Media Matters Daily Summary

Here are today's news items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story. Coulter's credibility rating drops even further with repetition of Obama approval falsehood Echoing other conservative media figures' claims about Gallup polls, Ann Coulter falsely claimed President Obama is "actually the second least popular president, 100 days in, we've had in 40 years." In fact, Gallup itself recently reported that, by two different measures, Obama's approval rating is the second highest of any president since 1969. Read More Liasson repeats tired Obama earmark falsehood on NPR Mara Liasson falsely claimed that President Obama "vowed to eliminate" earmarks. In fact, Obama promised to reform the earmark process and cut wasteful spending, not "eliminate" earmarks altogether. Read More Fox News' Angle continues to use false comparison to downplay harsh interrogations Jim Angle again falsely compared the harsh techniques used in CIA interrogations of detainees to U.S. military training exercises. In fact, officials familiar with both dispute the comparison. Read More Buchanan repeated false dichotomy between judicial activism and conservatism Discussing David Souter's reported plan to retire from the Supreme Court, Pat Buchanan repeated the myth that conservative judges are by definition not activists. Read More Does CNN's Tucker realize UAW's "straight payback" includes loss of COLA, bonuses, dental? CNN's Bill Tucker reported that "some economists" say the Chrysler restructuring deal is a "straight payback" to the UAW from the Obama administration. But Tucker did not note any of the numerous concessions the union has reportedly made as part of a related deal. Read More Fox News ignored GOP's obstruction of Kagan's 1999 appeals court nomination On Fox News, the American Center for Law and Justice's Jay Sekulow dismissed the possible nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court by stating that she "does not have any judicial experience." However, neither Sekulow nor co-host Megyn Kelly noted that Republicans blocked Kagan's nomination to a U.S. Court of Appeals seat in 1999. Read More Flashback: Media conservatives denounced judicial filibusters Media Matters for America has compiled examples of conservative commentators denouncing the use of filibusters to block President Bush's nominees to the Supreme Court or lower courts, including commentators who claimed or suggested that such filibusters violated the Constitution. Read More Ann Coulter scheduled to have "soapbox" on Larry King Live CNN host Larry King announced that Ann Coulter will once again appear on his show. In the past, CNN's Howard Kurtz has questioned why television news networks continue to host Coulter in light of her history of inflammatory commentary. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.