Hardball's pattern of misinformation and imbalance on CIA leak case

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200510220001

In recent months on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, coverage of the investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame has offered a clear pattern of misinformation by host Chris Matthews and his guests. Further, on numerous occasions, Hardball's panels of guests who discussed the issue have skewed right -- solely composed of Republicans, prominent conservatives, and journalists or political figures with no public partisan or ideological affiliation; only one arguably skewed left (the head of a nonpartisan professional organization was paired with a columnist frequently presented on PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer as the liberal of two panelists). Media Matters for America has reviewed Hardball segments devoted to the leak investigation since the July 2 revelation that Karl Rove was Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper's source in the Plame matter. Below, we have documented the show's panels that had a conservative slant, as well as the torrent of falsehoods and misinformation dished up by Matthews and his guests. Hardball hosts and guests repeatedly offer up falsehoods and misinformation on the Plame investigation Media Matters has documented the following false or misleading claims advanced on Hardball, from a variety of sources including Matthews himself:

Claim #1: Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV claimed Vice President Cheney sent him to Niger.

On several occasions, guests on Hardball have wrongly asserted that former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV claimed that Vice President Dick Cheney sent him to Niger to investigate the veracity of reports that Iraq had attempted to purchase yellowcake uranium there. But as Media Matters has documented, this claim echoes a false RNC talking point that misrepresented Wilson's July 6, 2003, New York Times op-ed and his August 3, 2003, interview on CNN's Late Edition. Wilson did not claim that the vice president sent him to Niger; rather, Wilson stated that the CIA sent him to Niger to answer the vice president's office's questions regarding the purported Iraq-Niger uranium deal. Claiming that Wilson stated or insinuated that Cheney's office sent him to Niger lends false justification to the argument articulated by defenders of the Bush administration that, in outing Plame, administration officials were merely setting the record straight by disclosing that Plame -- not Cheney -- had authorized the trip.

Several guests have advanced this claim, including:

* Tucker Eskew, deputy assistant to the president for communications, on the July 12 edition of Hardball.
* Ken Mehlman, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, on the July 13 edition of Hardball.
* Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC, on the October 13 edition of Hardball. Additionally, on the October 18 edition of Hardball, Mitchell claimed: "Joe Wilson went on television with us and in interviews and said he had been dispatched by the vice president," apparently referring to Wilson's appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on July 6, 2003, which Mitchell guest-hosted. Mitchell added: "He led people to believe, he said publicly, that he had been dispatched by the vice president. And that was clearly not the case by every bit of reporting that I have been able to do." But Media Matters could find no example of Wilson claiming that Cheney sent him to Niger. In the July 6, 2003, interview, Wilson alluded to the origins of his trip: "he question was asked of the CIA by the office of the vice president."
* Mike Allen, then a Washington Post staff writer, on the July 27 edition of Hardball.

[democrank]

1. I never get too excited

when someone comments that Chris Matthews has seen the light because I know that if I wait five minutes, he`ll be back to spouting Repuplican talking points as gospel.

Here`s how he operates...The far right wingnut gets to make the case for Bush policies. A so-called "moderate" wingnut echoes the statement, then we`re told Democrats have no plan.

Last night`s show had a lengthy segment with two guests, David Gergen
and Charlie Black. Both Republicans.

Matthews should be called Yo-Yo Man. If he happens to stray DOWN to the Democratic side for a few seconds, he quickly adjusts his position so he can be back UP with Republicans.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. Last night also had a segment leading to the commercial break...

...a "timeline" of the CIA Leak case, ENDING with Bush's vow to fire anyone in his administration who leaked the name, but NOT including his later "revised promise" to fire "anyone CONVICTED of a crime."

I think the five minute wait has dropped a few minutes...Tweety REALLY wants to "break" the story of indictments (good luck to him on THAT), but ever since Katrina he's displayed a sweaty, stammering obsession over "Bush's image."