Jan
11
2013

FAIR TV: Peacenik Chuck Hagel, Pundits vs. Elderly, Another Bogus OWS Story

This week on FAIR TV: Can Chuck Hagel really be considered anti-war? Pundits are mad about the fiscal cliff tax deal–they wanted more Social Security and Medicare cuts. And Murdoch's New York Post made another attempt to link Occupy Wall Street to crime–and other media outlets went along.

Jan
11
2013

Hugo Chavez: Why Does He Hate Us?

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez might be excused for harboring some hard feelings towards a government that helped to try to overthrow your own. Which may be why U.S. reports rarely bring up the 2002 coup attempt–and when they do, treat Washington's involvement in it as another nutty Chavez conspiracy theory.

Jan
09
2013

George Washington on Guns…According to Sean Hannity

To make the case that gun ownership was not just a right, but something akin to a sacrament, Hannity quoted George Washington: "'Rifles and pistols are equally indispensable.' 'They deserve a place of honor with all that's good.'" The quote is a hoax, and a well-known one.

Jan
09
2013

Bill O'Reilly's Fact-Free War on Planned Parenthood

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Bill O'Reilly wants Congress to investigate Planned Parenthood for being an "abortion mill." In the real world, very little of their work is related to abortion services. But why let facts get in the way?

Jan
09
2013

A Cabinet of Peaceniks?

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It goes to show you how limited the debate over warmaking is when politicians whose records are mostly pro-war can be portrayed as war skeptics. That's what is happening with Barack Obama's new cabinet picks: Sen. John Kerry for secretary of State and former Sen. Chuck Hagel as Defense secretary.

Jan
09
2013

Ed 'Reformers' Fumble Logic With Foolish Football Analogy

Robert Griffin III (photo: Keith Allison)

"It’s hard to watch Robert Griffin III play football and not think about education policy." Education "reformers" Michelle Rhee and Joel Klein begin an op-ed with this dubious claim, then go on to flesh out their absurd football/education analogy.

Jan
08
2013

Is John Kiriakou a Whistleblower?

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The Obama administration has pursued an unprecedented campaign to prosecute whistleblowers. The fact that John Kirikaou is facing such punishment reinforces the sense that he should be viewed as such a whistleblower, someone who was trying to expose the CIA's torture practices. But was that really his motivation?

Jan
08
2013

Venezuelans Continue to Defy Washington Post

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The Washington Post has never been fond of left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. As serious questions mount about the state of Chavez's health, the paper's editorial page found it a good time to take another swipe.

Jan
07
2013

Chuck Hagel, Dove?

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Barack Obama nominated Republican ex-Senator Chuck Hagel to be his next Defense secretary today. The story can seem a little bit confusing–often because of misleading recaps of Hagel's career, which can make him sound like more like Dennis Kucinich than like the Republican who voted in favor of the Iraq War.

Jan
07
2013

Brennan's Support for Torture Is Not an 'Accusation'

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Reporting on the news that President Barack Obama plans to nominate his terrorism adviser John Brennan to be head of the CIA, the New York Times writes that critics had been "claiming that…Brennan had supported, or at least had failed to stop, the use of interrogation techniques like waterboarding."
That Brennan was a torture supporter is not a claim, though–it's a matter of public record.