Friday, August 21, 2009

Media Matters Daily Summary 08-21-09

Hannity demonstrates "bearing false witness" in smear of Obama
On August 20, Sean Hannity misrepresented a statement that President Obama made during a conference call with religious leaders, claiming that Obama "talked about those of us that oppose ObamaCare as, quote, 'bearing false witness.' " In fact, Obama was not calling out opponents of health insurance reform, but rather those who have misinformed about it, stating: "I know there's been a lot of misinformation in this debate, and there are some folks out there who are, frankly, bearing false witness, but I want everyone to know what health insurance reform is all about." Read More

Another Hannity reading FAIL: misstates "choice" provision after claiming to have "read" bill
Sean Hannity again undermined his claim that he has "read this bill from start to finish," this time asserting that the bill contains "provisions about ... not being able to choose care on Page 16." In fact, the provision Hannity said is on "Page 16" allows individuals to choose to keep their existing coverage or enroll in coverage through a regulated health insurance exchange. Read More

How the media made this summer's political insanity inevitable
The most striking aspect of this summer's political insanity isn't the frothing at the mouth of a loud minority of Republicans that President Obama is a secret Kenyan bent on subjecting an unwitting American public to government death panels, or the mass confusion among the rest of the public about health care reform. Read More

Blitzer interview with Townsend echoes Bush-era media failures regarding alleged terror threats
During a discussion with former Bush adviser Fran Townsend about former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's reported claim that politics may have played a role in the question of whether to raise the terror threat levels on the eve of the November 2004 presidential election, Wolf Blitzer asked Townsend if there was any "hard intelligence" to back up the claim that the terror threat level should have been raised. After Townsend responded that "earlier that summer, there had been the threat against the financial districts in New York, Washington, and New Jersey," Blitzer did not ask Townsend to explain how the financial districts plot, thwarted in August 2004 and based on information that was "three or four years old," was still considered "hard" evidence that the terror threat should have been raised more than two months after the plot was thwarted. Read More

Politico ignored Ridge's 2005 comments about needlessly raising the terror alert level
On August 20, Politico reported, "Top officials from the George W. Bush White House are disputing claims in former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's coming book that they pressured him to adjust the terror threat level for political gain," and quoted former Bush officials expressing surprise that Ridge was making such an accusation. However, Politico did not note that after he resigned in 2005, Ridge said there were times when his agency questioned the need to raise the terror alert level, undermining the claims of surprise by these former officials. Read More

Fox turns on formerly "very influential" AMA after it backs Dem health plan
On August 21, Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly said, "President Obama likes to point out that the American Medical Association, or AMA, supports the Democrats' health care reform bill ... it turns out that this group only represents about 20 percent of practicing doctors." Yet when the AMA was critical of Democratic support for the public option in early June, Fox News anchors -- including Kelly -- characterized the AMA as "very influential," called it "the nation's largest doctors' group" and claimed that it "represents most of the doctors in this country." Read More

In smearing "disingenuous" Obama -- who "has not chosen a church yet" -- Fox & Friends repeatedly bear false witness
For two days, the hosts of Fox & Friends have misrepresented President Obama's reference during a conference call with religious leaders about health care reform to those "bearing false witness," suggesting that Obama -- who, in the words of Gretchen Carlson, "has not chosen a church yet" -- was saying, in Steve Doocy's words, "anybody who disagrees with him is breaking a commandment -- is a sinner and a liar." In fact, Obama was not calling out opponents of health insurance reform, but rather those who have misinformed about it, stating: "I know there's been a lot of misinformation in this debate, and there are some folks out there who are, frankly, bearing false witness, but I want everyone to know what health insurance reform is all about." Read More

Jon Stewart corrects serial misinformer McCaughey's latest end-of-life counseling falsehood
After previously backtracking from a claim that Page 425 of the House health care reform bill would provide for "mandatory" end-of-life counseling, former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey -- a serial misinformer about health care reform proposals -- falsely claimed on The Daily Show that another page of the bill -- Page 432 -- would make such counseling "mandatory" and that a provision on that page "penalize[s]" doctors who do not adhere to government standards. In fact, as host Jon Stewart noted, the language McCaughey cited does not make end-of-life counseling mandatory and does not "penalize" doctors, but rather provides incentive payments for doctors who report "data on quality measures" for end-of-life care. Read More

Media let Gingrich take money from insurers, slam policies they oppose
Several media figures and outlets have provided Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich a forum to discuss his opposition to the inclusion of a public option and increased insurance regulations in health care reform legislation. But those media have not noted that that his Center for Health Transformation -- a for-profit entity that Gingrich founded and reportedly profits from -- receives annual membership fees from several major health insurance companies, which have a financial interest in preventing the implementation of those policies. Read More

The Friday Rush: Limbaugh, LaRouche, and Laffer
Do you remember how last week Rush was all about comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler, denying that anyone was comparing Obama to Hitler, and repeatedly lying about health care reform? Well, get ready for déjà vu all over again ... Read More

Ridge-induced flashback: Media dismissed Bush terror alert skeptics as paranoid conspiracy theorists
In his forthcoming book, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge reportedly claims that politics may have played a role in the question of whether to raise the terror threat levels on the eve of the November 2004 presidential election -- echoing contemporaneous allegations made by several progressives. Media Matters for America presents a sampling -- by no means exhaustive -- of media personalities who at the time portrayed those progressives as suffering from "cynicism" and "paranoia" and obsessed with a "conspiracy theory," despite credible evidence that the Bush administration was using the War on Terror for political gain, particularly in the months before the 2004 election. Read More

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