Media Matters Daily Summary 09-18-08

Minneapolis radio host Baker on Pelosi's response to Wall Street crisis: "Another reason why it's very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office"
On his radio show, Chris Baker stated in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments on the Wall Street crisis: "Another reason why it's very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office." Moments before, Baker said, referring to Pelosi, "Get another facelift, lady." Read More

Savage on Muslim immigrants: 15th-century "throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists"
On The Savage Nation, discussing a caller's statement that "Muslim fundamentalists" are "walk[ing] around Northern Virginia as if they own the place," Michael Savage asked, "Why would a nation that is as evolved as America, and as liberal as America is socially, want to bring in throwbacks who are living in the 15th century?" He also asked: "What is the societal benefit of bringing in throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists?"
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NY Post falsely claimed that ad analysis findings "clashed with recent media coverage accusing McCain of distorting Obama's record in ads"
The New York Post falsely claimed that the results of a Wisconsin Advertising Project analysis stating that in a recent week Sen. Barack Obama ran more negative ads than Sen. John McCain "clash with recent media coverage accusing McCain of distorting Obama's record in ads." In fact, the analysis reportedly "do[es]n't measure the veracity of the ads"; rather, in the words of the San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli, it "define[s] 'negative' as any time you mention the opponent's name." Thus, the analysis did not "clash" with recent media reports noting that McCain's ads distorted Obama's record because it reportedly did not analyze whether the ads contained distortions. Read More

Hannity asked if it was "danger[ous]" for Obama to speak of "economic crisis" but ignored McCain ad saying "the economy is in crisis"
Sean Hannity asked if there was "danger" in Sen. Barack Obama's speaking of "economic crisis"; but Hannity did not mention that Sen. John McCain has also said, in a speech and in a campaign ad, that the "economy is in crisis." Read More

KSFO's "gentleman" Rodgers lashes out at Media Matters
On his KSFO radio show, responding to a Media Matters item documenting his comments that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" consists of "ugly skanks" who "hate" that "Sarah Palin's good-looking," Lee Rodgers stated that "one of the little left-wing websites" "inferred that I had said that these women, prominent women in the liberal movement, are prostitutes. And of course I didn't say any such thing as that because I am a gentleman." Rodgers also said that "left-wing bloggers ... are men in their 30s and 40s who are single and likely to stay that way" and are "[s]till living at home with one or both parents." He added: "And, of course, handwriting analysis has revealed that ... they have to use tweezers to masturbate." Read More

MSNBC anchor said Obama "would add $3.4 trillion to the national debt" without noting that McCain's proposal would add more than $5 trillion
Contessa Brewer cited the Tax Policy Center's finding that Sen. Barack Obama's spending and tax plan would add $3.4 trillion to the national debt while ignoring its finding that Sen. John McCain's plan would increase the debt by more than $5 trillion. Read More

AP baselessly suggested that -- contrary to her own words -- Michelle Obama's "cute" comment was directed at Palin
The AP put out an article advancing the baseless assumption that Michelle Obama was referring to Gov. Sarah Palin when Obama "asked voters Thursday to make their choice on the issues, not because ... 'she's cute' " -- even though the article specifically noted that Obama followed her statement by saying, "I'm talking about me," and that Obama "did not talk about Palin directly in her remarks." Read More

Liddy, Corsi again repeated discredited claim that Obama has not produced birth certificate establishing his U.S. citizenship
On his radio show, G. Gordon Liddy and his guest, Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi, each repeated the discredited claim that Sen. Barack Obama has not produced a birth certificate establishing his U.S. citizenship. In fact, FactCheck.org reported that the Obama campaign provided its staff with Obama's original birth certificate and concluded that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship," and even WorldNetDaily.com, the right-wing website for which Corsi works as a staff reporter, has reported that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic." Read More

Limbaugh baseless smear: "Obama thugs" responsible for Palin email hacking
Rush Limbaugh baselessly asserted that "Sarah Palin's emails, personal emails, have been hacked, no doubt by Obama thugs." Limbaugh also repeated the claim that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign "dropped 30 people up there in Alaska trying to dig up dirt on" Palin, a claim Obama and Democratic officials have reportedly denied. Read More

Quinn says he told Fatimah Ali to "get an American name," because, "why would you want to relate to Africa? Africa is a nightmare."
Radio host Jim Quinn again addressed his September 3 comment that Philadelphia Daily News columnist Fatimah Ali should "get an American name ... if you want to be an American," saying: "[T]he point that I was making here was simply this: First of all, why would you want to relate to Africa? Africa's a nightmare." Also, Quinn asserted that Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga is "[Sen. Barack] Obama's cousin," a claim that has been denied by the Obama campaign and was disputed by a PolitiFact.com article. Read More

Hannity did not challenge McCain's false claim that Alaska "provides 20 percent of America's energy requirements"
On his radio show, Sean Hannity did not challenge Sen. John McCain's false claim during an interview that Alaska "provides 20 percent of America's energy requirements." In fact, according to the most recent figures of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alaska is responsible for "just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production," and only 2.4 percent of the energy the U.S. consumes. Read More

CNN's Roberts failed to challenge Romney on taxes falsehood
On CNN's American Morning, John Roberts did not challenge Mitt Romney's suggestion that, with "an economy in trouble," Sen. Barack Obama will raise taxes. Roberts did not note that, in fact, Obama has proposed tax cuts for low- and middle-income families and for those making less than $250,000 per year. Read More

In article about Dem criticism of Lieberman, CNN.com did not report he broke RNC speech pledge
A CNN.com article reported that Sen. Joe Lieberman's speech at the Republican National Convention "is a sore point with his Democratic colleagues" because Lieberman "attacked Obama." But the article did not mention that the content of Lieberman's speech violated a pledge he had made not to "spend [his] time attacking Barack Obama" at the convention. The article also reported that Democrats "thought Lieberman had gone over the line when he said Obama had not reached across the aisle to work with Republicans," but not that they cited Obama's bipartisan legislative accomplishments to challenge the veracity of that assertion. Read More

Hume reported Michelle Obama's "cute" comment without noting that she also said, "I'm talking about me"
While reporting on Michelle Obama's appearance at a women's roundtable in Charlotte, North Carolina, Brit Hume said, "While not directly mentioning Sarah Palin by name, Obama said, quote, 'People shouldn't make a decision this time based on, "I like that guy," or, "She's cute." ' " However, Hume did not note that Obama said "I'm talking about me" following her comment. Read More