Tuesday June 8, 2004

Savage on "Billionaire George Goebbels Soros": "a money changer in the temple of truth"

Savage on MoveOn.org: "rat-bastard Communists"

Following progressive financier, philanthropist, and political activist George Soros's June 3 speech at the Campaign for America's Future "Take Back America" conference, radio host Michael Savage dedicated the majority of the June 4 broadcast of his three-hour nationally syndicated radio show, Savage Nation, to blasting Soros.

Tuesday June 8, 2004

Conservative media true to Republican message; revived old Kerry criticisms of Reagan

In the wake of former President Ronald Reagan's death, some of the most aggressive attempts to publicize criticism of Reagan are coming from ... Republicans. On June 7, The New York Times reported: "[I]n one sign of what may lie ahead, Republicans circulated old quotes from Mr. [Senator John] Kerry in which he criticized Mr. Reagan." Kerry's prior criticisms of Reagan found their way into conservative news outlets, including The Weekly Standard, NewsMax.com, The Washington Times, and FOX News Channel.

RNC: Attack Kerry by attacking Soros    Right-wing media falls in line

As first reported by Roll Call -- and then by the New York Post in a June 3 article headlined, "GOP HAS SOROS IN ITS SIGHTS" -- the Republican National Committee has launched a campaign to discredit Senator John Kerry by attacking progressive financier, philanthropist, political activist George Soros.

Right-wing pundits play doctor; diagnose Gore as "insane"

Following are some responses to former Vice President Al Gore's May 26 speech (sponsored by MoveOn.org and delivered at New York University), in which Gore called for the resignation of six top Bush administration officials.

There's something about Mary: Bucking up Rush, Matalin gushed "you're my hero"

Just one week after two Republican members of Congress repudiated remarks by radio host Rush Limbaugh (Limbaugh compared U.S. guards' abuse of Iraqi prisoners to a college fraternity prank and suggested that the U.S. guards involved were "blow[ing] some steam off"), Mary Matalin -- Bush-Cheney '04 campaign adviser, former assistant to President George W. Bush, and former counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney -- spoke as a guest on the May 21 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show, calling Limbaugh her "hero"; mischaracterizing coverage in The New York Times; and telling Limbaugh that, from his show, "I get all the information I need."

It's not just the cable guys: conservative misinformation on Sunday morning

On May 23, conservative misinformation flooded the four major Sunday broadcast news shows -- NBC's Meet the Press and The Chris Matthews Show; ABC's This Week; and CBS's Face the Nation.

Ann Coulter's slander on FOX, MSNBC: She smeared Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, and Michael Moore

Ann Coulter, right-wing pundit and author of Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right and Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, appeared on the May 20 editions of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes and MSNBC's Scarborough Country to accuse leading Democrats of rape, molestation, slander, and treason. Host Joe Scarborough asked Coulter if she thought that a letter written by documentary filmmaker and author Michael Moore is "treasonous"; before Coulter could conclude "Yes" -- which she eventually did -- Scarborough answered his own question: "I don't know how that is not treasonous."

David Bossie: embraced by his posse

Conservative media organizations are giving David N. Bossie -- a man whom fellow Republicans Newt Gingrich, Representative Dan Burton (R-IN), and former President George H. W. Bush have excoriated -- a forum to promote his new book, Intelligence Failure: How Clinton's National Security Policy Set the Stage for 9/11, which, according to its publisher, World Net Daily Books (WND Books), reveals, "The truth ... that the attacks of September 11, 2001 will remain Bill Clinton's legacy." On May 19, The Washington Times published an op-ed by Bossie, which the newspaper bolstered with an editorial in support of his book's conclusions. On May 20, Bossie appeared on FOX News Channel's morning show, FOX & Friends, in which co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade were a receptive audience.

NewsMax's Poe on O'Reilly Factor: George Soros is a "madman"

O'Reilly on Radio Factor: George Soros is "a real sleazoid"

Host Bill O'Reilly invited Richard Poe -- contributing editor for the right-wing NewsMax Magazine, a monthly publication with a history of publishing baseless conspiracy theories about Democrats -- to the May 18 edition of FOX News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor to discuss Poe's investigation of financier, philanthropist, and political activist George Soros (an investigation that Poe detailed in an article, titled "George Soros' Coup," in the May 2004 issue of NewsMax Magazine). During his O'Reilly Factor appearance, Poe called Soros "somewhat loony" and "a madman."

Rush Brought to Tears as Right Rallies 'Round Him

A day after Media Matters for America launched a television ad campaign spotlighting radio host Rush Limbaugh's statements comparing the torture of Iraqi prisoners to a college fraternity prank and people "having a good time," Limbaugh opened his May 14 broadcast by directing listeners to National Review Washington editor Kate O'Beirne's National Review Online column, which defended Limbaugh against the ad. Limbaugh told listeners that O'Beirne e-mailed him her column the night before and urged "every journalist in America" to read it. Limbaugh was moved by the column and shared his response to O'Beirne with listeners: "I wrote her back -- I said if I could include teardrops in email, I would do it, but I can't." He also posted a link to O'Beirne's column as the lead item on his website.

Savage Nation: It's not just Rush

Talk radio host Michael Savage: "I commend" prisoner abuse; "we need more"

"[T]ake their deepest fear, the pig, the dog, the woman with the leash, and use it on them to break them!"

more...

Limbaugh attacked "this new website"

Decried use of his quotes "out of context"

On his May 11 nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh renewed his attack on the "Lib media" and appeared again to be accusing Media Matters for America of printing excerpts of his program out of context.

Limbaugh mimicked barking in describing photo of Iraqi prisoner terrorized by guard dogs

On May 10 -- while President George W. Bush, during his visit to the Pentagon, reacted with "deep disgust and disbelief" to new photos and video clips of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards -- radio host Rush Limbaugh continued to downplay the severity of the prison abuse; suggested it was "decent punishment"; and questioned the sincerity of the outrage expressed by Democrats, the media, and the public. Limbaugh also once again referred to a "new website that's supposedly chronicling" what he says -- apparently Media Matters for America -- and called it "a central clearinghouse for out-of-context quotes."

NY POST MUM ON "DOC" DOCS

On May 6, New York Post Washington bureau chief Deborah Orin repeated Dr. Louis Letson's claims that Senator John Kerry got his first Purple Heart for a non-combat wound -- despite reports in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times one day earlier that, according to the Kerry campaign, Letson was not the medical official who signed Kerry's medical records for the wound.

Limbaugh: "I laughed myself to tears" reading Media Matters for America's report on his sexist, racist remarks

On his May 5 radio show, Rush Limbaugh commented on Media Matters for America's May 3 report "Meet the New Rush, Same as the Old Rush." Limbaugh said that the 77 comments we cited -- including his claim that women "actually wish" for sexual harassment -- were "funny."

FOX exposed anti-Kerry vets' flip-flopping

As part of ongoing efforts to undermine Senator John Kerry's war record, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group founded to discredit Kerry's record during and after his service in Vietnam, held its first news conference on May 4. Also on that day, Media Matters for America released a report on the group's founder, John O'Neill -- also one of Kerry's strongest critics; the report documents O'Neill's participation in Republican efforts to smear Kerry dating back to the Nixon administration. The scrutiny that cable networks directed toward Kerry's critics throughout the day varied significantly; FOX News Channel provided in-depth coverage, including revealing that some of Kerry's present-day critics have, in the past, actually praised Kerry for his Vietnam service.

FOX's Linda Chavez: "I misspoke"

Appearing on Al Franken's radio show on May 4, FOX News contributor Linda Chavez admitted that she "misspoke" when she denied having called Senator John Kerry a "communist apologist." Chavez denied having called Kerry a "communist apologist" during an interview on FOX & Friends on May 2, just four days after her nationally syndicated column calling Senator John Kerry a "communist apologist" appeared in newspapers and on The Heritage Foundation's website Townhall.com. Chavez appeared on The O'Franken Factor in response to a May 3 Media Matters for America report titled "FOX's Chavez called Kerry a 'communist apologist' -- and then lied about it."

Dick Morris triangulates Dick Morris:

A Media Matters for America Analysis of Rewriting History

FOX News Managing Editor and Chief Washington Correspondent Brit Hume, anchor of Special Report with Brit Hume, has said of Dick Morris -- the onetime adviser to Bill Clinton turned FOX News Channel contributor -- "[S]ometimes he says things that you think are inspired from another planet. ... If you're a political analyst, being wrong is a drawback." Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, has said, "He's frequently wrong." And a Boston Globe review of Morris's 1999 book, The New Prince: Machiavelli Updated for the Twenty-First Century, noted that "Morris's contradictions and factual errors too often make a hash of what is supposed to be his argument." [USA Today, 8/16/00; The Boston Globe, 7/20/99]

Who is John O'Neill?

CNN's Blitzer failed to probe partisan ties of Kerry critic

The May 4 Wall Street Journal editorial page featured an op-ed by John O'Neill about Senator John Kerry under the headline "Unfit to Serve." O'Neill is identified by the paper as having "served in Coastal Division 11 in 1969-1970, winning two Bronze Stars and additional decorations for his service in Vietnam." As Joe Conason wrote in Salon.com on May 4, O'Neill has long-standing ties to the GOP establishment, and O'Neill's own p.r. adviser has described O'Neill as sounding like "a crazed extremist."

Plurality of Voters Say Conservatives Have More Influence in the Media Than Liberals

Findings of a National Survey Conducted for Media Matters for America

Media Matters for America recently commissioned a poll by the Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group to assess how Americans get their news about national government and politics. The poll also explores attitudes toward various media outlets and the relationship between news source choices and political and public policy awareness.

Meet the New Rush, Same as the Old Rush

A Media Matters for America Analysis of The Rush Limbaugh Show

Limbaugh: Women "Actually Wish" for Sexual Harassment
Limbaugh: "A Chavez is a Chavez. We've Always Had Problems with Them"

Backdating the Recession: A Report by Media Matters for America

Release date: May 3, 2004

Even before President George W. Bush took office in January 2001, his surrogates began to suggest that the Bush administration was inheriting an economic recession from the Clinton administration. Over the last three and a half years, the media has been awash in false references to Bush "inheriting a recession" from Clinton. A recent Media Matters for America poll found that 62 percent of Americans hold the false belief that the recession began under Clinton.

Letter from David Brock, Founder of Media Matters for America

Dear Friends,