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Mediamatters.Org - The media have for months reported complaints by Sen. John
McCain's campaign that they have favored his opponent in their coverage
of the presidential race, while making little attempt to assess accuracy of those complaints or to confirm or refute them. Media Matters for
America has undertaken a review of the media's coverage of two
stories negatively affecting or reflecting on Sen. Barack Obama and two stories
negatively affecting or reflecting on McCain and compared the extent of media
attention to each. Specifically, Media Matters
compared the media's coverage of Obama's association with Chicago developer Antoin
Rezko
to the media's coverage of McCain's associations with donors for
whom McCain reportedly facilitated land
deals. Media Matters
also compared coverage of Obama's association with former Weather
Underground member Bill Ayers to coverage of McCain's association with G.
Gordon Liddy, whom Chicago Tribune
columnist Steve Chapman has described as McCain's "own Bill
Ayers."
Media Matters found that
while the five major newspapers -- the Los
Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The
Wall Street Journal, and
The Washington Post -- and the three evening network news broadcasts
have frequently mentioned Obama's ties to Ayers and Rezko, they have rarely mentioned
McCain's dealings with donors whom he reportedly benefited and have
completely ignored McCain's association with Liddy. Indeed, since The New
York Times first reported on April 22 that McCain facilitated land
deals that benefited major donors, these media outlets have mentioned those
deals in only six additional reports, but news reports and editorial and opinion pieces by or in those media outlets have mentioned Obama's
ties to Rezko -- who was convicted in June in a case in which Obama was never
accused of any wrongdoing -- 44 times
during that same time period. Moreover, while these same media outlets have
frequently mentioned Obama's ties to Ayers -- 69 mentions so far in 2008
-- they have yet to mention
McCain's connections to Liddy, whom McCain has praised and repeatedly
associated with in public and in campaign settings. In addition to serving more
than four years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and the Daniel
Ellsberg case, Liddy also admitted that he plotted
to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotted to murder fellow Republican
operative E. Howard Hunt; and plotted
to firebomb the Brookings Institution.
Liddy also
reportedly gave
advice on how to shoot agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and reportedly admitted to naming
shooting targets after the Clintons.
Media Matters previously
conducted a review of coverage of the
Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. versus coverage of televangelist James Hagee in The Washington Post and The New York Times and found
that, from February 27,
the date Hagee endorsed McCain for president, to April 30, the two papers
combined published more than 12 times as many articles mentioning Wright and
Obama as they did mentioning Hagee and McCain. Media
Matters also documented (here,
here,
here,
here,
and here) other examples of
the disparity between the media's extensive coverage of controversial comments
made by Wright and other supporters of Obama and their coverage of
controversial comments
by Hagee and other supporters of McCain.
McCain and land deals vs. Obama and Rezko
McCain has reportedly facilitated several land deals that
benefited wealthy developers who were major McCain donors. But while several
major newspapers published initial articles concerning those deals, the media
have devoted far less attention to McCain's land deals than they have
paid to Obama's ties to Rezko. According to a Media Matters search of the Nexis and Factiva databases,
since The
New York Times' initial
April 22 article, the land deals have been mentioned in only six additional news articles, editorials, or
opinion pieces in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, or The
Washington Post, and have yet to be mentioned on any evening network
news program. By contrast, during
the same time period, 39 news articles, editorials, or opinion
pieces in those papers have collectively mentioned Obama and Rezko; and the
evening news broadcasts have collectively mentioned Obama and Rezko in five
reports.
Specifically:
The Los Angeles Times has published one news article that
mentioned McCain-facilitated land deals, compared to five news articles mentioning Obama
and Rezko.
The New York Times has published its original April 22 news
article and one editorial that mentioned McCain-facilitated land deals,
compared to seven news articles and one opinion piece mentioning Obama and
Rezko.
USA Today published one news article
that mentioned McCain-facilitated land deals, compared to two news
articles mentioning Obama and Rezko.
The Wall Street Journal has yet to publish a news
article, editorial, or opinion piece that mentioned McCain-facilitated
land deals, but it has published six news articles and four editorials or
opinion pieces mentioning Obama and Rezko.
The Washington Post has published three news
articles that mentioned McCain-facilitated land deals, compared to 12 news
articles and two editorials or opinion pieces mentioning Obama and Rezko.
ABC's World News has yet to air a report
that mentioned McCain-facilitated land deals, but has aired three reports
mentioning Obama and Rezko.
The CBS Evening News has yet to air a report that mentioned
McCain-facilitated land deals, but has aired one report mentioning Obama
and Rezko.
NBC's Nightly News has yet to air a report
that mentioned McCain-facilitated land deals, but has aired one report
mentioning Obama and Rezko.
In its April 22 article, headlined "A Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain,"
The New York Times
examined McCain's relationship with Arizona developer Donald R. Diamond. The Times reported:
In Arizona, Mr. McCain has helped Mr. Diamond
with matters as small as forwarding a complaint in a regulatory skirmish over
the endangered pygmy owl, and as large as introducing legislation remapping
public lands. In 1991 and 1994, Mr. McCain sponsored two laws sought by Mr.
Diamond that resulted in providing him millions of dollars and thousands of
acres in exchange for adding some of his properties to national parks. The Arizona senator
co-sponsored a third similar bill now before the Senate.
The article described Diamond as "one of the elite
fund-raisers Mr. McCain's current presidential campaign calls Innovators,
having raised more than $250,000 so far."
In a May 9 article headlined "McCain Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer,"
The Washington Post
reported that McCain "championed legislation that will let an Arizona
rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of
valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap
that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign
fundraisers." The Post
continued:
Initially reluctant to support the
swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through
Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included
McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members
(one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who
was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.
When McCain's legislation passed in
November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000 homes
to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe,
Ariz., run by Steven A. Betts, a
longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the presumptive
Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never discussed the
deal.
In the article, the Post also reported that
"opponents were baffled by the senator's [McCain] seemingly
contradictory positions" on the legislation and quoted Janine Blaeloch,
founder and director of the Western Lands Project, asserting, "The bizarre
thing to me regarding McCain is, we spent a lot of time with his staff, and we
all seemed to be on the same page about the problems with this swap. But
somehow, John McCain kept pushing it forward."
Additionally, the Post stated:
Betts is among a string of donors
who have benefited from McCain-engineered land swaps. In 1994, the senator
helped a lobbyist for land developer Del Webb Corp. pursue an exchange in the Las Vegas area, according
to the Center for Public Integrity. McCain sponsored two bills, in 1991 and
1994, sought by donor Donald R. Diamond that yielded the developer thousands of
acres in trade for national parkland.
In a May 19 article,
USA Today reported on a third
McCain-facilitated land deal that benefited his political contributors,
writing:
McCain, who has made fighting
special-interest projects a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, inserted
$14.3 million in a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke Air Force Base in
a provision sought by SunCor Development, the largest of about 50 landowners
near the base. SunCor representatives, upset with a state law that restricted
development around Luke, met with McCain's staff to lobby for funding,
according to John Ogden, SunCor's president at the time.
The Air Force later paid SunCor $3
million for 122 acres near the base. It was the highest single land transaction
of the private lots purchased by the government -- three times the county's assessed value and
twice the military's estimated value. SunCor also donated another 122 acres.
Alan Bunnell, a spokesman for SunCor's parent company, Pinnacle West Capital,
said the donation was meant to minimize the company's tax bill and enhance the
value of adjacent property it owns.
USA Today further reported
that "McCain's campaigns have received $224,000 since 1998 from donors
connected to Pinnacle West, including $104,100 for his current presidential
run" and that Pinnacle West's CEO, vice president and lobbyist,
and former president, in addition to Betts, SunCor's president, are all
McCain fundraisers.
McCain and Liddy vs. Obama and Ayers
According to a Media
Matters search of the Nexis and Factiva databases, between January 1 and September 17, none
of the five major newspapers or three evening network news broadcasts mentioned McCain's association
with Liddy. By contrast, during
the same time period, the five major newspapers, as
well as ABC's and NBC's evening news broadcasts, have collectively broadcast or published mentions of
Obama's relationship with Ayers in 69 reports, editorials, and opinion pieces.
The Tribune's Chapman wrote in his May 4
column, "[B]ack in the 1970s, [Liddy] extolled
violence and committed crimes in the name of a radical ideology." Writing
that "Liddy's penchant for extreme solutions has not abated,"
Chapman went on to note that, in 1994, Liddy "gave some advice to his
listeners" on how to shoot and ATF officials. Chapman further wrote that "[f]ar
from repudiating him [Liddy], McCain has embraced him":
What McCain didn't mention is that
he has his own Bill Ayers -- in the form of G. Gordon Liddy. Now a conservative
radio talk-show host, Liddy spent more than 4 years in prison for his role in
the 1972 Watergate burglary. That was just one element of what Liddy did, and
proposed to do, in a secret White House effort to subvert the Constitution. Far
from repudiating him, McCain has embraced him.
How close are McCain and Liddy? At
least as close as Obama and Ayers appear to be. In 1998, Liddy's home was the
site of a McCain fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least four
contributions totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns -- including $1,000
this year.
Last November, McCain went on his
radio show. Liddy greeted him as "an old friend," and McCain sounded
like one. "I'm proud of you, I'm proud of your family," he gushed.
"It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and
congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and
philosophies that keep our nation great."
Incidents in Liddy's past include:
Felony convictions. As The Washington Post wrote in its online section about the Watergate
break-in scandal, "Liddy was convicted for his role in the Watergate
break-in, for conspiracy in the Daniel Ellsberg case and for contempt of
court, spending about four and a half years in prison. In 1986, a federal
appeals court found Liddy liable for $20,499 in back taxes on Watergate
slush-fund money, rejecting his claim that his benefits did not exceed
$45,000. As one of the White House 'plumbers,' Liddy spent
about $300,000 engineering political dirty tricks and the Watergate
break-in."
Liddy plotted to murder journalist Jack Anderson. In a 2004 article in the British newspaper The
Independent, Liddy was quoted discussing his never-implemented
plans to kill Anderson:
He [Liddy] is famous in the US as the most
fiercely loyal of Richard Nixon's "plumbers", one of the agents sent to
illegally burgle, drug and libel the President's internal opponents. "The
war in Vietnam was fought on
the streets of America
too," he says. "It was lost here at home, by people who didn't have
the Will to win. We had to get the people who wanted America to lose." Including
killing columnists? "If they were traitors as Jack Andersen [sic] was,
directly helping the enemy, then yes."
In his 1980 autobiography, Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy
(St. Martin's Press, November 1996), Liddy wrote that he and GOP
operative Hunt had become convinced that Anderson had compromised an overseas
intelligence source's safety and must be assassinated:
I took the position that, in a
hypothetical case in which the target had been the direct cause of the
identification and execution of one of our agents abroad, halfway measures were
not appropriate. How many of our people should we let him kill before we stop
him, I asked rhetorically, still not using Anderson's name. I urged as the logical
and just solution that the target be killed. Quickly.
[...]
I submitted that the target should
just become a fatal victim of the notorious Washington street-crime rate. No
one argued against that recommendation and, at Hunt's suggestion, I gave
[then-CIA deputy director of Medical Services] Dr. [Edward] Gunn a
hundred-dollar bill, from Committee to Re-Elect the President intelligence
funds, as a fee for his services. I took this to be to protect Dr. Gunn's
image as "retired."
Afterward Hunt and I discussed the
recommendation further. It was decided to include the suggestion that the
assassination of Jack Anderson be carried out by Cubans already recruited for
the intelligence arm of the Committee to Re-Elect the President. [Pages 208-209]
According to Liddy, when Hunt
worried that his superiors would not trust those operatives to carry out the
assassination, Liddy said he would be willing to carry out the plot
himself:
I thought about the damage Anderson was doing to our
country's ability to conduct foreign policy. Most of all, I thought of that U.S. agent
abroad, dead or about to die after what I was sure would be interrogation by
torture. If Hunt's principal was worried, I had the answer.
"Tell him," I said,
"if necessary, I'll do it." [Page 210]
Hunt confirms the murder plot in his
own book, American Spy: My
Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond (Wiley,
February 2007):
Liddy and I, feeling that Anderson had
done such harm to the country by exposing foreign-based CIA agents who might be
imprisoned and/or killed, spent a lot of time concocting ways to get rid of the
pesky journalist, even trying to cook up a way to get him to ingest LSD through
his skin from his steering wheel so that he would crash his car. A CIA
specialist, however, assured me that skin was an inadequate delivery system, so
the plan did not move forward. Still, Liddy was primed and ready to go it
alone, planning an assassination if [Attorney General John] Mitchell would just give the word.
Ultimately, the attorney general aborted the operation and the muckraker in
question outlived most of his adversaries, dying in December 2005 at the age of
eighty-three from Parkinson's disease. [Page 199]
Liddy participated in Ellsberg psychiatrist break-in, prepared to kill someone "if
necessary." After
military analyst Daniel
Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to The
New York Times, Liddy and
Hunt organized a break-in of Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office
in an attempt to obtain files on Ellsberg. Liddy wrote in Will:
I can run for miles, and there were
numerous deeply shadowed hiding places in the area from which I could pause to
warn the men inside with the transceiver. Only if there were no other recourse
would I have used the knife, but use it I would, if I'd had to; I had
given my men word that I would protect them.
For the period of the actual
breaking and entering, I posted myself in a narrow space between two buildings
concealed by more shrubbery, from which I could see clearly the area of the
break-in, all of the private, and much of the public parking lot. [Page 167]
[...]
I was completely candid with him [Egil
(Bud) Krogh] in my report, showing him everything: the suitcase, tools,
even the knife I had carried. He asked me, incredulous, "Would you really
have used it -- I mean, kill
somebody?"
"Only if there were absolutely
no other way. But yes, I would, if necessary to protect my men. I gave them my
word I'd cover them." [Page 169]
Liddy also wrote in Will that he and Hunt plotted to drug
Ellsberg:
According to Hunt, Daniel Ellsberg
was scheduled to speak at a fund-raising dinner to be held in Washington, and
[Nixon chief counsel] Chuck Colson thought it an opportunity to discredit him.
The dinner would be well attended by media opinion-shapers and the speech would
get wide coverage. Could
["[o]ur organization"] ODESSA drug Ellsberg
enough to befuddle him, make him appear a near burnt-out drug case?
Hunt and I studied the matter and
developed a plan to infiltrate enough Cuban waiters into the group serving the
banquet to be able to ensure that one of our people would serve Ellsberg at the
dais. One of the earliest dishes on the menu was soup. A warm liquid is ideal for the rapid
absorption and wide dispersal of a drug, and the taste would mask its presence.
Hunt was certain that he could provide men from the Miami Cuban community
who'd worked at major Florida
hotels; the drug, a fast-acting psychedelic such as LSD 25, he said he could
get from the CIA together with a recommendation of the dose necessary to have
Ellsberg incoherent by the time he was to speak. [Page 170]
The drug plan was not carried out
because, according to Liddy, "our superiors had waited too long" to
approve it and "[t]here was no longer enough lead time." [Page 170]
Liddy plotted with "gangland figure" to murder Hunt, a
government witness. While in prison, Liddy came to the
conclusion that White House officials might want his partner, Hunt, killed rather than risk Hunt
cooperating with the Watergate grand jury. Liddy wrote in Will that he made plans to carry out
such an assassination order:
By now I knew that the fee for a
killing in the D.C. jail was two "boxes." I'd be an immediate suspect were Hunt
to be killed, so it would have to be a contract sanction and I'd have to
arrange an airtight alibi. That would be easy; just have myself put back in
deadlock prior to the event. It wouldn't do, however, to go around
soliciting Hunt's execution. Prisons
are filled with informers. For
that reason I sought the advice of a gangland figure I knew and could trust.
My friend was sharp and as soon as I
began to broach the subject, he nodded his understanding but jumped to the
conclusion I was referring to [James] McCord, now free on bond. He offered immediately to
have McCord shot. I had to explain that I appreciated his offer but had someone
else in mind.
[...]
I explained carefully to my friend
that I had not yet received
orders to kill Hunt, and that under no circumstances was he to be harmed
without my specific authorization, which I would not give in the absence of
unequivocal orders from my superiors. [Page 309]
Liddy wrote that after Hunt cooperated
with investigators, he awaited an order to kill him, but "because the
message never came, Hunt lives" [Page 311].
Liddy plotted to "firebomb[]" Brookings Institution. Liddy
and Hunt believed that because of Ellsberg's past association with
the Brookings Institution, classified or sensitive documents might be
stored in the organization's security vault. Their plan to retrieve
these supposed materials involved firebombing the
building:
We devised a plan that entailed buying
a used but late-model fire engine of the kind used by the District of Columbia fire department and
marking it appropriately; uniforms for a squad of Cubans and their training so
their performance would be believable.
Thereafter, Brookings would be firebombed by use of a delay
mechanism timed to go off at night so as not to endanger lives needlessly. The Cubans in the
authentic-looking fire engine would "respond" minutes after the
timer went off, enter, get anybody in there out, hit the vault, and get themselves
out in the confusion of other fire apparatus arriving, calmly loading
"rescued" material into a van. The bogus engine would be abandoned at the
scene. The taking of
the material from the vault would be discovered and the fire engine traced to a
cut-out buyer. There
would be a lot of who-struck-John in the liberal press, but because nothing
could be proved the matter would lapse into the unsolved-mystery category.
[Page 171-72]
According to Liddy, the plan was not
approved by the White House because it was deemed "[t]oo expensive"
[Page 172].
Liddy borrowed terminology from Nazis in outlining plan to thwart "attack" by
"leftist guerillas." Before the 1972 Republican
National Convention in San Diego, Liddy met with a group of White House
officials, including Attorney General John Mitchell, to discuss ways to
thwart an "attack" on the convention by "leftist
guerrillas":
I proposed to emulate the Texas
Rangers by identifying the leaders through intelligence before the attack got under way, kidnap
them, drug them, and hold them in Mexico until after the convention was over,
then release them unharmed and still wondering what happened. Leaderless, the attack would be further disrupted
by faked assembly orders and messages, and if it ever did get off the ground it
would be much easier to repel. The
sudden disappearances, which I labeled on the chart in the original German, Nacht und Nebel ("Night and
Fog"), would strike fear into the hearts of the leftist guerrillas. The chart labeled the team
slated to carry out the night and fog plan as a "Special Action
Group" and, when John Mitchell asked, "What's that?"
and expressed doubt that it could perform as I had explained, I grew impatient.
[...]
With [then-Nixon deputy campaign director Jeb] Magruder
and [then-associate deputy attorney
general John] Dean out to lunch, I felt obliged to impress
Mitchell with my seriousness of purpose, that my people were the kind and I was
the kind who could and would do whatever was necessary to deal with organized
mass violence. Both
Magruder and Dean were too young to know what I was talking about, but I knew
that Mitchell, a naval officer in World War II, would get the message if I
translated the English "Special Action Group" into German. Given the history involved,
it was a gross exaggeration, but it made my point. "An Einsatzgruppe,
General," I said, inadvertently using a hard g for the word General and turning it, too, into German. "These men include professional killers
who have accounted between them for twenty-two dead so far, including two
hanged from a beam in a garage." [Page 197-98]
According to the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum's
Holocaust Encyclopedia,
the Einsatzgruppen were mobile
killing units organized by the Nazis for, among other things, the purpose of
carrying out "the
murder of those perceived to be racial or political enemies found behind German
combat lines in the occupied Soviet Union." Their "victims
included Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and officials of the Soviet state and the Soviet
Communist party. The Einsatzgruppen also murdered thousands of residents of
institutions for the mentally and physically disabled."
According to Yad Vashem,
"Nacht und Nebel" is
a "German term used in a secret order issued by Adolf Hitler on December
7, 1941. The order stated that any underground resistance activities against
the Reich carried out in Western Europe would
be punished in the most severe ways. The term 'Night and Fog'
referred to those underground activists from Western
Europe who, as a result of this order, were to disappear into the
'fog of the night' without leaving a trace. ... According to the order, special military
courts could impose the death sentence without a unanimous decision. If not
sentenced to death, the defendants were to be deported to Germany, where
they would disappear without a trace into concentration camps or
prisons."
The judgment of the
International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg described
the purpose and effects of the decree:
The territories occupied by Germany were
administered in violation of the laws of war. The evidence is quite
overwhelming of a systematic rule of violence, brutality and terror. On the 7th
December, 1941, Hitler issued the directive since known as the "Nacht und Nebel Erlass" (Night and Fog
Decree), under which persons who committed offences against the Reich or the
German forces in occupied territories, except where the death sentence was
certain, were to be taken secretly to Germany and handed over to the SIPO [German state security police] and
SD [intelligence division of the
German SS] for trial or punishment in Germany. This decree was
signed by the defendant [chief of the
High Command of the German Armed Forces Wilhelm] Keitel. After
these civilians arrived in Germany,
no word of them was permitted to reach the country from which they came, or
their relatives; even in cases when they died awaiting trial the families were
not informed, the purpose being to create anxiety in the minds of the family of
the arrested person. Hitler's purpose in issuing this decree was stated by the
defendant Keitel in a covering letter, dated 12th December, 1941, to be as
follows:
" Efficient and enduring
intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures
by which the relatives of the criminal and the population do not know the fate
of the criminal. This aim is achieved when the criminal is transferred to Germany."
Even persons who were only suspected
of opposing any of the policies of the German occupation authorities were
arrested, and on arrest were interrogated by the Gestapo and the SD in the most
shameful manner. On the 12th June 1942 the Chief of the SIPO and SD published,
through Mueller, the Gestapo Chief, an order authorising the use of "third
degree" methods of interrogation, where preliminary investigation had indicated
that the person could give information on important matters, such as subversive
activities, though not for the purpose of extorting confessions of the
prisoner's own crimes. This order provided:
" ... Third degree may, under
this supposition, only be employed against Communists, Marxists, Jehovah's
Witnesses, saboteurs, terrorists, members of resistance movements, parachute
agents, anti-social elements, Polish or Soviet Russian loafers or tramps; in
all other cases my permission must first be obtained ... Third degree can,
according to circumstances, consist amongst other methods of very simple diet
(bread and water), hard bunk, dark cell, deprivation of sleep, exhaustive
drilling, also in flogging (for more than twenty strokes a doctor must be
consulted)."
The brutal suppression of all
opposition to the German occupation was not confined to severe measures against
suspected members of resistance movements themselves, but was also extended to
their families. On the 19th July, 1944, the Commander of the SIPO and SD in the
district of Radom, in Poland, published an order, transmitted through the
Higher SS and Police leaders, to the effect that in all cases of assassination
or attempted assassination of Germans, or where saboteurs had destroyed vital
installations not only the guilty person, but also all his or her male
relatives should be shot, and female relatives over sixteen years of age put
into a concentration camp.
Liddy's proposed
"Special Action Group" for the kidnappings was, in the end, not
employed.
Liddy's advice for shooting ATF agents.
According to an April 26, 1995, CBS News transcript (retrieved from
Nexis), Liddy said on his August 26, 1994, radio show:
LIDDY: Well, if the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms,
resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing
bulletproof vests.
Reporting on Liddy's October
19, 1994, radio show, The Washington Post's
Howard Kurtz recounted in an
October 24, 1994, article:
Ursula from Millerton, Pa.,
tells Liddy she's afraid the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is coming
after her gun-owning friend. Liddy calls the bureau "bottom-dwelling slugs
... a pack of nitwits out to make war on those Americans who take seriously the
Second Amendment." Liddy allows that calls to "hunt down and
kill" such agents is "going too far." But, he says,
"shooting back is reasonable...
. I have counseled shooting them in the head."
According to Fairness & Accuracy
in Reporting, on September 15, 1994, Liddy
stated:
If the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms insists upon a firefight, give them a firefight. Just
remember, they're wearing flak jackets and you're better off shooting for the
head.
According to FAIR, Liddy said to a caller later in the show:
When the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms thugs come to kill your wife and children, to try to disarm you
and they open fire on you. When they come at the point of a gun, force and
violence, when you're going to defend yourself, use that Gerand [sic] [M-1 rifle]. That thing
is 30-06, and it'll take 'em right out.
According to an April 25, 1995,
Associated Press article:
Talk show host G. Gordon Liddy said
Tuesday he gave listeners bad advice when he told them to shoot for the head if
attacked by federal agents. Instead, he said, go twice for the body and then
the groin.
[...]
Last August, Liddy counseled
"head shots" to respond to an encounter with agents of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, because, "They've got a vest
underneath."
On Tuesday, he told a news
conference held as part of his WJFK program that people should cooperate if
authorities come to their homes with search warrants. But they should shoot
back if agents shoot their way in, he said.
He said experts have told him
shooting for the head was a bad idea because heads are hard to hit.
"So you shoot twice to the
body, center of mass, and if that does not work, then shoot to the groin
area," he said.
"They cannot move their hips
fast enough and you'll probably get a femoral artery and you'll knock them down
at any rate."
Asked
about his ATF comments by right-wing blogger John Hawkins in December 2003,
Liddy argued they had been misinterpreted:
LIDDY: [A]s usual, people remember
part of what I said, but not all of what I said. What I did was restate the
law. I was talking about a situation in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms comes smashing into a house, doesn't say who they are, and their
guns are out, they're shooting, and they're in the wrong place. This has
happened time and time again. The ATF has gone in and gotten the wrong guy in
the wrong place. The law is that if somebody is shooting at you, using deadly
force, the mere fact that they are a law enforcement officer, if they are in
the wrong, does not mean you are obliged to allow yourself to be killed so your
kinfolk can have a wrongful death action. You are legally entitled to defend
yourself and I was speaking of exactly those kind of situations. If you're
going to do that, you should know that they're wearing body armor so you should
use a head shot. Now all I'm doing is stating the law, but all the nuances in
there got left out when the story got repeated.
Liddy acknowledged naming shooting targets after Clintons. According to the April
25, 1995, edition of NPR's All
Things Considered (retrieved from Nexis), during a press
conference, Liddy admitted that he named shooting targets after
then-President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton. From the press
conference, as aired by NPR:
LIDDY: I did relate that on the 4th
of July of last year, when I and my family and some friends were out firing
away at a properly-constructed rifle range and we ran out of targets, and so we -- I drew some stick figure targets and I
thought we ought to give them names. So I named them Bill and Hillary, thought
it might improve my aim. It didn't. My aim is good anyway. Now, having said
that, I accept no responsibility for somebody shooting up the White
House.
Nonetheless, the five
major papers and the network evening newscasts have ignored McCain's
association with -- and praise of -- Liddy. For instance:
Fundraising. In a March 9, 1998, article (retrieved
from Nexis), The Washington Post's Al Kamen reported that Liddy
hosted a fundraiser for McCain's 1998 Senate re-election campaign. Kamen wrote:
Here's one we wished we hadn't
missed. "G. Gordon Liddy and family cordially invite you to a fundraiser
reception" at their home in Scottsdale,
Ariz., "in support of Sen.
John McCain's 1998 re-election campaign."
So McCain (R), a bona fide American
hero, is having G. Gordon Liddy, a bona fide American felon and, worse yet,
talk show host, do a fund-raiser for him? What is this all about?
Liddy has a home there and "he
called and said he wanted to invite some friends over," McCain said,
"and I said okay. I was surprised when he made the offer. I hardly know
him." As for the old conviction, McCain noted, "He's a successful
talk show host."
The affair, which took place over
the weekend, was $ 125 per person, but those who ponied up $ 250 a person got
to go to the early "VIP reception." There you could have your picture
taken with McCain and Liddy.
According to a January 23, 2000, Charlotte Observer article (retrieved from
Nexis), Liddy was also scheduled to speak at a fundraiser for McCain's
2000 presidential campaign. Discussing the event, McCain's campaign
reportedly vouched for Liddy's "character":
A presidential candidate who has
made character a central issue of his campaign is bringing a Watergate felon to
a Rock Hill
rally this week.
G. Gordon Liddy will speak at a
Wednesday fund-raiser to benefit Arizona Sen. John McCain. Liddy served more
than four years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and later
became host of a popular conservative radio talk show.
McCain is not scheduled to appear.
His campaign officials said Liddy's
character will appeal to many voters because he was following orders from
President Nixon and kept silent afterward.
"His (Liddy's) judgment might
be in question, but I don't think his character is," said Ed Walker, the York County
chairman of McCain's campaign. "He was following orders just like any good
soldier, and he didn't tell on anybody. He felt like he was on a mission and
kept his silence."
The Herald of Rock Hill, South
Carolina, reported on January 26, 2000 (retrieved
from Nexis), "Today's fund raiser for Sen. John McCain's
Republican presidential bid has fallen victim to the weather. Keynote speaker G. Gordon Liddy, radio
talk-show host and a figure from the Watergate era, can't get out of Washington, D.C."
Campaign donations. According to a search of the Federal
Election Commission's database, McCain has accepted $5,000 in
campaign contributions from Liddy, including $1,000 this year for his
presidential campaign. Liddy
has donated to several of McCain's campaigns:
2/11/2008: Liddy contributed
$1,000 to McCain
9/9/2003: Liddy contributed
$2,000 to McCain
3/23/1999: Liddy contributed
$1,000 to McCain
3/7/1998: Liddy contributed $1,000 to McCain
Radio America's The G. Gordon Liddy Show. McCain has made
appearances on Liddy's radio show, including as recently as May of
this year. An online video labeled "John McCain On The G.
Gordon Liddy Show 11/8/07" includes a discussion between Liddy and
McCain, whom Liddy described as an "old friend." During the segment,
McCain praised Liddy's "adherence to the principles and
philosophies that keep our nation great," said he was
"proud" of Liddy, and said that "it's always a
pleasure for me to come on your program." From the program:
LIDDY: Your experience in the Hanoi
Hilton is remarkable. I mean, I put in five years in a prison, but it was here in
the United States,
and they didn't torture -- the only torture that I had was being forced
to listen to rap music from time to time.
McCAIN: Well, you know, I'm proud of you.
I'm proud of your family. I'm proud to know your son, Tom,
who's a great and wonderful guy. And it's always a pleasure for me
to come on your program, Gordon. And congratulations on your continued success
and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.
LIDDY: Senator, congratulations on
your surge -- I guess we can call it that. You're coming back with a
vengeance. And thank you so much for sharing time with us. Really appreciate
it.
McCAIN: Thank you. Thanks Gordon,
great to be with you.
LIDDY: Good to be with you,
Senator.
Rezko coverage
From April 22 to September 18, 44 combined network evening news broadcasts and news,
editorials, or opinion pieces covered or mentioned Obama's ties to Rezko:
Los
Angeles Times (5)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Hiding
Sarah Palin behind 'deference'
9/9/08
N
Barack
Obama: Search for identity
8/28/08
N
Obama
pounces on McCain's gaffe about his homes
8/22/08
N
Rezko closing arguments begin
5/13/08
N
Antoin Rezko
won't take the stand in his fraud trial
5/6/08
N
The New York Times (8)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Obama
and McCain Seek a Common Touch
8/21/08
N
UNIONS
UNITED; Hitting McCain Where He Lives
8/19/08
N
Ex-Obama
Fund-Raiser Is Convicted Of Fraud
6/5/08
N
Corruption Case
Taints Rising Political Star
5/12/08
N
Pragmatic
Politics, Forged on the South Side
5/11/08
N
Republicans
Focus on Obama as Fall Opponent
5/8/08
N
How McCain Lost
in Pennsylvania
4/27/08
E
Ex-Official
in Illinois Admits Lying About Job for Donation
4/23/08
N
USA Today (2)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
McCain
ad: Clinton's 'truth hurt'
8/25/08
N
Obama
slams McCain's inability to count family residences
8/21/08
N
The Wall Street Journal (10)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Obama
Should Come Clean on Ayers, Rezko and the Iraqi Billionaire
8/30/08
E
House
Party: Obama Homes In on McCain
8/22/08
N
Obama
Played by Chicago Rules
8/20/08
E
Friends
of Barack
6/11/08
E
Campaign '08:
GOP Starts Recycling Primary Clips Attacking Obama
6/7/08
N
Obama Heads
to Election With Some Weaknesses
6/5/08
N
Rezko
Convicted of Wire Fraud, Money Laundering
6/5/08
N
Our Collectivist Candidates
5/28/08
E
For Obama,
Advice Straight Up
5/12/08
N
From Their
House to the White House
5/9/08
N
The Washington
Post (14)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
McCain
Strategist Blasts Media
9/3/08
N
Romney
Leads a Denver Counteroffensive
8/27/08
N
Obama
Calls His Pick, Biden, Both a Statesman and Fighter
8/24/08
N
Extreme
Campaign Makeover
8/23/08
E
Obama's
Judgment Is Questioned
8/22/08
N
Houses
Add Up to A Snag for McCain
8/22/08
N
Can
McCain Use Advice Clinton Got on Obama?
8/13/08
N
In
Obama's Circle, Chicago Remains The Tie That Binds
7/14/08
N
Obama
Got Discount on Home Loan
7/2/08
N
Former
Obama Fundraiser Convicted of Corruption
6/5/08
N
For
Clinton, A Following Of 'Marshans'
6/4/08
N
Obama
as You've Never Known Him!
5/23/08
N
Rezko's
Defense Rests Without Calling Witness
5/6/08
N
Obama's
'Distractions'?
4/25/08
E
ABC evening news broadcasts (3)
Show
Date
World News Sunday
8/24/08
World News with Charles Gibson
8/21/08
World News with Charles Gibson
6/4/08
CBS evening
news broadcast (1)
Show
Date
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
6/4/08
NBC evening
news broadcast (1)
Show
Date
Nightly News with Brian Williams
6/4/08
Land deals coverage
From April 22 to September 18, seven news, editorials, or opinion pieces mentioned that
McCain reportedly facilitated land deals that benefited wealthy developers who
were major McCain donors:
The Washington Post (3)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Top
McCain Adviser Has Found Success Mixing Money,
Politics
6/26/08
N
John
McCain's
Rapid-Fire Responders
5/20/08
N
McCain
Pushed Land Swap That Benefits
Backer
5/9/08
N
The New York Times (2)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
The Trouble With
Not Being Earnest
4/25/08
E
A
Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain
4/22/08
N
Los Angeles Times (1)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
McCain land
deal benefits donor
5/9/08
N
USA Today (1)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Price
of power: McCain action helped Arizona land developer
5/19/08
N
The Wall Street
Journal: No coverage.
ABC evening news
broadcast: No
coverage.
NBC evening news
broadcast: No
coverage.
CBS evening news
broadcast: No
coverage
Ayers coverage
From January 1 to September 18,
69 combined network evening news broadcasts and news,
editorials or opinion pieces mentioned Obama's ties to Ayers:
The New York Times (19)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Interest Groups
Step Up Efforts in a Tight Race
9/15/08
N
On the Web,
a Nonpartisan Look at Those Partisan Campaign Ads
9/12/08
N
Obama Looks
to Lessons From Chicago in His National Education Plan
9/10/08
N
Obama Steps
Into O'Reilly's 'No Spin Zone'
9/5/08
N
Obama
Campaign Wages Fight Against Conservative Group's Ads
8/27/08
N
A
Billionaire Finances Ads Hitting Obama
8/22/08
N
Group
Plans Ad Criticizing Obama's Ties To Ex-Radical
8/21/08
N
Late-Period
Limbaugh
7/6/08
N
Pragmatic
Politics, Forged on the South Side
5/11/08
N
Republicans
Focus on Obama as Fall Opponent
5/8/08
N
A
Backlash?
5/3/08
E
McCain
Criticizes Clergyman's Remarks
4/28/08
N
How McCain lost
in Pennsylvania
4/27/08
E
Brush
it Off
4/20/08
E
Clinton
Impugns Obama's Toughness
4/19/08
N
'60s
Radicals Become Issue in Campaign of 2008
4/17/08
N
Former
Friends Weigh Into Debate, and the Former Amity Drains Out
4/17/08
N
Clinton Uses
Sharp Attacks in Tense Debate
4/17/08
N
Battle of
the Baggage
4/17/08
E
The Washington
Post (19)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Group With
Swift Boat Alumni Readies Ads Attacking Obama
9/14/08
N
Obama
Met With Fox News Executives
9/3/08
N
The
Perfect Stranger
8/29/08
E
Obama's
Response Ad Reflects Lessons of 2004
8/27/08
N
Romney
Leads a Denver Counteroffensive
8/27/08
N
'She
Could Accept Losing. She Could Not Accept Quitting.'
6/5/08
N
Obama
as You've Never Known Him!
5/23/08
N
Candidates
Vie to Be The Anti-Lobbyist
5/20/08
N
Clinton
Quiet About Own Radical Ties
5/19/08
N
Obama
Has the Upper Hand. But McCain Can Still Take Him
5/18/08
E
The
Race's Real Winner
5/11/08
E
Too Late to the
Duck Hunt
5/9/08
E
Obama's
'Distractions'?
4/25/08
E
McCain
Questions Obama Remark Comparing '60s Radical, Lawmaker
4/21/08
N
Obama Looks
To Turn Debate Into a Victory
4/18/08
N
Performance
By ABC's Moderators Is a Matter Of Debate
4/18/08
N
Former
'60s Radical
Is Now Considered Mainstream in Chicago
4/18/08
N
Obama
Pressed in Pa. Debate
4/17/08
N
'Soft'
Press Sharpens Its Focus on Obama
3/3/08
N
Los
Angeles Times (18)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Barack Obama
raises the funding roof
9/15/08
N
Some
Obama links will mislead
8/30/08
N
Barack
Obama: Search for identity
8/28/08
N
Biden's
jokes about his wife Jill? OK with Pelosi
8/24/08
N
Billionaire
behind Swift Boat ads funded anti-Obama spot
8/23/08
N
Ad
attacks Obama's ties to leftist leader
8/22/08
N
John
McCain puts the focus on economy
7/19/08
N
The Obama-McCain age gap that matters
6/1/08
E
Obama
pounds away at McCain
5/19/08
N
Steeling
Obama
5/15/08
E
GOP makes a target of Obama
4/25/08
N
Ex-radical
William Ayers keeps low profile
4/24/08
N
What
to look for in Pennsylvania
4/22/08
N
Heating
up in Pennsylvania
4/21/08
N
Moderators' 'gotcha' tone inspires angry new debate
4/18/08
N
Obama
and the former radicals
4/18/08
N
The
influence test
4/18/08
E
Debate dwells on Obama's past
4/17/08
N
USA Today (2)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Groups
play up Obama link to '60s radical
8/26/08
N
Damage
control, take 2
4/30/08
E
The Wall Street Journal (9)
Headline
Date
News or Editorial/Op.
Obama
Should Come Clean on Ayers, Rezko and the Iraqi Billionaire
8/30/08
E
Legal
Controversy Erupts Over TV Ads Linking Obama to '60s Radical
8/29/08
N
Ex-Friends
of Barack
6/12/08
E
Why Hillary Goes Nuclear
5/29/08
E
The
Clinton Divorce
5/9/08
E
Obama's
Other Radical Friends
5/2/08
E
Democratic Fight Has Its Upsides
4/23/08
E
Woods Fund Could Become Obama's 'Swift Boat'
4/18/08
N
Democrats
Meet in Feisty Debate
4/17/08
N
ABC evening news broadcast (1)
Show
Date
World News Sunday
4/20/08
NBC evening news broadcast (1)
Show
Date
Nightly News
4/17/08
CBS evening news
broadcast: No
coverage
Liddy coverage
Media Matters did not
find any coverage from January 1 to September 18 of McCain's ties to Liddy in the Los Angeles Times, The New
York Times, USA Today,
The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, or the evening news programs of ABC, CBS, or NBC. A
February 8 Washington Post column by Dana
Milbank and an August 13 New
York Times article both mentioned Liddy and McCain
but did not report or note any ties between the two.
Media Matters - Despite attacks on media by McCain campaign, case studies show disparate coverage in McCain's favor {...} The media have for months reported complaints by the McCain campaign that they have favored his opponent in their coverage of the presidential race, while making little attempt to assess the accuracy of those complaints or to confirm or refute them. But in a review of the media's coverage of two stories negatively affecting or reflecting on Sen. Barack Obama and two stories negatively affecting or reflecting on Sen. John McCain -- specifically Obama's ties to Bill Ayers and Antoin Rezko, and McCain's dealings with donors whom he reportedly benefited and his association with G. Gordon Liddy -- Media Matters found that the five major newspapers and the three evening network news broadcasts have frequently mentioned Obama's ties to Ayers and Rezko, but have rarely mentioned McCain's dealings with donors and have ignored his association with Liddy. {...} Published: September 19, 2008, 7:07 pm - Indexed: September 21, 2008, 10:31 am - Page Size: 112KB |