ABC Publishes Hit Piece Against Bill Clinton, Peddles Right-Wing Misinformation On Global Warming
ABC Publishes Hit Piece Against Bill Clinton, Peddles Right-Wing Misinformation On Global Warming
This morning, ABC’s Jack Tapper published this sensational headline: “Bill: ‘We Just Have To Slow Down The Economy’ To Fight Global Warming.” The Republican National Committee quickly latched onto the story, claiming that a “‘tax-it, spend-it, regulate-it’ attitude would really bring the economy crashing down.” Matt Drudge peddled the article on his site.
The problem is, Bill Clinton never said that. In fact, he said just the opposite. Clinton said, “The only places in the world today in rich countries where you have rising wages and declining inequality are places that have generated more jobs than rich countries because they made a commitment we didn’t. They got serious about a clean, efficient, green, independent energy future.”
Even conservative blogs the Corner and Hot Air recognized Tapper’s article as shoddy journalism. Instead of apologizing, Tapper is now defending his egregious post by insisting that addressing global warming will in fact slow the economy, whether Clinton said it or not:
This is the much more important issue here. Any serious effort to reduce greenhouses gases will have an impact on the economy and, initially, that impact could be negative.
Unfortunately, Tapper has run aground of the facts yet again. In reality, the cost of doing nothing far exceeds the necessary cost of addressing climate change. And addressing climate change has already been proven that it can also energize the economy:
– Green Technologies Have Already Created Jobs: In 2004, the ethanol industry created 147,000 jobs in all sectors of the economy and provided more than $2 billion of additional tax revenue. There are 1,500 current and promised jobs in the wind energy industry in Iowa. [Daniel M. Kammen, Testimony to US Senate Environment and Public Works Commte, 9/25/07; AP, 12/31/07]
– Increasing Fuel Economy Standards Creates Jobs: Increasing the average fuel economy of America’s new autos to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 would would save consumers $25 billion at the gas pump and increase U.S. employment by 170,800 jobs in the year 2020. [Union of Concerned Scientists]
– Renewable Electricity Standard Saves Consumers Money: A 20 percent national renewable electricity standard by 2020 would save consumers $10.5 billion on energy bills through 2020, growing to 31.8 billion by 2030. [Union of Concerned Scientists]
Tapper appears to have neither the time nor the policy background to figure out the facts.
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Phuckkk the Sludge Report.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pmAh — so this is going to be the soundbite of this campaign that’s the equivalent of Al Gore’s “I invented the internet”? Hey, never let the truth get in the way of a provocative headline.
Unfortunately, Tapper will not be held accountable for his pack of lies.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:23 pmWow. Even NRO’s The Corner took Tapper to task for that crap.
It’s too stinky even for wingnuts to allow on their shoes.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:24 pmJust another reality-challenged MSM journalist.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:26 pmOh puh-leaze….and what about the CLinton’s campaign’s frequent and from the gutter hit pieces on Obama. Stop whining, Mr. Podesta. Face it…no one wants her to be the next President. It is time for CHANGE.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:28 pmIt’s all about perception for most voters, so Bill really needs to take a long vacation away from the media.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:29 pmWhatever you do, don’t read the comments posted at ABC in response to Tapper’s smear job. It is Freeper-land.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:30 pmThis is the same crap thinking that our lame, vile, scum sucking trolls post here all the time about “Going Green”.
Repukes are lame brained idiots.
Buck Fush
January 31st, 2008 at 4:31 pmNever heard of Tapper. And I just about forgot about Drudge.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:33 pmRepublican spinmeisters at it again. They misconstrue fiction for fact. All propaganda.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:36 pmJack Tapper, is he related to Bathroom Tapper?
January 31st, 2008 at 4:36 pmTapper and his kind aren’t concerned with facts. I almost never provide links to trolls, I tell them I’m not doing their legwork and to look it up if they have the balls. It is funny that with global catastrophe heading are way that people who defend our crappy economy are suddenly worried about the economy.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:38 pmTapper should be tapped out…
January 31st, 2008 at 4:40 pmWhatever you do, don’t read the comments posted at ABC in response to Tapper’s smear job. It is Freeper-land.
Comment by VerbalKint — January 31, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
You just HAD to make me go look, didn’t you? I was somewhat encouraged. Yes, there was a lot of wingnut blather in the comments, but there were also many comments pointing out that the quote was incorrect.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:40 pmYou just do not understand that the only way this will ever stop is when these people start to suffer consequences for their distortions and lies. We need to put as much poliltical and economic pressure on them as possible. If that does not work, then lynch a few of them in public. The conservative lie machine has gone on to long. These people are just as evil as anyone Bush has named. They will not learn until their faces are shoved into their own feces as you would with any incorrigable dog.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pmOh puh-leaze….and what about the CLinton’s campaign’s frequent and from the gutter hit pieces on Obama.
Comment by milesL — January 31, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
Bill Clinton using the race card in the South Carolina campaign was reprehensible, and should have been called on it. However, this does NOT justify misquoting him.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:43 pmthe only way this will ever stop is when these people start to suffer consequences for their distortions and lies.
Comment by JMOHR — January 31, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
Agreed. For some reason, professional newspeople and pundits appear to have less responsibility to the truth than teenagers working on their school paper would have.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:44 pmTapper: Any serious effort to reduce greenhouses gases will have an impact on the economy and, initially, that impact could be negative.
He’s absolutely right. It COULD be negative.
It could also be positive.
My money’s on the latter, since innovation and technology tend to drive economic prosperity these days.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:46 pmYou just HAD to make me go look, didn’t you? I was somewhat encouraged. Yes, there was a lot of wingnut blather in the comments, but there were also many comments pointing out that the quote was incorrect.
Comment by missmolly — January 31, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
In a way I find the wingnut blather encouraging. They know they are losing badly in the AGW debate, and it shows. They sound frantic and desperate.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:50 pm#20 LOL, Dr. Matt.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:50 pmIf we conserve? The terrorists win.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:54 pm/sarc off
Tapper owes his career to the Bill Clinton bashing economy. If he hadn’t briefly dated Monica Lewinski, he’d still be slinging DC metro much at the Washington City Paper.
Background: Tapper wrote about his datewith Lewinski, got him a job at Salon, then VH1, I think. ABC followed. How his ridiculously light load got him to the top at ABC doesn’t surprise me. ABC is from whence sprung Hume and O’Reilly, so talent don’t matter much there if you toe the Party line.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:56 pmSo, we lose some jobs in the beginning. We’re fixin’ to lose a mess of them, anyway. How many jobs does this moron think we’ll lose if there’s an ecological catastrophe?
Ignoring global warming is foolish.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:57 pmWow. Lies and misinformation from the reichwing!!!
Who knew??
January 31st, 2008 at 4:57 pmThanks Verb, just read a few. You trying to be a sensor of information? Just asking.
Comment by Southern Man
Yes, he senses information all the time, that’s one way to tell a liberal from a conservative. conservatives ignore information. They sense ideology.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:57 pmDid any of you actually watch the video of Bill Clinton saying it? It is all over the web. He clear as day said we need to slow down our economy.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:59 pmIs it me or do journalists seem to get GOP talking points to use in their articles?
January 31st, 2008 at 5:00 pmyes, Roger, and Cheney said that the insurgency was in its last throes. Just because you see a hit piece on ABC, doesn’t mean it wasn’t taken out of context. You wingnuts are FAMOUS for taking quotes out of context.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:01 pm“And maybe America, and Europe, and Japan, and Canada — the rich counties — would say, ‘OK, we just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions ’cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren.’ We could do that.
But if we did that, you know as well as I do, China and India and Indonesia and Vietnam and Mexico and Brazil and the Ukraine, and all the other countries will never agree to stay poor to save the planet for our grandchildren. The only way we can do this is if we get back in the world’s fight against global warming and prove it is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy that saves the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is the only way it will work.â€
Read the whole quote Roger. It’ll do wonders for you…
January 31st, 2008 at 5:02 pmIf our economy is slowing down….it is because we are waging an illconceived War, using borrowed money, in the Heart of the worlds oil producing region. Blaming the coming recession on efforts to deal with Climate Change is a smoke screen.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:06 pmIt’s a neo-con’s Wet Dream… Bill Clinton, the economy and Global Warming all in the same article…
Facts be damned, they had to go to town on this one… it like asking a crack addict to ignore that pipe, or Larry Craig not having a wide stance…
January 31st, 2008 at 5:06 pmmy gawd! Can you antagonists get over Bill? (Actually, it’s kinda funny, in a pathetic sort of way, to watch the “Bu-Bu-Buh-But Clinton” arguments.— What are ya’ll? 3 & 1/2 ???)
January 31st, 2008 at 5:08 pmI say this morning that by summer gas prices will be something like $3.50. So what do we want, better fuel mileage and cleaner air, the republicans need to pick one here. Either one helps against global warming, so I suspect we won’t see either.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:10 pmWho owns the MSM?…..ahhhh…light go ‘on’? Get use to the ‘Dem Slam’ from now on. I don’t watch ABC or Sluge Report. Troll IGNOR is on.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:12 pm2020@abc.com, wnn@abcnews.com, support@abcnews.go.com, abc.news.magazines@abc.com, thisweek@abc.com, mimi.gurbst@abc.com, muriel.pearson@abc.com, netaudr@abc.com, robert.a.iger@disney.com, jonathan.hogan@abc.com, erin.felentzer@abc.com, george.mitchell@dlapiper.com, john.bryson@edisonintl.com, john.chen@sybase.com, jestrin@packetdesign.com, monica.lozano@laopinion.com, alex.wallau@disney.com, albert.cheng@disney.com, karen.hobson@disney.com, george.bodenheimer@disney.com, nicole.nichols@disney.com, aime.wolfe@disney.com, stu.schutzman@abc.com, Amy.Astley@abc.com
January 31st, 2008 at 5:14 pmGreat article by the Times.
Comment by Southern Man — January 31, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
Wow… nice try at sidetracking the thread, but hey, yer a troll…
It is What* You*Do…
Aren’t you late for a date w/ yer 1st cousin, or sumpin’ like dat?
January 31st, 2008 at 5:17 pmDid any of you actually watch the video of Bill Clinton saying it? It is all over the web. He clear as day said we need to slow down our economy.
Comment by Roger_Roger — January 31, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
When you selectively edit quotes, you can make people say all sorts of crazy things. Observe:
January 31st, 2008 at 5:17 pm
TP once again proving it is simply a Hillary mouth piece instead of a Dem mouth piece.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:21 pmComment by toasterhead — January 31, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
Are trying to suggest that R_R has some sort of bizarre sexual fetish over Clinton, toasterhead?
January 31st, 2008 at 5:21 pmThe reprehensible right and its media minions will struggle mightily to push Obama onto the ballot BECAUSE they know they can motivate their hate-filled base better against him and the left-leaning blogosphere will unwittingly help them in their cause. We need a class warrior who is tempered in the fires of right-wing attacks rather than gumbayahs in the class war that began with the Cheney-Bush theft of the White House, abandoned without a battle by Al Gore. His bow out in the interest of the country has led us into a war which drains us and a criiminal conspiracy corrupting our courts and shredding our constitution.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:22 pmYou trying to be a sensor of information? Just asking.
Comment by Southern Man — January 31, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
Why, pray tell, is it censorship to inform other people that something isn’t worth their while reading? Do you know what censorship mean? Do you have a dictionary? Do you know how to spell?
January 31st, 2008 at 5:22 pm“And maybe America, and Europe, and Japan, and Canada — the rich counties — would say, ‘OK, we just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions ’cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren.’ We could do that.
But if we did that, you know as well as I do, China and India and Indonesia and Vietnam and Mexico and Brazil and the Ukraine, and all the other countries will never agree to stay poor to save the planet for our grandchildren. The only way we can do this is if we get back in the world’s fight against global warming and prove it is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy that saves the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is the only way it will work.â€
Again I give you the full quote in context.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:24 pmi select Clinton to look real. Watt ape.
Comment by good_golly — January 31, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
You’re not making any sense. What is a watt ape???
January 31st, 2008 at 5:24 pmHate to disappoint you, g_g, but someone already posted the entire quote above (#33). And yes, it would appear that Tapper took words out of context to deliberately distort what Clinton said, EXACTLY the way you’re trying right now.
Trollie see… trollie do… trollie step in doodoo…
January 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pmAgain I give you the full quote in context.
Comment by ucsbclassics53 — January 31, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
This is a concept that the reality-challenged troll does not understand.
They just keep getting stupider.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pmComment by Roger_Roger — January 31, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
Can’t quite imagine why you think this thread proves yer point, but hey, yer a troll… go ahead and “gratify” yerself… publicly, ta boot.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:26 pmonce i prong Hillary mouth in a pee.
Comment by Roger_Roger — January 31, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
Roger! This is a family blog! Take your perversions elsewhere, please!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:27 pmStupider and stupiderer? Stupiderest?
That’s why I’m here, folks! Bringing stupidity to the masses!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:28 pmCan’t quite imagine why you think this thread proves yer point, but hey, yer a troll… go ahead and “gratify†yerself… publicly, ta boot.
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — January 31, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
Seriously. What a watt ape!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:29 pmTake your perversions elsewhere, please!
Comment by toasterhead — January 31, 2008 @ 5:27 pm
Like Free Repubelic?
January 31st, 2008 at 5:29 pmDoc Rock…I’m not so sure the “reprehensible right” would rather face Obama than Clinton. Hillary is a lightening rod….and many voters simply will not vote for her. Her husbands entrance into the mix gives republicans even MORE ammunition to drag out into the campaign.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:32 pmWhile most of the republican’s “Hate filled base” won’t vote for Obama, they won’t vote for Hillary either.
And many independents, who are sick of the partisan warfare in this country, will vote for Obama. Besides…have you heard his wife MIchelle speak?
50. I know unfortunately. They can’t see past their own biases even if proof is there, because they fall back upon their biggest excuse: liberal bias.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:33 pmLike Free Repubelic?
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — January 31, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
Perhaps. Though even they might object to Roger’s “Hillary mouth prong” fetish.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:38 pmWhere would the neoCONs be if they couldn’t lie? They would have absolutely nothing to say. The scary thing is that a lot of them believe the lies they told. The other scary thing is that lies frequently work.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:55 pmA lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Mark Twain
Why would anyone read the Slug report? You could get some on you, Yechhh.!!!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:58 pmAnd our economy is not slowing now? This isnt sloppy journalism its meant to dupe [strawman] the unwitting.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:00 pmIf you only saw her ass, ROP. Whoooo darlin!!!!
Comment by Southern Man — January 31, 2008 @ 5:40 pm
Historically, three general types of domestic pigs are recognized: the lard, meat, and bacon types.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:00 pmThe economy nearly stalled in the fourth quarter with a growth rate of just 0.6 percent, capping its worst year since 2002. GDP grew 2.2% for all of 2007
January 31st, 2008 at 6:04 pmHistorically, three general types of domestic pigs are recognized: the lard, meat, and bacon types.
Comment by RUCerious — January 31, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
I’m betting SM’s fetish is for lard.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:04 pmTrollie see… trollie do… trollie step in doodoo…
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — January 31, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
Trollie say, ‘tastes like poo, too!’
January 31st, 2008 at 6:07 pmAnd another thing, all that money the middle east makes selling us oil has worked, sadly, to help finance terrorism.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:08 pmHere’s what the right-wing echo chamber NRO had to say:
Jonah, that video is actually (and again, I can’t believe I’m saying this) really unfair to Bill Clinton. The biter bit, you may say, but I don’t believe this sort of manipulation by the media is in any way helpful. The clip is out of context. What Clinton actually said was:
“And maybe America, and Europe, and Japan, and Canada — the rich counties — would say, ‘OK, we just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions ’cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren.’ We could do that. But if we did that, you know as well as I do, China and India and Indonesia and Vietnam and Mexico and Brazil and the Ukraine, and all the other countries will never agree to stay poor to save the planet for our grandchildren.”
The bold section is what ABC chose to highlight in that video, plucked from the middle of words that have the opposite meaning. That’s not good journalism in any sense.
But you trolls keep spinning your wheels trying to defend something that even the National Review won’t defend. At least you’ll get some exercise.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:15 pmDid any of you actually watch the video of Bill Clinton saying it? It is all over the web. He clear as day said we need to slow down our economy.
Comment by Roger_Roger
Apparently you didn’t because your repeating the falsity. Besides, is not our economy slowing down under the current president who has done little about the emissions.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:21 pmR2rd ~ L I S T E N to the E N T I R E sentence.
Are you afflicted with ADD or what?
January 31st, 2008 at 6:27 pmTapper went from blogging to MSM, so now he HAS to spiel this kind of crap. He used to be more accurate about stuff, on the web; but once you hit the Big Time, you have to do your masters bidding. First rule of “news reporting” is “always report negatively on anyone named Clinton”. Second rule is “never admit that you’re wrong about anything”.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:34 pmIf we don’t seriously address global warming, we may not have a civilization left, much less an economy. And I don’t see how you can address global warming without also addressing runaway population growth. But no one wants to talk about proposing to the world that they cut down on the number of children they are having.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:51 pmI left a small comment on Jake Tapper’s post about him having “Clinton Derangement Syndrome” and his usage of Matt Drudge’s right wing website, and he removed my post from his website.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:58 pmI didn’t use any profanity and there was no anger in my post.
Jake Tapper is a coward who cannot take any criticism.
I saw some guy on MSNBC this morning saying making this claim about Clinton.
The person interviewing never asked him where he got that information or questioned him on it.
SO now there are plenty of people who watched this who do not come to this site who will believe this.
This is a big problem with the MSM. They allow people to make statements without any facts.
The interviewer should be up on the issues so they know when they hear unproven facts and not let them go unchallenged.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:16 pmOh, I get it, Jake. Silly me. You’re attacking Clinton for saying what you think he should have said.
Cheers,
January 31st, 2008 at 8:17 pm#24 Southern Man:
You trying to be a sensor of information? Just asking.
Well, most of us are. You, however, seem to be insensate to such. Which might explain your perplexity.
Cheers,
January 31st, 2008 at 8:22 pmSince my comment was deleted in Tapper’s post about how it’s not ABC policy to delete criticism, here’s a documented history of how Tapper’s blog does delete comments simply for contradicting his reporting.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:45 pmLet’s try that again: Since my comment was deleted in Tapper’s post about how it’s not ABC policy to delete criticism, here’s a documented history of how Tapper’s blog does delete comments simply for contradicting his reporting.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/16/173621/05/839/398844
January 31st, 2008 at 8:47 pmall these policies are touted as being “environmental” solutions. They are not. They are energy shortage solutions, the environment will benefit by default. Peak Oil will be the defining issue of the epoch not Global Warming.
heres a recent quote that should wake a few people up:
Watch it here
There is also speculation that even the Vatican was represented at the same conference.
http://www.aspo-ireland.org/index.cfm/page/newsletter
February 1st, 2008 at 8:31 amHey, it’s ok huh Obama supporters…anything to bash the Clinton’s.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200801130004
Or rather just Clinton haters in general….extramarital affair..big whoop….how’s that war going?
I”m all over the map with this post, but still…the Clinton’s get crap from everyone…and Obama the Hillary clone gets a pass.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:49 pmMy articles and opinions on the subject of Global Warming…
http://www.quazen.com/Science/Environment/We-Are-A-Nation-Of-Energy-Waste.15854
http://www.quazen.com/Science/Environment/We-Live-In-A-Polluted-World.15719
http://www.quazen.com/News/Opinions/Al-Gores-Decree-on-Global-Warming-is-Not-Our-Only-Crisis.51904
http://www.quazen.com/Science/Environment/Is-Global-Warming-or-Global-Pollution-the-Issue–.17376
February 24th, 2008 at 8:51 pmIs Global Warming, or Global Pollution the Issue?