Media Matters Latest, January 18, 2007

Tapper's profile of "Barack Hussein Obama" asked: "Just who the hell is Barack Obama?"
On the January 16 edition of ABC's Nightline, during a report on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) decision to form a presidential exploratory committee, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper referred to Obama as "Barack Hussein Obama" and asked: "Just who the hell is Barack Obama? And why, in these dangerous times, should he be entrusted with the most powerful job on Earth?" Read more

Morris falsely claimed Obama voted against ethics reform
In his January 17 column for The Hill, Fox News analyst Dick Morris attacked presumptive presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), claiming that Obama "made his first misstep a few days ago when he joined only a handful of Democrats in opposing a Senate reform banning the increasingly widespread practice of legislators hiring their family members on their campaign or PAC [political action committee] payrolls." Morris was apparently referring to a proposed amendment by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 that Morris claimed Obama voted against. In fact, on January 10, Obama voted against a motion to table -- or postpone consideration of and effectively kill -- the amendment. Read more

Wash. Post's Milbank on Clinton's (nonexistent) "campaign" "stumbl[e]"
In his January 17 Washington Post "Washington Sketch" column, which ABC's The Note called "childish," Dana Milbank wrote that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) "campaign" -- which does not currently exist -- had "stumbl[ed]" in handling a press conference that had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, January 16. Milbank joined MSNBC -- to which he made reference -- in wrongly suggesting that Clinton postponed the press conference only after Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee. Read more

Limbaugh called "Barack Hussein Obama" a "half-minority"
On the January 16 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh called Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) a "half-minority" and said that "the media ... are in the midst of Obama-gasms" because "Barack Hussein Obama" has formed a presidential exploratory committee. Limbaugh called Obama "a half-minority" in the context of criticizing Obama for supporting his hometown Chicago Bears over the New Orleans Saints in the upcoming January 21 National Football Conference championship game. Read more

Union-Leader editorial headline: "If Obama runs: Will he get affirmative action"
A January 17 Manchester Union-Leader editorial commenting on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) decision to form a presidential exploratory committee carried the headline: "If Obama runs: Will he get affirmative action." The editorial stated that it is "remarkable" that Americans "are telling pollsters that they ... are eager to elect a black man over a host of more experienced white candidates" and that "Obama's undeniable popularity is a sign that the justifications for affirmative action are crumbling all around us." The editorial's headline was first noted by the National Journal's Hotline, under Wake-Up Call! (subscription required). Read more

NY Times' Anne "Editor's Note" Kornblut imagines Clinton may have been faking cell-phone call
In a January 16 post on the New York Times political weblog The Caucus, reporter Anne E. Kornblut speculated that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) may have been faking a phone call to avoid answering questions about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) announcement that he had formed a presidential exploratory committee. As blogger and media critic Greg Sargent noted, Kornblut wrote: "Brushing past reporters in the Senate, Mrs. Clinton -- conspicuously talking into her cell phone; whether there was anyone on the other end of the line, or not, could not be confirmed -- went into the chamber to vote." Read more

NY Times quoted Libby supporters, failed to ID them as officials of his legal defense fund
In a January 17 article about the trial of former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, The New York Times quoted several high-profile political operatives and other prominent people heaping praise on Libby but failed to identify them as members of his legal defense fund's advisory committee. Further, while the article included numerous comments from Libby's compatriots regarding his purported competence and apolitical character, the Times quoted only one vaguely negative assessment of Libby's tenure. Read more

Cavuto asked if NY Times is "in mourning again because murderers in Iraq face justice"
On the January 16 edition of Fox News' Your World, host Neil Cavuto asked if The New York Times is "in mourning again" as a result of the recent hanging deaths of Saddam Hussein's half brother and another Saddam deputy, or as Cavuto put it, "because murderers in Iraq face justice." As Media Matters for America noted, Your World guest host Stuart Varney had suggested on December 29 that The New York Times mourned the death of Saddam Hussein. The conduct of the hangings has met with widespread criticism, including President Bush's statement in a January 16 interview that the Iraqi government had "fumbled" the executions. Read more

Savage called Media Matters item "very accurate," continued his attack on civil rights
On the January 16 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage read aloud from a Media Matters for America item documenting his assertion that civil rights are a "racket" and a "con" designed to steal "white males' birthright." After reading the item, Savage said the transcript was "very accurate" and claimed that all of his statements were "truism[s]," adding: "Excuse me, there's not a word of that that I disagree with. Everything I said is true." Savage then continued his assault on civil rights, saying, "Civil rights are used to steal only from the white male -- no one else pays the price." Read more

O'Reilly: Abducted child "liked ... his circumstances," had "a lot more fun" than usual
On the January 15 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly said of Shawn Hornbeck -- who was abducted at the age of 11, held for four years, and recently found in Missouri -- that "there was an element here that this kid liked about this circumstances" and that he "do[esn't] buy" "the Stockholm syndrome thing." O'Reilly also said: "The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school. He could run around and do whatever he wanted." When fellow Fox News host Greta Van Susteren pointed out that "[s]ome kids like school," O'Reilly replied: "Well, I don't believe this kid did." Read more

Smerconish defends himself: "I say stupid things every day"
One day after Media Matters for America documented several inflammatory comments by Philadelphia-based radio host Michael Smerconish, who is reportedly working on a pilot television program for CNN, Smerconish responded on the January 17 edition of his WPHT radio show, claiming that he was "guilty across the board" and said, "[M]y comment, to the extent that these folks are still monitoring me today is: Can't you come up with something better than that? 'Cause, holy smokes, I sure could." Smerconish's producer, T.C. Scornavacchi, read the bulk of the Media Matters item aloud on the air, and Smerconish responded in each instance that he was "guilty as charged," adding, "I say stupid things every day." The following are his responses: Read more