shoddy journalism was that WND made no effort whatsoever to correct her errors. These falsehood-ridden articles remain live and uncorrected on WND's website. Schilling may be gone, but her reign of error will live forever. * * * That concludes the evening's festivities. We'll be back this time next year to hand out some more hardware, whether or not there's actual news going on. |
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