WatchdogThe t h e m r c ’ s m o n t h l y m e m b e r s ’ r e p o r t CREATING A MEDIA CULTURE IN AMERICA WHERE TRUTH AND LIBERTY FLOURISH Vol. 19 • Issue 9 • September 2012 Liberal Media Politicize Tragic Shooting at ‘Batman’ Movie To Push For More Gun Control Laws The horrific shooting at a movie pretty good time to talk about them.” theater in Aurora, Colo., by a man MRC Headquarters • Alexandria, Va What if George Bush had politicized obsessed with the Batman movies the 9/11 tragedy? Those same resulted in the tragic death of 12 reporters would have been furious. INSIDE people and the wounding of 58. Our Over at CNN, the same day, reporter prayers and good thoughts go out to Brooke Baldwin harangued Philadelphia PAGE 3 those victims and their families. May Mayor Michael Nutter, “Why hasn’t your Tell the Truth! 2012 God comfort them in Campaign Sweeps the party, the Democratic Nation This Election Year their suffering. Party, done more to There is often no legislate guns? … And PAGES 4-5 way to logically explain my question to you is, BITS & PIECES: why these types of vio- what has to happen Hail Socialized Medicine! lent acts occur. None- for Washington to Protecting Obama, theless, the liberal reinstate the assault Nazi=Political Right? Pimping Newsweek, media, like clockwork, weapons ban which Solyndra, Shh! exploit such crises expired back in to push their leftist 2004?” PAGE 6 agenda. Predictably, The liberal media exploited the tragic Yet CNN was not they immediately po- Colorado shooting to advocate for done lecturing and Brent Bozell’s Nationally more gun control laws and even falsely liticized the tragedy to Syndicated Column: linked the shooter to the Tea Party. proposing public The Media Built That advocate for more gun policy for the entire for Obama control laws. They also — no surprise nation. That night on his self-titled — falsely linked the conservative Tea show Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN’s PAGE 7 Party to the killings. Again. leftist nanny-in-chief railed, “There MRC in the News We documented, exposed, and are now almost as many guns in PAGE 8 neutralized that liberal bias through America as there are people, and this Help the MRC Help America our News Analysis Division, our can only surely lead to more senseless While Helping Yourself NewsBusters blog, on MRCTV, and in my deaths. Something has to be done, and nationally syndicated column. The pro- that debate will start tonight.” gun-control Aurora coverage echoed Morgan then went on to that of the Tucson shooting in 2011, prophecize-in-hindsight that stricter the Virginia Tech case in 2007 and the gun control would “have prevented Columbine High School case in 1999. this from happening” and that we need Let’s look at the latest left-wing spin. to “strengthen the law now to stop On the very day of the Aurora another young man like him” from shooting, July 20, Time’s Michael buying guns and shooting people. Grunwald lectured, “There is nothing On the Today show, July 22, NBC’s wrong with politicizing tragedy. Gun Michael Isikoff blamed the NRA for www.MRC.org control and the Second Amendment blocking stricter gun laws and warned are issues, too, and now seems like a Continued on page 2 The 2 Watchdog SEPTEMBER 2012 Continued from page 1 PBS’s Bill Moyers ranted: “The NRA is the enabler of death — paranoid, delusional, and as venomous as a scorpion. With the weak-kneed acquiescence of our politicians, the National Rifle Association has turned the Second Amendment of the Constitution into a cruel hoax, a cruel and deadly hoax!” And so it went. Besides pushing the gun-control party line, the liberal media smeared conservatives with the movie-theater killer. On ABC, Good Morning America’s George Stephanopolous told viewers several hours after the shooting that reporter Brian Ross had “found MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell railed that the National Rifle something that might be significant.” Association wants to ensure that “American mass murderers are Ross then declared that a “Jim Holmes” of Aurora, the very best equipped mass murderers in the world.” Colorado, — the name of the suspected shooter — had that Americans could now only rely on “beefed-up joined the Tea Party, but “we don’t know if this is the security and greater vigilance” to protect themselves same Jim Holmes.” How on Earth could a professional from crazy, gun-wielding killers. journalist drop that bombshell on national television, The next day, Time’s Mark Halperin let slip on and in the next breath admit it was pure speculation? MSNBC what we already know: liberal journalists want to gut the Second Amendment. Halperin confessed, “If you walk the halls of most major news organizations or of the OEOB [Old Executive Office Building] at the White House or West Wing, I think you’d find overwhelming sentiment that there should be stricter gun control laws in the United States.” Yes, for lefties, more government is the key to peace and tranquility. Halperin, predictably, didn’t mention that gun violence is most prevalent in those places that have the strictest gun control laws, such as Michael Bloomberg’s New York City and Rahm PBS’s Bill Moyers ranted that “the NRA is the enabler of death Emanuel’s Chicago. Halperin also didn’t mention that — paranoid, delusional, and as venomous as a scorpion.” where law-abiding citizens can reasonably buy and carry guns, 24-7 if they want, crime rates are lower. Or as the actual Jim Holmes of the Tea Party replied, Florida, for example, introduced a concealed-carry “What kind of idiot makes that kind of statement?” law in 1987 and since that time the homicide rate in Answer: a liberal reporter. the Sunshine state fell 52 percent. Vermont, a bastion ABC’s Ross, incidentally, didn’t apologize to his of liberalism, nonetheless allows its citizens to carry viewers for his gross screw up. Instead, ABC posted a guns without getting permission, paying a fee, or short apology online and let the smear stand on air. enduring a waiting period, and the Green Mountain The liberal media will stop at nothing to advance state is one of the safest five states in the country. their agenda. They will distort, spin, omit, mis-report, But the leftist media don’t want to talk about smear, selectively edit, and lie if necessary. That’s that. Instead, with the Aurora coverage, it’s all about why we do what we do: document, expose, and regulating guns into the ground. Four days after neutralize them. the shooting, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell was still We are up against a behemoth, however, and need ranting that NRA President Wayne LaPierre wants “to your support to counter the liberal media onslaught make sure American mass murderers are the very best from the networks, cable, on the Internet and from equipped mass murderers in the world,” and that Hollywood. If you can make a donation to the MRC he spends his time scaring NRA members “so he can today, please do. We are in our 25th year now and continue to siphon $1 million off their dues money we’re just warming to the fight. every year to stuff into his blood-drenched pockets.” Sincerely, O’Donnell’s colleague Chuck Todd, meanwhile, was breathlessly researching and reporting on the amount of paperwork it takes to register a car in Colorado versus the amount of paperwork for registering a gun. L. Brent Bozell III Hold the presses! Founder and President SEPTEMBER 2012 3 GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY !! MRC’s 25th Tell The Truth! 2012 Campaign Sweeps the Anniversary Gala Come and Enjoy the Nation This Election Year “Best Conservative Event The MRC’s Tell The Truth! 2012 campaign has of the Year!” reached tens of millions of people across the country with the message, “Don’t Believe The This year marks the 25th anniversary Liberal Media!” As a result, this topic is now part of the Media Research Center. To of the national debate going into the November celebrate this milestone, the MRC Gala and Dis Honors Awards, complete with elections. the “William F. Buckley Jr. Award for The campaign started in February and it has Media Excellence,” is being held in the exceeded our grandest expectations, and its nation’s capital and you’re invited. success is due largely to the fired-up grassroots Please come join the celebration conservatives who gravitated to the Tell The with 1,000 of the most influential Truth! message and then zealously helped spread conservatives in the country! As Ann Coulter says, “It’s the one fun dinner in the word. Here are some highlights: Washington all year.” l Ten TTT! 2012 Field Representatives have The Gala will include an elegant traveled to 38 states and distributed 16,750 reception, dinner, and live music by the bumper stickers, 45,000 buttons, and 40,000 signs Davisson Brothers Band. The Dis Honors bearing the message, “Don’t Believe the Liberal Awards will skewer some of the worst Media!” instances of liberal media bias in 2012. l Three of the Presenters for this year’s TTT! 2012 ads have been running almost ev- Dis Honors are talk-radio host Laura ery week on the Mark Levin talk-radio show, which Ingraham, NRO’s Jonah Goldberg, and reaches 7 million listeners a week, and has driven Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard. thousands of people to the tellthetruth2012.org The Acceptors include Senator Mike website.