Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Media Matters Daily Summary 08-04-10

Market bull: Right-wing media dress up political attacks as stock analysis
Conservative media have long made a habit of bogus stock market analysis that furthers the right-wing agenda rather than shedding light on the business world, crediting right-wing figures and causes for gains, and blaming progressives for market declines, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Read More

Big Government's Thor rewrites history in attack on Ground Zero Islamic center
Attacking the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero on Fox & Friends, BigGovernment.com's Brad Thor asserted that the "Founding Fathers did not intend for the First Amendment to protect" the Islamic center, because Thomas Jefferson "went to war with Islam, the Barbary pirates." In fact, the treaty ending that war specifically stated that the United States has "no character of enmity" against Islam. Read More

Fox uses nun's death to advance false attacks against Democrats
Politicizing the death of a Virginia nun who was killed by an unauthorized immigrant in a drunk driving accident, Fox & Friends hosted Republican Corey Stewart who falsely claimed that Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration have underfunded Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In fact, data shows that funding for ICE has increased significantly since Democrats took control of Congress, and deportations of unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes are at a record high under Obama. Read More

Conservative media falsely claim "Missouri" rejected health care reform
Conservative media falsely claimed that the state of Missouri overwhelmingly rejected "Obamacare" because 71 percent of those who voted in the August 3 election supported a ballot measure rejecting the individual mandate in health care reform. In fact, the results were skewed "by a heavily Republican turnout in a relatively low-turnout primary." Read More

Right-wingers falsely portray judge in Prop 8 trial as out of mainstream
The right wing has falsely portrayed U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker -- who is presiding over the Proposition 8 trial in California -- as extreme or out of the mainstream. But Walker was nominated by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and has been praised by Republican lawmakers. Read More

No comments: