Media Matters for America

O'Reilly falsely claimed Edwards is for "abolition of all anti-terror measures"

Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that "abolition of all anti-terror measures" is one of John Edwards's "major campaign themes." But in making that claim, O'Reilly ignored a recent speech in which Edwards called for "a comprehensive new counterterrorism policy that will be defined by two principles -- strength and cooperation" and suggested the creation of "a new multilateral organization called the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Treaty Organization." Read more

Fox & Friends' Doocy reported Obama's "patriotism problems"

During the October 23 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, while previewing a discussion of a clip of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in which Obama did not place his hand over his heart during the playing of the national anthem at a campaign event in Indianola, Iowa, co-host Steve Doocy asserted, "First he kicked his American flag pin to the curb. Now Barack Obama has a new round of patriotism problems," echoing an assertion made by the conservative blog NewsBusters. As Media Matters for America documented, during an October 3 interview with ABC-affiliate KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Obama was asked why he was not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. Obama responded, "[R]ight after 9-11, I had a pin," adding: "Shortly after 9-11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security." NewsBusters noted in an October 20 post that Time magazine had photographed Obama without his hand over his heart during the national anthem, writing, "Turns out that not wearing a flag lapel pin isn't the only wayBarack Obama chooses to show he's a different kind of Democrat." Read more

The Note flags as "Must-Read" Boston Herald editorial on Clintons' "off-loading of Socks"

An October 23 Boston Herald editorial -- titled "Meow if you're for Hillary" -- highlighted an article (subscription required) in the November 2007 issue of The Atlantic about Socks, former President Bill and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) cat, and claimed that the article " 'exposes' the post-White House off-loading of Socks to a Clinton aide after the feline was found to be incompatible with the Clinton's [sic] beloved lab, Buddy." But the Atlantic article did not "expose[]" the fact that Socks was given to Bill Clinton's then-personal secretary, Bettie Currie. In fact, articles detailing Currie's adoption of Socks date as far back as December 2000, as Media Matters for America documented. On October 23, ABC's online political newsletter The Note included the Herald editorial in its daily list of "Must-Reads." Read more

Newsday referred to Romney as "the family values candidate"

In an October 23 article noting criticisms of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) made by Republican presidential candidates during an October 21 debate, Newsday's Tom Brune described former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) as "the family values candidate,"suggesting that other candidates -- Democratic or Republican -- are not "the family values candidate." Brune wrote: "Romney, the family values candidate, jabbed at her with phrasing that evoked the liaison that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had with intern Monica Lewinsky." While Brune did not explain what specific policies Romney embraced that make him "the family values candidate," Media Matters for America has noted numerous instances of media figures equating "conservative" positions with "family values" or "pro-family" positions. Read more

Beck falsely claimed Reid letter called for Limbaugh's firing

On his CNN Headline News show, Glenn Beck falsely claimed that Sen. Harry Reid wrote a letter to Clear Channel Communications CEO Mark P. Mays "calling for Rush's firing" in response to Rush Limbaugh's "phony soldiers" comment. In fact, Reid's letter to Mays called on him to publicly repudiate Limbaugh's statement -- not fire him. Read more

Olbermann awarded Beck "Worst Person" "bronze" for comments about California fires

During the October 22 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded syndicated radio host and CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck the "bronze" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for, as Media Matters for America documented, saying on the October 22 edition of his radio program, "I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today." Forest fires ravaged parts of Southern California, leaving one person dead and four firefighters wounded, according to The New York Times. Subsequent to Beck's comments, the Times reported that "[a] total of 250,000 people were evacuated, including inmates from one jail and patients from one hospital in the fires' path." Read more

Beck responds to criticism: "We joke a lot about ... the Hollywood crowd living in Southern California"

On the October 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, while responding to criticism of his recent comments about some victims of the California wildfires, CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck lashed out at "a few liberal bloggers" who, he said, "claim that I'm serious when I'm joking and try to cause trouble, and then they say I'm joking when I'm serious and try to cause trouble." Read more

Beck producer: "To most rational people," Beck's CA wildfire comments not uncivil

An October 23 post at USA Today's On Deadline blog highlighted nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck's statement -- documented by Media Matters for America -- concerning the Southern California wildfires that "I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today." The entry also noted that Chris Balfe, the producer of Beck's radio program, "expressed surprise that bloggers are seizing on this quotation as an example of incivility." On Deadline quoted Balfe saying: "To most rational people, unfortunately still means unfortunately." The On Deadline entry gave no indication that Balfe addressed Beck's statement linking the "handful of people who hate America" and the destruction of homes by the California wildfires. Read more

WSJ editorial falsely asserted that House Democrats want to bar eavesdropping on "foreign-to-foreign terror call[s]"

Advancing a common straw man promoted by the Bush administration and repeated by the media, a Wall Street Journal editorial falsely claimed that under the "preferred rules" for wiretapping purportedly favored by "most House Democrats," "a U.S. President couldn't even eavesdrop on a foreign-to-foreign terror call if by chance that call was routed through an American telephone switch," which "would amount to unilateral disarmament in the war on terror." The assertion is false on two counts. Read more

On Reliable Sources, Saunders repeated Plame leak distortions

On CNN, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra J. Saunders claimed that former CIA operative Valerie Plame "was not outed as part of a vendetta," adding: "It was gossip. We know where this came from, from Richard Armitage." However, Armitage was just one of several administration officials who disclosed Plame's identity to the press, and special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who investigated the leak, asserted that "multiple people in the White House" engaged in a "concerted action" to "discredit, punish, or seek revenge against" Wilson. Read more