Nancy Pelosi

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The Hill asserted some "surprise[d]" "liberals" did not resist Obama's "sudden turn to tax cuts," ignored his campaign pledge to cut taxes

In a January 5 article about President-elect Barack Obama's meetings with members of Congress to discuss a stimulus package, The Hill's Mike Soraghan asserted, "To the surprise of some, congressional liberals offered up little initial resistance to the sudden turn to tax cuts, which has been a conservative mantra since Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter." But in referring to Obama's purported "sudden turn to tax cuts," Soraghan did not note that Obama, as he reportedly pointed out in response to suggestions that he was trying to win over Republicans, promised tax cuts during the campaign. Additionally, Soraghan did not quote or name one person expressing "surprise" that "congressional liberals" would support tax cuts as part of a stimulus plan. On January 6, The Washington Post reported, "After a lunchtime session with his economic advisers, Obama rejected suggestions that the tax cuts were designed to win over GOP votes." The Post quoted Obama saying, "The notion that me wanting to include relief for working families in this plan is somehow a political ploy, when this was a centerpiece of my plan for the last two years doesn't make too much sense." Indeed, during his campaign, Obama proposed, in part, to "[c]ut taxes for 95 percent of workers and their families with a tax cut of $500 for workers or $1,000 for working couples," as well as to "cut taxes overall, reducing revenues to below the levels that prevailed under Ronald Reagan." From Soraghan's January 5 Hill article: But the overall size of the package remains a big question mark, and a potential disagreement between the two chambers. House aides say there's a general agreement around the amount of $775 billion. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), pressed for a figure on the overall size, said that Obama was talking about much larger numbers from his discussions with economists. "He has indicated that there's at least 20 economists that he's talked with," Reid said, "and all but one of those believe it should be from $800 billion to $1.2 trillion or $1.3 trillion." To the surprise of some, congressional liberals offered up little initial resistance to the sudden turn to tax cuts, which has been a conservative mantra since Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who comes from the liberal wing of her party, spent the day repeatedly praising the changes Obama was making. "I commend President-elect Obama for agreeing to work in a bipartisan way," Pelosi said. One labor leader offered support for having 40 percent of the package go to tax cuts as long as the size of the overall package was large -- in the $675 billion to $775 billion range that has been discussed on Capitol Hill. "It's not a problem if the package is big enough," said Bill Samuel, legislative director for the AFL-CIO. He noted that some have called for a larger stimulus package, and suggested the AFL-CIO would not be opposed to something bigger.

Wash. Times echoed opponents' distortion of EFCA in asserting it would "eliminat[e] the secret ballot"

In a January 5 article, Washington Times reporter S.A. Miller reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) "back a card-check bill that would allow unionization of a workplace if the majority of employees sign union cards, eliminating the secret ballot that workers cast to decide whether to allow a union." In fact, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that Pelosi and Reid support does not eliminate employees' rights to a secret ballot. As The New York Times reported, "Business groups have attacked the legislation because it would take away employers' right to insist on holding a secret-ballot election to determine whether workers favored unionization" [emphasis added]. Moreover, supporters of the EFCA say employers often use the election process to delay, obstruct, and intimidate workers in an effort to resist organizing efforts. The House Committee on Education and Labor has described the claim that "[t]he Employee Free Choice Act abolishes the National Labor Relations Board's 'secret ballot' election process" as a "myth" and stated on its website: "The Employee Free Choice Act would make that choice -- whether to use the NLRB election process or majority sign-up -- a majority choice of the employees, not the employer." Further, by referring to the EFCA as "a card-check bill" in the Washington Times article, Miller used language frequently employed by opponents of the EFCA. From the January 5 Washington Times article: Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Reid back a card-check bill that would allow unionization of a workplace if the majority of employees sign union cards, eliminating the secret ballot that workers cast to decide whether to allow a union. The bill, dubbed the Employee Free Choice Act, passed the House last year but died in a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate. The measure is a top priority for the Democrats' union allies. The question is how soon will Democratic leaders bring up the bill and risk political defeat while suffering criticism for kowtowing to union bosses. Republicans vow to stand firmly against the legislation. Their argument in defense of a secret ballot, which is a cornerstone of American democracy, will take considerable effort to rebuff. Still, the bill's supporters are confident. "I have no doubt it will pass and will be signed," said William Samuel, government affairs director for the AFL-CIO.

Ali Abunimah: Inheriting Bush's blinkers over Gaza

"I would like to ask President-elect Obama to say something please about the humanitarian crisis that is being experienced right now by the people of Gaza." Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney made her plea after disembarking from the badly damaged SS Dignity that had limped to the Lebanese port of Tyre while taking on water.The small boat, carrying McKinney, the Green Party's recent presidential candidate, other volunteers, and several tons of donated medical supplies, had been trying to reach the coast of Gaza when it was rammed by an Israeli gunboat in international waters. But as more than 2,400 Palestinians have been killed or injured ? the majority civilians ? since Israel began its savage bombardment of Gaza on 27 December, Obama has maintained his silence. "There is only one president at a time," his spokesmen tell the media. This convenient excuse has not applied, say, to Obama's detailed interventions on the economy, or his condemnation of the "coordinated attacks on innocent civilians" in Mumbai in November.The Mumbai attacks were a clear-cut case of innocent people being slaughtered. The situation in the Middle East however is seen as more "complicated" and so polite opinion accepts Obama's silence not as the approval for Israel's actions that it certainly is, but as responsible statesmanship.It ought not to be difficult to condemn Israel's murder of civilians and bombing of civilian infrastructure including hundreds of private homes, universities, schools, mosques, civil police stations and ministries, and the building housing the only freely-elected Arab parliament.It ought not to be risky or disruptive to US foreign policy to say that Israel has an unconditional obligation under the Fourth Geneva Convention to lift its lethal, months-old blockade preventing adequate food, fuel, surgical supplies, medications and other basic necessities from reaching Gaza.But in the looking-glass world of American politics, Israel, with its powerful first-world army, is the victim, and Gaza ? the besieged and blockaded home to 1.5 million immiserated people, half of them children and eighty percent refugees ? is the aggressor against whom no cruelty is apparently too extreme.While feigning restraint, Obama has telegraphed where he really stands; senior adviser David Axelrod told CBS on 28 December that Obama understood Israel's urge to "respond" to attacks on its citizens. Axelrod claimed that "this situation has become even more complicated in the last couple of days and weeks as Hamas began its shelling [and] Israel responded".The truce Hamas had meticulously upheld was shattered when Israel attacked Gaza, killing six Palestinians, as The Guardian itself reported on 5 November. A blatant disregard for the facts, it seems, will not leave the White House with George Bush on 20 January.Axelrod also recalled Obama's visit to Israel last July when he ignored Palestinians and visited the Israeli town of Sderot. There, Obama declared: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." This should not surprise anyone. Despite pervasive wishful thinking that Obama would abandon America's pro-Israel bias, his approach has been almost indistinguishable from the Bush administration's (as I showed in a longer analysis. Along with Tony Blair and George Bush, Obama staunchly supported Israel's war against Lebanon in July-August 2006, where it used cluster bombs on civilian areas, killing more than 1,000 people.Obama's comments in Sderot echoed what he said in a speech to the powerful pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, in March 2007. He recalled an earlier visit to the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona near the border with Lebanon which he said reminded him of an American suburb. There, he could imagine the sounds of Israeli children at "joyful play just like my own daughters". He saw a home the Israelis told him was damaged by a Hizbullah rocket (no one had been hurt in the incident).Obama has identified his daughters repeatedly with Israeli children, while never having uttered a word about the thousands ? thousands ? of Palestinian and Lebanese children killed and permanently maimed by Israeli attacks just since 2006. This allegedly post-racial president appears fully invested in the racist worldview that considers Arab lives to be worth less than those of Israelis and in which Arabs are always "terrorists".The problem is much wider than Obama: American liberals in general see no contradiction in espousing positions supporting Israel that they would deem extremist and racist in any other context. The cream of America's allegedly "progressive" Democratic party vanguard ? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Howard Berman, New York Senator Charles Schumer, among others ? have all offered unequivocal support for Israel's massacres in Gaza, describing them as "self-defence".And then there's Hillary Clinton, the incoming secretary of state and self-styled champion of women and the working classes, who won't let anyone outbid her anti-Palestinian positions.Democrats are not simply indifferent to Palestinians. In the recent presidential election, their efforts to win swing states like Florida often involved espousing positions dehumanising to Palestinians in particular and Arabs and Muslims in general. Many liberals know this is wrong but tolerate it silently as a price worth paying (though not to be paid by them) to see a Democrat in office.Even those further to the left implicitly accept Israel's logic. Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive, criticised Israel's attacks on Gaza as a "reckless" and "disproportionate response" to Hamas rocket attacks that he deemed "immoral". There are many others who do nothing to support nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation and colonisation, such as boycott, divestment and sanctions but who are quick to condemn any desperate Palestinian effort ? no matter how ineffectual and symbolic ? to resist Israel's relentless aggression.Similarly, we can expect that the American university professors who have publicly opposed the academic boycott of Israel on grounds of protecting "academic freedom" will remain just as silent about Israel's bombing of the Islamic University of Gaza as they have about Israel's other attacks on Palestinian academic institutions.There is no silver lining to Israel's slaughter in Gaza, but the reactions to it should at least serve as a wake-up call: when it comes to the struggle for peace and justice in Palestine, the American liberal elites who are about to assume power present as formidable an obstacle as the outgoing Bush administration and its neoconservative backers.Israel and the Palestinian territoriesBarack ObamaMiddle EastUnited Statesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

On Hannity & Colmes, Gingrich falsely claimed that Dennis Hastert "did not get a private plane"

On the December 19 broadcast of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Fox News contributor and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) falsely asserted that former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) "did not get a private plane" following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Gingrich added: "There's no reason for anyone but the president and vice president of the United States to have that level of security." Gingrich made his comments during a segment in which co-host Sean Hannity criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) use of a private jet. In fact, following 9-11, the House sergeant-at-arms, the Defense Department, and the White House agreed that military planes should be made available to the speaker of the House for national security reasons, and Hastert was the first speaker to use one. During the segment, Hannity said to Gingrich: "With all of this news and all of this outrage over the auto CEOs and private jets, et cetera, et cetera, here's what we discovered today -- that Princess Nancy Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader] Prince Harry Reid [D-NV] and every member of Congress during these tough economic times, they're going to get $4,700 in a pay increase. Nobody's mad that Nancy Pelosi has her private jet. You didn't have a private jet as speaker of the House." Co-host Alan Colmes later stated: "[O]n the private plane for Nancy Pelosi: She was advised after 9-11, as I understand it, for security reasons, to -- that she needed to have the private plane." Gingrich responded: "That's baloney. That is just baloney. Denny Hastert did not get a private plane. There's no reason for anyone but the president and vice president of the United States to have that level of security." As Media Matters for America noted, contrary to Gingrich's claim that "Denny Hastert did not get a private plane," House Sergeant-at-Arms Wilson Livingood said in a February 8, 2007, statement: "In a post 9/11 threat environment, it is reasonable and prudent to provide military aircraft to the Speaker [of the House] for official travel between Washington and her district. The practice began with Speaker Hastert and I have recommended that it continue with Speaker Pelosi." In addition, then-White House press secretary Tony Snow said in a February 7, 2007, White House press briefing, "After September 11th, the Department of Defense -- with the consent of the White House -- agreed that the Speaker of the House should have military transport." He also said: "So Speaker Hastert had access to military aircraft and Speaker Pelosi will, too." The next day, Snow stated, "It is important for the Speaker to have this kind of protection and travel," adding that such protection was "certainly appropriate for Speaker Hastert." Media Matters previously documented Hannity's false suggestion that Pelosi's use of a military jet for transportation was unprecedented on the December 4 broadcasts of his nationally syndicated radio program and his Fox News television program, as well as Gingrich's assertion on that evening's edition of Hannity & Colmes that Pelosi's use of a military jet for transportation was a "misuse of Air Force personnel" and that "there's no practical reason for it." From the December 19 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: HANNITY: And we continue now with former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a -- stand back and look at the big picture here: $700 billion bailout for banks, for financial institutions, for insurance companies. We have Barack Obama and the Democrats putting on the table nearly $1 trillion, including a new welfare program they'll create as part of their stimulus package. Now, the $17 billion is a loan. I don't want to see one autoworker lose their job -- neither does any American -- but we need the unions to work with the auto companies. But here's my problem: With all of this news and all of this outrage over the auto CEOs and private jets, et cetera, et cetera, here's what we discovered today -- that Princess Nancy Pelosi and Prince Harry Reid and every member of Congress during these tough economic times, they're going to get $4,700 in a pay increase. Nobody's mad that Nancy Pelosi has her private jet. You didn't have a private jet as speaker of the House. Why isn't there more anger at Washington government mismanagement than, you know, companies? GINGRICH: Well, I think there's a pretty good bit of anger about Congress and the entire mess in Washington. I think there's hope that President-elect Obama will somehow represent a change, but I have to say that the things we're seeing happen are almost unimaginable. Here you have the U.S. Congress rejecting help for the auto companies, saying that it shouldn't be passed unless there are very strong changes, and having the United Auto Workers in particular reject those changes. Now, you have the president coming right back and saying he doesn't care what the Congress did, he's going to write a check for $17 billion -- fundamentally wrong in every way. The fact is that the United Airlines, for example, went into bankruptcy, spent four years reorganizing, came out of bankruptcy, is healthier and stronger today, and would not have survived without that reorganization. Giving these companies $17 billion without having them change their behavior simply throws away the money, buys a few extra months, and then the companies are going to continue getting weaker and weaker. COLMES: But they do have to change their behavior, Mr. Speaker. In fact, by the way, on the private plane for Nancy Pelosi: She was advised after 9-11, as I understand it, for security reasons, to -- that she needed to have the private plane. GINGRICH: That's -- COLMES: That's why she has it -- GINGRICH: That is just -- COLMES: -- based on what happened after 9-11. GINGRICH: That's baloney. That is just baloney. Denny Hastert did not get a private plane. There's no reason for anyone but the president and vice president of the United States to have that level of security. COLMES: But she was taking advice to do this. She didn't decide to do it. She was advised that this would be the safest way for her to travel. HANNITY: She asked for a bigger plane. GINGRICH: Alan. COLMES: That's what happened. GINGRICH: Alan, if you believe that, I want to introduce you to Mr. Martyr who may have a little bit of his phony stock left, because I'm sure he'd like to sell it to you. COLMES: Well, thank you. Thank you for caring about my financial well-being. That's very kind of you, Mr. Speaker.

Obama Has One Chance to Get Infrastructure Spending Right

The Obama Administration must think wisely before doling out money for infrastructure projects because it has just once chance to get it right, transportation and urban-planning experts say. The warning comes as the president-elect promises the largest public-works spending spree since the construction of the Interstate Highway System 50 years ago. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vows to move quickly on a bill that could top $600 billion. It's good news for a national infrastructure system that is crumbling beneath our feet, but a panel of experts calling itself America 2050 urges Obama to move cautiously. Haphazard, poorly planned spending will undermine the impact and efficiency of any spending, the experts warn. Most people agree a major investment is long overdue, and many say a massive public works program could bolster the sagging economy. "From both an infrastructure needs and an economic stimulus standpoint, you can make a strong case for infrastructure spending," says economist David Wang. He's right, but as Transportation Secretary Mary Peters notes, our habit of throwing cash at ill-conceived projects doesn't work and must stop. ?The United States is one of the few countries in the world to make the majority of its transportation investments without first conducting any kind of economic analysis to determine whether those investments will have any practical benefits," she told told The New York Times. "The results are telling." In an effort to break this cycle, America 2050 offers a five-point infrastructure spending manifesto that makes a lot of sense.Fix what's broken ? Before we start dumping money and resources into splashy new  projects, repair what we already have. Fixing decrepit bridges and crumbling roads isn't as sexy as building a high-speed rail line or water treatment plant, but it must come first. Phase it in ? Just as you can't run a marathon without training, you can't spend hundreds of billions of dollars without planning. Although there are many "shovel ready" projects we must tackle, Obama must consider the big picture. Establishing clear goals, setting timelines for reaching them and building capacity before digging in will increase the chance of project success. Go green ? Infrastructure projects that keep us chained to fossil fuels won't do much good in the long run. Yes, we must fix our roads and bridges, but we also must prioritize initiatives that will protect the environment and push us toward sustainable energy and transportation. Train the workforce ? Creating jobs through infrastructure spending is more difficult than simply handing out shovels. America 2050 calls for a methodical job training program to provide workers with the skills they need to do the job and make sure we get top-notch work out of them. Count ? Developing metrics to measure the effectiveness of completed projects will help ensure smart spending on future projects. This one seems like a no-brainer. Critics of big infrastructure spending worry such programs invite corruption and waste and often point to the Works Progress Administration as an example. America 2050 has a plan to address that as well. It suggests creating a National Recovery and Renewal Council that would exist solely to cut red tape and provide strict accountability for every dollar spent. Such a panel would include representatives of local, state and federal governments along with private sector interests and report directly to the White House. In all the excitement about the benefits infrastructure spending might bring, many forget that there are a million ways to get it wrong but only one chance to get it right. Photo: annia316/Flickr See Also: Obama's Transportation Secretary Must Be a Visionary Note to Next President: Modern-Day WPA Will Save the Economy 10 Highways That Should Be Razed Now

Cunningham accuses media of "latch[ing] on" to evidence indicating Obama had nothing to do with Blagojevich scandal

On the December 10 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Cincinnati-based radio host Bill Cunningham forwarded baseless speculation that President-elect Barack Obama will not be inaugurated because of the scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). Cunningham stated: "Some have speculated, including my producer, Matt Steinman, that it's possible Obama will not be inaugurated, 'cause this scandal will envelop him and consume him." Cunningham also claimed of the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, "[I]t is replete with references to Barack Obama and his direct and indirect involvement in the bribe. It's all over the affidavits. The media latches on to a phrase that indicates that Obama is not participating whatsoever. But there are other parts of this affidavit that clearly indicates that he is participating." Cunningham later added: "[T]hey will not tell you the parts of the affidavit that clearly indicate that Obama is up to his eyeballs in fraud." Cunningham made these remarks despite U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's statement that the criminal complaint against Blagojevich "makes no allegations about the president-elect whatsoever -- his conduct" and Fitzgerald's warning to the press to "not cast aspersions on people for being named or being discussed or if you learn they're being interviewed." As Media Matters for America has noted, the complaint against Blagojevich does not include a single allegation of misconduct by Obama, and at least one mention of "president-elect" in the complaint affirmatively undermines any suggestion of wrongdoing on Obama's part. In that instance, the complaint alleges that Blagojevich "said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but 'they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.' " From the December 10 broadcast of Clear Channel's The Big Show with Bill Cunningham: CUNNINGHAM: ABC News and myself have read the entire 76-page affidavit, and it -- it is replete with references to Barack Obama and his direct and indirect involvement in the bribe. It's all over the affidavits. The media latches on to a phrase that indicates that Obama is not participating whatsoever. But there are other parts of this affidavit that clearly indicates that he is participating. [...] CUNNINGHAM: All right, now, Billy Cunningham. Coming up later this hour will be WGN's Andrea Darlas about the latest from the Obama scandal, the first of his presidency, before he gets to office. Some have speculated, including my producer, Matt Steinman, that it's possible Obama will not be inaugurated, 'cause this scandal will envelop him and consume him. In that case, I think either -- I would think Nancy Pelosi would be the president, because there's all kinds of speculation about what's going on. [...] CUNNINGHAM: Also on ABC News' website, there's the following recitation from the affidavit filed by the FBI. The FBI affidavit says Blagojevich had been told by an adviser that the president-elect can get Rob [sic] Blagojevich's wife on paid corporate boards in exchange for naming the president-elect's pick to the U.S. Senate. Now, the media, because they so support Obama, will tell you the things in the affidavit that are exam -- are finding Obama innocent in this matter. And they will not tell you the parts of the affidavit that clearly indicate that Obama is up to his eyeballs in fraud. The FBI affidavit says Blagojevich had been told by an adviser, quote, "The president-elect can get Rod Blagojevich's wife on paid corporate boards in exchange for naming the president-elect's pick to the U.S. Senate," unquote. That is in the FBI affidavit, according to ABC News. And I've read 75 pages and it is certainly there. So, we'll see what happens.

Most Outrageous Comments of 2008

With attacks on autistic children, the poor, and HIV-positive basketball star Magic Johnson, talking heads showed that nobody was safe in 2008, no matter how unfounded and unseemly the smear. Progressive politicians, particularly Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton and President-elect Barack Obama, were also targets. Obama was called everything from a "pussy" (Don Imus), to a "steamy crap sandwich" (Chris Krok). One commentator said Obama "fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside" (John McLaughlin), while others associated him with the Antichrist (Bill Cunningham, Chris Baker, Brian Sussman, others). Michelle Obama was also targeted, being described, among other things, as "Kim Jong-Il dressed up with a bit of Oprah Winfrey dressing" (Mark Steyn). MSNBC's Chris Matthews said Clinton's success is attributable not to her merit, but to the fact that "her husband messed around." The list of offenses to women, minorities, gays and lesbians, immigrants, and others in 2008 is a long one, but here are some of the standouts: CHRIS MATTHEWS After vowing not to underestimate Clinton, Matthews asserted, "[T]he reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around": "Let's not forget -- and I'll be brutal -- the reason she's [Hillary Clinton] a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merit. She won because everybody felt, 'My God, this woman stood up under humiliation,' right? That's what happened." (January 9) MICHAEL SAVAGE Savage claimed Lantos used the Holocaust as "a weapon the rest of his life": Following the death of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), a native Hungarian who escaped from a Nazi slave-labor camp during World War II, Savage said: "You're not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn't do it. But in the case of Tom Lantos, I'll make an exception. I think he was one of the most -- he was a scoundrel. And I'll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life." (February 11) Savage: "The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia": Responding to a caller who said, "I had to explain to my young son why these two men were holding hands the other day," Savage stated, "You've got to explain to the children ... why God told people this was wrong. ... You have to explain this to them in this time of mental rape that's going on. The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia, that's my position. They're raping our children's minds." (June 16) Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ... In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out": "Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism, since I'm not talking about autism? A fraud, a racket. ... You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have." (July 16) Savage: "Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise": "Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't. Why should a person who is on public assistance maintain the right to vote? Tell me why. Where is it written that they should have the right to vote? I support them, and they should have the same vote I do? That would be like saying an infant has the right to vote or an insane person has the right to vote. Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise." (October 22) E.D. HILL Fox News' E.D. Hill teased discussion of Obama dap: "A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab?": Teasing an upcoming segment on the Obamas' "fist bump or fist pound" Hill stated: "A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently. We'll show you some interesting body communication and find out what it really says." (June 6) BILL CUNNINGHAM Cunningham invoked "[s]ix-six-six" and "the beast" in discussing "Barack Hussein Obama": Cunningham stated that 666,000 new voters were registered in Ohio prior to the presidential election, then stated, "Six, six, six. The mark of the beast. The great majority, of course, are registered by ACORN. ... Who conducted ACORN seminars to tell ACORN employees and others how to cheat the system? Barack Hussein Obama. I may declare him to be the beast. Six, six, six. It could be the end of all days." Cunningham repeated the attack in his October 13 broadcast. (October 10) Cunningham on Obama Sr.: "That's what black fathers do. They simply leave": Cunningham stated of Sen. Barack Obama's childhood: "[I]magine at the age of 1 or 2 seeing your father for the last time. See, his father was a typical black father who, right after the birth, left the baby. That's what black fathers do. They simply leave." (October 28) Cunningham: "[P]eople are poor in America ... because they lack values, morals, and ethics": "[U]nlike many countries in the world, Steve [Malanga, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and senior editor of City Journal, an urban policy journal], we have fat poor people. We don't have skinny poor people. Ours are fat and flatulent. ...You know, people are poor in America, Steve, not because they lack money; they're poor because they lack values, morals, and ethics. And if government can't teach and instill that, we're wasting our time simply giving poor people money." (October 28) Cunningham alleged that "Obama wants to gas the Jews": After claiming that American-born Middle East scholar Rashid Khalidi "wants to gas and fry Jews," Cunningham said, "Jews for [Sen. John] McCain because Obama wants to gas the Jews, like the PLO wants to gas the Jews, like the Nazis gassed the Jews." (October 30) MARC RUDOV Marc Rudov on "the downside" of a woman president: "You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings, right?": Responding to the question "What is the downside of having a woman become the president of the United States?" Rudov said: "You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings, right?" (March 10) CHRIS KROK Gibson's guest host Krok called Obama a "steamy hot pile of crap wedged between two pieces of bread": Referring to Obama, Krok said: "This whole thing, you know what it is? It is Christmas morning and you wake up and there is a beautiful present beneath the tree. And it looks so beautiful it is awesome. It's like you're so excited and you're so everything, you know, 'Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama.' You're cheering, you're cheering, you're cheering, 'Obama, Obama, Obama.' And then you open up the present and you go, 'Oooh, I can't wait.' Your mouth is salivating, and watering, and you're getting so -- 'Ooooh.' And you get the present, and you get your hands -- 'Oh yeah.' And you're going to rip it up. You open it up, and then what is inside is a sandwich. And you get excited, 'Oh, a sandwich.' And you take a big bite of that sandwich. But what is it? What's inside of that sandwich? It is a stinking -- stinky, hot, steamy crap sandwich. It is a stinky, hot -- it is a steaming, hot pile of crap wedged between two pieces of bread. That is what Barack Obama is. He is a steamy crap sandwich. He is a fraud." (August 7) CHRIS BAKER Minneapolis radio host Baker on Pelosi's response to Wall Street crisis: "Another reason why it's very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office": "And Nancy Pelosi, that -- get another facelift, lady. She runs -- yesterday, they ask her, 'Do Democrats have any responsibility here?' And what does she say? 'No.' Another reason why it's very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office." (September 17) Minneapolis radio host Baker repeatedly called Obama "Nicolae Carpathia," the Antichrist character in the Left Behind series: Baker described Obama as "the Nicolae Carpathia candidate," "the Nicolae Carpathia of this election," and "the Nicolae Carpathia political Jesus." Carpathia is the Antichrist character in the Left Behind series of novels dealing with the "end times," the biblical tribulation described in the Book of Revelation. (September 23) Minneapolis radio host Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting": "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly. In fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest. I'm not. OK? You know? But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right? And we'll see that, I'm sure, on a lame-ass website very soon. But I don't think hobos ought to vote at all. They're nuts. And I think that there needs to be a little more care in who votes." (October 2) Minneapolis radio hosts Baker and Perry are "convinced" that Magic Johnson "faked AIDS": Baker and fellow KLTK-FM host Langdon Perry agreed that "Magic faked AIDS," referring to former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who announced in 1991 that he had tested HIV-positive: PERRY: What about diseases that are eminently treatable and you can live with for a long, long time quite healthily if you just get some basic drugs? BAKER: Like Magic Johnson. PERRY: Like Magic with his faked AIDS. Magic faked AIDS. BAKER: You think Magic faked AIDS for sympathy? PERRY: I'm convinced that Magic faked AIDS. BAKER: Yeah, me too. PERRY: It falls apart -- BAKER: Which is horrible. PERRY: -- when you get into motivation. I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure he faked AIDS. BAKER: I've got a great email here from -- PERRY: 'Cause he's the only cured AIDS guy ever. (October 8) MARK STEYN On Beck, Mark Steyn described Michelle Obama as "Kim Jong-Il dressed up with a bit of Oprah Winfrey dressing": "The right to be uninvolved, the right to be left alone is one of the most precious rights in a constitutional republic. And if she wants me to shed my cynicism, she's going to have to prize it from my cold, dead, cynical fingers. This is not -- this is [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong-Il dressed up with a bit of Oprah Winfrey dressing." (April 10) RUSH LIMBAUGH Limbaugh: "If Barack Obama were Caucasian, they would have taken this guy out on the basis of pure ignorance long ago": "I am just telling you, if this guy were Dan Quayle -- if he -- can I channel Geraldine Ferraro? If Barack Obama were Caucasian, they would have taken this guy out on the basis of pure ignorance long ago." (May 14) BILL O'REILLY O'Reilly: "It is not a stretch to say MoveOn is the new Klan": Responding to MoveOn.org's "Petition Against Fox's Racist & Hate-Filled Smears," O'Reilly said: "Obama must condemn organizations like MoveOn and the Daily Kos if he truly wants to run without a race component. These are the people that are dividing Americans along racial lines. It is not a stretch to say MoveOn is the new Klan." (July 23) JOHN MCLAUGHLIN McLaughlin echoes smear of Michelle Obama: "You don't think she's a black militant?": McLaughlin asked Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page: "Do you think Michelle -- do you think she leaves the impression -- not mine, but I've heard this -- that she has a chip on her shoulder? ... You don't think she's a black militant?" (February 24) McLaughlin: Obama "fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside": "Question: Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that someone like Obama, who fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside -- that an Oreo should be the beneficiary of the long civil rights struggle which Jesse Jackson spent his lifetime fighting for?" (July 11-13) LEE RODGERS KSFO's Rodgers: "[F]emale leadership of the Democratic Party" consists of "ugly skanks" who "hate" that "Sarah Palin's good-looking": "Look at these ugly skanks, who make up the female leadership of the Democratic Party. I mean, my God -- you know, guys sitting around, talking, perhaps in a bar someplace -- they have a way of scoring them. I know, it's sexist. It's sexist. It's unfair, and all of that, but they will look over a female who comes in and just make an announcement: How many drinks it would take before you'd jump her bones, you know. ... You look at most of the headline women of the Democratic Party, you're thinking, 'It's gotta be closing time and five drinks, and maybe not even then.' And that's what they're really PO'd about. [Gov.] Sarah Palin's good-looking and they hate that." (September 17) DON IMUS Imus: Obama is "almost a bigger pussy than" Clinton: While discussing the April 16 Democratic debate, Imus said, "I thought Senator Obama was on the defensive most of the night. But they're both sissy boys or sissy girls, or whatever. Because they talk big when they're out on the campaign trail, wolfing on each other. And then when they show up at the debate, they fold up like a couple of cheap lawn chairs. I mean, I don't understand that. And he's almost a bigger pussy than she [Hillary Clinton] is." (April 17) JIM QUINN Quinn called NOW the "National Organization for Whores," said columnist Fatimah Ali should "get an American name": "Yesterday, I said, I wonder how long it's going to be before one of these Alinskyites -- formerly known as Democrats -- one of these Alinskyites out there suggests that Sarah Palin is not really a woman. Remember [Sen.] Kay Bailey Hutchison [R-TX] was a female impersonator, according to the National Organization for Whores?" Later in the program, Quinn aired a clip of Fox News host and Washington managing editor Brit Hume discussing a Philadelphia Daily News column by Fatimah Ali. Following the clip, Quinn said: "[Y]ou know, Fatimah, what's your real name? Come on, seriously. I mean, get an American name, will you, if you want to be an American. You don't suppose she's a liberal black Muslim, do you?" (September 3) Quinn's solution to "Palestine issue": "[L]evel it and then salt the earth so that nothing grows for a thousand years": "There's only one way to settle the Palestine -- the Palestine issue," and that "is to level it and then salt the earth so that nothing grows for a thousand years, because that's how the Muslims would have treated each other, and did." (October 29) NEWT GINGRICH Gingrich: "[T]here is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us": "I think there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use harassment. I think it is prepared to use the government if it can get control of it. I think that it is a very dangerous threat to anybody who believes in traditional religion." (November 14) G. GORDON LIDDY Liddy: Obama concentration camp will serve "ham hocks and turnip greens": G. Gordon Liddy spoke to a caller who stated: "I'm ready to go to the concentration camp, that [Sen. Barack] Obama's police force -- he will round me up. Because I -- I'm a white American." Liddy then said, "Well, listen to this," and aired an edited clip of Obama saying in a July 2 speech in Colorado Springs: "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." Liddy then stated: "Shades of the Gestapo. The Geheime Staatspolizei," to which the caller replied: "How's the cooking going to be? What will -- what will they serve, at the camp?" Liddy responded: "Well, I think, probably, there'll be ham hocks and turnip greens." (November 4) BRIAN SUSSMAN Question for KSFO's Sussman: Did Reagan's self-description as a "citizen ... of the world" make him the Antichrist, too?: Guest-hosting on The Lee Rodgers Show, Brian Sussman said of Obama's July 24 speech in Berlin, Germany, "As I was watching that speech, I could have sworn he was running for Antichrist." (July 28)

Despite falsehood after falsehood, O'Reilly reportedly claimed canceled Radio Factor "was fact-based"

According to a December 4 New York Daily News article, in confirming that he would no longer host his nationally syndicated radio show, The Radio Factor, Bill O'Reilly said, "I knew my show couldn't be ideological. ... So I was doing a show that was fact-based." However, far from being "fact-based," The Radio Factor, like The O'Reilly Factor, frequently featured "fact-free" claims and falsehoods by O'Reilly, as Media Matters for America's extensive collection of Radio Factor items demonstrates: On the November 18 broadcast of The Radio Factor, while discussing the campaign for Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage in California, O'Reilly falsely asserted that if states allow same-sex couples to marry they would be required, "under equal protection," to allow polygamous marriages. In fact, the California Supreme Court explicitly stated that its May 15 decision that California's ban on same-sex marriage violated the state's constitution did not extend to polygamous marriages. On the October 21 broadcast of The Radio Factor, after a caller noted that Sen. John McCain "accepted money" from G. Gordon Liddy, and that Liddy "held a fundraiser for him in 1998," O'Reilly declared: "McCain has nothing to do with G. Gordon Liddy -- nothing." O'Reilly continued: "I mean, if you want to make a comparison between Bill Ayers, who has consistently over the years interacted face-to-face with John McCain -- with [President-elect] Barack Obama, I should say -- if you want to make a comparison to Liddy sendin' the guy some money and holdin' a fundraiser 20 years ago, I mean, come on. It's ridiculous." However, in addition to the fundraiser the caller referenced, which Liddy reportedly held for McCain 10 years ago -- not 20 years ago as O'Reilly claimed -- McCain repeatedly appeared on Liddy's radio show during the presidential campaign and last appeared on the show during a May broadcast. On the October 8 broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that Obama did not cast a vote on a Senate amendment denouncing both an ad by MoveOn.org that targeted Gen. David Petraeus and "Swift Boat" attacks on Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). Contrary to O'Reilly's claim, Obama did cast a vote in favor of an amendment sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) that denounced the MoveOn.org ad and character attacks on Kerry, former Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA), and other veterans. During the August 26 Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely suggested that no state would prohibit abortions in cases of rape and incest if such a prohibition were constitutional. In fact, at least two states, South Dakota and Louisiana, have passed laws to take effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned that prohibit abortions even in cases of rape and incest. During the July 24 Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that "nobody died" because of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. In fact, at least one detainee reportedly died at Abu Ghraib during an interrogation by CIA personnel. During the March 22, 2007, Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that co-host Lis Wiehl "did not do [her] homework," after Wiehl asserted -- correctly -- that the Bush administration had offered to allow White House staffers to appear before the congressional committees investigating the controversial firings of U.S. attorneys only if no transcript of the interviews were produced. O'Reilly further asserted to Wiehl, "There is a transcript to the senators who, if they lie, can charge them with crimes. You know it, and you misled my audience, who comes here for the truth." In fact, as Wiehl noted, a March 20, 2007, letter from White House counsel Fred Fielding to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees laid out the conditions under which White House staffers could appear, including that "[s]uch interviews would be private and conducted without the need for an oath, a transcript, subsequent testimony." Revisiting a common tactic, O'Reilly instructed his staff to turn off Wiehl's microphone: "Cut her mike. Cut her mike. She's not allowed to speak for three minutes." He went on to ask: "What can we do to her? What can we do to her?" While Wiehl's voice could be heard in the background, her microphone appeared to be turned off. On the February 20, 2007, Radio Factor, O'Reilly agreed with attorney Wendy Murphy's false claim that The Boston Globe "didn't cover" the Massachusetts case of Patrick Doyle, who was given a one-year jail sentence for failing to stop the repeated rape of a 9-year-old girl. In fact, the Globe did report on Doyle's case and the reaction to his sentence. During the December 19, 2006, Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that "Best Buy orders its employees not to say 'Merry Christmas.' " O'Reilly said that he got this information from "Best Buy employees," falsely claiming that he "had one on the radio today." In fact, a Best Buy spokesperson denied that the company forbids employees to say "Merry Christmas" to customers. A caller on the December 19, 2006, broadcast of O'Reilly's radio show, who claimed that employees at Best Buy "are not allowed to say Merry Christmas" and "could get fired" for doing so, identified herself as a Best Buy customer, not an employee. On the October 11, 2006, Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that it "is never the case" that a "mother's life is in danger" during pregnancy because "you can always have a C-section and do those kinds of things." In fact, several potential pregnancy complications can threaten the life of a pregnant woman, including an ectopic pregnancy, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is "the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the first trimester," and preeclampsia, which "affect[s] up to one in seven pregnant women," according to the Mayo Clinic. On the August 21, 2006, broadcast of Radio Factor, O'Reilly stated that "I don't really believe" the results of a Time magazine poll -- which found that 53 percent of Americans have a favorable impression of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) -- because the poll is "not scientific, in my opinion." O'Reilly did not explain his reasons for doubting the scientific merit of the Time survey, which was conducted by polling firm Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas Inc. (SRBI) from a random sample of adults nationwide, although he previously touted an unscientific Internet poll to claim that "50 percent" of University of Oregon students "want[] to condemn" a student newspaper that published controversial cartoon images of Jesus. During the July 20, 2006, Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that The New York Times editorial board "is not going to say a word" about the then-conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, alleging that the Times editorial board had not criticized Israel's actions because "[m]any American Jews are liberal," and "the Times cannot afford to alienate its liberal base." In fact, at the time of O'Reilly's comments, the Times editorial page had already authored three different editorials on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict. On the July 19, 2006, edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, O'Reilly falsely claimed that, because of criticism The New York Times had received for publishing a "terror finance story," the newspaper "announced ... it was cutting 25 percent of its work force." In fact, a July 18, 2006, Times article reported that the Times planned to cut 250 jobs by April 2008, but did not report the cutbacks as a percentage of the work force. Based on figures provided in a July 19, 2006, Times article, the announced reductions amounted to just more than 2 percent of the work force. Explaining his decision not to call for a boycott of the Times for publishing information about a secret Bush administration program designed to monitor international financial transactions, during the June 26, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that he has "only called for one boycott and that is France." Similarly, on the June 27,2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly said, "I've called for one boycott in my 10 years on the air, and that's been France." But just one week earlier, O'Reilly called for boycotts of a number of other organizations of which he has been critical, including the Times. On the June 13, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly alleged that he had "not seen any evidence" of "electric shock" being used on detainees during interrogation proceedings. O'Reilly made the claim while suggesting that he has seen no evidence of U.S. interrogators engaging in torture, which he appeared to define as limited to tactics like "[p]eople getting their eyes cut out, fingers cut off" and using "electric shock." But the Pentagon has acknowledged that electric shock has been used in the interrogation of detainees. During the May 8, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly treated listeners to an assortment of misinformation concerning the Iraq war and terrorism. O'Reilly falsely claimed former CIA analyst Mary McCarthy was "accused of ... leaking" the existence of the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless domestic spying program; falsely suggested there was no domestic component to the NSA program; baselessly alleged that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) "want[s] us to lose in Iraq" and "want[s] there to be chaos in Afghanistan"; and deceptively edited an exchange between retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld while accusing the media of being "derelict" for failing to note that McGovern belongs to a group that opposes Bush's policies. While baselessly claiming during the May 3, 2006, Radio Factor that Mexican President Vicente Fox has "got his troops on the northern border helping the drug traffickers bring the loads across," O'Reilly also falsely claimed that Jalisco is "on the border." In fact, Jalisco is a state in central Mexico, and it is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean. During the May 3, 2006, Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that public-school teachers in New York City "are instructed not to say a word" about students "going, 'F-you, you mother-F'er,' in school." In fact, according to the New York City schools' discipline code, "[u]sing profane, obscene, vulgar, lewd or abusive language or gestures" is a "Level 2 infraction" that is considered "disorderly disruptive behavior" and is punishable by a range of disciplinary actions. During the April 27, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly dramatically overstated the amount of nightly viewers of his television program, saying, "I already got the 6 million people watching me every night." In fact, according to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor averaged 2,274,000 viewers a night in the first quarter of 2006. During the April 24, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that both the "state and federal" government are "making more money now that the gasoline prices are higher because their tax goes up." In fact, for the federal government and more than three-fourths of the states, gasoline taxes remain constant regardless of gas prices because they are measured in cents per gallon, not as a percentage of total gasoline sales or wholesale prices. Accusing the "left-wing print media" of not having "any solution at all" to the problem of illegal immigration, during the March 29, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly distorted editorials on immigration reform proposals in five major newspapers: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post, and the Los Angeles Times. During the March 27, 2006, Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely accused New York Times columnist Paul Krugman of "writing about illegal immigrants" but refusing to "put the word 'illegal' in there." In fact, the portion of Krugman's column that O'Reilly read referred to all immigrants, not only those in the United States illegally. Later in his column, Krugman referred specifically to "illegal immigrants," "illegal immigration," and "an illegal immigrant." On the January 18, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed that Democrats took campaign contributions from former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. When a caller noted his false claim, O'Reilly responded: "So you are a Kool-Aid drinker who is blinded by whatever neurosis you have, because that's just insane." As Media Matters has documented, only Republicans received direct contributions from Abramoff. On the January 11, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly claimed that a Wisconsin elementary school which "sang a whole different lyric to 'Silent Night' " constituted a "vivid" example of the "war on Christmas." In fact, the new lyrics were merely part of a 1988 Christmas play called The Little Tree's Christmas Gift. During his January 9, 2006, Radio Factor broadcast, O'Reilly falsely claimed that country music trio the Dixie Chicks "have not recovered to this day" from a controversy surrounding remarks critical of President Bush during one of the group's concerts. In fact, in the months following the controversy, the band embarked on the top-grossing country tour of the year and continued to enjoy strong commercial success. On the January 3, 2006, broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly mischaracterized a wager he proposed to Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter during Alter's December 21, 2005, appearance on the show. O'Reilly claimed that Alter "wouldn't take the bet" that President Bush "has the legal authority" to wiretap U.S. citizens. In fact, in December, O'Reilly did not offer to wager whether Bush's domestic wiretap program was legal or illegal, but whether Bush would ultimately be convicted of a crime. Media Matters has also documented numerous outrageous comments O'Reilly has made while hosting The Radio Factor, including the following: Discussing the U.S. financial situation on the September 25 broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly said of Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT): "I swear to God, if they were in this room right now, I would hit them. Dodd and Frank -- the House Finance and Senate Finance. They knew. Don't point a finger at anybody, I'll break that finger off." During the February 19 Radio Factor, while discussing comments made by Michelle Obama, O'Reilly stated: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down." During the September 19, 2007, Radio Factor, O'Reilly discussed a dinner he had with Rev. Al Sharpton at the Harlem restaurant Sylvia's. O'Reilly reported that he "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship." O'Reilly added: "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.' " When discussing the controversy surrounding his comments during the September 27, 2007, Radio Factor, O'Reilly asserted, "[I]f I could strangle these people and not go to hell and get executed ... I would -- but I can't." On the February 28, 2007, Radio Factor, O'Reilly told co-host Lis Wiehl that "women were treated better than men" at ABC News and CBS News because "[t]hey had a little cabal; and they intimidated the men in the organization and said, 'If you look at me cross-eyed, I'm gonna bring you up to Human Resources and destroy your life.' " During the August 2, 2006, Radio Factor, O'Reilly discussed several factors that he claimed contributed to the rape and murder of "moronic" 18-year-old Jennifer Moore, including that she was drunk and wandering the streets of New York City alone late at night. O'Reilly added: "She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at 2 in the morning."

Hannity, Gingrich falsely suggested that Pelosi made unprecedented use of military plane -- but "practice began with Speaker Hastert"

On the December 4 broadcasts of his nationally syndicated radio program and his Fox News television program, Sean Hannity falsely suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's use of a military jet for transportation was unprecedented. On the television program, Fox News contributor and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) claimed that Pelosi's use a military jet for transportation was a "misuse of Air Force personnel" and that "there's no practical reason for it." In fact, following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Defense Department and the White House agreed that military planes should be made available to the speaker of the House for national security reasons, and the first speaker to use such a plane was Dennis Hastert (R-IL) in 2001. On the December 4 broadcast of his radio program, Hannity said of Pelosi (D-CA): "If we're all tightening our belts because of, you know, the current fiscal situation ... why is it we're not demanding that Princess Pelosi get off her private jet? Now, this all came up back when -- when she became speaker of the House. The Air Force transport plane -- you know what, Republicans said at the time, this is an extravagance. Nancy Pelosi, she requested it, she said: 'Oh no, it was actually the sergeant of arms for national security.' " Indeed, as Media Matters for America has noted, House Sergeant-at-Arms Wilson Livingood said in a February 8, 2007, statement: "In a post 9/11 threat environment, it is reasonable and prudent to provide military aircraft to the Speaker for official travel between Washington and her district. The practice began with Speaker Hastert and I have recommended that it continue with Speaker Pelosi." During the December 4 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Hannity asked Gingrich: "If everyone's so angry at corporate jet use and corporations that have perks, why isn't there that same anger at Speaker Pelosi? You didn't have a jet as a speaker, correct?" Gingrich responded: "That's right," and went on to add, "I don't think the speaker of the House should have an Air Force jet. I think it's a misuse of Air Force personnel. I think there's no practical reason for it. The speaker of the House is provided security, as I was and as Speaker Hastert has, and as they have been for much of modern times." Gingrich later said: "But you do not need to have a personal jet to run around. And in fact, I think that's fundamentally wrong because it distances a member of the House of Representatives from the public they serve." In fact, contrary to Gingrich's opinion that "there's no practical reason for" the speaker of the House to use military planes, according to former White House press secretary Tony Snow, the Defense Department and the White House agreed that military planes should be made available to the speaker of the House for national security reasons. As Media Matters has documented, during a February 7, 2007, White House press briefing, Snow was asked, "Does the President think it's a good idea that Speaker Pelosi have a large government military jet available to her to [fly] back and forth to California?" Snow responded: MR. SNOW: After September 11th, the Department of Defense -- with the consent of the White House -- agreed that the Speaker of the House should have military transport. And so what is going on is that the Department of Defense is going through its rules and regulations and having conversations with the Speaker about it. So Speaker Hastert had access to military aircraft and Speaker Pelosi will, too. Also, during a February 8, 2007, press briefing, Snow also stated that the White House's position is that Pelosi "is entitled to military transport" and that "[i]t is important for the Speaker to have this kind of protection and travel": MR. SNOW: [A]s Speaker of the House, she is entitled to military transport, and that the arrangements, the proper arrangements are being made between the Sergeant of Arms office in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Department of Defense. We think it's appropriate, and so, again, I think this is much ado about not a whole lot. It is important for the Speaker to have this kind of protection and travel. It was certainly appropriate for Speaker Hastert. So we trust that all sides will get this worked out. From the December 4 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: HANNITY: I agree with that wholeheartedly, Mr. Speaker. I want to go back to the issue what I was bringing up earlier. I want you to explain one thing to me. If everyone's so angry at corporate jet use and corporations that have perks, why isn't there that same anger at Speaker Pelosi? You didn't have a jet as a speaker, correct? GINGRICH: That's right. HANNITY: You didn't have one. You didn't have one to take -- GINGRICH: No, and I -- look, and I opposed giving one. I don't think the speaker of the House should have an Air Force jet. I think it's a misuse of Air Force personnel. I think there's no practical reason for it. The speaker of the House is provided security, as I was and as Speaker Hastert has, and as -- HANNITY: Yes. GINGRICH: -- they have been for much of modern times. They should have security. And one of the people on the security detail carries a classified satellite phone that enables you to be in direct touch with the president or the Pentagon -- HANNITY: Absolutely. GINGRICH: -- or whatever. HANNITY: That's important. GINGRICH: But you do not need to have a personal jet to run around. And in fact, I think that's fundamentally wrong because it distances a member of the House of Representatives from the public they serve. From the December 4 broadcast of ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show: HANNITY: If we're going to be upset about corporate excesses, if we're going to be upset when corporations spend the retirement and corporate execs get to go to jail if they misappropriate retirement funds for former employees -- and this has happened -- then why shouldn't the same standards apply for politicians? If we're all tightening our belts because of, you know, the current fiscal situation -- in large part, I argue, caused by Democrats, the subprime mortgage crisis, their redistribution of wealth policies, their forcing banks to make risky loans -- why is it we're not demanding that Princess Pelosi get off her private jet? Now, this all came up back when -- when she became speaker of the House. The Air Force transport plane -- you know what, Republicans said at the time, this is an extravagance. Nancy Pelosi, she requested it, she said: "Oh no, it was actually the sergeant of arms for national security." Newt Gingrich -- I called him yesterday. I said: did you ever have a private jet? He said: No, I never did. He never did. He never had a private jet. So, if he -- it wasn't that long ago. He was speaker in the 1990s. I don't see why Nancy Pelosi needs one today. And it's co -- I would like somebody to release how many times has she used the jet, what trips has she taken. So far, her office is not forthcoming with all the different hours that they've had there. You know, so she's pushing for a private jet. Now there's another issue.

Quinn to artist who submitted pro-impeachment Christmas ornament to White House: "Shut up, bitch"

On the December 3 broadcast of The War Room, co-host Rose Tennent read from an article about Deborah Lawrence, an artist who submitted an ornament for the White House Christmas tree celebrating, among other things, Rep. Jim McDermott's (D-WA) support for a resolution to impeach President Bush. Tennent read a quote from the article in which Lawrence said of the attention surrounding her ornament: "It took on a life of its own, obviously. In a way, I'm speechless." Tennent responded: "Good, stay that way. Don't talk," to which co-host Jim Quinn added, "That's right, don't talk. Shut up, bitch." According to The Washington Post, first lady Laura Bush "asked members of Congress to pick local painters" to decorate ornaments for the White House Christmas tree. McDermott "contacted a local arts organization, which asked Lawrence, a collage artist, to create the local entry." Media Matters for America has documented that Quinn previously introduced a segment on Sen. Hillary Clinton by playing Elton John's "The Bitch is Back." Additionally, on October 7, Quinn asserted that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, whom he referred to as "the Queen Bee," "hated" Clinton "because she didn't want Hillary to be the most important woman in Washington," adding, "I'm sorry, but it seems to be the nature -- I shouldn't say the nature of all women -- but it seems to be a trait that flows through, for whatever reasons, the gender, if you will." Quinn has also stated that to feminists, even "a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag" can be a "real woman," and has repeatedly referred to the National Organization for Women as "the national organization for whores." Talkers Magazine lists Quinn & Rose among its "Heavy Hundred," which it describes as the "100 most important radio talk show hosts in America." According to the show's website, it airs on 18 radio stations and XM Satellite Radio. From the December 3 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose: QUINN: She needs something -- TENNENT: She sounds frightening. QUINN: -- to become gainfully employed somewhere doing something for her fellow man besides this. TENNENT: Argh. Yup, that's right. So, anyway, so she thought that she was making a very brave statement -- turns out that the White House has decided that, "You know what, don't think that's appropriate, we're not gonna hang it on the Christmas tree." So, but you know what? They have a luncheon -- I didn't know this -- for all of the artists, then -- a Christmas luncheon. Guess what? She jumped on the plane and flew to D.C. -- D.C. to go to the luncheon. QUINN: Oh yeah --. TENNENT: Yeah, she's there. QUINN: She's there for the free meal. TENNENT: Can you believe it? QUINN: She's probably homeless and lives out of a shopping cart. TENNENT: I just think that's a shame -- that's a shame. QUINN: Well, you know -- TENNENT: Well, she said -- oh, she said, "An artist doesn't always get this kind of attention." This is the artist speaking. QUINN: Yeah, 'cause they're hardly ever that stupid. TENNENT: Plus, like, you're weird. Like, now I'm starting to think that there's something really wrong with you. That's the attention you're getting right now, sweetie. She said, "It took on a life of its own, obviously. In a way, I'm speechless." Good, stay that way. Don't talk. QUINN: That's right, don't talk. Shut up, bitch. TENNENT: She said, "It's disappointing that I won't get to see it on the tree." And did you think you would? QUINN: Yeah, you know, I'll tell you what. There's -- there's always Photoshop. You know, you could take a picture of it and -- TENNENT: She's an artist. She can figure all of that out, right? QUIINN: Sure. Take a picture of the White House tree, put your little ball on it -- TENNENT: Yeah. QUIINN: -- put it up on the morning of December 25th -- you know, the winter solstice celebration -- and I'm sure you'll have a great time with it.