Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (42 page)

17. Ibid.

18. Lott was later falsely accused by
News-week
of having been “hired by one partisan group” to perform the research. Since liberals treat “studies” as weapons in an ideological war, it is impossible for them to grasp the concept of a disinterested researcher performing a serious study. See Matt Bai, “The Gun Crowd’s Guru: John Lott Has a High Profile and a Target on His Back,”
Newsweek,
March 12,2001.

19. See, e.g., Bill Sammon,
At Any Cost: How AlGore Tried to Steal the Election,
Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2001, p. 20; Bill Sammon, “Insight, Elections Concern Noted,”
Florida Times-Union
(Jacksonville, Fla.), May 13,2001; “Networks’ Early Call Kept Many from Polls; Florida Section Affected by TV,”
Washington Times,
May 7, 2001.

20. Tom Rosenstiel, “Bush Cousin’s Role Further Tarnishes Journalism,”
Houston Chronicle,
November 17, 2000. (“Rosenstiel is vice chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, based in Washington, D.C.”)

21. Alicia C. Shepard, “How They Blew It,”
American Journalism Review,
January 2001/February2001.

22. John Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night: John Ellis’ Firsthand Account of Election Night,”
Inside Magazine,
December 11, 2000.

23. See, e.g., Alicia C. Shepard, “How They Blew It.”

NOTES,
pp. 84-90

24. Incorrect calls for Gore: 7:49 P.M., NBC; 7:50 P.M., CBS; 7:52 P.M., Fox News Channel; 7:55 P.M., CNN (over five minutes); 8:02 P.M., ABC (over 12 minutes). Even at 8:02, three ABC analysts were warning against calling Florida for Gore. Correct calls for Bush: 2:16 A.M., Fox (2:16:46 A.M.); 2:17 A.M., NBC and CBS; 2:18 A.M., CNN; 2:20 A.M., ABC (3 minutes, 41 seconds later).

25. Bill Carter, “Counting the Vote: The Fox Executive; Calling the Presidential Race, and Cousin George W.,”
New York Times,
November 14, 2000.

26. Jacques Ellul,
Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes,”
New York: Vintage Books, 1965, p. 18.

27. For example, George Bush had talked to the governors of various states about their absentee ballot numbers, and Jeb Bush could tell Ellis how outstanding precincts had voted in his elections. John Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

28. Bill Carter, “Counting the Vote.”

29. Paul Krugman, “Reckonings: The Two Larrys,”
New York Times,
November 19,2000.

30. Jacques Ellul,
Propaganda,
p. 18.

31. Terry Jackson, “Media Struggled with Election Night Meltdown,”
Miami Herald,
November 9, 2000.

32. Martha T. Moore, “TV, Newspapers Get Big One Wrong; Vote Projections Err One Way, Then the Other,”
USA Today,
November 9, 2000.

33. Alicia C. Shepard, “How They Blew It.”

34. Ibid. The only difference between the AP and VNS numbers was the extent of Bush’s lead. At 2:16 A.M., with 99 percent of Florida precincts reporting, both VNS and AP showed Bush winning—AP had Bush winning by about thirty thousand votes, whereas VNS had Bush ahead by about fifty thousand votes. Though both its internal numbers and the VNS numbers showed Bush with an insuperable lead, AP stubbornly refused to call Florida for Bush.

35. Megan Garvey, “Studies Blame TV Networks for Election ‘Debacle,’ “
Los Angeles Times,
February 3, 2001. The
Times
lauded the AP for refraining from calling Florida for Bush when its “independent reports showed Florida tallies different from those of VNS.” That statement would seem to suggest that the AP’s “independent reports” showed Gore ahead in Florida, in contrast to the VNS tallies, which showed Bush ahead. In fact, the only difference between the AP and VNS numbers was the extent of Bush’s lead. By contrast, when AP had projected Gore as the winner in Florida earlier in the evening, its own internal numbers really did contradict the VNS numbers. But that time, AP disregarded its own “independent reports” showing Bush the winner of Florida and called Florida for Gore at 7:52. Alicia C. Shepard, “How They Blew It.”

36. Steve McClellan, Paige Albimak, and John M. Higgms, “Networks on the Defensive,”
Broadcasting and Cable,
November 20,2000.

37. Jim Abrams, “House GOP Miffed at Networks.” AP Online, Associated Press, November 16, 2000. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia were awarded to a candidate immediately after polls closed.

38. Ibid.

39. Dan Rather, “Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris Certifies the Florida Votes,”
CBS News Special Report,
November 26, 2000 (Burrelle’s Information Services, CBS News Transcripts).

40. Diane Sawyer, “Interview with Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris,” ABC’s
Primetime Thursday,
January 11, 2001.

41. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., quoted on
ABC World News Now,
December 14, 2000, and passim.

42. New York Congressman Charles Rangel quoted on
ABC World News Now,
December 14, 2000, and passim.

43. Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson, “Law Professors Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School and William Lash of George Mason University Debate U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Florida Election,”
Good Morning America,
December 13,2000.

44. Jules Witcover, “Not a Banana Republic, but One Divided,”
Baltimore Sun,
December 17,2000.

NOTES,
pp. 90-95

45. Jane Clayson, “Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley Discusses the Decision Last Night by the U.S. Supreme Court and How the Court Will Be Viewed in a Historical Context,”
Early Show,
CBS News, December 13,2000.

46. Robert Kuttner, “Forget Nice Talk: New Administration Deserves to Be Questioned, “
Boston Globe,
December 17, 2000. (Kuttner is coeditor of the
American Prospect.
)

47. Robert Reno, “It’s Theft Fair and Square—So Get Over It,” New York
Newsday,
December 14, 2000.

48. Jules Witcover, “Not a Banana Republic.”

six. samizdat media

1. Couric hosting a 92nd Street Y appearance in New York City on March 3 shown by C-SPAN on April 3,1999.

2. Harry Smith, “Questioning Mario Cuomo,”
CBS This Morning,
December 30,1994.

3. Cass Sunstem,
Republic.com,
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001.

4. Bill Clinton, in an address to the American Association of Community Colleges, April 24,1995.

5. Dan Rather and Rita Braver, “Clinton Urges Americans to Stand Against Violent Behavior and Speech,”
CBS Evening News,
April 24,1995.

6. Bryant Gumbel,
Today,
April 25,1995.

7. Peter S. Fosl, “Conservatives Should Own Up to Their Share of the Blame,”
Roanoke Times & World News,
May 6,1995.

8. hotlinescoop.com, “National Briefing: Oklahoma City: The Politics of Bombing quoting, ‘Equal Time,’ “ CNBC, April 26,1995.

9. He did not name Limbaugh specifically, but the implication was missed by no one. See e.g., Charles Krauthammer, “Talk Radio, Ghoul Politics,”
Washington Post,
April 28, 1995, p. A27. (“[Clinton] refused, however, to admit the point openly. Indeed, his aides denied that the president was even referring to talk radio, though the implication was so obvious that practically every major news broadcast went directly from Clinton’s ‘purveyors of hate’ speech to reports on talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Oliver North.”)

10. Terry Kelleher, “Talking About Talk: The Author of ‘Inside Talk Radio’ Has Something to Say, Too,”
Newsday,
May 3,1995, p. B69.

11. David Hinckley, “Vanity Reflects New & Old Radio Stars,”
Daily News
(New York), November 26,1996, p. 68.

12. Judy Woodruff, “Former Politicos Hart and Weicker to Enter Radio Fray,” CNN’s
Inside Politics,
February 3,1995, Transcript # 758-3.

13. Judy Woodruff, “Former Politicos Hart and Weicker to Enter Radio Fray.” (“Earlier this afternoon I talked with two prominent politicians who are out of office and about to be on the air, spending some of their time hosting talk radio programs.”)

14. Harry Smith, “Smith Questioning Mario Cuomo.”

15. Howard Kurtz, “Mario Cuomo, The Limbaugh of the Left?; Democrats Hitch Their Hopes to Newest Talk-Radio Host,”
Washington Post,
June 20, 1995, p. El.

16. “On the Prowl,”
American Spectator,
September 1996.

17. Editorial, “Pump Up the Volume: Michael Moore, Jim Hightower,”
The Nation,
Augusts, 1994, p. 145.

18. Editorial by John Nichols, “Hightower—Making a Progressive Difference,” Madison, Wis.
Capital Times,
December 5,1997.

19. Richard Reynolds, “Take Back the Airwaves! Progressive Talk Radio Programs,”
Mother Jones,
January 1995, p. 18.

20. Evan Smith, “Jim Hightower: A Hellraising Texas Radio Personality Fights to Stay on the Dial; Interview,”
Mother Jones,
November 1995, p. 58.

21. Richard Reynolds, “Take Back the Airwaves!”

22. Evan Smith, “Jim Hightower.”

NOTES,
pp. 95-99

23. Top talk radio audiences by size (weekly cume low-end estimates 12-plus in millions rounded off to the nearest .25 million based upon
Talkers
magazine analysis of a national sampling of Arbitron reports supported by other reliable indicators in rated and non-rated markets for Fall 2000):

1.
Rush Limbaugh
15.00+

2.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger 14.00+

3. Howard Stern 8.50+

4. Dr. Joy Browne 5.75+

5. Jim Bohannon 4.50+ 5. Donlmus 4.50+

5. Bruce Williams 4.50+

6. Ken & Daria Dolan 2.50+ 6. Clark Howard 2.50+ 6. G. Gordon Liddy 2.50+

6. Mike Siegel 2.50+

7. Neal Boortz 2.25+ 7. Dr. Dean Edell 2.25+

7. Mike Gallagher 2.25+

7.
Michael Savage
2.25+

8. Tomjoyner 1.75+ 8. KimKomando 1.75+ 8. Tom Leykis 1.75+ 8. Jim Rome 1.75+

8. DougStephan 1.75+

9. BobBrinker 1.25+ 9. Matt Drudge 1.25+

10. Phil Hendrie 1.00+

10. Motley Fool 1.00+

10. Dave Ramsey 1.00+

10. Michael Reagan 1.00+

24. “Chronicles: Wzzzzzzzz . . .,”
Time,
July 3,1995.

25. Newswatch ... People, “Station Is Not Amused, Pulls Plug on Limbaugh,”
Baltimore Sun,
February 9,1995. At one point in 1996, the press gleefully announced Limbaugh’s ratings were faltering.
(Victory over Eastasia is near.)
But then, sadly, it turned out this reflected nothing more than the general dip experienced by all radio stations not covering the O. J. trial. Al Brumley, “Conservatively Speaking; In Talk Radio’s Battle for the Nation’s Ears, It’s All Over but the Shouting,”
Dallas Morning News,
April 7, 1996. (“Several reports have cropped up in recent weeks noting a slide in Mr. Limbaugh’s ratings.”)

26. NPR was given $250 million in taxpayer funds in 1998, and was budgeted to receive $300 million in fiscal year 2000, and $340 million in fiscal year 2001.

27. PBS Annual Report for fiscal year 1998 claims public broadcasting overall received 36.4 percent of its funding from government sources. This includes state government funding (18.9 percent) as well as subsidies from the federal government (17.5 percent)—from not only the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but also the Department of Commerce and the Department of Education.

28. Thomas L. Friedman, “Low-Tech Democracy,”
New York Times,
May 1,2001.

29. Jeff Guinn,” ‘Bestseller’ May Not Mean What You Think It Means,”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
May 10,2000, Life & Arts p. 1.

30. Jean Savage, “The Marketplace of Ideas; Forty Years of Best-Selling Conservative Books” (The Heritage Foundation),
Policy Review,
Fall 1984, p. 62.

31. Stephen Goode and Eli Lehrer, “Keeping Books,”
Insight,
August 31,1998.

32. David Streitfeld, “Writers of the Right; Conservatives Have Taken the Capitol; Now They’re On to the Bestseller List,”
Washington Post,
December 20,1994, p. Bl.

33. David Streitfeld, “Book Report,”
Washington Post,
September 25,1988, p. X15.

34. Katha Pollitt, “This Just In: We’re Not as Wise as Plato,”
New York Times,
August 8, 1993, sec. 7, p. 9.

35. Robert Kuttner, “Books & Business; Primers for Presidents,”
New York Times,
October 23, 1988, p. 1.

36. Malcolm Jones, “Odd Outing,”
Newsweek,
February 7,2000, p. 69.

37. Steve Sailer, “Commentary: Bush-Gore Marks Return of American Dynasties,” United Press International, October 12,2000.

38. Kevin M. Grace, “The Bad Boy of Academe: His Publisher Has Caved In to Threats, but Psychologist Philippe Rushton Will Not Be Silenced,”
Report Newsmagazine,
February 28, 2000, pp. 50-51.

39. Howard Fineman, “The No Bull Campaign,”
Newsweek,
October 14,1991. See also Jocelyn Mcclurg, “The Least Returned Gift of Holidays: Best-Sellers; Fiction or Non, Works

notes,
pp. 99-104

That Make Novel Gifts,”
Hartford Courant,
December 1, 1991.
(“Parliament of Whores
has been a surprise best-seller”); and Bill Virgin, “O’Rourke Finds Evil’s New Face,”
Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
April 13, 1992. (“O’Rourke’s last book,
Parliament of Whores,
a surprise bestseller.”)

40. David Landis, “Best Bets for the Weekend,”
USA Today,
July 8, 1994. See also “Storybook Pokes Fun at Political Correctness,”
Charleston Daily Mail,
August 2, 1994. (“James Finn Garner’s updated version of 13 fairy tale classics,
Politically Correct Bedtime Stones,
has become a surprise bestseller.”)