Monday, September 08, 2008

Media Matters Daily Summary 09-08-09

Corsi suggests Obama might create government dept. to censor books critical of him
Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi again suggested that Sen. Barack Obama might create a new department of the government to censor books critical of him if elected president, writing, "By placing 'Unfit for Publication' as the title of the mock-book, does the Obama rebuttal mean to suggest an Obama administration might have a censorship department in which a book critical of a President Obama might be banned from publication?" Read More

Even as Obama Nation author Corsi claimed Obama campaign didn't "prove a single falsehood," he corrected several of them
Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi asserted that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign "failed to prove a single falsehood contained in pages of the book." Corsi then went on to provide a list of 11 "corrections to the next printing of The Obama Nation" -- many of which correct falsehoods documented by the Obama campaign or Media Matters. Read More

Tulsa World reported Inhofe's smears of Obama's patriotism without rebutting purported evidence
A Tulsa World article uncritically quoted Sen. James Inhofe stating, "I am not questioning Sen. [Barack] Obama's patriotism, but you have to question why at times he seems so obviously opposed to public displays of patriotism and national pride, like wearing an American flag lapel pin." The article failed to note that Obama is not "opposed" to "wearing an American flag lapel pin" or that Sen. John McCain reportedly said he doesn't wear a flag lapel pin on a daily basis. Read More

CBS' Schieffer didn't ask McCain whether Fred Thompson "denigrate[d]" and "attack[ed]" McCain's military service
In an RNC speech, former Sen. Fred Thompson said of Sen. John McCain, "[B]eing a POW doesn't qualify anyone to be president. But it does reveal character." Similarly, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, in a July appearance on CBS' Face the Nation, told host Bob Schieffer that McCain was "a hero," and that "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war," but that "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." But while Schieffer suggested in July that Clark "denigrate[d]" and "attack[ed]" McCain's "military service," he did not ask McCain about Thompson's remarks during a September 7 interview on Face the Nation. Read More

NY Times' Kristol again undeterred by prior suggestion that Palin lacked sufficient experience to be VP pick
In a September 7 New York Times column about Gov. Sarah Palin, Bill Kristol wrote: "[S]hould voters be alarmed by a relatively young or inexperienced vice-presidential candidate? No." The column marks at least the second time that Kristol has dismissed questions of Palin's experience since citing in his August 25 Times column the fact that "Palin has been governor for less than two years" as a possible reason for McCain not to pick her. Read More

Quinn said he referred to NOW as "National Organization for Whores" because "that's what they are. They're political whores"
Jim Quinn defended his referring to the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization for Whores" by claiming, "The reason is that's just what they are. They're political whores. They are whores for liberalism in general," later adding that "they were whores for Bill Clinton in particular." Quinn also addressed his comment that Philadelphia Daily News columnist Fatimah Ali should "get an American name, will you, if you want to be an American," by saying, "The point is that African-Americans -- excuse me, black Americans, after their indoctrination into Marxism, adopting clearly non-American, Third World-type names, is an act of separation." Read More

IBD editorial advanced disputed claim that "radical extremist" assisted Obama's law-school application
Investor's Business Daily wrote in an editorial: "Does Barack Obama owe his meteoric rise to an Israeli-hating adviser to a Saudi billionaire? Why did a race-baiting mentor to the Black Panthers favor this yet unknown community organizer?" IBD noted that former Manhattan borough president Percy Sutton claimed that he was introduced to Obama by "a friend raising money for him," that the purported friend, Khalid al-Mansour, asked Sutton to "write a letter in support of Obama's application to Harvard law school." But IBD did not note that the Obama campaign has denied the story or that al-Mansour has said that he has never met Obama and did not ask Sutton to write a letter on Obama's behalf. Read More

Cameron's claim that Palin didn't ask for earmarks is contradicted by Palin herself
On Studio B, Carl Cameron said, "Fifty-eight days before the elections, and the Obama campaign is accusing the McCainiacs of lying about this 'bridge to nowhere' issue." He went on to claim of Gov. Sarah Palin, "Now, she didn't ask for the bridge, nor did she ask for the money. ... [W]hen people say, 'Sarah Palin asked for earmark money or pork,' it's just inaccurate." In fact, in an op-ed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Palin wrote that in 2008, her administration "requested 31 earmarks, down from 54 in 2007" and that "the federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship." Read More

Fox News' Hemmer did not challenge GOP strategist's false claim that Obama "has not authored a single piece of legislation"
America's Newsroom co-host Bill Hemmer failed to challenge Republican strategist Andrea Tantaros' false claims that "[Sen.] Barack Obama has not authored a single piece of legislation" and that "Barack Obama has dealt with zero foreign policy." In fact, Obama has sponsored or been a key co-sponsor of numerous bills, including an initiative to secure unguarded weapons stockpiles in foreign countries. Read More

No comments: