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Posts Tagged ‘The Daily Caller’

Mary Chastain

Remember this? Yes, last Friday night the DOJ dumped documents on Congress about Fast and Furious. Anyone with an ounce of common sense & critical thinking skills would come to the conclusion based on the emails between Monty Wilkinson, Attorney General Eric Holder’s then deputy chief of staff, and then-US Attorney Dennis Burke, Mr. Holder and quite possible Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer knew about Operation Fast and Furious.

The majority of the media ignored the documents. They took the AP article and printed it, but buried it among other articles. Only NPR, The Daily Caller, and CBS had original articles. The New York Times really buried it: Even if you searched for it you wouldn’t find it. The AP article mentions the emails at the very end, but just repeats the talking points instead of using their common sense. “Mr. Wilkinson does not recall discussing this aspect with the attorney general.” Come on people let’s use our brains! Do you believe Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Holder’s deputy chief of staff, did NOT tell his boss about this?

But Congressional Democrats and the media don’t think this way. Instead of investigating further they simply take someone’s word, even if it sounds suspicious. This morning I saw an alert from The New York Times. The Democrats on The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee cleared the Obama administration of any wrong doing. This is the same Times that ignored the Friday night document dump. This story appeared on the front page of their US section and is an original piece written by Charlie Savage. Ironically the article by Pete Yost at the AP is the most concise one he’s written about Fast and Furious. Gee, I wonder why. The Huffington Post put Mr. Yost’s article on the front page of their politics section. What’s this I see? The Washington Post actually didn’t publish the AP article, but had Sari Horwirz write an original piece? I believe that hasn’t happened since September.

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Mary Chastain

Media outlets didn’t cover March For Life while it happened, despite knowing it was going to happen and hundreds of thousands of people there. News outlets do have stories on it now, but of course the number of people there are distorted and the stories are pretty bland. Again, remember how much effort went into Occupy Wall Street coverage. Reporters were at the scenes. News stations were always on them. Also if they had anyone on the scene at March For Life they’d have a more accurate number of people.

Photo Credit Michelle Fields from The Daily Caller

The best coverage belongs to Judge Andrew Napolitano on his show  ”Freedom Watch” on FOX Business Network. Judge Napolitano is a fierce pro-life advocate and doesn’t shy away from the issue. At the end of every show he signs off with “The Plain Truth” and yesterday it was about abortion.


His guest was Rep. Renee Ellmers who discussed the defense of life. This was the most coverage by anyone in the media. Thank you, Judge Napolitano.

I then went to FOX News and I’ll admit, I was disappointed. The article was written by Shannon Bream and just like C-SPAN she called the protestors anti-abortion. Yes they are anti-abortion, but why doesn’t anyone ever call them pro-life? Why do they have to be constantly addressed as anti? When pro-choice protesters march they’re referred to as pro-choice, not anti-life. She did, however, give a reasonable estimate of people there, tens of thousands. Trust me, that’s much better than some of the others.

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Mary Chastain

The March For Life took place yesterday in Washington, DC despite the cold, dreary weather. But unless you tuned into C-SPAN2 for a few hours this morning or EWTN (the Catholic station) all day you wouldn’t have known it happened. Other stations, including FOX News, glossed over this march while it happened.

Credit Elizabeth Avis @Beth_Avis

Before the march Michelle Malkin wrote a post about the media’s lack of attention. It got me interested and I decided to tune into DirecTV News Mix and the C-SPAN coverage all afternoon. Some people on Twitter, especially Sharon Cabana, helped me out by keeping an eye on CNN and MSNBC. There were a a few seconds of coverage on FOX News & MSNBC, but didn’t see anything on CNN. I’m not shocked, but it doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed. The Old Media was on hand to cover OWS at all times. They knew this was happening and yet no one on stand by. It’s awful how these peaceful, clean, and civilized people were completely ignored by the Old Media while the disgusting and uncivilized people of Occupy Wall Street received so much attention.

Thank goodness for social media like Twitter. Since I knew I wasn’t going to receive anything from the Old Media I knew I had to use the New Media. I reached out to people on the #MarchForLife hash tag and people have been tweeting me pictures. Here are a few:

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Mary Chastain

December has been an incredibly busy month for Operation Fast and Furious. It all started with Mr. Holder’s outburst to The Daily Caller. Then the DOJ dumped over 1400 pages of documents on Congress on Friday, December 3rd, which the MSM ignored or buried, but The New York Times quickly spun it in Mr. Holder’s favor. Sharyl Attkisson at CBS shows us documents proving the ATF was using Fast and Furious to get stricter gun laws and the following day Mr. Holder testifies in front of Congress. Then Fast and Furious was brought up in the debate!

Now Mr. Holder and the DOJ are starting to unravel. Mr. Holder’s interview with The New York Times where he called us in the media racist. Last night the DOJ released a statement trying to explain that Mr. Holder didn’t use the race card. Anyone with a 1st grade reading comprehension knows Mr. Holder did call us racist. But the most telling thing to me at least is the Old Media has not reported on this statement. I’ve been surfing their websites all afternoon and evening and cannot find anything. I would think The New York Times would be more than happy to publish it, but nothing from them. They were so quick to make Mr. Holder the victim (even putting the article on page A1 of the Sunday edition!) you’d think they’d publish the DOJ statement! You know, gain more sympathy for Mr. Holder. Nothing. Complete silence.

Something interesting happened. On Tuesday CNN’s Jack Cafferty brought it up on his blog and The Situation Room. Not only did he mention Operation Fast and Furious, but he asked if this would be Obama’s Watergate. Mr. Cafferty’s blog is very neutral, too, on the operation. I’m incredibly impressed.

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Mary Chastain

Media Matters for America’s favorite topics are FOX News, the Big sites, and The Daily Caller. Chris Brown claims Matthew Boyle was so happy to accuse The New York Times and Attorney General Eric Holder in one article Mr. Boyle didn’t bother to get his facts straight. Well, the same could be said about Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown was so happy to jump on Mr. Boyle he didn’t bother to look at the article from ALL angles. Then again is anyone surprised? After all MMfA is the Obama administration’s cheerleaders. No one could ever do wrong in this administration, right?

This is what has Mr. Brown’s underwear all in knots:

Savage wrote that there are no “documents or testimony” to support allegations that Holder knew of the “gunwalking” tactics employed in Operation Fast and Furious.

“Mr. Holder has denounced the tactics used in the operation, known as ‘gunwalking,’ but said he did not know about them or sanction their use,” Savage wrote. “No documents or testimony have shown otherwise, but Republicans have pummeled him at oversight hearings and in news media appearances.”

Savage made these statements without attribution.

Despite those assertions, Holder’s office was provided with multiple briefings and memos about Operation Fast and Furious by top Justice Department officials. The memos contained intimate details of how Holder’s DOJ allowed guns to walk.

Oh Mr. Brown. You’re the almighty aren’t you? You can tell us you absolutely know for sure Mr. Holder knew nothing about Operation Fast and Furious? Because what Mr. Savage wrote was wrong. Read the sentence again, okay? Let’s say it really slow so you can understand: “Savage wrote that there are no “documents or testimony” to support allegations that Holder knew of the “gunwalking” tactics employed in Operation Fast and Furious.” OK let’s analyze that sentence.

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Mary Chastain

I need to start off all my posts about Operation Fast and Furious with this statement: Thank goodness we have Sharyl Attkisson, Katie Pavlich, Matthew Boyle, and Cam Edwards. Seriously, without them Operation Fast and Furious would stay hidden. So please thank them and support them as much as you can.

December is only 14 days old and so much has happened in the Operation Fast and Furious story. However if you don’t pay attention to those reporters I mentioned earlier you wouldn’t know because the Old Media is still doing their best to ignore or bury the story. Here’s some of the developments:

Friday, December 2: Department of Justice dumps 1400 pages of documents on Congress to show why they put inaccurate information in their February 4 letter.

Wednesday, December 7: Documents show ATF wanted to use Fast and Furious to make case for gun regulations. and Senator Grassley, on the Senate floor, says it’s time for Lanny Breuer to go.

Thursday, December 8: Attorney General Eric Holder testifies in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

As of today, Tuesday, December 13, 57 members of Congress are calling for Holder’s resignation.

I am not shocked at all the media ignored Ms. Attkisson’s breaking story about the ATF using Fast and Furious to enforce more gun regulations. After all, it would be admitting all along that we were right and they were wrong. They thought we were crazy because we knew Fast and Furious was a way to put restrictions on guns, but now they’re eating their words and I bet they’re delicious! I searched the Old Media’s websites and couldn’t find anything on it. If I am wrong please let me know.

This one cannot be blamed on new media. Senator Grassley didn’t tell this to Mr. Boyle or even pen an op-ed for The Washington Times. No, he said this on the Senate floor for everyone to hear. However, the media buried the story. Only The Washington Times had it on their front page. The other major outlets posted a story about it, but you had to search for it. It wasn’t on the front page or the front page of the US and politics sections. While ABC World News and NBC Nightly News did not talk about it on their programs, the ABC and MSNBC websites did post the AP story.

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Mary Chastain

Your tax dollars at work America! If Media Matters for America was serious about being a “watchdog” group they wouldn’t go after the new media that picks up MSM slack. Instead they’d go after The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, etc. for NOT doing their jobs. But then again we all know the truth: MMfA doesn’t care about the truth or facts unless it benefits them and their liberal politicians.

Yesterday Eric Holder lashed out at The Daily Caller blaming them for all the Operation Fast & Furious attention. Our very own Dana Loesch pointed out that this isn’t the first time the administration has done this. You all know I’ve been working hard trying to get the rest of the media to cover Operation Fast and Furious. Cam Edwards, host of Cam & Company, talks Fast & Furious every night. Katie Pavlich from Townhall covers it as much as Mr. Boyle. Don’t forget Sharyl Attkisson, the only reporter in the MSM who is reporting Fast & Furious. She was cursed out by a White House staffer for asking too many questions.

Matt Gertz at Media Matters quickly came to Mr. Holder’s defense. Mr. Gertz claims Mr. Holder is right about The Daily Caller being behind all the calls for Mr. Holder’s resignation. Interesting, but Holder should be pointing the finger at himself. If he and the Department of Justice didn’t allow guns to walk they wouldn’t be in this mess and have blood on their hands. God forbid Matthew Boyle, Katie Pavlich, and Sharyl Attkisson do their jobs.

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Mary Chastain

Michele Bachmann was the first GOP presidential candidate to demand Eric Holder’s resignation. Last Monday Rick Perry published an op-ed in The Washington Times demanding Mr. Holder’s resignation and yesterday morning Jon Huntsman also remarked that Mr. Holder should resign, yet the majority of the Old Media ignore them and the other congressmen who think Mr. Holder should resign.

There is no excuse from the Old Media we should accept, especially since Mr. Perry’s op-ed appears in The Washington Times. The Old Media can deny it all they want, but we all know if this was a GOP administration they would be contacting every single Democrat politician and reporting anyone calling for the attorney general to resign.

Wait a minute. They already did! Oh yes: Remember my previous articles comparing coverage of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Mr. Holder? That’s right. The Old Media was reporting on Mr. Gonzales so much in 2007 even I was sick of it and that’s when I was still a super liberal.

Politico gave a report on May, 20 2007 when Nancy Pelosi joined in: ”The nation cannot have a chief law enforcement officer whose candor and judgment are in serious question,” Pelosi said. “The president should restore credibility to the office of the attorney general. Alberto Gonzales must resign.” Why hasn’t she said the same thing about Mr. Holder? Of course Politico included the Republicans who thought Mr. Gonzales should go. I can’t imagine how happy that made them.

Look what I found! Then Senator Barack Obama calls for Mr. Gonzales to step down! I think someone should replay this to President Obama because he could apply his answer to Mr. Holder now.

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Mary Chastain

This is mind-boggling: Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Jon Huntsman demand Eric Holder’s resignation over Operation Fast and Furious. Perry went so far as to pen an op-ed for The Washington Times calling for Holder’s resignation. But for some reason CNN doesn’t ask a single question about the operation and honestly, the candidates could have brought it up too, and had ample opportunity.

Mr. Phil Truluck, executive vice president and COO of The Heritage Foundation, finally asked about border security. He asked:

“Let’s — I’d like to turn it back a little bit, a little closer to home, and talk about what’s going on on the borders, our southern border. As all of you know, the drug-related crimes and violence are getting heavier and heavier in that area. First, do you consider that to be a national interest threat? And, secondly, what could we be doing with the Mexican government to help stop these drug cartels?”

This is a perfect set up to talk about Fast and Furious and just gunwalking in general. Wolf Blitzer went right to Mr. Perry and here’s Mr. Perry’s response:

PERRY: Well, let me kind of broaden it out. I think it’s time for a 21st century Monroe Doctrine. When you think about what we put in place in the — in the 1820s, and then we used it again in the 1960s with the Soviet Union. We’re seeing countries start to come in and infiltrate. We know that Hamas and Hezbollah are working in Mexico, as well as Iran, with their ploy to come into the United States.

We know that Hugo Chavez and the Iranian government has one of the largest — I think their largest embassy in the world is in Venezuela. So the idea that we need to have border security with the United States and Mexico is paramount to the entire western hemisphere.

So putting that secure border in place with strategic fencing, with the boots on the ground, with the aviation assets, and then working with Mexico in particular, whether it’s putting sanctions against the banks, whether it’s working with them on security with Mexico, all of those together can make that country substantially more secure and our borders secure.

As the President of the United States, I will promise you one thing, that within 12 months of the inaugural, that border will be shut down, and it will be secure.

Perfect set up to bring up Fast and Furious and Mr. Perry failed miserably. The candidates forget to attack the Obama administration during these debates and this was the exact moment Mr. Perry could have shined. Let’s examine Mr. Perry’s answer and compare it to his op-ed. When he brought up Iran in the debate he should have brought in his op-ed because he mentions Iran using the Mexican drug cartels to assassinate the Saudi Arabia ambassador in Washington.

Perry should have mentioned how he wouldn’t allow guns to walk across the border. He should have mentioned how the Obama administration has to be blamed for the border violence because of Operation Fast and Furious. He should have mentioned how he would work with the Mexican government, unlike the Obama administration do-nothing promises. No mention at all.

The conversation steered to illegal immigration and this is where Mrs. Bachmann joined in. However, she didn’t seize the opportunity to go back to border security and talk about gunwalking or Fast & Furious. Mr. Perry went back to border security, but once again, failed to bring up Fast & Furious.

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Mary Chastain

Fifty-two Congressmen, including Representative and GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, are demanding Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation over Operation Fast and Furious. While the new media has reached out to Congress, there is still no excuse for the Old Media to not say anything, especially since these Congressmen held a press conference Tuesday, November 15.

Then again, are you shocked NBC Nightly News and ABC World News didn’t cover the press conference? We know all year Mr. Williams and Ms. Sawyer have never mentioned Operation Fast and Furious once. If they covered the press conference they’d be forced to talk and explain Operation Fast and Furious. I’m disappointed CBS didn’t run a story on the press conference, but since they’ve been on top of the story I’m willing to forgive them. Here are some topics NBC and ABC thought were more important than congressmen calling for Mr. Holder’s resignation:

  • Low cost Lipitor!
  • Annie Leibovitz says go iPhone!
  • Texas court says dogs have sentimental value
  • ACL injuries
  • New Kennedy tapes

They will do anything to avoid talking about Operation Fast and Furious. Like Cam Edwards said they’d run an entire 30 minute show on Brian Williams and puppies before they talk about Fast & Furious. (more…)

Dan  Riehl

It’s unfair to analyze Spencer Ackerman, arguably the most immature and ugly contributor to the now infamous JournoList, through the hyperbolic battlefield exchanges of prosaic political warfare that exist between pundits of the Left and Right on the Internet. But there is ample reason to view him as one of, if not, the worst of the offenders.

The record reveals that he was all too happy to light the torches for a mob of journalistic-malpractitioners intent on leaving integrity behind on this, or that, malevolent and persecutive march - so long as it advanced their political agenda. Evidence of his more notable transgressions has been widely reported. Another example of Ackerman’s orgasmic-like fantasy plate glass window tossing fetish behavior towards his political opposition was reported by the Daily Caller.

spencer ackerman

Having taken the time to try and understand who he was and the forces that shaped man-child Spencer Ackerman back before he became nestled snug in his singularly-minded D.C. womb, I think I understand his need for a womb with a plate glass window Washington, - call it, Spencer Ackerman’s Washington womb with a view. It may be the only environment in which he can exist, given the abuses and rejections the less than talented scribe believes he has endured over his still young years.

At one point, Ackerman suggested that fellow members of the listserv should fight the way the right is fueling the Rev. Jeremiah Wright story by choosing one of Obama’s conservative critics, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.” … , “what I like less is being governed by racists and warmongers and criminals.”

… In other words, find a right winger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear.

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Christian Toto

You have to give mainstream journalists credit. No matter how high the evidence of liberal bias stacks up, they stick to the notion they don’t play favorites.

Rathergate? An aberration. A Washington Post ombudsman admitting journalists favored Sen. Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election? Nothing but reporters chasing down history in the making.

Press blackouts on the Van Jones controversy? Oops, we missed it.

The New Black Panther case? Not enough reporters to cover it.

Ezra Klein, JournoList founder

Ezra Klein, JournoList founder

Poll after poll after poll revealing journalists vote for Democrats over Republicans by a wide margin? Doesn’t matter, since they don’t bring their political impulses to bear on their work.

Meanwhile, the public’s faith in the media continues to plummet. And the one cable news outlet with enough reporters – and curiosity – to cover subjects like Jones and the New Black Panther Party, Fox News, continues to see its ratings soar. (more…)

Frank Ross

JournoList scandal is back and prepare for it to be a driving force in the news for quite some time. The Daily Caller published an article tonight indicating they’ve obtained emails from the JournoList and the initial details are as damning as we expected when the list-serv, founded by the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein in 2007, surfaced with the Dave Weigel kerfuffle last month.

Snippets from the article below, but make sure to read the whole thing at the Daily Caller and return to Big Journalism early and often as we unpack the details that emerge and track the fallout from this seminal event in the history of left-wing media bias.  It’s unclear exactly what the Daily Caller has, but there’s certainly no indication from this article they’ve already laid all their cards out on the table.

liberal media bias

According to records obtained by The Daily Caller, at several points during the 2008 presidential campaign a group of liberal journalists took radical steps to protect their favored candidate. Employees of news organizations including Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic participated in outpourings of anger over how Obama had been treated in the media, and in some cases plotted to fix the damage.

In one instance, Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent urged his colleagues to deflect attention from Obama’s relationship with Wright by changing the subject. Pick one of Obama’s conservative critics, Ackerman wrote, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.” (more…)