FAIR Media Views

Linking to 30 minutes of "trenchant observations" and "interesting facts" from FAIR's founder, Greenwald also updates with a takedown of a Los Angeles Times review of Scott McClellan's book, in which often worthwhile critic Tim Rutten declared that "not giving the administration the benefit of the doubt" after 9/11 would have been "mindlessly adversarial" of the press.

Apparently now, in the U.S., when our government wants to start a war by attacking another country that hasn't attacked us, it's the duty of the media to presume that they're telling the truth about everything, and it would be extremely irresponsible—"mindlessly adversarial"—for them to do otherwise. I just can't even add anything to that.

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FAIR Media Views

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan relates an illuminating anecdote in response to Olbermann's question of whether the Bush administration sees Fox News as "a friendly cousin, house organ, was it the choice for funneling propaganda?"

The vice president decided that he was going to go out and talk about [his 2006 hunting accident] after a little nudging from the president. And we were standing outside the Oval getting ready for a meeting, and he looked at me, and he said, you already know why I picked Fox News to do this, because I want everybody else to have to cite Fox News when they do their report.

Recall the other 2006 revelation that Cheney required all the TVs in his hotel rooms to be pre-set to Fox News....

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FAIR Media Views

On how the Iraq War could play out in an Obama-McCain presidential matchup:

New public opinion polling suggests the war is more a wild card than a slam dunk for either side. While voters still see the invasion of Iraq as a mistake, they are divided about the current course of the war and where to go from here. McCain continues to be favored as the candidate most trusted on the issue—albeit with a statistically insignificant edge. But most Americans favor Obama's central position, withdrawing combat forces.

So the public thinks the war is a mistake, and they want the troops out. That could really benefit McCain.... how? Such a tendentious reading of the polls is typical Weisman: yes, people are divided—but only between withdraw right now and withdraw soon. A Quinnipiac University Poll of May 8–12 found 22 percent of respondents wanting to "withdraw ASAP" and 48 percent desiring to "set a timetable," while just 28 percent would "keep troops as long as needed." Which means that, assuming people are voting on Iraq policy, Obama basically gets 70 percent and McCain gets 28. But somehow it's supposedly not a slam dunk for either candidate....   more »

FAIR Media Views

Charting the course of Barack Obama’s "inexperience" from McCain campaign attack line to "the status of an established fact" as the charge is "starting to seep into the mainstream media’s coverage of the race."

On Sunday, George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked his guest, Karl Rove: “How would you deal with the inexperience issue if you were [Obama] right now?”... The question, which took for granted that Obama is indeed inexperienced, simply set Rove up to hammer the point home. Obama should “go get some,” he replied.... Before this notion gets hammered into the narrative of the race any further, it would be a good idea for the press to independently assess its validity. Because, although Obama undoubtedly has less political experience than McCain... he doesn’t have much less than the last two presidents did when they took office. And in terms of foreign policy, which is the issue at the center of the inexperience charge, he has more.

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FAIR Media Views

Of their resistance to commenting on the new book from former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan, "which accuses the Bush White House of launching a propaganda campaign to sell the war in Iraq," Strobel and Landay explain that "It's not news. At least not to some of us who've covered the story from the start." As for the others, "Bush loyalists have responded in three ways":

See the FAIR Media Advisory: McClellan Confessions ...   more »