links for 2009-04-19

GOP congressman Barrett of S. Carolina booed mercilessly at Tea Party rally g

Several Republican members of Congress spoke at Tea Party protests around the country on Wednesday. Some were applauded. Others heckled. But only one, it appears, was booed relentlessly for the entire duration of his speech: Rep. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina.

Barrett, who voted in favor of the $700 billion bailout to stabilize the financial sector, despised by many of the demonstrators, knew what he was getting into. South Carolina grassroots conservatives have been blasting the congressman for months because of his vote on the Bush administration's bill last October.

(tags: gresham_barrett bailout Tea_Parties)
Hugo Chavez Gifts Obama With Book That Assails U.S. for Exploiting Latin America

At President Obama's meeting with the heads of South American countries this morning, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stood, walked over to him, and presented him with a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano.

Obama politely posed for a photograph with Chavez, shook his hand, and accepted the gift.

The book, first published in Spanish in 1971, offers a critique of the consequences of 500 years of European and U.S. colonization of Latin America.

(tags: barack_obama hugo_chavez)
McCain Strategist Steve Schmidt Warns GOP Risks Becoming 'Religious Party' – Support Gay Marriage or else

John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage.
+++++++
Ever hear of federalism, Steve?

Steve Schmidt, in his first political appearance since the election, spoke at the Washington, D.C., convention for the Log Cabin Republicans — a grassroots group for gay and lesbian Republicans.

He urged Republicans, in the near-term, to endorse civil unions and stop using the Bible as rationale for gay-marriage opposition.

"If you put public policy issues to a religious test, you risk becoming a religious party," he said. "And in a free country a political party cannot be viable in the long-term if it is seen as a sectarian party."

Schmidt, whose sister is a lesbian and who supports same-sex marriage, said he understands the Republican Party probably won't reverse its resistance to same-sex marriage anytime soon.

(tags: gaymarriage gay_politics steve_schmidt)
FactCheck Shoots Down The 90% Meme But Errs in Criticising Fox's 17 % Claim

Factcheck makes a glaring error here (in an effort to dispute Fox's 17% claim):

The 5,114 figure is simply wrong. What Newell said quite clearly is that the number of guns submitted to ATF in those two years was 11,055: "3,312 in FY 2007 [and] 7,743 in FY 2008." Newell also testified, as other ATF officials have done, that 90 percent of the guns traced were determined to have come from the U.S. So based on Newell's testimony, the Fox reporters should have used a figure of 9,950 guns from U.S. sources. [emphasis added]

They're clearly assuming 100% of guns submitted are successfully traced . . . which obviously isn't so.

(tags: Guns Mexico barack_obama)
Counting Mexico's Guns – Obama's Misleading Facts

There's no dispute that thousands of handguns, military style rifles and other firearms are purchased in the U.S. and end up in the hands of Mexican criminals each year. It's relatively easy to buy such guns legally in Texas and other border states and to smuggle them across.

But is it true as President Obama said, that "More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States?" No, it's not.

(tags: Guns Mexico barack_obama)
An obscene insult – The Teabagging of the Tax Day Tea Parties

he star hosts of CNN and MSNBC news shows have notoriously derided the tea party demonstrations around the country with reference to the practice of teabagging (which I had never heard of before they brought it up). As John noted, both networks' "journalists" used the rallies as an occasion for childish sexual innuendoes — in the case of MSNBC, the same obscene teabag "joke" was repeated 51 times in a 13-minute segment.

The Media Research Center detailed the teabagging references in an informative press release. The Huffington Post noted the references as well as more "jokes" in the same vein (including a video of Cooper's jape, over which David Gergen cluelessly chortles).

(tags: Tea_Parties media politics)

7 Comments

Alex

April 19, 2009 at 11:40 am

Interesting. So, factcheck disputes Fox too, but for different reasons. I did think that Fox’s article was a little light on the number side of things.

So, on both numbers AND logic, their article was weak.

Flap

April 19, 2009 at 11:50 am

Alex,

You missed the point that the 90 per cent figure used by the Obama Administration was definitely off and you missed the other link that challenged the FactCheck.org statement about the 17 per cent Fox figure.

In any case, Obama and his staff should cease and desist with the misleading facts.

SJ Reidhead

April 19, 2009 at 2:53 pm

From what I can find, it looks like Gresham was the victim of an ongoing battle between the two leading political blogs in SC. The day before the incident one blog (independent) circulated a letter in Greenville saying “Let’s boo Gresham Barrett”. The other blog, The Palmetto Scoop, (Republican) is apparently backing Gresham’s competition in the upcoming SC Gov. primary – Henry McMaster. The Palmetto Scoop shot the video then posted it. Henry is too classy a guy to have promoted it. I just can’t see him going along with it. Another SC blog, The Garnet Spy, had the dope about the other two blogs.

Gresham has a higher lifetime ACU rating than Tancredo. In fact, I’ve been a little concerned that he was acting “too conservative”. What happened, I think, is now that he’s running for governor, he’s trying to create some publicity for himself – name recognition not what it should be. So, to tweak Mark Sanford, Greshan flip-flops on the Stimulus.

There may be something else going on, but I am not sure about it.

SJR

Alex

April 20, 2009 at 9:04 pm

Greg, once again you try to turn a discussion about Fox into something you can use against Obama. It’s as if you have some sort of disorder that forces you to blame things on him. *grin*

This never was a discussion on what the administration said. I stated Fox’s article was shoddy reporting.

Fox assumes in their math that unidentified guns MUST NOT be from the US. Political considerations aside, that’s faulty logic. Untraceable guns are, by definition, untraceable. One can state that AT LEAST 17% of guns come from the US (as an unknown amount of the untraceable guns do). Stating 17% as the exact number is factually incorrect.

Then of course, going further and suggesting that the untraced guns MUST come from the other stated sources is incorrect as well. They can come from their, but as we have no numbers stating country of origin, we can only hypothesize, not draw any conclusions.

However, as you keep bringing Obama into it, I can only conclude that you are participating in an entirely different conversation.

Flap

April 21, 2009 at 6:44 am

Alex,

You missed the point again.

Here is the link to the original piece from Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fraction-number-claimed/

And from that piece:

Youâ€™ve heard this shocking â€œfactâ€ before â€” on TV and radio, in newspapers, on the Internet and from the highest politicians in the land: 90 percent of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States.

* Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it to reporters on a flight to Mexico City.
* CBS newsman Bob Schieffer referred to it while interviewing President Obama.
* California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Senate hearing: â€œIt is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors â€¦ come from the United States.â€
* William Hoover, assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified in the House of Representatives that â€œthere is more than enough evidence to indicate that over 90 percent of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico, originated from various sources within the United States.â€

Thereâ€™s just one problem with the 90 percent â€œstatisticâ€ and itâ€™s a big one:

Itâ€™s just not true.

Here is the link to my blog post of the subject: http://flapsblog.com/2009/04/03/video-the-90-per-cent-myth-of-united-states-guns-in-mexico/

Now, do you understand why the discussion centers on the Obama Administration and its supporters using misleading facts regarding the origin of Mexican guns to affect American public policy?

Alex

April 21, 2009 at 8:53 pm

Greg, you’re the one missing the point. I recommend you read back on what I’ve written. I’ve not been discussing the administration and this issue, my point has always been that Fox just published a shoddy article. Poor journalism offends me.

You seem to be participating in another discussion that is entirely unrelated to the original comment of mine that you tried to argue.

Flap

April 21, 2009 at 9:07 pm

Alex,

I think not. You know you have lost the argument and now are trying to spin away.

The whole point of the Fox News piece was to debunk what the Obama Administration was stating in order to affect public policy.

You say it is shoddy journalism and have not proven it. Fox may be incorrect or maybe not.

You never addressed this:

Factcheck makes a glaring error here (in an effort to dispute Fox’s 17% claim):

The 5,114 figure is simply wrong. What Newell said quite clearly is that the number of guns submitted to ATF in those two years was 11,055: “3,312 in FY 2007 [and] 7,743 in FY 2008.” Newell also testified, as other ATF officials have done, that 90 percent of the guns traced were determined to have come from the U.S. So based on Newell’s testimony, the Fox reporters should have used a figure of 9,950 guns from U.S. sources. [emphasis added]

They’re clearly assuming 100% of guns submitted are successfully traced . . . which obviously isn’t so.

I tried to run down the actual stats, but was stymied by a remarkably opaque set of claims from BATF (in an otherwise stat-rich site). They cite a couple numbers from successful traces (i.e., 2514 from CA, AZ, and TX in FY08; and 1053 in the other forty-seven states in FY07) . . . but they’re useless for extrapolating. Throw in the old claim from the NY Times article (2400 total in FY07, 1800 from four states along the border), and it requires serious contortions to make ’em add up. Seems to me there might be a little politickin’ going on in the BATF stats division . . . or some of the sources there are full of it.

Link: http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2009/04/factcheck-shoots-down-the-90-meme-.html

Alex

April 19, 2009 at 11:40 am

Interesting. So, factcheck disputes Fox too, but for different reasons. I did think that Fox’s article was a little light on the number side of things.

So, on both numbers AND logic, their article was weak.
Flap

April 19, 2009 at 11:50 am

Alex,

You missed the point that the 90 per cent figure used by the Obama Administration was definitely off and you missed the other link that challenged the FactCheck.org statement about the 17 per cent Fox figure.

In any case, Obama and his staff should cease and desist with the misleading facts.
SJ Reidhead

April 19, 2009 at 2:53 pm

From what I can find, it looks like Gresham was the victim of an ongoing battle between the two leading political blogs in SC. The day before the incident one blog (independent) circulated a letter in Greenville saying “Let’s boo Gresham Barrett”. The other blog, The Palmetto Scoop, (Republican) is apparently backing Gresham’s competition in the upcoming SC Gov. primary – Henry McMaster. The Palmetto Scoop shot the video then posted it. Henry is too classy a guy to have promoted it. I just can’t see him going along with it. Another SC blog, The Garnet Spy, had the dope about the other two blogs.

Gresham has a higher lifetime ACU rating than Tancredo. In fact, I’ve been a little concerned that he was acting “too conservative”. What happened, I think, is now that he’s running for governor, he’s trying to create some publicity for himself – name recognition not what it should be. So, to tweak Mark Sanford, Greshan flip-flops on the Stimulus.

There may be something else going on, but I am not sure about it.

SJR
Alex

April 20, 2009 at 9:04 pm

Greg, once again you try to turn a discussion about Fox into something you can use against Obama. It’s as if you have some sort of disorder that forces you to blame things on him. *grin*

This never was a discussion on what the administration said. I stated Fox’s article was shoddy reporting.

Fox assumes in their math that unidentified guns MUST NOT be from the US. Political considerations aside, that’s faulty logic. Untraceable guns are, by definition, untraceable. One can state that AT LEAST 17% of guns come from the US (as an unknown amount of the untraceable guns do). Stating 17% as the exact number is factually incorrect.

Then of course, going further and suggesting that the untraced guns MUST come from the other stated sources is incorrect as well. They can come from their, but as we have no numbers stating country of origin, we can only hypothesize, not draw any conclusions.

However, as you keep bringing Obama into it, I can only conclude that you are participating in an entirely different conversation.
Flap

April 21, 2009 at 6:44 am

Alex,

You missed the point again.

Here is the link to the original piece from Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fraction-number-claimed/

And from that piece:

Youâ€™ve heard this shocking â€œfactâ€ before â€” on TV and radio, in newspapers, on the Internet and from the highest politicians in the land: 90 percent of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States.

* Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it to reporters on a flight to Mexico City.
* CBS newsman Bob Schieffer referred to it while interviewing President Obama.
* California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Senate hearing: â€œIt is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors â€¦ come from the United States.â€
* William Hoover, assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified in the House of Representatives that â€œthere is more than enough evidence to indicate that over 90 percent of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico, originated from various sources within the United States.â€

Thereâ€™s just one problem with the 90 percent â€œstatisticâ€ and itâ€™s a big one:

Itâ€™s just not true.

Here is the link to my blog post of the subject: http://flapsblog.com/2009/04/03/video-the-90-per-cent-myth-of-united-states-guns-in-mexico/

Now, do you understand why the discussion centers on the Obama Administration and its supporters using misleading facts regarding the origin of Mexican guns to affect American public policy?
Alex

April 21, 2009 at 8:53 pm

Greg, you’re the one missing the point. I recommend you read back on what I’ve written. I’ve not been discussing the administration and this issue, my point has always been that Fox just published a shoddy article. Poor journalism offends me.

You seem to be participating in another discussion that is entirely unrelated to the original comment of mine that you tried to argue.
Flap

April 21, 2009 at 9:07 pm

Alex,

I think not. You know you have lost the argument and now are trying to spin away.

The whole point of the Fox News piece was to debunk what the Obama Administration was stating in order to affect public policy.

You say it is shoddy journalism and have not proven it. Fox may be incorrect or maybe not.

You never addressed this:

Factcheck makes a glaring error here (in an effort to dispute Fox’s 17% claim):

The 5,114 figure is simply wrong. What Newell said quite clearly is that the number of guns submitted to ATF in those two years was 11,055: “3,312 in FY 2007 [and] 7,743 in FY 2008.” Newell also testified, as other ATF officials have done, that 90 percent of the guns traced were determined to have come from the U.S. So based on Newell’s testimony, the Fox reporters should have used a figure of 9,950 guns from U.S. sources. [emphasis added]

They’re clearly assuming 100% of guns submitted are successfully traced . . . which obviously isn’t so.

I tried to run down the actual stats, but was stymied by a remarkably opaque set of claims from BATF (in an otherwise stat-rich site). They cite a couple numbers from successful traces (i.e., 2514 from CA, AZ, and TX in FY08; and 1053 in the other forty-seven states in FY07) . . . but they’re useless for extrapolating. Throw in the old claim from the NY Times article (2400 total in FY07, 1800 from four states along the border), and it requires serious contortions to make ’em add up. Seems to me there might be a little politickin’ going on in the BATF stats division . . . or some of the sources there are full of it.

Link: http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2009/04/factcheck-shoots-down-the-90-meme-.html