More False Claims From Media Matters About “False Claims”
A June 9, 2006, post that attacks Ann Coulter continues a pattern of shoddy research from Media Matters.
MMatters claims it has "documented numerous statements by [Ann] Coulter that have proved to be untrue." Yet some of the examples that MMatters provides are untrue themselves.
1. MMatters writes, "[Ann Coulter] erroneouly claimed that liberal financier George Soros ’said the reason for anti-Semitism is the Jews’."
Well, as far as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is concerned, Soros did just that. A December 3, 2003, post by ADL’s Abraham Foxman is entitled, "Don’t Blame Jews For Anti-Semitism." Foxman singled out remarks that George Soros had made and called them "obscene." Added Foxman, "At this moment when the Western world is beginning to wake up to the meaning of anti-Semitism, it is uncommonly destructive to give an out by suggesting that in fact the blame lies with the Jews."
See also, "Soros blames Jews for anti-Semitism," by Uriel Heilman (Jewish Telegraphic Agency).
(MMatters’ defense of Soros is not surprising, as it’s been reported that the group has received funds from Soros-funded operations.)
The bottom line: Coulter was 100% correct.
2. MMatters: "[Ann Coulter] falsely claimed Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) refused to release his military records …"
Again, Coulter is correct. Coulter made her remarks in 2004, and during the 2004 campaign, Sen. Kerry flat-out refused to sign and deliver Standard Form 180, a form that would have released all of his military records. It was not until May of 2005 that Kerry finally signed and delivered Form 180. Even afterwards, questions still remain (here, here, and here).
Coulter was correct.
3. MMFA: "[Coulter] falsely accused University of Chicago professor Steven D. Levitt and Stanford University professor John J. Donohue III — whom she identified as ‘liberals’ — of ‘defending Roe v. Wade‘."
Here is yet another classic case in which MMatters hopes that you (the reader) don’t follow up with your own research. Levitt and Donohue were the authors of a journal article that asserted a link between legalized abortion and a drop in crime. The paper was called, "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime" (pdf file). In it, Levitt and Donohue wrote (emphasis mine):
While acknowledging that all of these factors may have also served to dampen crime, we consider a novel explanation for the sudden crime drop of the 1990s: the decision to legalize abortion over a quarter century ago. The Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion nationwide potentially fits the criteria for explaining a large, abrupt, and continuing decrease in crime.
Of course their paper is a defense of Roe v. Wade. Although the paper is only 37 pages long (not including appendix and references), the paper contains 22 references to Roe v. Wade.
Again, Coulter was correct. Coulter’s statement is a natural inference from Levitt and Donohue’s paper.
And there you have it!
