Twitter roundup

	Brendan Nyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 6:24pm From my Twitter feed (2/9-2/11)
	BrendanNyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 6:24pm RT @politifact False for Maddow claim that Fox "said the New Black Panther Party decided the election for Obama." http://bit.ly/faEk9t
	PolitiFact | Rachel Maddow says Fox News 'said the New Black Panther Party decided the election for Barack Obama' In an interview on the Late Show with David Letterman, Rachel Maddow said there's a big difference in the approaches of MSNBC and Fox: MSNBC, the network that carries her nightly show, is co...
	BrendanNyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 6:19pm Focus groups are unscientific, but seeing half the Luntz SOTU focus group saying they think Obama is Muslim is staggering http://j.mp/iizr62
	Weigel : The Version of Barack Obama in My Head is the Worst President Ever I'm a bit late to this Frank Luntz focus group about opinions on President Barack Obama. The whole thing is worth the clickthrough. But if you don't he to watch the video, here are the comments ...
	BrendanNyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 6:15pm Must-read @conor64 post on conservative intellectuals who won't say what they really think about populist entertainers http://j.mp/h46ZMX
	Understanding The Implications, Ctd - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan Homepage of the Atlantic Magazine Online Service
	BrendanNyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 6:11pm Frank Gaffney calls Obama "friend of Shariah" in latest attempt to promote Muslim myth http://j.mp/fTNmPl
	Gaffney Cites Program, Group Promoted By Bush Admin. To Attack Obama As "Friend Of Shariah" | Media Matters for America
	BrendanNyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 4:42pm .@AdamSerwer on how "conservatives have adapted to birtherism by making a joke out of it" http://wapo.st/eLUWra
	The Plum Line - The GOP's post-birtherism After a Republican congressman from Idaho, Rep. Raul Labrador, made a joke implying that the president wasn't born in the U.S. at CPAC yesterday, Dave Weigel wrote "Striking just how mundane thi...
	BrendanNyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 1:17pm Against facile attributions of Congressional outcomes to "Tea Party Republicans" http://j.mp/fOugDQ
	The Monkey Cage: The Tea Party and the Patriot Act Vote
	BrendanNyhan Feb 11, 2011 at 1:14pm Awful movie-inspired academic paper titles http://j.mp/eLVchf My favorite: Honey, I Shrunk the Sample Covariance Matrix http://j.mp/i9jQj8
	Goofy Wordplay in the Titles of Scientific Articles - Ideas Market - WSJ "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" has inspired an astonishing number of shockingly bad research-paper titles.
	Honey, I Shrunk the Sample Covariance Matrix - weirdexperiments.com {DESCRIPTION}
	BrendanNyhan Feb 10, 2011 at 9:52pm Support for budget cuts still pretty weak, but up from '09: http://wapo.st/gop4o6 Consistent with thermostatic response: http://j.mp/enVOrS
	The Plum Line - Americans love government spending -- when you start to talk specifics The new Pew poll perfectly captures the contradiction at the heart of public attitudes towards government and spending -- and suggests that Dems could have an advantage in the coming battles ove...
	Overstating Reagan's effect on public opinion - Brendan Nyhan Time's cover story on Ronald Reagan's influence on President Obama opens with this anecdote (emphasis added): In May 2010, Barack Obama invited a small group of presidential historians to the Wh...
	BrendanNyhan Feb 10, 2011 at 3:10pm John Sides asks a question that I've also pondered -- where is the reporting on Obama's neglect of Fed, judiciary, etc? http://j.mp/ihucFw
	The Monkey Cage: The Empty Bench
	BrendanNyhan Feb 10, 2011 at 9:47pm .@mattyglesias on why there's not more reporting on Obama's neglect of the Fed, judiciary, etc. - no conflict! http://j.mp/g6wAXj
	Yglesias » The Limits of Journalism
	BrendanNyhan Feb 10, 2011 at 2:57pm Abramowitz: In last 100 years, 9 of 10 first-term presidents whose party didn't previously control WH were re-elected http://j.mp/dQd1qG
	Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball
	ModeledBehavior Feb 9, 2011 at 5:12pm Mark Bittman worries Walmart is going to drive down produce prices. High price worship is a bad strain of liberalism http://nyti.ms/gsjlDr
	Is 'Eat Real Food' Unthinkable? - NYTimes.com The new diet and health guidelines from three powerful sources don't go quite far enough.
	BrendanNyhan Feb 9, 2011 at 3:28pm RT @AnzaloneLiszt Politico article on reality of health insurance costs hitting freshman lawmakers who declined benefits http://j.mp/f8eYI8
	Insurance reality hits House GOP - POLITICO.com Print View POLITICO covers political news with a focus on national politics, Congress, Capitol Hill, the 2008 presidential race, lobbying, advocacy, and more. POLITICO's in-depth coverage includes video f...

Comments

[David in Cal]

I'm glad to see PolitiFact defend Fox News from unfair criticism. However, I would quibble with PolitiFact's statement:
Maddow would have been correct if she had simply said that Fox's coverage was more extensive and hyperbolic than other networks.

I agree that Fox's coverage was more extensive than other networks. However, "hyperbolic" means "overstated, embellished." There's no evidence at all that Fox embellished the story in any way. PolitiFact mentioned no Fox reporting that was factually incorrect.

One could argue that Fox magnified the story's importance, but that depends on a making a case that the amount of coverage was disproportionate to the story's importance. As far as I can see, PolitiFact never made such a case.

I think the story was very important, since it ultimately involved persuasive accusations of racially discriminatory enforcement by the Justice Dept., a cover-up whereby certain Justice Dept. employees were prohibited from testifying before Congress, and (arguably) perjured testimony by top Justice Dept. officials. In short, IMHO Fox's coverage wasn't overstated; the coverage from other news outlets was understated.

[David in Cal]

Re: Frank Gaffney calls Obama "friend of Shariah" in latest attempt to promote Muslim myth

1. It's Brendan's conclusion that Gaffney's purpose is to promote Muslim myth. A more straightforward theory is that Gaffney is promoting the idea that Obama is too friendly to Shariah.

2. Media Matters is hard to take seriously. Consider their use of weasel words. They want to show that Obama's support for (or lack of opposition to) Shariah is unexceptional, so they claim is's like Bush's. They write:
In fact, Gaffney bases this claim, in part, on the administration's support for an initiative that began under President Bush, as well as the Obama administration's ties to an American Muslim group that the Bush administration also promoted [emphasis added]

The phrase "in part" destroys their argument.

3. Shariah law supports extreme religious discrimination and sexism at a level unimaginable in today's USA. It's completely alien to American liberal values. I want our political and intellectual leaders to take the lead in criticizing Shariah Law.

They don't do this IMHO because of multiculturalism. A level of bigotry that would be anathema if preached or practiced by Caucasian Americans somehow becomes immune to major criticism when the perps are Muslims. (incidentally, this interesting interview explores among other things these sorts of attitudes.)

4. If Obama is concerned about people thinking he's a Muslim, he will need to take the lead in opposing that belief. Frank Gaffney isn't going to be fair to Obama any more than liberals were fair to Goerge Bush. The fact that Obama invited representatives of Shariah Law to a White House dinner will be sufficient evidence for Obama's opponents to call him a "friend of Shariah."

IMHO Obama could start by looking for opportunities to criticize Shariah Law. While it's unfair to call him "friend of Shariah", I'm not sure he's a sufficient enemy of that pernicious doctrine.

[Rob]

Though Gaffney didn't question President Obama's profession of his Christian faith, somebody did, just last night: Bill Maher. Of course, Maher doesn't think Obama is lying because he's a Muslim, he thinks Obama is lying because he's a secular humanist. I'm waiting for all the liberal intellectuals to say what they really think about the populist entertainer Bill Maher. Also, what they really think about other populist entertainers who promote falsehoods, such as Michael Moore and Rachel Maddow and Joy Behar and Whoopie Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell and . . . .

[MartyB]

RE:how "conservatives have adapted to birtherism by making a joke out of it"

Serwer writes:

"But by making jokes about it, conservative political figures manage to avoid taking a position one way or the other...""

Brendan - I doubt you are referencing this post approvingly, since your own research shows that speaking out against known lies seems to add to their being more widely accepted.

Isn't ridicule possibly one of the best methods of combating misinformation, so conservatives are actually diffusing the issue and helping out the President?

Unless, of course, you suspect conservatives are conspiring to keep the issue alive (as Serwer continues):

"Even with post-birtherism, though, the ultimate objective, to undermine the president by portraying him as un-American, is achieved -- without sounding like you have a closet full of tinfoil hats."

I wonder if aliens are trying to decode the messages from the sunlight reflecting from Serwer's own hat….