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. Hannity falsely claims Bush did not play golf while country was at war During a segment in which Sean Hannity and his guests declared that President Obama was "out of touch" with the American people, Hannity stated that former President Bush "did not play golf while this country was at war" and that Bush "seemed to be far more in touch" with the country than Obama. In fact, Bush did play golf while the country was at war, as evidenced by 2002 video of him denouncing a terrorist attack, then telling reporters, "watch this drive," before swinging at a golf ball; additionally, although Bush later declared that he gave up golf in 2003, he took up the hobby of biking. Read More Kilmeade criticizes Obama for "never call[ing]" HIG unit that was not "fully operational" to interrogate Abdulmutallab On Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade criticized President Obama for "never call[ing]" the "high value interrogation unit" following Northwest Airlines bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's arrest. But in fact, as Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has acknowledged, the unit is not "fully operational"; moreover, it is not designed for use in the United States. Read More Quick Fact: Limbaugh falsely claims Dems' health care bill "puts people in jail" for not having health insurance In an interview on Fox & Friends, Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed that the Democrats' health reform plan "puts people in jail, potentially, if they don't have health insurance." In fact, the penalty for failure to purchase insurance is a tax, not jail time, and willful failure to pay taxes of any sort can result in civil or criminal penalties. Read More Fox News still falsely comparing health care reform legislation to Canadian system Fox News has seized upon reports that Canadian Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is seeking medical treatment in the United States to criticize health care reform, claiming that his medical decision casts doubt on the Canadian system and that the Democrats' health care reform legislation would "change our system to be more like Canada's." In fact, the health care legislation proposed by both the House and Senate is not modeled after the Canadian single-payer system and maintains the majority of the private health care industry. Read More Quick Fact: IBD advances dubious claim that Abdulmutallab stopped cooperating after being read Miranda rights An Investor's Business Daily editorial claimed that the Obama administration allowed Northwest Airlines bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to "clam up" by "reading him his Miranda rights." But numerous news outlets have reported that according to federal officials, federal agents decided to give Abdulmutallab a Miranda warning after he had already stopped cooperating. Read More Ignoring previous claims by experts, RedState attacks DHS for citing climate change as national security threat A RedState post -- advanced by the Fox Nation -- cited a recent Department of Homeland Security report noting that "[d]ependence on fossil fuels and the threat of global climate change" threatens "America's national interests" to question whether "DHS is more serious about Homeland Security than they are about advancing Obama Administration policy goals." However, defense and intelligence experts -- including a National Intelligence Council chair under President Bush -- have previously said that climate change and fossil fuel consumption are relevant to national security. Read More Obama's prayer breakfast comments follow years of right-wing media "question[ing]" his faith, citizenship During his February 4 speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama stated, "you can question my policies, but don't question my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship." For years, conservative media have asked such questions, often falsely claiming or suggesting that Obama is a Muslim, smearing him over his church attendance and his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and advancing various versions of the discredited myth that Obama has not produced a valid birth certificate, is not a natural-born U.S. citizen, and is not eligible to be president. Read More Conservative media, USA Today promote idea of Obama administration conspiracy against Toyota Conservative media outlets, as well as a USA Today blogger, have suggested or asserted that the Obama administration is forcing the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles for safety issues regarding reports of sudden unintended acceleration in order to denigrate the company, benefit unions, and boost sales of vehicles manufactured by General Motors and Chrysler, which the federal government bailed out last year. In fact, sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles has reportedly been an issue as early as 1999, and Toyota has stated that its recall was voluntary. Read More Right-wing blogosphere baselessly fearmonger over IRS weapons purchase Several right-wing blogs have baselessly fearmongered over an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) purchase request for 60 shotguns for its Criminal Investigation Division (CI), stating that "we should have seen this coming" and that that it indicated that President Obama "thinks they're gonna have to start shooting at us to squeeze what we have left out of us." But IRS CI employs 2,700 special agents who are required to "carry and use a firearm," and as the purchase request itself indicates, the IRS has previously purchased shotguns, as the type was selected "based on compatibility with IRS existing shotgun inventory." Read More RedState's Erickson brings conservatives' witch hunt to HRC's Knox RedState managing editor Erick Erickson stated that Harry Knox, a Human Rights Campaign official appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Council of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is an "insult to the Christian faith" who "cannot be trusted to fairly work with Catholics" after criticizing Pope Benedict XVI for "hurting people in the name of Jesus." But Erickson, who stated that "the basis" for Knox's "attack on the Catholic Church is its position on homosexuality," did not note that Knox's comments came in response to the Pope's statement that condom distribution "increases the problem" of AIDS, a remark for which the Pope received widespread criticism, including from ministers of several nations. Read More Andrew Breitbart and the Vince Foster conspiracists If there's anything more bizarre than an Andrew Breitbart conspiracy theory, it's the decision of so many mainstream reporters to handle him with kid gloves. Breitbart is waging war on the establishment media, and they respond with friendly profiles that whitewash his dishonesty and sleaziness -- apparently not realizing that by legitimizing Breitbart, they hasten their own downfall. Read More Fox News personalities' pattern of violent rhetoric On February 3, Fox Business host John Stossel told New York magazine that he has "Barney Frank in effigy" hanging above his sofa. Stossel is just the latest in a long line of Fox News personalities using violent rhetoric. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.