Media Matters Daily Summary 04-22-09

Media continue to ignore Cheney role in authorizing torture tactics
Media outlets continue to cite Dick Cheney's criticism of President Obama for releasing previously classified Justice Department memos authorizing the CIA's use of harsh interrogation techniques while ignoring Cheney's self-acknowledged role in authorizing the use of those techniques. Read More

Hannity decries use of "the 'B' word," unless Ted Nugent is using it about Clinton
Sean Hannity decried Perez Hilton's use of "the 'B' word" in reference to Carrie Prejean, saying, "I can't think of anything more vicious, more mean, more insulting, more degrading." But Hannity did not object when Ted Nugent referred to Hillary Clinton as a "worthless bitch." Read More

Politico omits Blair's reported statement that costs of techniques "far outweighed" the benefits
The Politico reported that Dennis Blair stated that harsh interrogation techniques yielded "high-value information" but did not note Blair's reported statement that the costs of those techniques "far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us." Read More

Scarborough falsely compared harsh interrogations to military training programs
Joe Scarborough asserted that interrogation techniques, such as "sleep deprivation and working on phobias" used against detainees, are no different from those used in U.S. military training programs. However, officials familiar with both dispute the comparison. Read More

Media ignore falsehood in Miss California's same-sex marriage response
Numerous media figures have suggested that Carrie Prejean lost the Miss USA pageant because of the "honesty" of her response to a question about same-sex marriage. But the suggestion that Prejean was merely giving her opinion ignores a factual falsehood in Prejean's response. Read More

Fox News runs with dubious claim that KSM's interrogation thwarted L.A. plot
Fox News hosts and contributors have advanced the assertion that the use of harsh interrogation techniques on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed "stopped an attack on the Library Tower in Los Angeles." But the Bush administration said that the attack was thwarted in February 2002 -- more than a year before Mohammed was captured. Read More

Media cite DOJ memo to claim link -- refuted by Bush timeline -- between KSM waterboarding, thwarted L.A. plot
Media figures have pointed to a 2005 Justice Department memo to claim that the use of waterboarding on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed caused him to reveal information intelligence officials used to foil a plot to attack the Library Tower in Los Angeles. But according to the Bush administration, the plot was broken up more than a year before Mohammed's capture. Read More

MSNBC's Buchanan falsely attributed dubious OLC memo claim to Hayden-Mukasey op-ed
Pat Buchanan attributed the claim that the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on detainees allowed intelligence officials to foil the Library Tower plot to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Michael Hayden and Michael Mukasey. In fact, Mukasey and Hayden made no such claim in their op-ed. Read More

NBC's Mitchell falsely suggests Blair letter expressed approval for interrogation methods
Andrea Mitchell claimed that director of national intelligence Dennis Blair's statements appear to differ from President Obama's rejection of enhanced interrogation policies, when, in fact, Blair made clear in an April 16 letter that he opposed them. Read More