More myths and falsehoods about global warming
Since the release of the film An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics, May 2006) featuring former Vice President Al Gore, the issue of global warming has received increased media attention. In March 2007, Media Matters for America documented several false, misleading, or baseless claims about the causes and seriousness of global warming that were circulating in the media at the time. Since then, media figures have continued to advance misinformation about global warming: Read More
Baltimore Sun, San Antonio Express-News endorsements wrongly suggest McCain still supports comprehensive immigration reform
In endorsing Sen. John McCain's bid for the Republican presidential nomination, The Baltimore Sun asserted that McCain has "stood his ground" on "immigration reform." However, while McCain now says that border security must be addressed first, he previously said that border security could not be disaggregated from other provisions in the legislation on immigration reform. Similarly, the San Antonio Express-News claimed in its endorsement of McCain that his "advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform" is among the positions that may "be attractive" to "independent voters"; but McCain has said he "would not" vote for his own comprehensive immigration reform proposals. Read More
Schlussel displayed candy hearts on her website for Obama and Clinton, including "obama & islam forever!" and "Pimp My Chelsea"
In an entry on her website, Debbie Schlussel posted "Valentines," in the form of candy hearts, about Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. The hearts for Obama were black instead of the usual pastel colors and referenced widely debunked allegations that Obama is, or has been, a Muslim. A number of the candy hearts Schlussel posted for Clinton referenced David Shuster's remark, "But doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" Read More
Echoing GOP talking points, CNN's King falsely suggested Obama would "leave" Afghanistan "now"
During CNN's coverage of the February 12 primaries, John King claimed that if Sen. Barack Obama is the Democratic presidential nominee, "Republicans will run a campaign that this is a liberal who ... does not understand that if the United States leaves Iraq or Afghanistan now ... that America loses, and that's a naïve position." In fact, Obama has consistently called for increasing troop levels in Afghanistan while reducing the number of troops in Iraq. Read More
NY Times falsely reported McCain "began tapping into" Bush donor base on February 12
The New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller claimed that "Senator John McCain began tapping into President Bush's prized political donor base on Tuesday." In fact, four of the five "major McCain fundraisers" Bumiller mentioned in her article were either Bush Rangers or Pioneers -- people who raised $100,000 and $200,000, respectively -- during the 2004 election and signed up to raise money for McCain in 2007 or 2006. Read More
IBD editorial falsely claimed Obama "permitted" Cuban flag in volunteer office, called Senate colleagues "hypocrites"
Investor's Business Daily asserted in an editorial that Barack Obama "permit[ed] the display of a huge Cuban flag at one of his offices, emblazoned with a mass murderer's mug" -- a reference to Che Guevara. In fact, the office in question is run and funded by Obama volunteers and is not sanctioned by the official Obama campaign. The editorial further claimed that Obama "dismiss[ed] ... his Senate colleagues who wear lapel flags as 'hypocrites.' " But a review of the Nexis database found no evidence that Obama has ever described any of his fellow members of Congress as "hypocrites" for wearing U.S. flag lapel pins. Read More
Fox's Kelly falsely asserted that bill "allow[ing] the president to ... surveil" will expire on Feb. 15
While discussing the "dogfight under way" over the Protect America Act, Fox News' Megyn Kelly falsely claimed that "this bill," which "allows the president to, among other things, surveil the conversations between American citizens and those suspected of being terrorists overseas" is "set to expire on Friday," February 15. In fact, only revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act made in August 2007 would expire; the government would retain the authority to monitor the communications of suspected terrorists. Read More
Kudlow cited WSJ editorial board member to claim "McCain is no flip-flopper," but WSJ already noted "McCain's Tax Reversal"
In his February 9 nationally syndicated column, CNBC host Lawrence Kudlow wrote: "[Sen. John] McCain [R-AZ] is no flip-flopper. ... Think of his duty-honor-loyalty persona, to borrow from my friend Kim Strassel of the Wall Street Journal." Strassel wrote in her Wall Street Journal column on February 1 that McCain is "no flip-flopper, and his duty-honor-loyalty persona would stand in stark contrast to both Clintons." Strassel also wrote: "Like or dislike Mr. McCain's views, Americans known what they are." However, the Wall Street Journal editorial board, of which Strassel is and was at the time a member, published an editorial on February 18, 2006 -- headlined "McCain's Tax Reversal" -- noting that after voting against President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, McCain voted in 2006 to make some of them permanent. Moreover, the Wall Street Journal editorial suggested McCain's "reversal" was politically motivated, writing: "Our guess is that Mr. McCain may also be looking ahead to the 2008 GOP Presidential primaries, which won't be kind to candidates who've voted for tax increases." Read More
According to Fox News' Cameron, the Senate "tweaked" FISA "a little bit"
On Special Report, Carl Cameron reported that Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama "were both present for the debate and vote on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] being tweaked a little bit today." However, if the FISA amendments bill becomes law, it would do far more than "tweak[]" FISA "a little bit" -- as The Washington Post reported, it "include[s] major revisions to the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which established a secret court to issue warrants for domestic spying on suspects in terrorism and intelligence cases." Read More
USA Today ignores inconsistency in McCain immigration positions
A USA Today article stated that Sen. John McCain "has been criticized for supporting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but he has said he would focus on sealing the borders before taking up any other measures," falsely suggesting that McCain's current proposal to secure the borders first is consistent with his prior support for comprehensive immigration reform. In fact, McCain previously argued that border security could not be disaggregated from other provisions in legislation on comprehensive immigration reform, or else it would be ineffective. Read More
Ignoring pattern of politically expedient reversals, NBC's Gregory claimed McCain "is not going to pander to the right"
NBC's David Gregory stated: "John McCain is not going to pander to the right. He did that once and it didn't work." The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson and MSNBC analyst Pat Buchanan both agreed, asserting: "He's not going to do it." In fact, McCain has attempted to satisfy conservative Republicans by reversing his positions on issues such as taxes, immigration, and the religious right. Read More
Laura Ingraham on Al Sharpton's visit to the White House: "I hope they nailed down all the valuables"
On the February 13 edition of her nationally syndicated radio show, discussing the February 12 Black History Month event at the White House, host Laura Ingraham noted that "[President Bush] welcomed [Rev.] Al Sharpton to the White House," and added: "I hope they nailed down all the valuables." Ingraham then aired an audio clip of a portion of Bush's comments at the event and remarked, referring to Sharpton: "I can't believe they let him through the front door there at Black History Month." Read More
Fox News host Banderas called Obama a "Halfrican"
On the February 10 edition of Fox News' Red Eye, Fox News host Julie Banderas referred to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as a "Halfrican." Obama is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas. Host Greg Gutfeld asked Banderas, who said she is of Colombian descent, "[D]o minorities hate other minorities?" Banderas responded: "I have something in common with Obama, and I don't even know what the big deal is. He's a Halfrican anyway, so I'm not really quite sure why the Asians and the Hispanics have no -- you know, have a problem with him." Read More
Fox allowed Ralph Reed to repeat Bush's false claim that "Obama has said that he will embrace Ahmadinejad"
On The Big Story, Ralph Reed repeated the false claim that Sen. Barack Obama "has said that he will embrace [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad," a claim President Bush made recently on Fox News Sunday, which was not challenged by Chris Wallace. John Gibson did not rebut Reed's assertion. Read More
Fox News Radio's Tom Sullivan aired "side-by-side comparison" of speeches by Hitler and Obama
Fox News Radio host Tom Sullivan took a call from a listener who stated that when listening to Barack Obama speak, "it harkens back to when I was younger and I used to watch those deals with Hitler, how he would excite the crowd and they'd come to their feet and scream and yell." Sullivan then played a "side-by-side comparison" of a Hitler speech and an Obama speech. Sullivan mimicked the crowd during both speeches, yelling, "Yay! Yay!" When a later caller complained that Sullivan was "denigrating" Obama with the comparison, Sullivan said he wouldn't play it again, then begged: "Can I, please, one more time? Just one more time? Then I won't do it again. ... Until the next time." Read More
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