Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Media Matters Daily Summary 07-13-10

Fox amnesia: Doocy ignores Bush-era lawsuit to accuse feds of "overstepping its authority" in AZ case
Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy said that the Justice Department's lawsuit against Arizona's controversial immigration law is "just the latest example of what some say is a federal government that is overstepping its authority and getting too big." However, Doocy omits that the Bush administration sued Illinois seeking to have an immigration statute ruled unconstitutional, and legal experts agree Arizona law is "unconstitutional." Read More

Right-wing media manufacture outrage over Michelle Obama's noncontroversial NAACP remarks
Following Michelle Obama's address to the NAACP, right-wing media have selectively quoted or distorted her comments, used race-baiting headlines to cover her remarks, and manufactured outrage over her statement that "stubborn inequalities still exist" in America. In fact, Michelle Obama was correct that persistent inequality exists "in education and health, income and wealth," and her speech focused on improving the future for children, largely through her childhood obesity initiative. Read More

Fox falsely claims NJ is "forcing its police officers" to speak foreign languages
Distorting a New Jersey court case, Fox & Friends repeatedly claimed that the state may be forcing police officers "to speak foreign languages when they arrest people." In fact, the Court ruled that non-English speaking DWI suspects must be informed that they are required by law to submit to breath tests in a language they can understand, which can be done through audio recordings or interpreters, not through a mandate that officers speak foreign languages. Read More

Fox revives campaign-era smear that Obama "supports sex ed for kindergarteners"
Fox attempted to revive the thoroughly misleading claim that President Obama "supports sex ed for kindergarteners." In fact, while state senator in Illinois, Obama supported a bill that provided "age-appropriate," scientifically based sex education in schools, but it would not have taught "explicit sex education to children in kindergarten." Read More

Revenge of the Bush DOJ: Phony scandal is legacy of politicized hiring
J. Christian Adams' discredited accusations that President Obama's Justice Department engaged in racially charged "corruption" in the New Black Panther Party case are being promoted and defended by a slew of former Justice Department officials connected to the Bush-era DOJ and its "legacy of politicized hiring." Read More

Conservative media hype "not accurate" report to suggest Franken's election was "an illegal victory"
Right-wing media -- led by a FoxNews.com article rife with distortions -- have hyped a report by a right-wing group alleging instances of voter fraud in the 2008 Minnesota Senate election to baselessly suggest that Al Franken was "elected by felons" and that his win represents a "Senate seat stolen" and "an illegal victory." But, local officials have reportedly said that the group's data "is not good," and that the report makes claims that are "not accurate" and "likely inflated." Read More

Right-wing media attack Kagan's accurate testimony on Commerce Clause
The Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal have attacked Elena Kagan for her testimony that the Supreme Court has said that Congress' power under the Commerce Clause extends to "anything that would substantially affect interstate commerce." In fact, Kagan's testimony accurately reflects what all current members of the Supreme Court have said about the Commerce Clause. Read More

Fox's Varney has no idea at all what's in financial reform bill
Stuart Varney falsely claimed that the insurance industry and credit-rating agencies are "not part at all of this new financial regulation bill -- not part of it at all." In fact, the bill would establish new regulatory structures to oversee the insurance industry and credit-rating agencies. Read More

"21st century Willie Horton": Right-wing race-baiting and the phony New Black Panthers scandal
Right-wing media have amplified the race-baiting behind the completely unsubstantiated allegations that President Obama's Justice Department engaged in racially charged "corruption" in the New Black Panther Party case. Now, CNN contributor and RedState.com editor-in-chief Erick Erickson has called on Republicans to "seize on this issue" and turn the New Black Panther Party into the "21st century Willie Horton." Read More

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