Category Archives: MediaMatters

October 1, 2011 · 9:37 PM

Fox host: Occupy Wall Street protestors are ‘dirty’ and useless

This woman epitomizes the filth that is Fox News…

The Raw Story

If a tea party group has a protest, Fox News is very happy to present coverage for that event. But if a protest has anything to do with “liberal views,” the network certainly doesn’t share the same eager glee.

In the midst of a Hannity segment Friday evening that criticized and mocked the Occupy Wall Street protests, The Five co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle denigrated the now two week protestors as being virtually useless.

“It’s Woodstock meets burning man meets people with absolutely no purpose or focus in life,” she said. “They have nothing but free time to be down there, they make up a slogan or cause as they go along, and they’re just looking to go out there and dirty the streets. And they really don’t have any idea of what they’re doing there.”

Watch it here…

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July 26, 2011 · 2:05 AM

Fox News Has Mainstreamed Pam Geller’s Islamophobic Hate Speech

Media Matters

In the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Oslo, Norway, the manifesto of accused killer Anders Behring Breivik is being examined, and commenters are noting that he frequently cited fringe, so-called “antijihad” writers including Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller.

Geller has long been a reliable source for Fox when the network needs or wants to highlight far-right, fringe, and extremist opinions — and Geller has only benefited from the exposure. And now that the opinions Geller proudly holds have been connected to a horrific act of violence, Fox News’ role in mainstreaming Geller and her brand of Islamophobic activism should be put under the microscope.

[...]

Fox News Has Aggressively Mainstreamed Geller

Geller Engaged In Fundraising For Her Issues On Fox. On June 28, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News’ Fox & Friends where she promoted her book about “the Obama Administration’s War on America,” discussed her campaign to place signs on taxis that state “Honor killing victims: Is your family threatening you? LeaveIslamSafely.com,” and to instruct Fox viewers how to contribute to her campaigns through her website. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/28/10]

Geller On Fox: Developers Of Islamic Community Center Near Ground Zero “Want To Stab Americans In The Eye.” On May 27, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News’ Fox & Friends to criticize the developers of the Park 51 Islamic community center in New York City:

I think that that’s wrong. I think there’s no tolerance there. I don’t know why they’d want to stab Americans in the eye with that. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/27/10]

Geller On Fox: A Mosque “Basically Embodies The Very Ideology That Inspired” 9-11 Attacks.On May 15, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News’ Huckabee to discuss her opposition to the New York City Islamic community center, calling it “an outrage, an insult” and “humiliating to the families and to all Americans.” Geller called the community center “a mosque” which she said “basically embodies the very ideology that inspired those attacks on 9-11.” [Fox News, Huckabee, 5/15/10]

Geller On Fox: “All The Evidence Points To Obama’s Anti-Semitic Associations.” On July 27, 2010, Geller appeared on Hannity and claimed that President Obama’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a “photo op” and accused Obama of being anti-Semitic. [Fox News,Hannity, 7/27/10]

Geller Compared Islamic Community Center To A “Ku Klux Klan Shrine” Near A Black Alabama Church. On August 11, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News’ Fox & Friends and voiced opposition to plans to develop an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan. Geller said:

This is not a religious issue or a freedom of speech issue. Would you build a Ku Klux Klan at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Alabama? It has nothing to do with that. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/11/10]

Geller On Fox: “Arabic” Is “A Spearhead Of An Ideological Project That Is Deeply Opposed To The United States Of America.” On February 14, 2011, Geller appeared on Fox Business’ Follow the Money to discuss Arabic language instruction in Texas schools. Gellar said that Arabic “is the language of Islam and it is a spearhead of an ideological project that is deeply opposed to the United States of America.” [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 2/14/11, via Nexis]

Geller Routinely Uses Downright Outrageous, Hateful Rhetoric

Geller: “President Obama Is Indeed A Bastard, Literally And Figuratively.” In an April 29, 2011, post on her blog, Atlas Shrugs, Geller wrote, “President Obama is indeed a bastard, literally and figuratively.” [Atlas Shrugs, 4/29/11]

Geller Compared Critics Of Muslim Radicalization Hearings To “Pre-War Nazi Germany.” In a March 9, 2011, post on her blog, Atlas Shrugs, Geller compared criticism of Rep. Peter King’s (R-NY) hearings on the purported radicalization of American Muslims to “what it must have looked like in pre-war Nazi Germany.” [Atlas Shrugs, 3/9/11]

Geller: Obama “Is A Third Worlder And A Coward” Who’s “Appeas[ing] His Islamic Overlords.” In an April 13, 2010, post on her blog, Geller wrote: “Obama is a third worlder and a coward. He will do nothing but beat up on our friends to appease his Islamic overlords. All this is going down while Obama plays footsie at his nuclear nonsense campfire — sucking up to Iran’s enablers while beating up our allies.” [Atlas Shrugs, 4/13/10]

Geller Called Obama “President Jihad” And Said Obama Was “Advocating Jihad.” In an April 1, 2010, blog post titled, “President Jihad: Obama Encouraged Violent Palestinian Muslim protests against Israel,” Geller claimed Obama “is agitating Muslims against Jews” and stated:

The President of the United States is advancing jihad against the oath of office that he took. [Atlas Shrugs, 4/1/10]

Click here for more outrageous and hateful commentary from Geller

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May 15, 2011 · 5:39 PM

Newt Gingrich: A History Of Hypocrisy

Most people who have watched Newt Gingrich’s political moves through the years know that this recent foray into the GOP presidential race will be short-lived. 

Rachel Maddow has given us extensive information on Gingrich’s scam of  to garner in millions of dollars for decades,  without holding a “job”…

Now, Media Matters has compiled list of Gingrich’s history of hypocrisy:

As disgraced former Speaker Newt Gingrich tweets his way into the GOP presidential race for 2012, we are reminded of his outstanding record of political and moral malfeasance in his decades-long effort to promote himself.

From his personal and professional ethical transgressions to his crusade against the working class, Gingrich continues to thrive in the shadows of fiscal corruption and the spotlight of right-wing hyperbole.

 Despite his rocky marital past and remarkably hypocritical and extremist rhetoric, Gingrich unabashedly vaunts himself as the country’s moral compass without a hint of irony, consistently waging an ideological war in an effort to maintain his own relevance.

  

 

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March 29, 2011 · 12:23 PM

Fox News executive admits his attempt to link Obama to socialism was a lie

Raw Story

During the 2008 presidential campaign one Fox News executive repeatedly tried to smear Barack Obama with charges of “socialism.”

Liberal watchdog group Media Matters has uncovered audio that indicates Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon was just engaging in what he called “mischievous speculation.”

In 2009, Sammon told an audience aboard Mediterranean cruise sponsored by a right-wing college that his 2008 attempt to link Obama to socialism was “a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched.”

“Last year, candidate Barack Obama stood on a sidewalk in Toledo, Ohio, and first let it slip to Joe the Plumber that he wanted to quote, ‘spread the wealth around,’” Sammon said. “At that time, I have to admit, that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched.”

During the 2008 campaign, the then-Washington deputy managing editor repeatedly suggested that Obama had socialist tendencies.

On Oct. 14, 2008, Sammon said that Obama’s comment to Joe Wurzelbacher ”is red meat when you’re talking to conservatives and you start talking about ‘spread the wealth around.’ That is tantamount to socialism.”      Read more…

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January 25, 2011 · 1:42 AM

Roll Call: Republicans Admit Congress Members Carefully Avoid Contradicting Conservative Media Figures

Rush Limbaugh Cartoon by Ian D. Marsden of mar...

Image via Wikipedia

Media Matters

Roll Call’s Christina Bellantoni reports today that “Several Republicans privately admitted Members carefully monitor what’s being said on conservative airwaves to make sure they aren’t contradicting it or enraging talkers.”

Also from Bellantoni’s January 24 article:

With Members taking cues from the echo chamber as well as their party leadership, it’s changed the way business gets done. Limbaugh and Fox News hosts Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity can mobilize more voters than any press release or floor speech, so Members find themselves needing to be responsive or face their wrath.

A Republican strategist and former top Republican National Committee aide told Roll Call that Members have one of two reactions when constituents start a message with “I just heard on Rush today …” — “joy and panic.”

Limbaugh has more than 20 million listeners, and most Members couldn’t dream of their message being so widely spread back home, the GOP strategist said.

“You’ve got to break eggs to make an omelette, and if you’ve never been mentioned on these shows in either a favorable or less than favorable context, one has to wonder, are you actually making an impact?” the strategist said.

If Limbaugh or Beck pushes an issue, his audience picks up the phone and taps out e-mails, asking lawmakers to take action. “These Members understand that their constituents are listening to this, and the consequence will elicit action that will place pressure on them,” the strategist said.

More…

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January 13, 2011 · 4:17 PM

A Message To Sarah Palin…

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December 27, 2010 · 4:54 AM

Sarah Palin: Winner Of The 2010 Glenn Beck Misinformer Of The Year Award

An appropriate award, no doubt…

Media Matters

In selecting the 2010 winner of the Glenn Beck Honorary Award for Excellence in Misinformation, Media Matters weighed the vigor and meticulous detail the 2009 recipient, Glenn Beck, brought to the craft.

Beck’s dedication to fabricating facts to smear those he disagrees with is so complete, we at Media Matters for America decided to name the award in his honor. Thus, it is only fitting that the recipient of the first Glenn Beck Misinformer of the Year Award would embody the spirit Glenn Beck brings to lying, distorting, and smearing; someone who regularly promotes the very same lies and extreme rhetoric as Glenn Beck; someone who truly stands with Glenn Beck.

Sarah Palin announced early this year that she would join Beck and become a Fox News contributor. Within days, Palin sat for what Beck called an “eyeball to eyeball” interview. For the rest of the year, Beck and Palin would share talking points and cross-promote each other’s violent rhetoric, falsehoods, and distortions — continuing a pattern that first emerged in 2009.

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November 8, 2010 · 5:26 AM

GOP investigation plans are built on Fox News falsehoods

This is most telling about Fox News and it’s connection to the Republican Party.  In my mind, it shows that Republicans are just as dumbed down as the rest of Fox News’ audience…OR that Fox News and the Republican Party are cohorts in an effort to get rid of President Barack Obama.  My money is on BOTH!

Media Matters

Before the midterm elections, Republicans indicated that if they gained control of the House, they would launch investigations into numerous ”scandals” that have been pushed by Fox News over the past two years. Since the elections, Fox News figures have also called for these investigations. But the purported “controversies” have long been debunked.

GOP plans spate of congressional “investigations”

Politico: GOP is “gearing up for a possible season of subpoenas not seen since the Clinton wars of the late 1990s.” In an August 27 article, Politico reported that “Republicans are planning a wave of committee investigations targeting the White House and Democratic allies if they win back the majority. Everything from the microscopic — the New Black Panther party — to the massive — think bailouts — is on the GOP to-do list, according to a half-dozen Republican aides.” Politico continued:

Republican staffers say there won’t be any self-destructive witch hunts, but they clearly are relishing the prospect of extracting information from an administration that touts transparency. And a handful of aggressive would-be committee chairmen — led by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas) — are quietly gearing up for a possible season of subpoenas not seen since the Clinton wars of the late 1990s.

Politico: “The New Black Panther party” is “on the GOP to-do list.” Politico reported on August 27, “Everything from the microscopic — the New Black Panther party — to the massive — think bailouts — is on the GOP to-do list, according to a half-dozen Republican aides interviewed by POLITICO.” The article also noted that “[Lamar] Smith, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, has already pressed Holder to look into charges that members of the New Black Panther Party intimidated voters at a Philadelphia polling place in 2008″ and quoted Smith’s statement that “we would definitely want answers about the Black Panther case.”

New Black Panther Party case allegations were brought by long-time GOP activist. J. Christian Adams is the originator of the claim that the Obama Justice Department was motivated by race to narrow its case against members of the New Black Panther Party, who were accused of intimidating voters in 2008. Adams is a long-time Republican and conservative activist. He has likened Obama to the appeasers who caused the “carnage” of World War II. He has reportedly volunteered with the National Republican Lawyers Association, which “trains lawyers to fight on the front lines of often racially tinged battles over voting rights,” according to a December 2009 Main Justice article. He also reportedly served as a Bush campaign poll watcher in Florida and once filed an ethics complaint against Hillary Clinton’s brother, Hugh Rodham, that was subsequently dismissed.  Continue reading…

Sestak, Romanoff conversations

Human Events: Issa to “investigate the policy of offering federal positions as political rewards.” In an October 19 article, Human Events reported: “Predicting that Republicans will win control of the House next month and that he will then be chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.) vowed that the Obama Administration will be held accountable ‘like they’ve never been held accountable.’ ” The article further reported that Issa said “he planned to investigate the policy of offering federal positions as political rewards. The issue was magnified this year following claims by Colorado’s Andrew Romanoff and Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak that the Obama White House had offered them federal positions in return for not running against Democratic incumbents for the Senate.”

White House reportedly talked to Sestak, Romanoff in effort to avoid primary challenges. In late May, news outlets reported that the White House sent Bill Clinton to determine whether Sestak would decline to challenge Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary “if Obama offered him an unpaid spot on a prestigious presidential advisory board,” according to The Washington Post. Around the same time, reports emerged that an Obama adviser suggested that Colorado Democrat Andrew Romanoff “forgo a primary challenge to Sen. Michael Bennet and instead apply for one of three international development jobs,” as the Associated Press reported. 

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October 16, 2010 · 2:22 AM

"Progressive Hunter" redux: Beck devotes entire hour to demonizing Tides

Media Matters

Less than a week after revelations that conspiracy theories pushed by Glenn Beck and the right-wing media drove a California man to plot the assassination of Tides Foundation employees, Beck devoted an hour-long show to demonizing Tides. Beck’s latest attacks come just hours after Tides released a letter calling on advertisers to stop financing the extremist rhetoric and conspiracy theories broadcast on Fox News.

Tides calls for advertisers to boycott Fox over Beck’s dangerous discourse

Progressive Hunter: CA cop shooter said Beck “exposed” things that “blew my mind.” Alleged California highway shooter Byron Williams reportedly told investigators that “his intention was to start a revolution by traveling to San Francisco and killing people of importance at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU.” Beck, like Williams, has repeatedly obsessed over George Soros and the Tides Foundation.

As John Hamilton reported, Williams described Beck as “a schoolteacher” and said that “it was the things [Beck] exposed that blew my mind.” Williams repeatedly cited specific Beck broadcasts when discussing a conspiracy theory involving Soros, President Obama, and a Brazilian oil company — a theory that Williams said informed his alleged plot. Williams said that “Beck would never say anything about a conspiracy, would never advocate violence. He’ll never do anything … of this nature. But he’ll give you every ounce of evidence that you could possibly need.”

Just hours before Beck’s show, Tides CEO and founder called for Fox News ad boycott. Earlier on October 15, Tides CEO and founder Drummond Pike released a letter in which he noted that Williams relied heavily on conspiracy theories advanced on Beck’s show and called on advertisers to stop supporting Fox News. Pike noted that “businesses that pay to broadcast commercials on Fox News are subsidizing Glenn Beck’s television show by continuing to pump money into the network,” adding, “It has become clear that the only way to stop supporting Beck is to stop supporting Fox News.”

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August 12, 2010 · 8:03 AM

Fox finds new way to blame Obama for Bush-era policies

Media Matters 

Stating that President Obama’s policies have “clearly failed,” Fox Business stocks editor Elizabeth MacDonald falsely suggested that Obama has been in office for three years. This follows a pattern of Fox hosts and guests blaming President Obama for Bush-era policies such as TARP, the AIG bailout, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts, and the beginning of the recession. 

 

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