GOP Talking Point: Miers? A fundamentalist? Pshaw!
Having written just today about the administration's new angle on Miers-- dropping the fundamentalist Christian line-- I thought I'd take a look at how the reactionary spin-meisters are spreading the word. The answer is they're right in line as usual. And you can't drop the religion idea until you convince the fundies that they have nothing to fear.
Exhibit A: Think Progress cited the goofballs at Powerline (specifically the homo-erotically pseudonymous 'Hindrocket') as pushing the meme that right-wing religious leaders are behind Miers 100%. "I am not aware of a single religious leader who has in any way objected to the Miers nomination. I know a great many religious conservatives, and not a single one of them adopts this view." In fact, there are several, and they're the most reactionary groups out there.
Exhibit B: Media Matters catches Rush Limbaugh repeating the same line on his radio show last week: On the October 13 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed that "religious conservatives are full-force behind Harriet Miers."
The religious groups against Miers? Concerned Women for America and Operation Rescue, to name two.
UPDATE: The NY Times, apparently having learned nothing from their Judith Miller problems, let an article run that perpetuates the GOP spin. From Media Matters:
An October 17 New York Times article about a purported shift in strategy by the White House over the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court falsely suggested that it is only Democrats who have condemned criticism of Miers as "sexist" and who have criticized the White House for promoting Miers's religious background in an effort to obtain conservative support for the nomination. But condemnation and the criticism have, in fact, come both from both sides of the aisle. (. . .)
But as the Times itself reported on October 12, Ed Gillespie, former Republican National Committee chairman and an adviser to President Bush on the confirmation proceedings, first raised the charge of sexism in a meeting with conservatives soon after her nomination, saying that the attack on Miers's credentials "has a whiff of sexism and a whiff of elitism." Moreover, first lady Laura Bush told NBC Today host Matt Lauer in an October 11 interview that criticism of Miers might be rooted in sexism.
Exhibit A: Think Progress cited the goofballs at Powerline (specifically the homo-erotically pseudonymous 'Hindrocket') as pushing the meme that right-wing religious leaders are behind Miers 100%. "I am not aware of a single religious leader who has in any way objected to the Miers nomination. I know a great many religious conservatives, and not a single one of them adopts this view." In fact, there are several, and they're the most reactionary groups out there.
Exhibit B: Media Matters catches Rush Limbaugh repeating the same line on his radio show last week: On the October 13 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed that "religious conservatives are full-force behind Harriet Miers."
The religious groups against Miers? Concerned Women for America and Operation Rescue, to name two.
UPDATE: The NY Times, apparently having learned nothing from their Judith Miller problems, let an article run that perpetuates the GOP spin. From Media Matters:
An October 17 New York Times article about a purported shift in strategy by the White House over the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court falsely suggested that it is only Democrats who have condemned criticism of Miers as "sexist" and who have criticized the White House for promoting Miers's religious background in an effort to obtain conservative support for the nomination. But condemnation and the criticism have, in fact, come both from both sides of the aisle. (. . .)
But as the Times itself reported on October 12, Ed Gillespie, former Republican National Committee chairman and an adviser to President Bush on the confirmation proceedings, first raised the charge of sexism in a meeting with conservatives soon after her nomination, saying that the attack on Miers's credentials "has a whiff of sexism and a whiff of elitism." Moreover, first lady Laura Bush told NBC Today host Matt Lauer in an October 11 interview that criticism of Miers might be rooted in sexism.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 1:37 PM
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