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Edited on Thu Aug-07-08 01:34 PM by AZBlue
From MoveOn: This week, two right-wing books came out about Barack Obama. One is written by Jerome Corsi, co-author of Unfit For Command—the 2004 book that launched the "Swift Boat" smear. The other is published by a right-wing publisher who describes the book's "goal" as the same as Unfit for Command—to spur negative coverage of the Democratic nominee and tarnish his image.1
Already, the authors are making the rounds on TV shows. And already, media watchdog group Media Matters has found pages and pages of factual inaccuracies in these books. But just like in 2004, if the media parrot baseless right-wing smears over and over again, it won't matter whether the books are true—the damage will be done.
Can you contact one of the major news networks today? Tell them The Case Against Barack Obama and Obama Nation are not legitimate journalism—they're a smear campaign based on falsehoods. Authors whose sole goal is to smear Barack Obama should not be given on-air coverage (and if the authors are already booked, their inaccuracies must be exposed).
You can find email information for one of the major networks http://www.moveon.org/contact_tool/?p_id=105&id=13406-7646285-KPQEyix&t=3">here on our website.
Other MoveOn members will get contact information for other networks, so together we can cover everyone. The more polite and thoughtful our emails are, the more effective they will be.
There are already some positive signs that our message is getting through. In an interview with one of the right-wing authors, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer said a Media Matters report found "some eight, nine, ten pages of factual errors," and asked, "f they are going through, and they are finding all of these factual errors in your book, why should we give you the credibility?"2
We need to keep the pressure on so everyone at the major news networks understands that the public wants them—needs them—to play that strong watchdog role. Here is a sampling of the many errors found by Media Matters in the two books:
Sampling from The Obama Nation, by Jerome Corsi—co-author of Unfit for Command:
- Troops in Afghanistan: To paint Obama as weak on security, Corsi claims Obama supports "de-escalating" troops from Afghanistan. In fact, while Obama does support ending the war in Iraq, Obama has been calling for an increase of U.S. troops in Afghanistan since at least 2006.3 This is a policy John McCain long opposed before recently agreeing with Obama.4
- Killing newborn babies: Discussing his book on FOX, Corsi claimed, "Even if a child was born, said the woman still had the right to kill the child in an abortion." He repeated this claim on numerous Sean Hannity shows. This claim is blatantly ridiculous. No politician, Obama included, holds that position. Corsi was referring to a fabricated claim that choice opponents made about a piece of legislation in the Illinois Senate.5
- Obama's sister: Corsi casts doubt on Obama's description of his past by saying Obama's autobiography "devotes the entire second chapter...to his time in Indonesia, but remarkably, he makes no reference to Maya's birth." In fact, in the chapter discussing his time in Indonesia, Obama specifically writes about "the birth of my sister, Maya."6
Obama's campaign blogger: Corsi writes of Obama campaign blogger Sam Graham-Felsen, "After leaving Harvard, Graham-Felsen published an article in an avowedly socialist magazine." In fact, the article was published in well-respected progressive magazine The Nation. It was later reprinted by the Socialist Viewpoint—and CBSNews.com! The link Corsi uses as a citation clearly says that the article was reprinted from another publication.7
Sampling from The Case Against Barack Obama, by David Freddoso:
- Fighting terrorists in Pakistan: To diminish Obama's stance against terrorism, Freddoso claims that it was only a "slip of the tongue" when Obama said in a major foreign policy speech that America must be able to go after Bin Laden, even if Pakistan wouldn't. In fact, Obama's prepared remarks and the excerpts that Obama's campaign emailed to reporters prior to the actual speech included this line: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."8
- Meeting with foreign leaders: Freddoso claims that Sen. Joe Biden, who is highly respected on foreign policy, was "against Obama" when it came to meeting with foreign leaders. In fact, in the ABC interview cited by Freddoso, Biden was agree'ing with Obama's position.9
- Ethics reform: Freddoso cites a book by a Chicago journalist to characterize ethics legislation Obama passed in Illinois as "relatively harmless" and to claim the bill merely made Obama "look like a reformer." In fact, the Chicago journalist said pushing the bill "was a tough assignment for a new lawmaker, since he was essentially sponsoring legislation that would strip away long-held privileges and perks from his colleagues," and that the bill "essentially lifted Illinois, a state with a deep history of illicit, pay-to-play politics, into the modern world when it came to ethics restrictions."10
Plenty of other factual inaccuracies are posted on MediaMatters.org — and more come out by the day. We need to make sure news organizations don't legitimize right-wing smears.
Can you contact one of the major news networks today? Tell them The Case Against Barack Obama and Obama Nation are not legitimate journalism—they're a smear campaign based on falsehoods. Authors whose sole goal is to smear Barack Obama should not be given on-air coverage (and if the authors are already booked, their inaccuracies must be exposed).
You can find email information for one of the major networks http://www.moveon.org/contact_tool/?p_id=105&id=13406-7646285-KPQEyix&t=3">here on our website.
Thanks for all you do to hold the media accountable.
–Adam G., Justin, Anna, Noah, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "First Obama attack book in the works," Politico, June 23, 2008
2. "Citing Media Matters report on Obama Nation falsehoods, MSNBC's Brewer asked Corsi: '(W)hy should we give you the credibility?'" Media Matters, August 5, 2008
3. "Unfit for Publication: Corsi's The Obama Nation filled with falsehoods," Media Matters, August 4, 2008
4. "Did Obama Force McCain To Flip-Flop On Afghanistan?" Huffington Post, July 15, 2008
5. "On three Hannity programs, Corsi offered another falsehood: Obama supports abortion '(a)fter a child's born,'" Media Matters, August 2, 2008
6. "Unfit for Publication: Corsi's The Obama Nation filled with falsehoods," Media Matters, August 4, 2008
7. Ibid.
8. "Citations in Freddoso's anti-Obama book rife with misinformation," Media Matters, August 5, 2008
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
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