Reporting Bush in "good spirits," Hume let slide Bush misinformation during interview
In an interview of President Bush that aired on the December 4 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume falsely claimed that Bush has consistently defined "the objective in Iraq" throughout the war as "a free government that can sustain, govern, and defend itself and is an ally in the war on terror." In fact, this formulation reflects a diminished goal of simply standing up a new sovereign government. By contrast, in 2003, Bush repeatedly stated that the United States sought to create a "peaceful and democratic" Iraq in which the insurgency had been defeated, and, during the war's initial stages, he promised an Iraqi government that would protect minority rights. Hume also failed to challenge Bush's assertion that, "outside of the Baghdad area," Iraq is "relatively peaceful" and that Americans "don't get to see kind of the normalcy of life outside of the Baghdad area." In fact, according to reports from multiple sources, including the U.S. military, many areas outside Baghdad are also quite violent. Read more
Morgan distorted Olbermann's criticism of her "bull's-eye"-on-Pelosi statement
On the December 1 edition of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Program, co-host Melanie Morgan asserted that Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC's Countdown, "seems to have some sort of obsession about me" and claimed: "I'm on his show being discussed every week over something that I've said or not said." Morgan claimed that she "got[] in trouble" with Olbermann for mentioning what co-host Lee Rodgers referred to as "[Rep.] Nancy Pelosi's [D-CA] wide-eyed look" and observed of Olbermann: "I'd say he's just nuts. ... He's just totally bananas." Rodgers then added: "Don't discount the possibility that the guy is in heat for you." Read more
Blankley charge of Clinton vendetta in Gingrich tax probe unsupported by facts
The Washington Times' Tony Blankley claimed that an investigation into Newt Gingrich's possible tax violations was the result of the Clintons' "policy of personal destruction." In fact, months before the Internal Revenue Service audit was reported, the House ethics committee voted unanimously to launch an investigation. The ethics committee ultimately voted 7-1 to recommend that the House impose a fine of $300,000 on Gingrich and reprimand him. Read more
NY Times' Kornblut: McCain "is nothing if not an independent-minded maverick"
Commenting on Sen. John McCain's proposal to send more troops to Iraq, The New York Times' Anne Kornblut claimed that "McCain is proving that he is nothing if not an independent-minded maverick on this." In making that assertion, however, Kornblut ignored the fact that McCain's plan may be politically convenient, as others have alleged. Read more
O'Reilly: U.S. may have to "level cities like Tehran"
On the December 5 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly asserted that "we may have to" "level cities like Tehran, kill hundreds of thousands of people," which, he explained, the United States has "already done in Germany and Japan." O'Reilly then argued that such a move would be necessary, for example, "[i]f Iran takes over Iraq and then fosters a revolution inside Saudi Arabia ... and gets control of all the oil and says we're not selling to the USA, we are going to level that country, because you ... need gasoline to live." Read more
O'Reilly: "Do I care if the Sunnis and Shiites kill each other in Iraq?"
On the December 5 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, discussing the then-impending release of the Iraq Study Group's conclusions and reports that it would recommend substantial troop withdrawals by early 2008 (read report here), Bill O'Reilly claimed that the redeployment of U.S. troops is "necessary," adding, "I don't care" if "the Sunnis and Shiites kill each other in Iraq." O'Reilly then stated: "Let's get our people out of there. Let them kill each other. Maybe they'll all kill each other, and then we can have a decent country in Iraq." Read more
No comments:
Post a Comment