Fox issues on-air apology for misleading footage of Palin crowds.
Fox issues on-air apology for misleading footage of Palin crowds.
Following ThinkProgress’ report yesterday that Fox News had recycled old file footage of Sarah Palin rallies to assert that she is currently getting huge turnouts on her book tour, the network issued an on-air apology this afternoon. Fox’s Happening Now co-host Jane Skinner said it was mistake, but didn’t explain how it happened:
In the tease before the segment — the tease to commercial — we told you how those people were already lining up to meet Palin. The problem is, we didn’t actually show you the video we were referencing. Instead, we mistakenly aired what’s called file tape of Sarah Palin. We didn’t mean to mislead anybody in that tease. It was a mistake. And for that, we apologize.
Watch it:
The Swamp reported earlier that Fox News may take “serious disciplinary action” against control room staffers over the incident. The on-air apology made no reference to such action.
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Analysis: How the Senate health care bill stacks up with the House health care bill.
Analysis: How the Senate health care bill stacks up with the House health care bill.
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled his comprehensive health reform legislation, which the CBO projects would extend coverage to 31 million uninsured people while reducing the federal deficit by nearly $130 billion over 10 years. The Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky has produced this helpful chart explaining how the details of the Senate bill compare with the legislation that the House passed earlier this month:
| Senate Bill | House Bill | |
| Costs | Reduce deficits: $130B/10yrs Cost: $848B/10yrs Spends on subsidies: $447B/10yrs On Medicaid/CHIP: $374B/10yrs On Small Employer Credit: $27B/10yrs |
Reduce deficits: $139B/10yrs Cost: $894B/10yrs Spends on subsidies: $605B/10yrs On Medicaid/CHIP: $425B/10yrs On Small Employer Credit: $25B/10yrs |
| Insured | Uninsured reduced by: 31M Uninsured in 2019: 24M In Exchanges: 25M | Public Plan: 3-4M In Medicaid: 15M |
Uninsured reduced by: 36M Uninsured in 2019: 18M In Exchanges: 30M | Public Plan: 6M In Medicaid: 15M |
| Revenue | Mandate penalty: $8B/10yrs Free rider penalty: $28B/10yrs New taxes: $238B/10yrs Excise tax: $149B/10yrs Payroll tax: $54B/10yrs |
Mandate penalty: $33B/10yrs Pay-Play penalty: $135B/10yrs New taxes: $572B/10yrs |
| Medicare and Medicaid |
Total savings: $491B/10yrs Medicare Advantage: $118B/10yrs |
Total savings: $426B/10yrs Medicare Advantage: $170B/10yrs |
Reid is expected to call for a “motion to proceed” vote this Saturday, which needs 60 votes. While Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) indicated that he would support Reid’s effort to proceed to the health care debate, a couple of Democrats are still withholding support. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has “remained noncommittal,” while Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said she would announce her intentions today.
Fox acknowledges ‘production error’ and promises ‘disciplinary action’ for misleading Palin footage.
Fox acknowledges ‘production error’ and promises ‘disciplinary action’ for misleading Palin footage.
Yesterday, ThinkProgress first reported that Fox News aired old file footage of Sarah Palin rallies to claim that she’s “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book.” Host Gregg Jarrett presented the video with commentary that suggested the footage was “just coming in.” (Watch it.) Media Matters noted that one of the scenes was from a Nov. 1, 2008 Palin rally in Florida. Crooks and Liars’ John Amato filed an FCC complaint for passing on “false information” to the public. By day’s end yesterday, Fox released this statement responding to the controversy:
“This was a production error in which the copy editor changed a script and didn’t alert the control room to update the video,” Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news at FOX, sad this evening. “There will be an on-air explanation during Happening Now on Thursday.”
Citing unnamed sources, The Swamp reports Fox is planning to take “serious disciplinary action” against those “responsible behind the scenes in the control room.”
Fox News displays old campaign footage to claim Palin is getting ‘huge crowds’ at her book signings. (Updated)
Fox News displays old campaign footage to claim Palin is getting ‘huge crowds’ at her book signings. (Updated)
This afternoon, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett proudly announced that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book. Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.” But the pictures that the network chose to display on-air appeared to be old file footage of Palin rallies from the 2008 presidential campaign. Individuals in the crowd are seen holding McCain/Palin signs, and others are holding pom-poms and cheering wildly. “There’s a crowd of folks,” an enthused Jarrett observed, referring to the old footage. Watch it:
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart recently caught Fox News’ Sean Hannity displaying crowd shots from a rally earlier this year to claim that a recent GOP health care protest drew a larger audience than it actually did. Hannity later acknowledged that he “screwed up.”
Rep. Chaffetz: Carrie Prejean could run for office with a ‘strong message.’
Rep. Chaffetz: Carrie Prejean could run for office with a ‘strong message.’
TMZ reports that Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) recently suggested that former beauty pageant contestant Carrie Prejean would be a serious contender for public office:
[Carrie] has the ability to draw crowds and if she has a strong message to go with that, who knows what she can do? She has star power which can open doors.
We’ve all made mistakes when we were 17. [The sex tape] is going to be an impediment, but people are excited about her convictions and her beliefs.
Prejean, who believes gay couples do not deserve the right to marry, has been dogged recently by accounts of her appearances in various “sex tapes” and photos. The conservative National Organization for Marriage has apparently removed Prejean from its website, after previously touting her as “the future of our movement, and the future of America.” Chaffetz did not elaborate on what he considers to be Prejean’s “strong message.”
Rove Attacks Obama For Bowing: He Should Do What All Presidents Have Done And ‘Not Bow To Monarchies’
Rove Attacks Obama For Bowing: He Should Do What All Presidents Have Done And ‘Not Bow To Monarchies’
This morning on Fox & Friends, former Bush adviser Karl Rove appeared on the program to bash President Obama for paying a respectful bow before the Japanese Emperor. Leading into the segment, co-host Steve Doocy claimed that there is a “long-standing precedent going back to the founding” of the U.S. that “American presidents don’t bow to anybody.” Doocy might want to do some research on President Eisenhower.
Calling the bow “inappropriate,” Rove wondered, “what’s that all about?” He added that Obama “simply can’t get it right” and that the bow is part of Obama’s “world-wide apology tour.” Rove concluded his assault with this final jab:
I think it’s best if American presidents do what they have always done — which is to stand for our small “r” republican values and do not bow to monarchies.
Watch it:
It’s true. Unlike Obama, Bush did not have a general policy of showing respect to world leaders. Instead, he opted for a special policy of showing particularly reverent displays of affection toward monarchs he liked. Presumably, Rove would have no complaints had Obama kissed and held hands with the Japanese Emperor:
Liz Cheney floats her father Dick as potential 2012 presidential candidate.
Liz Cheney floats her father Dick as potential 2012 presidential candidate.
Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, sat on this morning’s Fox News Sunday panel. The topic turned to President Obama’s respectful bow before Japanese Emperor Akihito, for which the president is being attacked mercilessly by conservatives. Host Chris Wallace aired a videotape of Vice President Cheney choosing not to bow before the Emperor in Feb. 2007, and then asked the panel what they thought of “bow-gate.” Liz saw an opportunity to make a case for her father:
LIZ CHENEY: You could also look at the comparison and think, Cheney 2012.
WALLACE: Really?! How far do you want to go with that?
KRISTOL: Let Liz make news. Cheney/Palin.
WALLACE: Or Palin/Cheney — don’t be sexist.
Watch it:
Liz Cheney and fellow Fox co-panelist Bill Kristol sit together on the board of Keep America Safe, an ostensibly partisan organization created for the purpose of crafting national security attack ads on Democrats. Fox, of course, never disclosed Cheney and Kristol’s common affiliation.
Tancredo says he ‘fully intends to run’ for governor of Colorado.
Tancredo says he ‘fully intends to run’ for governor of Colorado.
The Denver Post reports that, “while he has yet to formally declare his candidacy or fill out paperwork with the secretary of state’s office,” Tom Tancredo told a reporter that he “fully intends to run” for governor. When asked if he is running for Governor, Tom Tancredo told another local news station, “That is exactly what I anticipate doing.” After a brief run for President in 2008, Tancredo has been polishing his credentials over the past year by doing his part to coarsen the political discourse on television:
– Said he “didn’t know” if Obama “hates white people.”
– Argued Justice Sonia Sotomayor is a member of the “Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses” and that she “appears to be a racist.”
– Claimed Obama may “indeed” be “a racist” because he nominated “Sonia Mayer” for the Supreme Court.
After Tancredo resigned from Congress, he told the press that he regretted being known for being anti-immigrant. A few months later, the proud nativist told a young Republicans gathering that he’d be open to halting all immigration to the United States.
Rep. Steve King calls Obama administration the ‘gangster government.’
Rep. Steve King calls Obama administration the ‘gangster government.’
Rep. Steve King (R-IA), one of the right wing’s most shameless hate-mongers, has propagated all sorts of baseless attacks on Obama. For example, he has said Obama will make America a “totalitarian dictatorship,” that Obama was raised by polygamists, and that “radical Islamists” would be “dancing in the streets” if Obama was elected. In an interview with the Washington News Observer, King offered his latest diatribe, calling Obama’s team of advisers the “gangster government”:
Valerie Jarrett is a product of Chicago politics. This is power politics through Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama, son and daughter of Saul Alinsky, linked up with Mayor Daley, the one that actually hired Michelle Obama and put her into that link, which may have well been the link that put Barack Obama into that machine. The Chicago Machine, we know what it is. Someone called it gangster government. In Chicago, you have gangester government and Valerie Jarrett’s been in the middle of that. She’s been brokering power for a long time.
Watch it:
King’s attack on Valerie Jarrett comes on the heels of Glenn Beck’s repeated screeds against her on his show.
Lou Dobbs to announce departure from CNN tonight.
Lou Dobbs to announce departure from CNN tonight.
The New York Times reports that CNN anchor Lou Dobbs plans to announce on his show tonight that he is leaving the network, effective immediately. Dobbs has been the target of pro-immigration activists who launched two campaigns, Drop Dobbs and Basta Dobbs, aimed at pressuring CNN to “hold Mr. Dobbs to journalistic standards” or dump him altogether. Dobbs had become “a publicity nightmare” for CNN in recent months. His next stop could be the Fox Business network. Dobbs met with Fox chief Roger Ailes to discuss a potential position a couple of months ago.
Maddow Rips Rep. Pete Hoekstra For Leaking Sensitive National Security Information
Maddow Rips Rep. Pete Hoekstra For Leaking Sensitive National Security Information
Last night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow accused Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee and current gubernatorial candidate, of leaking sensitive intelligence information to the press. Hoekstra told the Washington Post this week that Maj. Nidal M. Hasan had e-mail conversations with a radical Yemeni cleric, Anwar al-Aulaqi. Maddow excoriated Hoekstra for letting Aulaqi know that his e-mail is being monitored:
MADDOW: Why is it Pete Hoekstra who’s taking it upon himself to tell the press that this radical cleric is having his email read by U.S. intelligence agencies? The FBI had not said publicly that this cleric had been emailing Hasan. The CIA, the NSA, the White House — nobody else had reported this cleric was e-mailing Hasan. This is just Pete Hoekstra letting us know — and letting the radical cleric who is under surveillance know — that he’s under surveillance.
Maddow’s guest, The Nation’s Chris Hayes, said Hoekstra’s reputation is “of an epic grand-stander.” Watch it:
Asked if there was a concern that Hoekstra was leaking sensitive information, a Republican spokesman for the House intelligence committee told Maddow’s show, “I do not know, guessing, since [Aulaqi] was deported, he knew he was a target anyways.” Maddow noted that Aulaqi wasn’t “deported,” but rather left the country voluntarily, according to the 9-11 Commission. (Aulaqi had contacts with some of the 9-11 hijackers.)
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) said, “I am disappointed that some have rushed to the news media with unfounded information in order to gain headlines.”
Hoekstra has been trying to use the Ft. Hood shootings to engage in a political attack against Obama, claiming “administration officials delayed briefing members of Congress about the alleged gunman,” thus raising “red flags” about what the White House was hiding. “What do they know that they don’t want us to know?” Hoekstra said on Fox News.
Marine reservist chases, assaults Greek Orthodox priest whom he mistook for an Arab terrorist.
Marine reservist chases, assaults Greek Orthodox priest whom he mistook for an Arab terrorist.
Alexios Marakis, a Greek Orthodox priest visiting the U.S., got lost in Tampa and tried to stop and ask directions from Marine reservist Jasen D. Bruce. But instead of offering help, “Bruce struck the priest on the head with a tire iron.” The reservist believed Marakis, who spoke limited English, was an Arab terrorist. Bruce chased the priest for three blocks, “and even called 911 to say that an Arabic man tried to rob him.” According to a news release:
“During the chase, the suspect called 911 and claimed an Arabic male attempted to rob him and he was going to take him into custody,” a Tampa Police Department news release states. “When officers arrived, the suspect claimed the man was a terrorist.”
Police arrested Bruce for “aggravated battery with a deadly weapon” and are investigating whether he committed a hate crime.
Cantor Respects Limbaugh’s ‘Conservative Voice,’ But Rejects His Use Of Hitler Comparisons
Cantor Respects Limbaugh’s ‘Conservative Voice,’ But Rejects His Use Of Hitler Comparisons
On Bloomberg’s Political Capital, host Al Hunt asked House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) whether he agrees with hate radio host Rush Limbaugh’s assertion that “Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate.” Limbaugh also compared the administration’s health care logo to a swastika.
Cantor hemmed and hawed in response. “Rush Limbaugh, other personalities…have opinions,” he said, emphasizing that the Republican Party is a “party of inclusion” that has room for voices like Limbaugh. But Cantor — the only Jewish Republican member of the House — clarified that he does not condone the use of Hitler “in any discussion of politics” and such comparisons “are not, I think, very helpful.”
Hunt pressed: “So it was inappropriate for Limbaugh to say that?” Cantor responded:
CANTOR: You know, look Al, I think Rush Limbaugh is a conservative voice for America. A lot of the things he says I agree with.
HUNT: But not that?
CANTOR: Right. I don’t condone the use of the word Hitler.
Watch it:
Steve Benen comments, “I suppose Eric Cantor deserves some credit” for his “mild and indirect rebuke. I’m just not sure if he’ll stick to it.” TPM notes that Cantor’s office is trying to highlight his independence from Rush by pointing reporters to the story.
Last week, Cantor’s spokesman said it was “inappropriate” to display a prominent photograph at a GOP rally comparing health care reform to the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau.
Casey Warns Against Anti-Muslim Backlash: ‘It Would Be A Shame If Our Diversity Became A Casualty’
Casey Warns Against Anti-Muslim Backlash: ‘It Would Be A Shame If Our Diversity Became A Casualty’
This morning on separate Sunday show appearances, the Army chief of staff — Gen. George Casey — expressed his “concern” that speculation about the motivations of Ft. Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan may “cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.” Casey said he has instructed his Army leaders to “be on the lookout for that.” On CNN’s State of the Union, he added:
As great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well. [...] I worry that again that speculation could cause things that we don’t want to see happen.
On ABC, Casey emphasized that the diversity of our Army and society as a whole “gives us all strength.” Watch it:
Some of the “speculation” that Casey is concerned about has emanated from right-wing circles. For example, the hosts of Fox & Friends suggested that “special debriefings” and “special screenings” of Muslim soldiers should be considered. Also, Allen West — a Republican congressional candidate and Iraq war vet — used the murders to claim the “enemy is infiltrating our military.”
On a trip to the United Arab Emirates, Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said, “Obviously, we object to — and do not believe — that anti-Muslim sentiment should emanate from this.” Speaking with a group of women university students, she said, “This was an individual who does not, obviously, represent the Muslim faith.”
Earlier this week, right-wing columnist Ralph Peters claimed that “political correctness killed those patriotic Americans” because military officials pander to “America-haters.” Reacting to this common right-wing argument, Sen. Lindsey Graham said on CBS that Hasan’s “actions do not reflect on the Islamic Muslim faith.” He added, “This man’s actions reflect on him. And if we missed some signals on him that we should have known, great. But let’s don’t take this to a level that we should not.” Graham concluded, “Let’s don’t accuse people for giving him a pass because he’s a Muslim because I don’t think there’s any evidence of that.”
Gingrich: The Founding Fathers would be ‘very severe critics’ of Obama if they were alive today.
Gingrich: The Founding Fathers would be ‘very severe critics’ of Obama if they were alive today.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke before a conservative audience in Naples, FL yesterday. Gingrich gave a talk about his new book, To Try Men’s Souls, which tells the story of men who played a critical role in the Revolutionary War. When a reporter with the Naples News asked Gingrich what the Founding Fathers would “say about our current issues” if they were alive today, he suggested that they would be “very severe critics” of President Obama:
I think they would be very, very severe critics of the current system. And they would tell us that if we continue to drive God out of public life and we continue to increase power in Washington, we are literally putting our freedom at risk.
Watch it:
Gingrich also dodged a question about who he prefers in the Republican primary in Florida’s Senate race. He said former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (he initially slipped and called him “Mario”) is “a very aggressive, very articulate conservative,” while Gov. Charlie Crist is “a very solid political figure.” Gingrich also said that, “at the moment,” he’s not thinking about running for President in 2012.
Ft. Hood murder suspect alive and in stable condition.
Ft. Hood murder suspect alive and in stable condition.
At a press conference moments ago, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps and Fort Hood, revealed that contrary to initial media reports, the suspected shooter in the Ft. Hood murders is not dead. The suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is reportedly “in stable condition” and his death is “not imminent.” The female first responder who shot Hasan is also alive. Cone further reported that, while he’s not ruling out terrorism as possible motive for the shootings, the “evidence does not suggest” it was an act of terrorism.
Obama: It’s difficult enough to lose soldiers overseas, ‘horrifying’ to see their lives taken on U.S. Army base.
Obama: It’s difficult enough to lose soldiers overseas, ‘horrifying’ to see their lives taken on U.S. Army base.
A shooting at the Ft. Hood Army Base in Texas earlier this afternoon has claimed the lives of 12 people and wounded at least 31 others. The suspected gunman — Major Nidal Malik Hasan — was shot to death is alive and in stable condition, while “two other soldiers were in custody.” President Obama called the Fort Hood shootings a “horrific outburst of violence.” “It is difficult enough to lose” soldiers overseas, he said, but it is “horrifying that they should lose their lives at an Army base in the U.S.” (Watch his remarks here.)
We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law. No religious or political ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.
Right-wing protesters at GOP rally display prominent sign tying health care to the Holocaust.
Right-wing protesters at GOP rally display prominent sign tying health care to the Holocaust.
ThinkProgress’ Lee Fang snapped this photograph of a prominent sign being displayed at today’s GOP anti-health care rally. It’s unclear whether this sign is one of the many being handed out by Americans for Prosperity, the corporate front group sponsoring today’s rally. The sign reads “National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany – 1945”:
Matt Yglesias observes, “There are all kinds of nutty people in the world, but these kinds of things are the wages of a conservative leadership and media that’s consistently tried to drum-up opposition to health care reform not by opposing things that are actually in the bill, but with demagogic opposition to completely fabricated provisions.”
Gov. Charlie Crist Tries To Weasel Away From His Endorsement Of The Stimulus
Gov. Charlie Crist Tries To Weasel Away From His Endorsement Of The Stimulus
Back in February, when the administration was pushing Congress to pass its Recovery Act, President Obama gained the support of a prominent Republican ally, Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Standing side-by-side with Obama, Crist explained why he was supporting the stimulus:
CRIST: We’ve had to cut about $7 billion the past two years and we haven’t raised taxes and we’re still in balance. But to be candid, it’s getting harder every day. It’s getting harder every day and we know that it’s important that we pass this stimulus package. It is important that we do so to help education, to help our infrastructure, and to help health care for those who need it the most — the most vulnerable among us.
As The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack notes, Crist explained that he was breaking from his own party to back the stimulus “because Florida needs it frankly.” In May, Crist said he would have made the “pragmatic” decision to vote for the stimulus had he been in the Senate.
But because he is currently engaged in a tight Senate campaign against fervent anti-Obama, anti-stimulus right-wing candidate Marco Rubio, Crist is conveniently forgetting his prior statements. Yesterday on CNN, Crist claimed that he never “endorsed” the stimulus package. “I didn’t endorse it, I didn’t even have a vote on the darn thing,” he said. Watch it:
The irony, of course, is that Crist is distancing himself from the Recovery Act at a time when the bill is beginning to bear fruit. Nearly $7 billion has flowed from the stimulus into the state of Florida, helping to create or save approximately 29,000 jobs. (State officials put the number closer to 47,000.)
The Crist administration has set up a website to specifically tout the benefits of the stimulus program. “I’m grateful for the federal dollars coming to our state for economic recovery,” Crist states in a video posted on that website. Some examples of its impact:
– More than 3,000 teaching jobs were saved and more than 500 coaching and support jobs created in Broward and Palm Beach County schools.
– Construction worker Leon Barron of Ft. Piece, FL, said he was “facing the prospect” of being laid off prior to the stimulus. “We appreciate the stimulus and the president,” said Barron, who works for Range Construction Industries.
– Ranger Construction Industries Vice President Bob Schafer said a stimulus contract allowed him to save the jobs of 25 to 30 people he otherwise would have laid off.
– Pasco County officials say they seriously underestimated the demand for federal stimulus money intended to prevent homelessness, and they are being overwhelmed with calls for help.
Sadly, Crist has taken to deceiving the public, rather than defending a proud record of saving and creating jobs in Florida.
Limbaugh blames Newt Gingrich for screwing up the NY special election.
Limbaugh blames Newt Gingrich for screwing up the NY special election.
Yesterday, Bill Owens scored an historic victory by becoming the first Democrat in more than a century to win a congressional election in upstate New York’s 23rd district. Owens’ victory was a defeat for many prominent leaders of the conservative movement, particularly Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. In the lead-up to the election, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had engaged in a public brouhaha with Beck over his support for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman’s candidacy. Gingrich complained that Beck, Limbaugh, and company were pursuing “a very destructive model for the Republican Party,” and those concerns appear to have been vindicated by the outcome of Tuesday’s election. Nevertheless, Limbaugh is blaming Gingrich for the conservative’s defeat:
Here is — these are my thoughts on New York-23. … We cannot forget how this whole thing happened in the first place. There was not a primary. The right message here would indict the way party bosses, Republican Party bosses and these big thinkers like Newt screwed the whole thing up from the get go.
Listen here:
The war between Newt and Rush extends back to earlier this year, when Limbaugh said Gingrich was tearing apart the conservative movement by trying to embrace “better policy ideas.” Gingrich had argued that the “era of Reagan is over,” and that Republicans needed more than simply being the “party of no.” Limbaugh is of course quite comfortable with the “party of no” status.
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