Think Progress

Discussing last night’s GOP debate on his radio show today, Glenn Beck and fill-in host Pat Gray mocked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) by derisively calling him “Juan McCain.” Beck, who considers McCain’s sponsorship of a comprehensive immigration bill and the Mexican background of his national director of Hispanic outreach to be “an audacious slap in the face to the American people,” proudly advertised the segment in his daily e-mail to listeners today:

During the segment, Beck also commented on a new campaign by the National Council of La Raza that targets him and Lou Dobbs for their rhetoric, which La Raza believes “demonizes immigrants and Hispanic Americans.” Beck suggested that La Raza’s campaign to get him off the air “before the election” may be “connected” to McCain. Listen to the segment:

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La Raza isn’t the only group that doesn’t appreciate Beck’s brand of Latino-phobic humor. On the conservative community blog RedState.com today, Leon H. Wolf posted a message to “commenters,” that it is “not fine, okay, or within the bounds of the rules” to “use Latino names as an insult.” Wolf says users will be “banned for doing it” at Red ...   more »

Think Progress

Last month, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson denied California a waiver that would have allowed 16 states to implement landmark automobile greenhouse emissions reductions.

In last night’s Republican presidential debate, all four candidates said they supported California’s efforts. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney emphasized that states should “be able to make their own regulations with regards to emissions.” He confirmed again later in the debate:

Q: Just so I’m clear, you said you side with the states. That means you side with Governor Schwarzenegger —

ROMNEY: I side with states being able to make their own decisions, even if I don’t always agree with the decisions they make.

Watch it:

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But Romney didn’t want to side with the environment for too long. The AP reports that “[a]fter the debate,” — and after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — “Romney’s campaign issued a statement in which he said that the federal government, not individual states, should set limits on carbon emissions.”

Romney’s alleged support of California’s emissions waiver is further discredited by the fact that on Jan. 4, he was skeptical of states’ efforts in an interview with the Detroit News Editorial Board:

[The ...   more »

Think Progress

President Bush’s close political adviser Karl Rove will reportedly be joining Fox News as an on-air contributor to be “used throughout Super Tuesday coverage.”

URL: Think Progress

Think Progress

Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani crossed a Writers Guild of America picket line for a joint appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Former Massachusetts Mitt Romney, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee also crossed the WGA picket line in the past month for apperances on Leno.

URL: Think Progress

Media Matters for America

In their January 31 coverage of the previous night's Republican presidential debate, several media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, ABC, and National Public Radio noted Sen. John McCain's (AZ) criticism of his opponent former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for running negative ads without mentioning that McCain has aired numerous ads attacking Romney. During the debate McCain said, "[T]he fact is, that your negative ads, my friend, have set the tone, unfortunately, in this campaign." While all the outlets cited above noted McCain's comments, none reported that McCain has been running negative ads against Romney since December 2007, and has done so despite claiming on January 3 that "negative campaigns don't work." Such coverage follows a trend previously documented by Media Matters for America, in which the media routinely report McCain's criticism of Romney for airing attack ads without noting the fact that McCain has released numerous ads attacking Romney.

From the January 30 Republican presidential debate:

McCAIN: ... And as far as Washington politics is concerned, I think my friend [former] Governor [Mike] Huckabee [AR], sir, will attest the millions of dollars ...   more »

Media Matters for America

During the January 31 edition of Fox News' America's Pulse, host E.D. Hill echoed a blog post by ABC's Jake Tapper in falsely asserting that former President Bill Clinton said "we need to slow" the economy in order to combat global warming. Hill cropped Clinton's comments to assert that Clinton said: "We just have to slow down our economy and cut our greenhouse gas emissions, because we've got to save the planet for our grandchildren." But Clinton did not say that we "have to slow down our economy" to fight global warming.

Introducing the quote, Hill noted "fears the economy is slowing and a recession could be nearing" and pronounced Clinton's statement "puzzling." After playing the truncated version of Clinton's quote, Hill asked Fox News contributor Charles Payne, "[W]hat would the results of slowing down the economy be?" Hill added: "You know, I was baffled by this, because when it seems Democrats and Republicans have finally united on one thing, and that is that our economy is slowing and we need to kick it into gear, Bill Clinton comes out and says, 'No, we need to slow it.' "

Hill noted that "in all fairness, ...   more »