The Hollywood Liberal

‘Left, Right & Center’: Pelosi Waffles, Obama Falters

Will Nancy Pelosi survive the onslaught of scrutiny and criticism in the wake of recent CIA torture-briefing revelations with her House speaker status intact? Is President Obama in over his head, what with all the hubbub over torture photos and military tribunals?

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Cheney’s Chains to Torture

As new information leaks out on the Bush administration’s torture program and as Dick Cheney pumps up his role as the poster child for waterboarding, we can slowly start connecting the dots on the previous administration’s criminal practices. Rachel Maddow and guest author Jane Mayer break down the shaky legal justifications behind the invasion of Iraq and the use of waterboarding—a method now known to produce false confessions—to try to force detainees to reveal a link between al-Qaida and Iraq.

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NPR’s Horsley falsely conflates observant white Catholics with all observant Catholics

On the May 17 edition of NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR White House correspondent Scott Horsley falsely claimed that, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, “only a little over a third” of “Catholics who attend Mass weekly” “thought it was right for Notre Dame to honor Mr. Obama.” In fact, the April 30 Pew poll found that 37 percent of “White non-Hispanic Catholics” who attend Mass weekly thought it was right for Notre Dame to invite President Obama to speak [emphasis added], and Pew did not present results for all Catholics who attend Mass weekly. By contrast, a Quinnipiac University poll conducted April 21-27 found that 49 percent of  “[o]bservant Catholic voters who attend religious services about once a week” said that Notre Dame should not “rescind its invitation to President Obama to give this year’s commencement address.”

Media Matters for America senior fellow Jamison Foser has repeatedly highlighted other instances of media conflating religious Americans with religious white Americans.

Horsley asserted: “But there is some new polling data that came out of the Pew Research Center that found a big gap between attitudes of Catholics in general, who support Notre Dame’s invitation, and the most devout Catholics who attend Mass weekly. In that group, only a little over a third thought it was right for Notre Dame to honor Mr. Obama.” Similarly, in a May 17 NPR online article about the controversy surrounding Obama’s speech, Horsley wrote:

Although most Catholics approve of the president’s visit, those who attend Mass regularly are more skeptical. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, just 37 percent of those who attend Mass once a week or more say Notre Dame was right to invite the President, while 45 percent say the school was wrong.

From the Pew poll:

From the May 17 edition of NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday:

LIANE HANSEN (host): The president continues to enjoy strong support from Catholics. Do you think this is likely to undermine that?

HORSLEY: Well, you know, the Catholic position has not been monolithic here. There have been some Catholics who have defended Mr. Obama and also defended Notre Dame as an academic institution where all sorts of voices should be heard. Of course, President Obama won the Catholic vote last November. He also won Indiana, a traditionally red state where Notre Dame’s located, so it’s no accident he’s back there. But there is some new polling data that came out of the Pew Research Center that found a big gap between attitudes of Catholics in general, who support Notre Dame’s invitation, and the most devout Catholics who attend Mass weekly. In that group, only a little over a third thought it was right for Notre Dame to honor Mr. Obama, and so those weekly Mass-goers are really more like evangelical Protestants. It seems like when it comes to politics, how often one goes to church may be a bigger factor than which church you go to.

HANSEN: NPR’s White House correspondent Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks.

HORSLEY: My pleasure, Liane.

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Focus Shifting To Evidence Bushies Ordered Torture To Boost Case For Iraq War
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Obama: ?One of the biggest mistakes?is this notion you have to dumb things down for the public.?
In a 30-minute interview with Newsweek this past week, President Obama answers a wide array of questions dealing with the challenges he’s had to confront in office. The president points to his decision to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan as the hardest thing he’s had to do so far. Obama also argues that Americans […]

In a 30-minute interview with Newsweek this past week, President Obama answers a wide array of questions dealing with the challenges he’s had to confront in office. The president points to his decision to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan as the hardest thing he’s had to do so far. Obama also argues that Americans appreciate a president who is willing to candidly discuss difficult and complex problems:

But one of the things I’ve actually been encouraged by—and I learned during the campaign—was the American people, I think, not only have a toleration but also a hunger for explanation and complexity, and a willingness to acknowledge hard problems. I think one of the biggest mistakes that is made in Washington is this notion you have to dumb things down for the public.

Also during the interview, Obama defended his efforts to reach out to Iran. “I think that there is the ability of an Islamic Republic of Iran to maintain its Islamic character while, at the same time, being a member in good standing of the international community and not a threat to its neighbors. … If it doesn’t work, the fact that we have tried will strengthen our position in mobilizing the international community, and Iran will have isolated itself, as opposed to a perception that it seeks to advance that somehow it’s being victimized by a U.S. government that doesn’t respect Iran’s sovereignty.”

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