Monthly Archives: October 2009

You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Argue That the Afghan War Prevents Terror–But It Helps

Posted on 10/29/2009 by Jim Naureckas

Dick Morris was on the O'Reilly Factor the other night (10/28/09) advocating a troop escalation in Afghanistan–and his argument was characteristically peculiar: Listen, terrorist gangs like Al-Qaeda are like HIV virus. They swim in your bloodstream. They don't make you … Continue reading →

Posted in Fox News, International | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

New York Post vs. New York State

Posted on 10/27/2009 by Jim Naureckas

"Tax Refugees Staging Escape From New York," a New York Post headline declaredyesterday (10/27/09). In an ordinary newspaper, you might take that as a signal that the story below was prepared to offer evidence that tax refugees were leaving New … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy | 1 Comment

Fox-Friendly Poll on Imaginary White House Policies

Posted on 10/27/2009 by Peter Hart

Ijust received an email (from this guy's PR outfit)with the subject line: President Obama's Attacks on Free Speech Opposed by Most Americans, Zogby/O'Leary Poll Finds Tell me more! Here's one of the "questions" asked in the poll,tailor-made for Fox News … Continue reading →

Posted in Race | Tagged , , | 28 Comments

Fox's Phony Debates

Posted on 10/27/2009 by Peter Hart

When Fox News Channel was developing Sean Hannity's TV show, it was known as Hannity & Liberal To Be Determined. That liberal turned out to be Alan Colmes, who would eventually leave the gig after doing his part by playing … Continue reading →

Posted in Fox News, Media Criticism | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

WP Opinion Pages Think Someone Else Should Have a Debate on Single-Payer

Posted on 10/26/2009 by Peter Hart

Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt writes today (10/26/09) on the fear that the public option is a backdoor effort to bring a single-payer system to the United States: Private companies would have to raise their rates, so more … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | 13 Comments

The WP's Public Option Polling, Continued….

Posted on 10/26/2009 by Peter Hart

In the Washington Post (10/25/09), reporter Dan Balz has a piece about the "resurrection" of the public option in the Senate negotiations over healthcare reform. But like the Post's trumpeting of its recent poll on the issue, Balz's rationale doesn't … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Meet the Press Continues the Non-Debate on Afghanistan

Posted on 10/26/2009 by Jim Naureckas

Mark Weisbrot had a good column in the London Guardian (10/23/09) about the highly circumscribed "debate" over the Afghanistan War (FAIR Action Alert, 8/25/09). He breaks down the lineup of a recent Meet the Press (10/11/09): Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, … Continue reading →

Posted in International | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The Lou Dobbs Poll

Posted on 10/23/2009 by Peter Hart

CNN host Lou Dobbs presented some big news on–wait for it–immigration last night (10/22/09): New evidence that the American public wants action on the illegal immigration crisis in this country. A new CNN poll finds the vast majority of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Fox's Flawed Football Analogy

Posted on 10/23/2009 by Peter Hart

The White House's beef with Fox News Channel continues, as do the right-wing cable channel's bizarre attempts to defend their journalistic integrity. Take this example from today's New York Times (10/22/09). Obviously the White House is most offended by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fox News, Politics | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Feeding the World: The Expert's Burden

Posted on 10/22/2009 by Julie Hollar

In today's New York Times article, "Experts Worry as Population and Hunger Grow," there's some Green Revolution mythology propagated about how the policies "staved off famines affecting millions." As has been pointed out, though food production did increase, hunger actually … Continue reading →

Posted in International | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Limbaugh's Selective Outrage Over False Quotations

Posted on 10/22/2009 by Jim Naureckas

John K. Wilson (Obamapolitics, 10/16/09) on Rush Limbaugh and fake quotes: When it came to people repeating false quotes about Limbaugh that Limbaugh himself had never bothered to deny, Limbaugh was outraged: "we are in the process behind the scenes … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

WP Poll: Public Evenly Split on Afghan Escalation?

Posted on 10/22/2009 by Peter Hart

"U.S. Deeply Split on Troop Increase for Afghan War" is the headline on the Washington Post's October 21 report about its latest polling on Afghanistan. The paper reports that "Americans are evenly and deeply divided" over sending 40,000 extra troops: … Continue reading →

Posted in International | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Breaking ACORN News!!!

Posted on 10/22/2009 by Peter Hart

Living up to the ridiculous notion that every right-wing slam on ACORN demands coverage in the "liberal media," the Washington Post ("Duo Release Another Video of Their Meeting With ACORN Worker," 10/22/09) runs a storyon the latest from the right-wing … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Climate Change Chapter Is Not the First Fakery From Freakonomics

Posted on 10/21/2009 by Jim Naureckas

Fans of Freakonomics economist Steven Levitt (and his journalistic partner, Stephen Dubner) might well have been surprised to hear about Climate Progress blogger Joe Romm's devastating debunking (10/12/09) of the climate change nonsense in the duo's new book, Superfreakonomics. Romm … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Media Criticism | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Conservatives 'Work the Refs,' Chapter Eleventy Billion

Posted on 10/21/2009 by Steve Rendall

Following the 1992 GOP convention, FAIR's magazine Extra! (11/92) highlighted remarks made by Rich Bond in which the then-Republican national chair explained the strategy behind the right's relentless charges of liberal media bias: There's some strategy to it. I'm the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | 6 Comments