Media Matters for America - Latest Items

Boehlert On Current's Viewpoint : "ABC Has Yet To Really Apologize" For "Troubling" Reporting On Benghazi

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:09:05 EDT

From the May 21 edition of Current TV's Viewpoint:

Previously:

What ABC And The Weekly Standard Got Wrong On The Benghazi Emails

Where Are ABC News' Corrections For Their False Benghazi Email Claims?

Should Jonathan Karl Reveal His Benghazi Email Source?

Fox's Tantaros Uses Oklahoma Tornado To Attack Obama Over Recent Controversies

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:31:10 EDT

From the May 21 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Andrea Tantaros Show:

TRANSCRIPT:

TANTAROS: We are looking at the most devastating footage, where people were killed by a tornado and President Obama is going to speak. And he is going to try and look like he is in control. Like he is doing something, 'cause that is what he does. "I'm going to try and play the president. I'm going to look like I'm in charge and I'm in control and I'm being updated, OK?" If I am living in Oklahoma, I am nervous that he is in control. Because over the past couple of months and years, judging on all these scandals, the message coming from the White House is that he has blinders on. That he doesn't know about these things. If we are to take the tornado tragedy with the other tragedies, President Obama, did he just learn about the tornado by turning on Shep Smith yesterday? Did anyone tell him about the tornado, or did they just keep it from him?

OBAMA [AUDIO CLIP]: I first learned about it from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this, I think it was on Friday.

TANTAROS: So if we are to believe the history of the White House, and their handling of all these big issues, because the government's so vast, it's so big, according to David Axelrod, the message they have given us is that he can't handle it. It's too big, there's too much going on. If I'm in Oklahoma, I'm nervous, I'm stressed out, because President Obama has not been in control of any of these other things. Why are we to believe today, all of a sudden, he's going to step up to a podium and be in control and know everything? See this is why lying is not a good idea. This is why making your boss look weak, and incompetent, and uninformed, is not a good idea. Because no one believes him when he tries to look like he is in control. Are you in control, President Obama? Are you the president? Or is it just, "Hey, I'm the president, no one tells me anything around here. Just a passerby, hey, I'm sort of like a figurehead, an ambassador, I play basketball with celebrities, I glad-hand in Mexico, other than that, sorry. Just a -- just a face here." That is why you can't put the message out that you're incompetent. And if his lawyer is incompetent, then as Lanny Davis says, the lawyer should be fired. But she's not, because no one ever gets fired in the administration.

Alex Jones Explains How Government "Weather Weapon" Could Have Been Behind Oklahoma Tornado

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:42:33 EDT

Conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones explained to his audience today how the government could have been behind the devastating May 20 tornado in Oklahoma.

On the May 21 edition of The Alex Jones Show, a caller asked Jones whether he was planning to cover how government technology may be behind a recent spate of sinkholes. After laying out how insurance companies use weather modification to avoid having to pay ski resorts for lack of snow, Jones said that "of course there's weather weapon stuff going on -- we had floods in Texas like fifteen years ago, killed thirty-something people in one night. Turned out it was the Air Force."

Following a long tangent, Jones returned to the caller's subject. While he explained that "natural tornadoes" do exist and that he's not sure if a government "weather weapon" was involved in the Oklahoma disaster, Jones warned nonetheless that the government "can create and steer groups of tornadoes."

According to Jones, this possibility hinges on whether people spotted helicopters and small aircraft "in and around the clouds, spraying and doing things." He added, "if you saw that, you better bet your bottom dollar they did this, but who knows if they did. You know, that's the thing, we don't know."

The Right-Wing Media's Failed White House Log Conspiracies

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:49:20 EDT

The American Spectator's Jeffrey Lord misrepresented White House visitor logs to suggest that President Obama knew about the IRS targeting of conservative nonprofits because he met with the president of a union that represents IRS employees shortly before the agency began its controversial actions. This is far from the first time a right-wing media conspiracy dependent on those records has fallen apart.

Does Obama's Meeting With IRS Union Chief Show He Directed Scandal?

Did Obama Meet With The Head Of The New Black Panthers Party?

Do Logs Show Obama Learned Of Botched ATF Operation In 2010?

Was There A White House Meeting Between Obama And ACORN's CEO?

Did A "Controversial Scholar" Visit Obama At The White House?

CONSPIRACY: Does Obama's Meeting With IRS Union Chief Show He Directed Scandal?

American Spectator's Jeffrey Lord: "Smoking Gun" In Logs Ties Obama To IRS Scandal Through Meeting With Union Head Kelley. Lord reported that according to the White House logs, President Obama met with Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS employees, the day before IRS employees "set to work in earnest targeting the Tea Party and conservative groups around America." He concluded:

The obvious question instantly arises with the revelation that Kelley was meeting with the President personally -- the day before the IRS kicked into high gear with its "Sensitive Case Report on the Tea Party".

Were the President of the United States and the President of the NTEU meeting in the White House at 12:30 on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 -- and engaged in "collaboration" and "partnership"? A "collaboration" and "partnership" that was all about targeting the Tea Party?

And did that collaboration and partnership result in the IRS letting loose the hounds on the Tea Party and conservative groups -- the very next day after the Obama-Kelley meeting? [American Spectator, 5/20/13]

Lord's Conspiracy Spread Through The Conservative Media. The story was covered by Sean Hannity on his radio show, CNS News, Fox Nation, Jim Hoft, and Michelle Malkin's website. [The Sean Hannity Show, 5/20/2013 [link?]; CNS News, 5/20/2013; TheGatewayPundit.com, 5/20/2013; MichelleMalkin.com, 5/20/2013; Fox Nation, 5/20/2013]

But Logs Indicate Kelley Did Not Have A Personal Meeting With Obama. According to the database, Kelley was one of 117 visitors who came to the Old Executive Office Building for what the log describes as a "Workplace Flexibility Forum." [Data.gov, accessed 5/21/2013]

Kelley Attended And Spoke At A Forum On Workplace Flexibility. According to a contemporaneous report:

An expanded telework program is one of the best ways to bring real flexibility to the federal workplace, Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), said during a White House forum to examine the state of flexible work arrangements.

Kelley spoke at the March 31 White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility, hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, which examined ways that the government might help American workers juggle the twin demands of work and family.

Telework "allows employees to avoid long, expensive and tiresome commutes, enables them to better balance work and family life and increases job satisfaction," Kelley said, noting that NTEU negotiates for flexibilities in every bargaining unit. Often, she said, there is real resistance among managers to implementing flexibilities. [FCW.com, 4/6/2010]

Union: Kelley Had "No Direct Contact" With Obama At The Forum. US News & World Report's Washington Whispers blog reported:

National Treasury Employees Union spokeswoman Dina Long tells Whispers that Kelley never met privately with Obama.

"Kelley attended the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility at the Old Executive Office Building... [which] was attended by approximately 200 attendees including business leaders, workers, policy experts and labor representatives discussing telework and worklife balance issues," Long said in a statement. "The president made opening remarks. President Kelley did not have any direct contact with the president or the first lady." [USNews.com, 5/20/13]

CONSPIRACY: Did Obama Meet With The Head Of The New Black Panthers Party?

National Review's Andrew McCarthy: White House Won't Clarify Whether New Black Panthers Party Chief Visited. McCarthy, commenting on Andrew Breitbart's report that both Obama and New Black Panthers Party National Chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz had marched with thousands of others at the commemoration of the Selma civil rights march, wrote:

Andrew also notes that visitor logs indicate that a man identified as "Malik Shabazz" visited the White House two months after attorney general [Eric] Holder dismissed the Panthers case. The White House has refused to clarify whether that Malik Shabazz is the Panther national chief. [Media Matters, 10/3/2011]

White House Said Years Earlier That It Was A Different Shabazz. In a 2009 blog post introducing the database, Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, identified "Malik Shabazz" as one of the "false positives" that came up in their visitor logs:

A lot of people visit the White House, up to 100,000 each month, with many of those folks coming to tour the buildings. Given this large amount of data, the records we are publishing today include a few "false positives" - names that make you think of a well-known person, but are actually someone else. In September, requests were submitted for the names of some famous or controversial figures (for example Michael Jordan, William Ayers, Michael Moore, Jeremiah Wright, Robert Kelly ("R. Kelly"), and Malik Shabazz). The well-known individuals with those names never actually came to the White House. Nevertheless, we were asked for those names and so we have included records for those individuals who were here and share the same names. [WhiteHouse.gov, 10/30/09]

WhitePages.com Has 46 Listings For "Malik Shabazz." [WhitePages.com, accessed 5/21/2013]

Shabazz Visited For A Group Tour. According to the log, the Malik Shabazz who visited the White House went for a group tour with a total of 311 people. [Data.gov, accessed 5/21/2013]

CONSPIRACY: Do Logs Show Obama Learned Of Botched ATF Operation In 2010?

RW Media: Obama Met With DOJ Official Who Had Been Briefed On Operation Fast And Furious Four Times In 2010. In late 2011, several right-wing bloggers suggested that President Obama might have been lying about not knowing about the ATF's botched Operation Fast and Furious, citing as evidence White House logs that they said indicated that Obama had repeatedly "met with" then-Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, who they described as aware of the tactics used during that operation. [Media Matters, 12/1/2011]

Logs Actually Indicated DOJ Official Had Been At Widely-Attended State Events.

The three May 19, 2010, listings the bloggers were referring to actually indicate that Grindler was one of President Obama's many guests for the widely attended events related to Mexican President Felipe Calderon's state visit. The May 10, 2010, visit is listed in the visitor logs as a "Large Event With POTUS and Community Leaders" that took place in the East Room, apparently President Obama's announcement of Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. [Media Matters, 12/1/2013]

CONSPIRACY: Was There A White House Meeting Between Obama And ACORN's CEO?

Breitbart's BigGovernment.com Claimed ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis Visited White House. A December 30, 2009, BigGovernment.com "exclusive" noted that according to White House visitor logs, a "Bertha E. Lewis" had visited the White House on September 5, 2009. The piece alleged that "Bertha E. Lewis" was, in fact, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis. The story further stated: "Ms. Lewis doesn't seem to have returned to the White House after this visit. Of course, just 5 days after this visit, James O'Keefe would release the first video of his undercover journalism on the systemic corruption within ACORN." [Media Matters, 7/21/2010]

White House Reportedly Said It Was A Different Bertha Lewis. Politico reported in response to Breitbart's report: "An administration official tells me that, indeed, this is a different Bertha Lewis, an ordinary visitor who came in through the White House visitor's office." [Politico, 12/31/2009]

ACORN: Our CEO Has A Different Middle Initial. Politico further reported: "One clue: The ACORN official's middle initial, according to her New York voter registration record on Nexis, is "M." An ACORN spokesman says her middle name is 'Mae.'" [Politico, 12/31/2009]

WhitePages.com Has More Than 100 Listings For "Bertha Lewis." [WhitePages.com, accessed 5/21/2013]

The Bertha Lewis Who Visited The White House Came For A Tour. According to the logs, Lewis was part of a group of more than 1,000 who visited on September 5 for a "staff tour." [Data.gov, accessed 5/21/2013]

CONSPIRACY: Did A "Controversial Scholar" Visit Obama At The White House?

Heritage Blog: Logs Show Two White House Visits For "Controversial Scholar" Derrick Albert Bell. In a March 2012 post, the Heritage Foundation's blog The Foundry reported:

Visitor logs show that Derrick A. Bell visited the White House twice since President Obama took office. The logs show two visits by an individual of that name on January 29 and 31, 2010.

Derrick Albert Bell, the late Harvard professor and controversial scholar in the field of Critical Race Theory has been thrust into national headlines after conservative bloggers at Breitbart.com posted video of Obama lauding his work at a 1991 rally at Harvard. [The Foundry, 3/8/2012]

ABC News: White House Says It's A Different Bell. ABC News' Jake Tapper reported of the Foundry post:

There are two problems with the Heritage post. One: it excludes some details from the visitors' logs. There are 28 columns on the publicly released records, the Heritage blog lists seven. The data they omit includes a description of what the visit was for: in this case, for both visits: TOURS. A White House tour - not MEETING or APPOINTMENT. Another data point: TOTAL PEOPLE. This is a reference to how many people were present for the tour, meeting or appointment - in this case 304 people and 282 people.

But Bell surely could have taken a tour or two and then met with President Obama, right? Sure, it's possible - and I asked the White House about it. The answer from a White House official: this was not the same Derrick A. Bell. He had a different birthday than the late law professor, whose birthday was November 6, 1930. That would seem to undermine the significance of this visit. [ABCNews.com, 3/9/2012]

Fox News Contributors Sign Letter Urging Immigration Reform Defeat

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:12:16 EDT

At least six Fox News contributors have reportedly signed on to an open letter opposing the comprehensive immigration reform legislation currently being debated in the Senate. Fox News, which has admitted it is the "voice of opposition" on certain issues, has long ignored and even fostered such unethical behavior from its personalities.

According to Yahoo! News, conservative radio hosts, along with tea party and other conservative groups, have signed a letter opposing the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, a proposal from a bipartisan group of senators to reform immigration law. Among the "National Conservative Leaders" who have reportedly signed the letter are six current Fox News contributors:

Monica Crowley, Ph.D., Nationally Syndicated Radio Host
Erick Erickson, Editor of RedState
Laura Ingraham, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host
Michelle Malkin, author of Invasion and syndicated columnist
Sandy Rios, Vice-President Family PAC Federal and Morning Host for AFR Talk
Former Congressman Allen West

However, their affiliation with Fox News was not mentioned in the letter.

Radio hosts Mark Levin and Lars Larson, who also signed the letter, are regular Fox News guests as well. Daily Beast editor and CNN contributor David Frum also signed the letter.

The letter expresses "serious concerns" with the bill and urges Senators to vote against it:

We oppose this bill and urge you to vote against it when it comes to the Senate floor. No matter how well intentioned, the Schumer-Rubio bill suffers from fundamental design flaws that make it unsalvageable. Many of us support various parts of the legislation, but the overall package is so unsatisfactory that the Senate would do better to start over from scratch.

[...]

Reforming our immigration system is an important priority. But S.744 is such a defective measure that it would do more harm than good. We urge you to vote against it and against any cloture vote to bring up the bill. Only then can a constructive, measured debate take place on how to improve America's immigration policy.

The letter also repeats some common myths about immigration, including the debunked notion that granting undocumented immigrants legal status "[h]urts American job-seekers, especially those with less education." The letter also compares the Senate immigration bill to the health care law, calling it "bloated and unwieldy."

Fox News has been criticized for unethical behavior in the past and for operating like a political organization. In fact, Crowley crossed the ethical line during the 2012 presidential election when she spoke at an anti-Obama rally sponsored by the Koch-funded conservative advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity.

Fox News has long styled itself as an anti-immigrant network even as it purports to reach out to Latino viewers. Rush Limbaugh, for example, stated in January that it's "up to me and Fox News" to defeat immigration reform. As Yahoo! News noted however, Limbaugh was "notably absent" from the list of signatories.

The Enduring Legend Of The Bureaucrat Whisperer

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:37:41 EDT

The Wall Street Journal opinion page is turning into the go-to source for documenting President Obama's supernatural influence over the thoughts and actions of IRS employees. Reagan DOJ veterans David Rivkin and Lee Casey wrote a May 21 Journal op-ed arguing that fault for the IRS's inappropriate targeting of conservative non-profit applicants lies with the president. "The Obama administration made clear its deep dislike of Citizens United and of the various new conservative groups spawned by the 'tea party' movement," they wrote, and "the IRS has always been well-attuned to even subtle guidance from the White House." That argument was borrowed from Kimberley Strassel's May 17 Journal column: "All [Obama] needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds."

This notion of bureaucrat whispering is, in isolation, a pretty big stretch. But the tableau created by Rivkin and Casey, in which politically savvy IRS employees scrutinize the president's every syllable and gesture with decoder rings at the ready, is ludicrous given what we now know about the tax agency office in Cincinnati where groups had their non-profit applications scrutinized. According to the New York Times, it was an understaffed, chaotic mess that got into trouble because it lacked guidance:

Overseen by a revolving cast of midlevel managers, stalled by miscommunication with I.R.S. lawyers and executives in Washington and confused about the rules they were enforcing, the Cincinnati specialists flagged virtually every application with Tea Party in its name. But their review went beyond conservative groups: more than 400 organizations came under scrutiny, including at least two dozen liberal-leaning ones and some that were seemingly apolitical.

Over three years, as the office struggled with a growing caseload of advocacy groups seeking tax exemptions, responsibility for the cases moved from one group of specialists to another, and the Determinations Unit, which handles all nonprofit applications, was reorganized. One batch of cases sat ignored for months. Few if any of the employees were experts on tax law, contributing to waves of questionnaires about groups' political activity and donors that top officials acknowledge were improper.

From the Times report, it seems like there's a lot to be said regarding the IRS's inefficiency and "dysfunction," to borrow from a former IRS employee quoted by the paper. But this notion that low-level bureaucrats are standing ready to receive secret political communiques from the president is an invention of conservative pundits looking to bridge the considerable distance between the fumbling IRS employees in Ohio and the Oval Office.

WND Asks Why Bestiality Isn't Treated The Same As Homosexuality

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:27:31 EDT

WND columnist Les Kinsolving equated homosexuality to bestiality, suggesting that people who engage in bestiality should receive the same legal protections afforded to gay people in same-sex relationships.

In a May 20 column titled "Why Not An Additional 'B' To LGBT?," Kinsolving suggested that people engaged in bestiality should be allowed to legally marry animals, equating homosexuality with bestiality and suggesting that animals are capable of consenting to sex with humans:

If lesbians, male homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals should have the right to marriage licenses - as a few states, including Maryland, now provide - why should the real animal lovers (whose orientation is bestiality) not be allowed to marry?

The argument that animals are incapable of making a choice is surely invalid in that some animals choose to run away when fondled by humans, while others do not - which certainly indicates their ability to choose.

Have there ever been any reports that apprehended practitioners of bestiality have as high a rate of AIDS and syphilis as do homosexuals?

WND's Kinsolving is a notorious homophobe. During the debate over Maryland's marriage equality law in 2012, he claimed that voters would repeal the measure because gay people are more likely to have syphilis.

Will Media Outlets Fall For The Anti-Gay Boy Scout Trap Again?

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:24:09 EDT

As the Boy Scouts prepare to vote on whether to change the organization's ban on openly gay members, news outlets should resist the urge to let anti-gay activists frame the debate around concerns about pedophilia and sexual abuse.

On May 23, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) will vote on a proposal that would rescind the organization's ban on openly gay scouts but maintain a ban on gay adults serving in leadership positions.

The "compromise" proposal is clearly meant to assuage right-wing fears that openly gay scout leaders might engage in pedophilia - a fear that was given plenty of airtime in February when the BSA first considered changing its policy:

But the compromise proposal hasn't silenced anti-gay groups like the American Family Association (AFA) and Family Research Council (FRC), which continue to warn that allowing gay people into the BSA would increase the risk of inappropriate sexual behavior and sexual abuse. OnMyHonor.net, one of the groups leading the effort against the compromise proposal, lists sexual abuse as one of its primary concerns about accepting gay scouts (emphasis in original):

Based upon personal and candid conversations with BSA officials at the highest levels, the BSA is fully aware that this proposed resolution will absolutely increase the risk of boy-on-boy sexual contact in Scouting... Enacting this resolution will result in more ugly litigation and will further the public scandal to the BSA, not to mention the tragedy of countless boys who will experience sexual, physical and psychological abuse.

The "gays are pedophiles" talking point, of course, has been widely debunked by child welfare experts and has no basis in reality. Even the BSA acknowledges that the threat of sexual abuse by gay members is a myth, stating:

[T]he BSA makes no connection between the sexual abuse or victimization of a child and homosexuality. The BSA takes strong exception to this assertion. Some of the nation's leading experts reinforce this position.

The BSA has stringent polices that protect the safety and privacy of youth and adult members and has always worked to ensure that it is a supportive and safe environment for young people.

But this consensus from child welfare experts apparently wasn't enough to stop mainstream media outlets from obsessively debating the homosexuality-pedophilia connection in February. On Fox News, for example, discussions of pedophilia tainted more than two-thirds of the network's coverage of the Boy Scouts' ban:

When the BSA votes on its compromise proposal, media outlets should refuse to allow anti-gay activists - many of whom have histories of extreme anti-gay commentary - to hijack their coverage in order to peddle damaging and discredited smears about gay people.

Fox's Dobbs Pretends Obama Adviser Dismissed Benghazi Attacks, IRS Investigation As "Irrelevant"

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:46:43 EDT

From the May 20 edition of Fox Business' Lou Dobbs Tonight:

Previously:

"Irrelevant": Fox Distorts Obama Adviser's Remarks In Continued Scandal Mongering Campaign

Santilli Doubles Down On Clinton Attack: "I Want To Shoot Her In The Vagina And Let Her Suffer" Over Benghazi Actions

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:51:42 EDT

Extremist radio host Pete Santilli is defending and reiterating his inflammatory attacks on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stating on his program that he wants "to shoot her in the vagina and let her suffer right before my eyes."

In a May 17 rant captured by Right Wing Watch, Santilli called for the Bush family and President Obama to be shot and for Clinton to be "shot in the vagina." The Secret Service told TPM Media that they would investigate Santilli's comments in order to "determine what a person's intent is when making comments like this."

SANTILLI: You need to understand that what I said was very clear. I didn't want Hillary Clinton to die. I want her to suffer painfully, right in front of me, after she's convicted for committing crimes against humanity. Tried for crimes against humanity. For drug trafficking, for killing human beings, anybody that opposes that is an idiot.

Now, the penalty for which I would volunteer to shoot her right in the vajayjay. I want her to remain alive, I don't even want the death penalty for that. I think my penalty is more lenient than the penalty for treason.

Fox News' Continued Calls For Special Prosecutor Ignores Legal Determination

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:14:02 EDT

Fox News continued to push for a special prosecutor following reports that the White House chief counsel knew of an IRS investigation but did not inform the president, a claim that ignores the legal and political problems raised by involving a president in an ongoing investigation.

On Fox News' Happening Now, contributor Nina Easton reported that White House chief counsel Kathryn Ruemmler knew about the investigation into claims that the IRS delayed approval of nonprofit status to conservative groups. After host Jon Scott asked why Ruemmler would know about the investigation and not inform Obama, Easton claimed a special prosecutor should be assigned to find out if the White House was being dishonest about when the president had been informed.

EASTON: I think this all feeds Senator Rob Portman's call this weekend for the need for a special counsel.

[...]

A special counsel could be bad news for the administration because whenever a special counsel gets into a situation, it becomes not only "who knew what when," but "are you providing a truthful rendering of events that have occurred?"

But Easton's call for a special prosecutor ignores the actual reason the president was not informed- to avoid the appearance of influencing an independent investigation. The Wall Street Journal quoted two former White House officials who pointed out that the White House counsel made the right decision to allow the investigation to conclude before informing the president:

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was notified in a March 2013 meeting with the Treasury inspector general for the IRS that an audit was "forthcoming," according to the Treasury Department. But at that meeting, the inspector general didn't provide details of his findings, the Treasury said.

Jack Quinn, who served as White House counsel under former President Bill Clinton, said Ms. Ruemmler's office acted correctly in not sharing the information directly with the president.

If she had instead gotten "involved and called people over to the White House for a full briefing to know all the details, you know what we'd be talking about now? We'd be talking about whether she had tried to interfere with the IG's investigation," Mr. Quinn said.

John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff under Mr. Clinton, said: "The worst thing is if you do anything that is perceived to be interfering with an independent investigation" especially if it isn't fully complete. "That gets you in such trouble your head spins."

Report: Fox News Underreported Sexual Assault In The Military

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:14:22 EDT

While Fox News has devoted extensive airtime to pushing scandals that have since begun to fall apart, it has largely ignored new allegations of sexual assault in the military.

Three Service Members In Charge Of Sexual Assault Prevention Programs Are Under Investigation For Sexual Assault

Air Force Officer In Charge Of Sexual Assault Prevention And Response Office Charged With Sexual Battery. On May 6, the officer in charge of the Air Force's sexual abuse prevention department was arrested for drunkenly groping a woman. From ABC News:

Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek confirmed to ABC News that Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, chief of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, was arrested this weekend in Arlington, Va.

The Arlington County Police Department's crime report said that shortly after midnight on Sunday "a drunken male subject approached a female victim in a parking lot and grabbed her breasts and buttocks."

"The victim fought the suspect off as he attempted to touch her again and alerted police," the crime report said said. [sic] "Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, of Arlington, Va., was arrested and charged with sexual battery." [ABC News, 5/6/13]

Ft. Hood Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator Under Investigation For "Abusive Sexual Contact." The Army announced on May 14 that a soldier assigned to coordinate a Texas sexual assault program has been suspended from his duties for "abusive sexual contact." From KWTX-TV News:

The coordinator of a sexual assault prevention program at Fort Hood under investigation for "abusive sexual contact" and other alleged misconduct was identified Thursday as Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen.

McQueen has been suspended from all duties, the Army said earlier this week, but has not been charged.

The Army said McQueen is accused of pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates.

He was assigned as an equal opportunity adviser and coordinator of a sexual harassment-assault prevention program at III Corps headquarters at Fort Hood when the allegations arose.

On Wednesday, a defense official said the allegations involve three women including one for whom the unnamed soldier arranged to have sex for money, The Associated Press reported. [KWTX-TV News, 5/16/13]

Head Of Ft. Campbell Sexual Harassment Program Charged With Stalking, Removed From Position. On May 15, Lt. Col. Darin Haas, the manager of Fort Campbell's sexual harassment program, was arrested and charged with stalking and violating the order of protection of his ex-wife. From USA Today:

Lt. Col. Darin Haas, Fort Campbell's sexual harassment program manager, has been removed from his position after an arrest this week involving a dispute with his ex-wife.

At about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Clarksville (Tenn.) Police responded to a complaint from Haas' ex-wife, who said Haas had sent her threatening texts in violation of an order of protection, according to a court affidavit.

Haas, 42, was arrested that night and charged with stalking and violating the order of protection. He was booked into Montgomery County (Tenn.) Jail on a $15,000 bond.

Thursday afternoon, Fort Campbell officials said Haas has been removed from his position as Sexual Harassment and Assault Response Prevention/Equal Opportunity program manager. [USA Today, 5/16/13]

Analysis: Fox News Underreported Recent Cases Of Military Sexual Assault

Fox News Spent Less Than Nineteen Minutes Covering Sexual Assault In The Military. According to a Media Matters analysis, Fox News devoted 18 minutes, 42 seconds to covering military sexual assault since May 6, when the month's first sexual assault case was reported. CNN and MSNBC spent 1 hour, 36 minutes and 4 hours, 56 minutes on military sexual assault stories, respectively.

Military Leaders Have Described The Increase In Sexual Assault Cases As A "Crisis"

Department Of Defense Report Estimated 26,000 Cases Of Sexual Assault Within The Military In 2012. The Department of Defense (DOD) released its annual report on sexual assault in the military, which documented a marked increase in reported and estimated cases of sexual assault. From The Daily Beast:

[T]he Department of Defense released its annual report on sexual assaults within the ranks, announcing that there were nearly 3,400 reported incidents of sexual assault in 2012 alone, up 6 percent from 2011. But the report also included the results of a survey--conducted every two years--that found that the actual number of assaults was far greater: an estimated 26,000, up from 19,000 in 2010. By Thursday, outrage over the skyrocketing figures had reached such a fever pitch that the White House convened a group of lawmakers to meet with senior-level staffers, including Valerie Jarrett and the first lady's chief of staff, who reportedly asked for immediate executive-level changes that could be made to address the ongoing problem. [The Daily Beast, 5/13/13]

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Decried Increase Of Sexual Assault In The Military. During a May 7 press conference, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called upon leaders to take sexual assault within the ranks seriously, and outlined steps to prevent further abuse. From DOD's American Forces Press Service:

Hagel called sexual assault "a despicable crime" and said it is a serious challenge to the department. "It's a threat to the safety and the welfare of our people and the health, reputation and trust of this institution," he said.

He shifted to the annual report on sexual assault within the military the department delivered to Congress today. "This department may be nearing a stage where the frequency of this crime and the perception that there is tolerance of it could very well undermine our ability to effectively carry out the mission and to recruit and retain the good people we need," he said. "That is unacceptable to me and the leaders of this institution. And it should be unacceptable to everyone associated with the United States military."

Hagel called for a cultural change in the military with respect to sexual assault. He announced initiatives so "every service member is treated with dignity and respect, where all allegations of inappropriate behavior are treated with seriousness, where victims' privacy is protected, where bystanders are motivated to intervene and where offenders know that they will be held accountable by strong and effective systems of justice." [American Forces Press Service, 5/7/13]

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey: Sexual Assault Constitutes "Crisis" In The Military. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited the increase in military sexual assault as a major cause for concern. From the DOD's American Forces Press Service:

"We're losing the confidence of the women who serve that we can solve this problem," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told reporters as he returned from NATO meetings in Brussels. "That's a crisis."

Dempsey has actively been researching this issue since he became the Army's Training and Doctrine Command chief in 2008. He continued the research as Army chief of staff, and now as chairman.

"I tasked those around me to help me understand what a decade-plus of conflict may have done to the force," he said. "Instinctively, I knew it had to have some effect."

The chairman still cannot articulate what 10 years of war has done to the force, but he does think the increase in sexual assaults, the rise in suicides, and the increase in instances of misconduct and indiscipline are in some way related.

"This is not to make excuses," he said. "We should be better than this. In fact, we have to be better than this." [American Forces Press Service, 5/15/13]

Methodology

Media Matters searched internal TV archives and closed captioning as well as the TVEyes database for the terms "sexual assault" and "military" between May 6 and May 19 on all Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC shows.

Reruns and teases for upcoming segments were excluded.

Limbaugh: Obama Won't Be Removed From Office, Because He's "The First Black President"

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:07:00 EDT

From the May 20 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

Previously:

Limbaugh: It "May Well Be The Case" That Obama "Inspires Racism" In Others

Limbaugh: "The Onus Is On The Black Population To See The Truth" About Republicans Not Being Racist

Limbaugh: If Minorities "Dare Stray From The Democrat Party Plantation," They Will "Pay The Price For That"

What The Media Should Know About The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Regulation Report

Mon, 20 May 2013 03:49:30 EDT

As the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) prepares to release its annual report on the cost of regulations, the media should be aware of the organization's documented and vested interest in attacking government regulations, as well as the report's flawed methodology and biased analysis.

According to a May 20 Wall Street Journal editorial, CEI plans to release its report on federal regulations for 2012, the cost of which CEI Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews estimates exceeded $1.8 trillion.

Conservative media will undoubtedly use the CEI's most recent report to criticize government regulation at large, and particularly the regulations enacted by President Obama.

Here are a few reasons why media should be wary of touting the CEI report.

WSJ Supports Dismantling Federal Court In Order To Block Obama Nominees

Mon, 20 May 2013 01:55:25 EDT

The Wall Street Journal is endorsing Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley's absurd claim that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit doesn't need to fill its judicial vacancies, a position the senator didn't take when he was helping confirm former President George W. Bush's right-wing judges.

Despite the newspaper's own reporting on the rampant GOP obstructionism that has prevented President Obama from easing the judicial emergencies caused by vacancies in the federal courts, the editorial page of the WSJ continues to applaud Republican filibusters of the president's nominations.

The most recent example is the WSJ's stamp of approval for Grassley's disingenuous proposal to reduce the number of non-senior seats on the D.C. Circuit from 11 to eight, thereby preventing the current Democratic president from nominating judges to this appellate bench considered second in importance only to the Supreme Court. From the editorial:

It's good to be the king. When the federal courts overturn your Administration's rules or find decisions unconstitutional, you can pack them with judges more likely to rule your way. That seems to be the working theory at the White House, where word is that President Obama is close to nominating several new judges to sit on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

[...]

The court doesn't need the judges. The D.C. Circuit is among the most underworked court in the federal system. Lawyers can under most statutes now bring challenges to federal agencies in either the D.C. or a local circuit. Liberals prefer the Ninth Circuit, while conservatives used to favor the Fourth but might now choose the Fifth. In any case this means fewer cases for D.C.

Last year the D.C. Circuit saw 108 appeals per authorized judge, compared to roughly four times as many on the Second and Eleventh Circuits--the country's busiest. And the court's workload is trending down. Even if the court had only eight authorized judges, its docket would still be among the lightest in the country.

[...]

Mr. Obama ought to settle for adding [recent nominee and Principal Deputy Solicitor General Srikanth "Sri" Srinivasan] to the court. If he insists on trying to pack it, Republicans should just say no.

The editorial - like Grassley's plan - is extremely inaccurate, merely another transparent excuse to justify the relentless and unprecedented Republican filibusters of President Obama's judicial nominations.