Thursday, June 11, 2009

Media Matters Daily Summary 06-11-09

Fox News divided on whether Holocaust museum shooting validates DHS report
Following the shooting at the Holocaust Museum allegedly by a white supremacist, Fox News commentators disagreed about whether the shooting validates a recent Homeland Security report alerting law enforcement to an increased threat from "rightwing extremists." Read More

Another memory lapse: Coulter claims "people didn't go after Chelsea Clinton"
On Hannity, talking about David Letterman's references to Gov. Sarah Palin and her family, Ann Coulter falsely claimed that "people didn't go after Chelsea Clinton." In fact, Sen. John McCain and Rush Limbaugh both reportedly went after Chelsea Clinton. Read More

Conservatives link Obama's purported "class warfare," positioning "America against the Jewish state" to Holocaust Museum shooting
Several media conservatives have criticized President Obama for creating an "environment" and "climate" that helped foster the recent shooting at the Holocaust Museum. Read More

Gingrich says it's "unimaginable" to Mirandize suspects in Afghanistan, but Bush reportedly did so
Discussing a Weekly Standard article, Newt Gingrich said that reading Miranda rights to detainees in Afghanistan is "unimaginable." But the author of the article reported that the FBI also Mirandized people at "specific bases" during the Bush administration. Read More

NBC's Luke Russert quotes Boehner pushing debunked cap and trade cost
Luke Russert uncritically quoted John Boehner claiming that Democrats' cap and trade plan will cost American families $3,100 per year, a figure that is based on Republicans' distortion of a 2007 study and has been discredited by one of the study's authors. Read More

Conservatives attack Shep Smith for his Holocaust museum shooting remarks, call for firing
In response to Shepard Smith's remarks that the Holocaust museum shooting validated a recent DHS report on right-wing extremism, several conservative media figures have attacked Smith or called for his firing from Fox News. Read More

Carlson, Forbes misrepresent Obama position on executive compensation
On Fox & Friends, Gretchen Carlson and Steve Forbes suggested that the Obama administration is interested in controlling compensation at companies not receiving federal assistance. In fact, Tim Geithner has explicitly rejected the idea. Read More

Fox's Scott didn't report Roberts hearings were also originally scheduled for 48-day mark
Jon Scott did not challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham's claim that scheduling confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor to begin on July 13 "would push us ahead of a confirmation schedule that we gave Chief Justice [John] Roberts." In fact, Roberts' hearings were also originally set to begin 48 days after he was nominated before being delayed for a week because of Hurricane Katrina and the death of William Rehnquist. Read More

Media conservatives claim Holocaust museum shooter a "leftist"
Several conservatives in the media have suggested that the alleged Holocaust museum shooter, reportedly a neo-Nazi, was a leftist. Read More

Savage falsely claimed CNN, Fox News did not cover his banning from the UK
Michael Savage falsely claimed that CNN and Fox News have not covered the British Home Office's decision to ban him from entering the U.K. Read More

CNN's Townsend -- a former Bush adviser -- attacks DHS report for claims made by Bush admin.
CNN's Fran Townsend attacked an Obama administration report alerting law enforcement that "rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans"; Wolf Blitzer did not point out that the Bush administration, which Townsend worked for, had issued a report in 2008 drawing a similar conclusion. Read More

About that DHS report
Fringe extremism is a scary, sometimes deadly reality, regardless of the ideology that creates it. Read More

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