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Brokaw did not challenge GOP senator's false claim about Obama and taxes

During the September 2 edition of MSNBC Live, NBC News host Tom Brokaw failed to challenge Sen. Richard Burr's (R-NC) false assertion that Sen. Barack Obama has proposed "increased taxes -- and that's taxes across the board on the American people without exception." Brokaw did not note that Obama has proposed raising taxes only on households earning more than $250,000, while also calling for tax cuts for low- and middle-income families. Nor did he note that McCain's own chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, has reportedly said it is inaccurate to say that "Barack Obama raises taxes." Attacks on Obama's tax plan by the McCain campaign have been criticized when scrutinized for accuracy. For example, PolitiFact.com found that an ad released in early August claiming that Obama "promises more taxes on small business, seniors, your life savings, your family" was "a distortion of Obama's proposals" because "Obama does not promise those things; in fact, he promises more taxes for taxpayers with the highest incomes." Additionally, FactCheck.org found a pattern of deceptive and misleading ads about Obama's tax plan by the McCain campaign. In an August 31 editorial headlined "Continuing Deception: Mr. McCain's ads on taxes are just plain false," The Washington Post wrote: THERE IS a serious debate to be had in this presidential campaign about the fundamentally different tax policies of Barack Obama and John McCain. Then there is the phony, misleading and at times outright dishonest debate that the McCain campaign has been waging -- most recently with a television ad. The two candidates have very different positions on taxes. Mr. Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and cut them substantially for low- and middle-income taxpayers. He would cut taxes for more households, and by a larger amount, than Mr. McCain, who would give the greatest benefits to wealthy households and corporations. These are disagreements rooted in divergent views about the role of tax policy: the importance of reducing inequality versus the importance of encouraging investment. Mr. Obama has the wiser and more fiscally responsible of the plans, on balance, but this is by no means a one-sided debate between evil, tycoon-hugging Republicans and good-hearted Democrats. Higher taxes do have consequences for the behavior of both individuals and corporations. Listening to the candidates debate and defend their actual plans would be a useful exercise. Instead, the McCain campaign insists on completely misrepresenting Mr. Obama's plan. From the 4 p.m. ET hour of the September 2 edition of MSNBC Live: BROKAW: Senator, in North Carolina, George Bush won by 12 percentage points over John Kerry four years ago. The Obama campaign is determined to run a 50-state campaign. You've got about 22 percent of the voters in North Carolina are African-American. We're going to share with you now an ad that your candidate, John McCain, is already running in North Carolina. Let's take a look at that and then talk about the strategy. ANNOUNCER [video clip]: Take away the crowds, the chants -- all that's left are costly words. Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans, billions in new government spending, years of deficits, no balanced budgets, and painful tax increases on working American families. They're ready to tax, ready to spend -- but not ready to lead. BROKAW: Senator McCain already spending money in a state like North Carolina, the day after Labor Day. You must anticipate a very close race there. BURR: Well, I think it's going to be closer than historically we've seen, but Barack Obama's been spending money in North Carolina for two months now. And I think that if you look at that ad, it's indicative of exactly the plan that Barack Obama has called for, and that's increased taxes -- and that's taxes across the board on the American people without exception. BROKAW: There is a great deal of discussion at this convention and just outside of it, and not just among the media, about the selection of Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, as John McCain's running mate. A number of people are saying they were stunned by it, they see this as what one of them called a "Hail Sarah" pass, not a "Hail Mary" pass. Are you going to be able to persuade the American people that she is ready on day one to step into the Oval Office, given her very limited experience objectively?

Ignoring evidence to the contrary, NY Times' Brooks claims Palin made "mortal enem[y]" of Stevens

In his September 2 New York Times column, David Brooks wrote that Gov. Sarah Palin is "a woman who risked her career taking on the corrupt Republican establishment in her own state, who twice defeated the oil companies, who made mortal enemies of the two people [Sen. John] McCain has always held up as the carriers of the pork-barrel disease: [Rep. Don] Young [R-AK] and [Sen. Ted] Stevens [R-AK]." Brooks' characterization of Palin and Stevens as "mortal enemies" is undermined by substantial evidence. For example, in a July joint press conference, while Stevens acknowledged "comments made [by Palin] about my earmarks" and "the [federal corruption] investigation," Stevens said he has "never known of any animosity between" them; similarly, Palin said she had "great respect" for Stevens. Further, Palin previously served as co-director of a 527 organization bearing Stevens' name; Palin ran advertisements during her 2006 gubernatorial campaign that featured Stevens endorsing her; while Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, she reportedly hired a lobbying firm to secure earmarks for the town, and the account was handled by Stevens' former chief of staff; Stevens has endorsed her 2008 vice-presidential bid; and Stevens' campaign website contains several pictures of Palin with Stevens. Brooks wrote: When McCain met Sarah Palin last February, he was meeting the rarest of creatures, an American politician who sees the world as he does. Like McCain, Palin does not seem to have an explicit governing philosophy. Her background is socially conservative, but she has not pushed that as governor of Alaska. She seems to find it easier to work with liberal Democrats than the mandarins in her own party. Instead, she seems to get up in the morning to root out corruption. McCain was meeting a woman who risked her career taking on the corrupt Republican establishment in her own state, who twice defeated the oil companies, who made mortal enemies of the two people McCain has always held up as the carriers of the pork-barrel disease: Young and Stevens. However, Brooks ignored several facts about the relationship between Palin and Stevens. "Great respect" for Stevens During a July 2 joint press conference about Stevens' energy plan, Palin and Stevens were asked about a possible "rift between" them. Stevens said during his response: "I've never known of any animosity between the two of us at all. We are each free to make comments about what the other does and every once in a while she'll say I'm stupid and that, that, prob -- she may be right." Palin responded, "I've never said that." She went on to say, "I have great respect for the senator and he needs to be heard across America, his voice, his experience, his passion needs to be heard across America so that Alaska can contribute more. I again have great respect for him and I agree there's a big difference between reality and perception regarding our relationship." Stevens added: "If you object to this first edition of the Sarah-Ted Show, I hope it'll continue." From the July 2 press conference: JASON MOORE (KTUU reporter): I'd just like to hear from each of you how you feel about the other. I think there is a sort of perceived rift or perception in Alaska there's a rift between you two. The governor's made some statements against some of your earmarks. She said at the time your house was searched that you needed to tell Alaskans more about what's behind that. You haven't exactly had glowing endorsements of AGIA [Alaska Gasline Inducement Act]. What do you two think about each other, and describe your relationships. PALIN: You can go first. STEVENS: Well, you know, I -- I -- I don't really object to the comments made about my earmarks. I think that, you know, they -- they're part of a period of need. I'm not sure -- with the money that's coming into the state, I don't think we're going to get many earmarks in the future. We -- we developed our earmarks in a period of need and found a way to bring these federal agencies in here through the Denali Commission and other things like that. I don't object to people objecting to that. I think the investigation is another matter, and I do think that she -- the governor had every right to say what she did. I didn't take any umbrage about it -- PALIN: Thank you. STEVENS: -- I never talked to her about it at all. I -- I wish I had her -- her freedom to speak about it, but I don't. You know, it's -- it's there, it's continuing, and that's all there is to it. But as far as getting along, hell, I don't know if you know it, when [former Gov.] Frank Murkowski was first elected, this lady and I and the mayor of Cordova, Margie Johnson, traveled around the state for two weeks. We've known each other for a long time and worked together for a long time. I've never known of any animosity between the two of us at all. We're each free to make comments about what the other does, and every once in a while she'll say I'm stupid and that, that, prob -- she may be right. PALIN: I've never said that. STEVENS: No, I just -- PALIN: And I -- I have great respect for the senator, and he needs to be heard across America. His voice, his experience, his passion needs to be heard across America so that Alaska can contribute more, so that we can be producers, so that we can help lead the rest of the U.S. I, again, have great respect for him, and I agree there's a big difference between reality and perception regarding our relationship. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Governor -- STEVENS: If you object to this first edition of the Sarah-Ted Show, I hope it'll continue. Co-director of 527 bearing Stevens' name The Washington Post's Matthew Mosk reported on September 1 that Palin served as one of three directors of a 527 organization, named Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc., "until June 2005, when her name was replaced on state filings." From Mosk's post on the washingtonpost.com blog The Trail: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. The group was designed to serve as a political boot camp for Republican women in the state. The stated purpose of the 527, according to its 8871 form, filed with the Internal Revenue Service and signed March 19, 2004, is "[t]o increase the number of Republican women in elected offices and in appointed governmental and political positions, including advisory and regulatory commissions through training and education." 2006 gubernatorial endorsement During her 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Palin ran an ad featuring Stevens endorsing her candidacy. In the ad, Stevens said that Palin represents "a new vision, new energy. ... When you go to vote, don't go to vote alone. And you'll help Sarah become the next governor of Alaska, which we all want to see." From the ad: STEVENS: We have a state that needs new management. (Text on screen: Senator Stevens Speaks About New Leadership) STEVENS: These two people represent a new generation. And they represent a new vision, new energy. They represent the kind of people who ought to come along and take our places. And that needs a new agenda for all of us to get behind. Think of this: When you go to vote, don't go to vote alone. And you'll help Sarah become the next governor of Alaska, which we all want to see. ANNOUNCER: Frugally paid for by Palin/ [Lt. Gov candidate Sean] Parnell, new energy for Alaska. 245 W. 5th, 99501. Mosk reported that "[s]hortly after Palin was announced as McCain's vice presidential pick, the ad was removed from her gubernatorial campaign web site. It remains available on YouTube." Indeed, a Google cache of Palin's website "as it appeared on Aug 29, 2008 16:47:35 GMT" shows the text, "Senator Stevens Speaks About New Leadership" and a disabled link to the Stevens commercial under the headline "View Sarah's Commercials!" From the Google cache:

Fox News' Garrett ignored McCain campaign attack ads on Obama during Gustav

During the September 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Fox News congressional correspondent Major Garrett stated that "[Sen.] Barack Obama made the decision not to attack [Sen. John] McCain and [President] Bush" and later claimed, "[J]ust a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, [Sen. Joe] Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav." But neither Garrett nor host Brit Hume noted that McCain ran attack ads that day or that a campaign spokesman reportedly attacked Obama, as the Obama campaign reportedly pointed out. Indeed, a search* of the TVEyes.com database for September 1 found that McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee aired an ad approved by McCain on numerous broadcast stations that asserted, "Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans. ... They're ready to tax, ready to spend -- but not ready to lead." Further, in a September 1 post on the Tribune Washington bureau blog The Swamp, Mark Silva reported that McCain campaign chief strategist Steve Schmidt said of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's presumptive running mate, "She is, by any objective experience, more accomplished than Sen. Obama.... We'll stack up her accomplishments against his any day of the week... Governors run things." From the September 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume: GARRETT: Barack Obama made the decision not to attack McCain and Bush just moments before hitting the stage here at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit, where the city's beloved jazz festival is still going on. And throughout the day, he has held to a "no politics" standard. The same, however, cannot be said for his running mate. Joe Biden eschewed politics this morning at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh, which he did not attend, and an economic roundtable. But just a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav -- Brit. HUME: OK, Major. Thank you. Still ahead, what President Bush has done to make sure Hurricane Gustav does not become another Katrina. And it was once the most dangerous places in Iraq. Now a major turnaround is celebrated today in Anbar province. We'll tell you what happened there when we come back. From the 6 p.m. ET hour of the September 1 broadcast on CBS Detroit affiliate WWJ: ANNOUNCER: Take away the crowds, the chants -- all that's left are costly words. Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans, billions in new government spending, years of deficits, no balanced budgets, and painful tax increases on working American families. They're ready to tax, ready to spend -- but not ready to lead. McCAIN: I'm John McCain, and I approve this message. * Search terms in TVEyes.com: "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" for September 1.

Print media reported McCain ad congratulating Obama, ignored McCain attacks on the same day

Articles in several media outlets, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Washington Times, and Reuters, reported on an ad by Sen. John McCain in which McCain congratulates Sen. Barack Obama -- who accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech -- that states: "Too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to stop and say, 'Congratulations.' How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day. Tomorrow we'll be back at it, but tonight, senator, job well done." But none of these articles pointed out that, notwithstanding the ad's suggestion that McCain was taking the day off from attacking Obama, the McCain campaign ran attack ads the night of Obama's speech and issued a web video and accompanying press release criticizing Obama earlier in the day. Nor did these articles note that McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds issued a statement that evening criticizing Obama's acceptance speech. A McCain ad asserting Obama is "ready to raise your taxes, but not ready to lead," ran on Washington, D.C., TV station WRC prior to the station's coverage of Obama's speech. The same ad also ran that evening on TV stations in Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Moreover, following the conclusion of Obama's acceptance speech, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds issued a statement criticizing the speech: Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama. When the temple comes down, the fireworks end, and the words are over, the facts remain: Senator Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year, and still voted against funds for American troops in harm's way. The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be President. The statement was followed by a section listing Obama's "Top Misleading Claims." By contrast, separate articles in The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as a Bloomberg article, reported on McCain's ad, but also noted criticism of Obama's speech by the McCain campaign. The New York Times' Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny reported that "the softer tone did not last; Mr. Obama was still on stage, watching the fireworks, when Mr. McCain's campaign issued a statement attacking him." Media Matters for America previously noted that on August 28, Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw aired the McCain ad congratulating Obama and called it a "pretty smart ad" without noting the McCain campaign's attacks on Obama that day. From Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate WRC's broadcast of NBC's August 28 coverage of the Democratic National Convention: ANNOUNCER: Celebrities don't have to worry about family budgets. But we sure do. We're paying more for food and gas, making it harder to save for college, retirement. Obama's solution? Higher taxes, called a "recipe for economic disaster." He's ready to raise your taxes, but not ready to lead. McCAIN: I'm John McCain, and I approve this message. ANNOUNCER: The Redskins Report, returning September 6 on NBC 4. BRIAN WILLIAMS (NBC Nightly News anchor): We're back here in Denver. We mentioned this is the 45th anniversary of Dr. King's speech. In the crowd tonight, a member of Congress who, as a civil rights worker in the struggle, was beaten to within an inch of his life. He, these days, is U.S. Congressman John Lewis. Our own Savannah Guthrie is with him in this crowd. Savannah?

ABC falsely said McCain has never brought up Ayers, suggested McCain is separate from his campaign

An August 25 entry on ABCNews.com's Political Radar blog falsely asserted that an Obama campaign ad -- which includes an announcer saying, "With all our problems, why is [Sen.] John McCain talking about the '60s, trying to link [Sen.] Barack Obama to radical Bill Ayers?"-- "is incorrect in insinuating that John McCain himself has brought up Ayers." In fact, "McCain himself ... brought up Ayers," unprompted, during an April interview on ABC's This Week. The post also said: "[I]t is in fact McCain's campaign that has sought to use the Ayers association against Obama," suggesting that McCain is somehow not responsible for what his campaign says. Reporter Tahman Bradley gave no indication that McCain has repudiated or in any way distanced himself from his aides' comments linking Ayers to Obama. In the August 25 post, Bradley reported that "the Obama campaign is using a new television ad to take on the issue of Obama's association with a 1970s radical who bombed the Capitol and Pentagon" and that the ad is intended to "accuse Sen. McCain of raising the Ayers issue in the presidential campaign." Bradley then reported, "The spot is incorrect in insinuating that John McCain himself has brought up Ayers." But during an April 20 interview on This Week, after host George Stephanopoulos asked McCain whether Obama "shares your sense of patriotism," McCain replied, "I'm sure he's very patriotic, but his relationship with Mr. Ayers is open to question." McCain then persisted in criticizing Obama about Ayers during the interview. After falsely asserting that McCain has not "brought up Ayers," Bradley continued: "[I]t is in fact McCain's campaign that has sought to use the Ayers association against Obama, and McCain spokesman Brian Rogers did so again upon learning about the ad." Bradley quoted Rogers questioning Obama's judgment for associating with an "unrepentant terrorist," which is a recurring talking point from McCain's campaign. On August 20, Rogers referred, in a statement, to Obama's "relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers," and on May 18, spokesman Tucker Bounds commented that "when Barack Obama was beginning his career in politics he was launching it at the home of William Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist." From the April 20 edition of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos: STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you have any doubt that Barack Obama shares your sense of patriotism? McCAIN: I'm sure he's very patriotic, but his relationship with Mr. Ayers is open to question. And that -- STEPHANOPOULOS: Why? McCAIN: Because, if you're going to associate and have as a friend and serve on a board and have a guy kick off your campaign that says he's unrepentant, that he wished he'd bombed more. And then, the worst thing of all, that I think really indicates Senator Obama's attitude, is he had the incredible statement that he compared Mr. Ayers, an unrepentant terrorist -- an unrepentant terrorist, with Senator Tom Coburn. Senator Coburn, a physician who goes to Oklahoma on the weekends and brings babies into life. Comparing those two, I mean, that's not -- that's an attitude, frankly, that certainly isn't in keeping with the overall attitude of the American people -- STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama said -- McCAIN: -- and it's very insulting to a great man, a great doctor, a great humanitarian. To compare him with a guy who says in -- after 2001, I wish we had bombed more? I had a reconciliation with the anti-war movement. One of the great experiences of my life was to get to know and love David Ifshin. I had a reconciliation with the Vietnamese, when we normalized relations. But how can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings, which could have or did kill innocent people? STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama says he was eight years old when that was happening. McCAIN: But he became friends with him and spent time with him, while the guy was unrepentant over his activities as a member of a terrorist organization, the Weathermen. And then to compare him with Dr. Tom Coburn who spends so much of his life bringing babies into this world -- that in my view is really -- it borders on outrageous. STEPHANOPOULOS: He also pointed out that he and Mr. Ayers have a very loose relationship. They live in the same neighborhood; there was an organizing meeting many, many years ago, he says, in his house and he says, frankly, I don't agree with these comments that Mr. Ayers made. McCAIN: Doesn't agree with them? Does he condemn them? Does he -- would he condemn someone who says that they're unrepentant and wished that they had bombed more, and compare him to a doctor, one of the great humanitarian, in my view, one of the greatest spokesperson for the rights of the unborn in America? STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you say he should condemn these comments. McCAIN: Sure.

Citing response about Hanoi prison, Politico characterized as "new" McCain's willingness to discuss his "biography"

In an August 18 Politico article about Sen. John McCain's August 17 appearance at Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, chief political writer Mike Allen and executive editor Jim VandeHei noted that in response to Warren's question about "[w]hat's the most gut-wrenching decision you've ever had to make," McCain cited his refusal to accept an early release from a North Vietnamese prison camp. Allen and VandeHei claimed that McCain's answer "shows the power of his biography, and a new willingness to publicly discuss it." In fact, McCain has repeatedly referred to his Vietnam War record, as Media Matters for America has noted, and has specifically cited his refusal to accept an early release in a book, interviews, speeches, and campaign ads since 1999. In a June 25 blog entry, Politico senior political writer Jonathan Martin similarly wrote that McCain's decision to decline early release "is perhaps the most compelling element of his biography yet something which he has rarely voiced in his years in pubilc [sic] life." And as Media Matters for America documented, in a February 4 article, Martin also falsely suggested that McCain did not "spotlight" his military experience and years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam during his 2000 presidential campaign. By contrast, Politico senior political writer Ben Smith noted in a June 30 article that McCain has "written repeatedly of his service": McCain has written repeatedly of his service, including in a long 1973 magazine article and in his memoir, "Faith of My Fathers." A Navy aviator from a military family, he was shot down on his 23rd sortie over Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1967. His mission was to bomb a power plant in the North Vietnamese capital. Already suffering from broken limbs, he was beaten by a crowd before being taken to a POW camp. After being tortured there, he participated in some Vietnamese propaganda efforts. "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine," he later wrote. But he later defied his captors by refusing to meet with anti-war delegations from abroad, he wrote, and he also refused the most valuable special treatment he was offered: early release. "I did not want to go out of order," he later wrote. He was finally released on March 14, 1973. Below are additional examples from 1999 to 2008 of McCain discussing his refusal to accept early release: Faith of My Fathers McCain discusses his refusal to accept an early release repeatedly in his 1999 book, Faith of My Fathers (Random House). For example, on Page 235 of the paperback edition, McCain writes: I wanted to say yes. I badly wanted to go home. I was tired and sick, and despite my bad attitude, I was often afraid. But I couldn't keep from my own counsel the knowledge of how my release would affect my father, and my fellow prisoners. I knew what the Vietnamese hoped to gain from my release. [...] Moreover, I knew that every prisoner the Vietnamese tried to break, those who had arrived before me and those who would come after me, would be taunted with the story of how an admiral's son had gone home early, a lucky beneficiary of America's class-conscious society. I knew that my release would add to the suffering of men who were already straining to keep faith with their country. I was injured, but I believed I could survive. I couldn't persuade myself to leave. 1999 to 2000 In a September 13, 1999, interview on Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, while promoting Faith of My Fathers, McCain discussed "a particular time when the Vietnamese offered me the opportunity for early release." From the interview (retrieved from the Nexis news database): HUME: Now when you were there -- When one reads, even when one captivity and the deprivation of it, but of the repeated beatings and torture and the terrible physical condition you were in, I mean, to any ordinary person, it seems like an impossible ordeal. To what extent were you thinking about your family, your father, and your grandfather and others when you were going through that? MCCAIN: Oh, I clearly didn't want to embarrass my family. I tried to do the best I could, which was not enough, by the way, but there came a particular time when the Vietnamese offered me the opportunity for early release. I knew they were doing it because of the propaganda they would get from releasing the admiral's son, who was commander in chief of all U.S. forces in the Pacific, and I knew that it was a violation of our code of conduct. But I also not only was it my father's approval or disapproval and my grandfather's, but also that of the -- my fellow POWs, who would have been told, "See the admiral's son gets to go home and you stay." And I thought that would have a bad impact on their morale. An October 28, 1999, Washington Post article by staff writer Howard Kurtz noted that McCain aired a television ad in which a narrator stated of McCain: "When found to be the son and grandson of admirals, was offered early release; he refused." McCain aired a February 2000 radio ad in which a narrator said of McCain: "In Vietnam, John McCain stood up to his communist captors and refused early release from prison. In Washington, he's the conservative reformer attacking big government waste." According to a February 25, 2000, Los Angeles Times article, McCain aired a television ad which featured the text: "McCain refused early release from prison, where he suffered repeated beatings and was held for 5 1/2 years." 2008 campaign McCain aired a December 2007 television ad in which Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said: "McCain has been tested like no other politician in America. As a prisoner of war, he turned down an offer for early release because he refused preferential treatment." In a January 1 Washington Post article, reporter Alec MacGillis wrote that "[a]t many of his [McCain's] events, his campaign sets up a screen and plays for the crowd a three-minute film called 'Service With Honor,' telling the story of McCain's more than five years of captivity in a North Vietnamese prison after his Navy plane was shot down in 1967. 'He was offered early release, and he told 'em to shove it,' says one fellow prisoner of war, Paul Galanti." At a June 26 campaign event in Cincinnati, McCain said: "When I was allowed the opportunity, given the opportunity to return home early from prison camp. I decided against that because I knew the effect that it would have on my fellow prisoners." In a June 28 speech to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, a July 8 speech to the League of United Latin American Citizens, and a July 14 speech to National Council of La Raza Convention, McCain repeated this statement: "When I was in prison in Vietnam, I like other of my fellow POWs, was offered early release by my captors. Most of us refused because we were bound to our code of conduct, which said those who had been captured the earliest had to be released the soonest." In a July 8 McCain campaign television ad, an announcer states of McCain: "John McCain: Shot down. Bayoneted. Tortured. Offered early release, he said, 'No.' He'd sworn an oath." At a July 17 campaign event in Kansas City, Missouri, McCain said: "[T]he Vietnamese came to me and said, we'll allow you to go home early because my father happened to be a high ranking admiral. Our code of conduct said that only those go home early in order of capture. It was a brave young Mexican-American by the name of Everett Alvarez who had been in prison a couple years longer than I had. So I knew I had to refuse." Similarly, at a July 18 campaign event in Warren, Michigan, McCain said (retrieved from Nexis): "One time when I was in prison in North Vietnam and the North Vietnamese came and said, 'You can go home early,' because my father was a high-ranking admiral, I chose not to do that." From Allen and VandeHei's August 18 Politico article: 5) McCain shows the power of his biography, and a new willingness to publicly discuss it. WARREN: "What's the most gut-wrenching decision you've ever had to make? And what was the process that you used to make it?" MCCAIN: "It was long ago, and far away, in a prison camp in North Vietnam. My father was a high-ranking admiral. The Vietnamese came and said that I could leave prison early. And we had a code of conduct. It said you only leave by order of capture. I also had a dear and beloved friend, who was from California ... who had been shot down before me. But I wasn't in good physical shape. In fact, I was in rather bad physical shape. So I said no. Now, in interest of full disclosure, I'm happy I didn't know the war was going to last for another three years or so. "But I said no, and I'll never forget sitting in my last answer, and the high-ranking officer offered it, slammed the door and the interrogator said, 'Go back to your cell. It's going to be very tough on you now.' And it was. But not only the toughest decision I ever made, but I am most happy about that decision, than any decision I've ever made in my life." (APPLAUSE).

Reuters uncritically reported McCain campaign's misleading claim that Obama "made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops"

In a July 27 Reuters article, political correspondent John Whitesides uncritically reported that "[Sen. John] McCain's campaign also needled [Sen. Barack] Obama about canceling a visit to see injured American troops at a base in Germany last week, implying that he did so because he could not bring the media along." Whitesides further wrote that the McCain campaign "even aired an advertisement in which the announcer says: 'And now, he made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.' " Whitesides did not, however, note any of the facts undermining the McCain campaign's criticism of Obama. As Media Matters for America has documented, Obama reportedly visited wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center without the media, and although he did not visit Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, he reportedly made phone calls to wounded soldiers there. Moreover, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell reported on July 24 that Obama "visited a casualty unit in the Green Zone" in Iraq "without photographers" several days before arriving in Germany. Additionally, as ABC senior national correspondent Jake Tapper noted in a July 26 post on his blog Political Punch, "The McCain campaign provides no evidence for the assertion that being told he [Obama] couldn't bring media had anything to do with the trip's cancellation." Similarly, in a July 26 post on the Time blog Swampland, national political correspondent Karen Tumulty wrote that "[t]here is absolutely no evidence" for the ad's suggestion that "Obama cancelled the trip because he was told he couldn't bring the media." According to Obama spokeswoman Linda Douglass, "We told military officials explicitly that Senator Obama had absolutely no intention of bringing any members of the media or photographers in with him to visit the wounded warriors" at Landstuhl. In her Swampland post, Tumulty also noted that "there's a little problem with this line: 'And now, he made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops.' Sure enough, the accompanying footage shows Obama playing basketball ... with the troops in Kuwait. [ellipses in original]" From the July 25 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe: MITCHELL: The background on the military flap is that they had clearly planned a trip to Rammstein. They were planning to visit the injured troops, and then the Pentagon explained they couldn't go as part of a political trip. The Obama campaign thought that they could go, leave the press corps on the tarmac, and then take off with military escort and make this one last visit, as he did, by the way, in Iraq. He visited a casualty unit in the Green Zone without photographers as part of the congressional delegation. But the military said that the rules are that he could only go as part of a previously arranged military congressional delegation to Rammstein. Clearly, people in the campaign are really angry. They had wanted this to be the final stop on the trip here in Germany, and to do it without the press corps, just to do it on his own. But the objections of the military were that he is now being staffed by campaign aides, not by his Senate staff, which -- who were the people who of course were with him when he went with [Sen. Chuck] Hagel [R-NE] and [Sen.] Jack Reed [D-RI] in Iraq. So, you -- you know, the anger here is pretty intense at the Pentagon: They feel that the military are, you know, drawing some lines. They're not saying this publicly of course, but drawing lines that they might not have drawn for other people. He was planning to just go by himself, not with cameras, not with any entrourage, as he had done in Walter Reed in the past in Washington, as he did in Iraq, Joe. JOE SCARBOROUGH (host): It's -- it's curious, if that's the case, why the campaign didn't make that announcement yesterday and allowed stories go like this. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of "he said, she said" in the days to come about this. MITCHELL: Well, but they felt that they couldn't win. Yeah, they felt that they -- that they were in a, you know, no-win situation, that the Pentagon, perhaps, the military with cooperation from some Republican operatives, I mean, that's the -- the sort of scuttlebutt, that there have been some foreign policy advisers of John McCain with connections in the Pentagon, who've had something to do with this, but that is perhaps just the normal political paranoia of the season. From the July 27 Reuters article: As the Illinois senator prepared to switch his emphasis to the economy, McCain kept up his attacks on Obama's position on Iraq. McCain, in an interview broadcast on ABC's "This Week," said Obama's call for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq over a 16-month period was designed to help his drive to win the Democratic nomination. McCain's campaign also needled Obama about canceling a visit to see injured American troops at a base in Germany last week, implying that he did so because he could not bring the media along. It even aired an advertisement in which the announcer says: "And now, he made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras." McCAIN QUESTIONS OBAMA JUDGMENT "Senator Obama doesn't understand," McCain said in an interview conducted on Saturday. "He doesn't understand what's at stake here and he chose to take a political path that would have helped him get the nomination of his party." But McCain, an ardent supporter of the war, said he was not questioning the patriotism of his opponent, just his judgment. Obama defended his call for troop withdrawal, saying it should have begun earlier, and the real lack of judgment was McCain's vote for the war in the first place.

OSHKOSH WEEK ON VAN BUREN (Oshkosh) $500

Anyone from the Bay Area going to Oshkosh? Two rooms sublet for Oshkosh week (July 28 - August 3) downtown Oshkosh. 6 minutes from Whitman field. Oshkosh bus stops at the corner. Couples OK. Sharing with Air Show Announcer and senior management from the Australian International Airshow. Cable TV, high speed WiFi. $500 per room. Drop me an email or call my cell (650) 400-3575 Gordon

O'Reilly: "Birth control is not a medical condition, it is a choice"

As the blog Think Progress noted, on the July 17 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, while discussing the issue of whether health insurance plans that cover Viagra should also cover birth control, host Bill O'Reilly asserted: "Viagra is used to help a medical condition -- that's why it's covered. Birth control is not a medical condition, it is a choice. Why should I or anybody else have to pay for other people's choices?" But O'Reilly's assertion is contradicted by professional medical associations that have stated that pregnancy is a medical condition and that "[c]ontraception is medically necessary" for women. O'Reilly made his comment after airing a Planned Parenthood Action Fund ad that included a clip of Sen. John McCain being asked: "It's unfair how the insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?" McCain responded: "I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer." During the segment, O'Reilly also said: "Do I have to buy you dinner before you use the birth control? Give me and every other taxpayer a break, Planned Parenthood." Dr. Luella Klein, former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and then-director of ACOG's women's health issues, was quoted in a May 12, 1998, USA Today article as saying: "Pregnancy is a medical condition, just like impotence. And the cost benefit of preventing pregnancy is much greater than treating impotence." In addition, ACOG's "Contraceptive Equity Toolkit" states that "[m]ost women can become pregnant from the time they are teenagers until they are in their late forties" and that "[c]ontraception is medically necessary to a woman for more than 30 years of her life." The Toolkit added: "To ignore the health benefits of contraception is to say that the alternative of 12 to 15 pregnancies during a woman's lifetime is medically acceptable." Further, in a May 8, 2007, press release, ACOG stated that "contraception is basic, preventive health care and should be readily available and treated the same as prophylactic therapies for other medical conditions." Additionally, according to the American Medical Association (AMA) Statement on Family and Medical Leave: "AMA supports policies that provide employees with reasonable job security and continued availability of health plan benefits in the event leave by an employee becomes necessary due to documented medical conditions. Such policies should provide for reasonable periods of paid or unpaid: (1) medical leave for the employee, including pregnancy" [emphases added]. Further, Think Progress quoted from a statement by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), which states that "[a]ccess to contraception is critical to preventing unintended pregnancies and to enabling women to control the timing and spacing of their pregnancies, which in turn reduces the incidence of maternal death, low birth weight babies, and infant mortality." The NWLC added that the "exclusion of prescription contraceptives from health insurance coverage unfairly disadvantages women by singling out for unfavorable treatment a health insurance need that only they have." From the July 17 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: O'REILLY: On a similar subject, the Planned Parenthood fanatics want you and me to pay for everybody's birth control, so they use John McCain to make that point. [begin video clip] ANNOUNCER: Ever use birth control? Then you'll want to hear this. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unfair how the insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that? McCAIN: I don't know enough about it to give you a informed answer. ANNOUNCER: Planned Parenthood Action Fund is responsible for the content of this advertising, because women deserve quality, affordable health care. [end video clip] O'REILLY: OK, listen up. Viagra is used to help a medical condition -- that's why it's covered. Birth control is not a medical condition, it is a choice. Why should I or anybody else have to pay for other people's choices? Do I have to buy you dinner before you use the birth control? Give me and every other taxpayer a break, Planned Parenthood.

Good cop/bad cop: Dobson denied attacking Obama's faith, while co-host Minnery questioned Obama's sincerity "with the way he talks about religion"

During the July 7 broadcast of the Focus on the Family radio program, Focus on the Family founder and chairman James Dobson denied that he and co-host Tom Minnery, Focus on the Family's senior vice president of government and public policy, had launched personal attacks on Sen. Barack Obama during a June broadcast of Focus on the Family. Responding to an ad that accused "certain people" of "attacking the faith of presidential candidates," Dobson said: "[W]e're also not throwing stones at Senator Obama for his faith," Dobson declared. "That's off the wall. We are responding to his comments about the Bible and about us and about the Constitution." But during the same July 7 broadcast, Minnery questioned if Obama is "even sincere with the way he talks about religion." During a June 24 broadcast, Dobson accused Obama of upholding a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution. "I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said of Obama. "He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter." Focus on the Family sent a pre-taped segment in advance to the Associated Press on June 23. As Media Matters for America noted, Dobson falsely suggested during the broadcast that Obama claimed Dobson "wants to expel people who are not Christians" from the United States. In fact, what Obama had said was, "And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would it be James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's?" During the first week of July, the Matthew 25 Network -- a new political action committee created to cultivate support for Obama from evangelical voters -- aired an ad on Christian radio stations in the Colorado Springs, Colorado, area, where Focus on the Family's headquarters are located, accusing "certain people" of "grabbing headlines by attacking the faith of presidential candidates." The ad's narrator continued, "With all these stones being cast at Senator Obama, it can be hard to know what to believe." Then, the ad segued into a statement by Obama: "I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives. Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to discovering his truth." Responding to the ad on July 7, Dobson asserted that Obama had "mentioned me in that speech in a very derogatory way." Dobson also stated that he was trying "to correct those biblical misinterpretations and the constitutional misinterpretation from our point of view" made by Obama in his speech. Dobson later claimed that he and Minnery were "not throwing stones at Senator Obama for his faith. That's off the wall." Then, later in the same broadcast, after playing the segment of the Matthew 25 Network's ad featuring Obama talking about his faith, Minnery stated, "We have to wonder if he's even sincere with the way he talks about religion." Minnery also attacked Obama's pro-choice views, asserting that Obama's "voting record does not match his verbal rhetoric in this commercial. He has one of the most liberal records of any senator on the subject of abortion." After Minnery's comments, Dobson concluded the segment: "[W]e did want to make this statement because we don't want to leave it on the record that we're throwing stones at Senator Obama to grab the headlines. That's very offensive to me personally, and I'm sure it is to you as well." From the July 7 broadcast of Focus on the Family: DOBSON: Before we get to that, however, Tom and I wanted to address something that is happening at this time. You may remember that back on June 24th, we did a broadcast where we talked about the outrageous ways that presidential candidate Barack Obama chooses to interpret both the Constitution and the Bible, and there were just many errors in what he said in a speech given in 2006 at an event called "A Call to Renewal." Those comments that we made that day were widely misinterpreted and misreported, and you know, it was even said that we had launched an attack on Senator Obama. The truth of the matter is he mentioned me in that speech in a very derogatory way, and then we tried to correct those biblical misinterpretations and the constitutional misinterpretation from our point of view. Well, now, an organization called Matthew 25 Network has been running ads that we think are also very, very misleading, and they're being aired on Christian radio stations -- we don't know how broadly -- but they do need to need to be responded to. Now, Tom, first I want our listeners to hear just a clip from that 60-second ad, and then I want to make a comment about it, and then I'd like you to comment on the balance. MINNERY: Well, OK, let's do it. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE [audio clip]: You know it's an election year when certain people start grabbing headlines by attacking the faith of presidential candidates. With all these stones being cast at Senator Obama, it can be hard to know what to believe. But in Luke, Jesus taught us that we must listen to what a man says because out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks. So here are words from Senator Obama's heart. DOBSON: Well, that's the beginning of this highly seductive message, Tom. You can almost hear the woman crying. She sounds wounded as she talks about this. But it's also misleading, as I indicated. For one thing, nobody is trying to grab headlines. Who needs 'em? I get 'em without even trying, even if I wanted them. And we're also not throwing stones at Senator Obama for his faith. That's off the wall. We are responding to his comment about the Bible and about us and about the Constitution. And that was the point of what we had to say. MINNERY: And it's also true that the Bible has other things to say about how people speak and the tongue. The tongue can be deceitful, and people don't always speak the truth. And there's some reason to doubt what it is we're about to hear. DOBSON: OK, the announcer who set this up then included a portion of a speech made somewhere, we don't know when, by Senator Barack Obama. And this is what he said. [begin audio clip] OBAMA: I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives. Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to discovering his truth. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paid for by Matthew 25 Network, Matthew25.org. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Matthew 25 Network is responsible for the content of this ad because we think it's time for a better Christian witness in politics. [end audio clip] DOBSON: Now, Tom, as you know, it's been widely reported in the media that Senator Obama is going to make an effort to draw evangelicals toward him, and it's obvious that this ad was aimed in that direction. But comment on the content of what the senator said. MINNERY: Sure. Well, it's not enough to believe the words, as seductive -- as you said -- as those words are. He's a politician. It's important to understand his voting record, and his voting record does not match his verbal rhetoric in this commercial. He has one of the most liberal records of any senator on the subject of abortion. Back in the Illinois state legislature, he even stood against the idea that there should be medical help for a child who survived an abortion. That's very radical. DOBSON: In fact, he stood up as the only member of that legislative body to oppose legislation to protect that child who managed to limp into the world after an abortion and made some statements that we have in front of us that are very, very dramatic. MINNERY: And his abortion views don't stop there. He favors experimenting on living human beings at the embryo stage. He favors allowing minor girls to be transported across state lines for abortions. He wants taxpayer money to be used for abortion. This is one left-wing liberal on the issue of abortion. DOBSON: He made this statement just a month or so ago, that if one of his own daughters were to get pregnant, he wouldn't want to see her get, quote, "punished," unquote, by having a child. That's the way he views a child being brought into the world -- as a punishment. MINNERY: And we have to question whether he's even sincere as he speaks so lovingly about religion. You remember over a month ago he was at a high-level, hoity-toity event, fundraising event in San Francisco, and he was commenting on some of the blue-collar working people that he met in Pennsylvania. Here's what he said about those working-class people. It's not surprising, he said, that they get bitter. They cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment. So despite what this commercial says, that's what he says when doesn't think he's going to be quoted. DOBSON: Well, we need to get to the program that we prepared for today, but we did want to make this statement because we don't want to leave it on the record that we're throwing stones at Senator Obama to grab the headlines. That's very offensive to me personally, and I'm sure it is to you as well. MINNERY: And I appreciate you wanting to defend the evangelical beliefs in the Bible.