Posted 9:49 AM by Scoobie Davis

Must Read
Steve Benen on the problem with just asking.

Posted 1:00 AM by Scoobie Davis

Observations on The Right's Distortions of the Truth
Now that it has been shown that Shirley Sherrod was wrongly accused of racism because of a selectively edited video on Andrew Breitbart's website that gave the polar opposite impression of Sherrod's actual views.

Conservative David Frum knew the score when he wrote the following

On the phone on the evening of July 20, a friend asked me: "Can Breitbart possibly survive?" I could only laugh incredulously. I answered: "Of course he'll survive, and undamaged. The incident won't matter at all."

If history is any guide, Frum is right. Two recent non-ACORN examples:

1. In 2001, then-Washington Times reporter Bill Sammon wrote a book At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal The Election. The book didn't have any footnotes for a very good reason: in at least one instance, Sammon cited a newspaper article to give his reader the direct opposite impression of the article's content. A Washington Post article detailed how in a meeting with advistors, Gore gave his highest priority to the country. Sammon carefully edited the incident to give the exact opposite impression to his readers: Sammon libelously claimed that Gore gave his lowest priority to the country, writing that Gore "was looking out for Number One, plain and simple." Bob Somerby of The Daily Howler discovered Sammon's serious journalistic misconduct and wrote about it (I also wrote about it later). The consequences for Sammon: nothing happened. In fact, Sammon eventually become Vice President and Managing Editor of Fox News. Talk about failing your way up.

2. Last year, Sean Hannity falsely accused President Obama of "decided to give 9/11 sympathizers a voice on the world stage" when he visited Cairo. Like Beitbart, Hannity did this by cropping a video clip to give the exact opposite impression to his viewers that Obama was communicating to the audience in Cairo (watch this priceless video of The Daily Show's Jon Stewart on the incident). Was Hannity fired or even publicly reprimanded? Nope.

As long as there are no negative consequences for this kind of distortion, expect to see more of it.

UPDATE: Read Michelle Cottle's analysis of the Sherrod flap.

Posted 9:07 AM by Scoobie Davis

Rush and The NAACP
Media Matters has the latest on Limbaugh and the NAACP. Limbaugh: "[T]he NAACP is as racist an organization as there has been and is in this country."

Nothing new there--I mean this is coming from someone who said that the NAACP "should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies." This and other racists statements by Limbaugh here.

Posted 7:45 AM by Scoobie Davis

Must Read
Michael Barthel on the phony New Black Panther controversy and the right's attempt to create a new Southern strategy. It's hardly surprising that Fox News is a major player in this (also here). Fox News CEO and president Roger Ailes was an integral part of the original Southern strategy of the 1960's. The other day I was reading Rick Perlstein's Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America and came across this gem about Ailes when he was a media consultant for Richard Nixon prior ot the 1968 election. Here was the description of Ailes finding a ringer for a Q & A television program in which people would ask Nixon questions:

Ailes hit upon an idea. . .:"A good, mean, Wallaceite cabdriver. Wouldn't that be great? Some guy to sit there and say, 'Alright, Mac, what about these niggers?'" Nixon would then abhor the uncivility of the words, while endorsing a "moderate" version of the opinion. Ailes walked up and down a nearby taxi stand until he found a cabbie who fit the bill.

UPDATE: Joan Walsh on The Fox News Southern strategy.

Posted 8:56 AM by Scoobie Davis

Must Read
Joan Walsh on Republican sexual hypocrisy. Also, read the hilarious transcript of my on-air conversation with Sean Hannity about Newt Gingrich's serial adultery.

Posted 7:59 AM by Scoobie Davis

Must Read
ConWebWatch on WorldNetDaily's letter scam. A while ago, I had written about former WorldNetDaily contributor Jerry Falwell's 900 number scam from the 1990's.

Posted 9:52 AM by Scoobie Davis

Must Read
Two articles on the fairness and balance on Fox News: here and here.

Posted 8:30 AM by Scoobie Davis

New Post on the Moon Blog
Click here

Posted 11:04 AM by Scoobie Davis

Busy busy busy
Sorry about no recent posting. I should resume soon.