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WJC's claim that Maddow lied is a lie

August 18, 2009 4:09 pm ET by Terry Krepel

The Western Journalism Center -- the recently reconstituted right-wing group best known for perpetuating Vince Foster conspiracy theories during the Clinton administration -- has posted a video titled "Rachel Maddow Lies about MoveON.org," which purports to debunk Maddow's claim during the August 16 edition of "Meet the Press" that MoveOn never ran an ad comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler.

But the WJC is the liar here. While the video includes a clip of something that appears to be a MoveOn ad comparing Bush to Hitler, at no point does the video note that it was submitted as part of a contest MoveOn ran in 2004 and never ran as a paid ad by MoveOn. Indeed, MoveOn specifically stated of that submission and a second similar one, "They will not appear on TV. We do not support the sentiment expressed in the two Hitler submissions." MoveOn later removed the ad from its website.

Most folks wouldn't have the courage to roll out such a ham-fisted piece of blatantly false agitprop, so the WJC has that going for it.

Tags: Rachel Maddow, Western Journalism Center

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    • Author by Bad News (August 18, 2009 4:20 pm ET)
      2 2
      Rachel Maddow is the best there is.
      There is no one that comes close to her in the Commentator Biz.
      When Rachel talks (Shhhhh) i listen.
      Because when she speaks it's The Truth she's about to Christen.

      Speak truth to power.


      Mr. News
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    • Author by captfoster2 (August 18, 2009 5:05 pm ET)
      2  
      Dear Western Journalism Center,

      If you had any decency you would simply shut your doors and not even bother!

      Going after Rachel Maddow? Now that takes balls and if your cropped video of MoveOn.org claiming that they take ownership of something they had nothing to do with... you have already lost!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by rwmacdonald2091 (August 18, 2009 5:22 pm ET)
      4  
      Ut oh Rachel, you called out old Dick Armey, and now they are after you. How dare you call a liar a liar, what is this world coming to.
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    • Author by espahan (August 18, 2009 5:26 pm ET)
         
      A brilliant ray of sunshine hit our tv news screens when Rachel came on to MSNBC NEWS. She is smarter and more educated by far than most of the people she encounters on her show. Still, she always conducts herself with good humor and lots of class and actually listens to her opponents. I would believe Rachel any day over a group of right wingers who have no shame when they lie or edit the news to suit their agenda.
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    • Author by shaggles (August 18, 2009 6:19 pm ET)
      1  
      This reminds me of the rights inability to distinguish between blog posts and forum comments on DailyKos, Huffington Post, etc. a couple of years back.
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    • Author by epkklk851 (August 18, 2009 6:23 pm ET)
      1  
      I think Rachel could have made a stronger case by adding the one sentence that clearly states the ad was submitted by an annonymous user. She could also have called Dick Armey out when he tried to give the same justification for the Hitler signs appearing at rallies sponsored by his group. That said, I think Rachel did a great job overall, and she wasn't always allowed to have her say. Armey came off as a real Dick, in more than just name.
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    • Author by spooky3 (August 18, 2009 8:27 pm ET)
      1  
      am I the only one for whom the initials "WJC" mean William Jefferson Clinton? Glad to see he's not the liar.
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    • Author by Know1 (August 19, 2009 2:38 am ET)
         
      Astroturfing is Not Free, It Costs Corporations Millions
      Besides the $400,000 per year FreedomWorks and FreedomWorks Foundation combined pays Dick Armey to lie on TV as he did claiming MoveOn.org once ran commercials on TV comparing Bush to Hitler, other lie factories pay their top dogs hefty salaries also. Salaries shown are disclosed on tax return forms 990 required to be published by the IRS of all non-profit organizations. FreedomWorks has a website called 912dc.org, and on the left side is a list of "sponsors" (although the real sponsors are mega-corporations with political axes to grind behind a fraud cover). Here's the paychecks being taken home by the bosses of those websites -- how's it compare to your paycheck, emmmm?


        * Institute For Liberty - President: Jason Wright, $79,000 (2007 IRS form 990), $46,667 (2006 IRS form 990).
        * Club for Growth - President: Pat Toomey, $149.968 (+$7,392 pension) (2006 IRS form 990), $455,525 (+17,028), (2007 IRS form 990).
        * Americans for Tax Reform - Grover G. Norquist, $213,790 + $60,000 back pay (2005 IRS form 990), $205,409 (+7,189 pension)+ $74,031 back pay (2007 IRS form 990).
        * Grassfire.Org Alliance - President: Steve Elliot, Works 20 hours/week $60,000 (2006 IRS form 990), $60,000 (2007 IRS form 990).
        * Leadership Institute - President: Morton C. Blackwell, $235,000 (+ $33,000) (2006 IRS form 990), $235,000 (+ $33,000) (2007 IRS form 990), $234,820 + $11,556 (2008 IRS form 990).
        * Young America's Foundation - Rob Robinson, President $390,208 (2005 IRS form 990), $404,288 (2006 IRS form 990), $460,208 + $17,451 (2007 IRS form 990).
        * Center for Individual Freedom - Jeffrey L. Mazzella, President $133,542 + $11,630 (2005 IRS form 990), $135,000 + $11,673 (2006 IRS form 990), $141,563 + $12,672 (2007 IRS form 990).
        * Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty - Gary Aldrich, President, $161,061 (2005 IRS form 990), $165,000 (2006 IRS form 990), $190,000 (2007 IRS form 990).

      http://truthiest.blogspot.com/2009/08/astroturfing-is-not-free-it-costs.html
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