Friday, September 24, 2010

from MEDIA MATTERS conservative hypocrisy

This week again proved that consistency isn't prized among the conservative media.

Earlier this week, Fox News and Rush Limbaugh criticized President Obama for supposedly being responsible for huge deficits. However, both recently attempted to defend former President Bush's for not paying for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars or his tax cuts - two things which, of course, greatly increased yearly deficits.

Fox News personalities have also repeatedly attacked President Obama for purportedly not sending as many troops to Afghanistan as the military requested. The crew of Fox & Friends called it "unbelievable" and "wrong" that Obama didn't listen to "the military experts." However, President Bush dismissed Gen. Eric Shinseki's recommendation that "several hundred thousand troops" would be needed in Iraq and Fox virtually ignored the story. When Fox News eventually covered the story, a contributor suggested that critics "shut up and let daddy drive."

Right-wing media like Fox & Friends and conservative blogs also attacked President Obama's reported comments that the United States can "absorb a terrorist attack" and that the country "absorbed [9-11] and we are stronger." Conservatives used the reported remarks to suggest that Obama was "inviting another 9/11" and that he "doesn't care about Americans dying." Yet when conservatives - including President Bush - made similar statements, the right offered not so much as a murmur of complaint.

Finally, on Wednesday, Glenn Beck -- a noted hypocrite -- promoted Eustace Mullins' book Secrets of the Federal Reserve. Mullins, who died earlier this year, was a 9-11 Truther and was described in his obituary as an "anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist" and a "nationally known white supremacist." Beck, however, heavily criticized former White House green jobs adviser Van Jones for purportedly being a 9-11 Truther.

Stay tuned next week for the same consistent inconsistency.

This weekly wrap-up was compiled by Eric Hananoki

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