The news that electric carmaker Tesla Motors has repaid its federal loan early is being ignored by some of the same outlets that tried to make the bankrupt solar company Solyndra the face of the Obama administration’s green initiatives — including ABC, which suggested Tesla wouldn’t be able to repay its loan. On Wednesday, Tesla announced that it was paying back its $465 million Department of Energy loan with interest. The move came about nine years ahead of schedule and is expected to net taxpayers somewhere in the range of $15 to $26 million

Progressive News Post- Max Greenberg: After Hyping Solyndra, TV News Ignores Tesla’s Loan Repayment

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade dismissed the assertions of interrogation experts and those familiar with the Guantánamo Bay military commission system that keeping the prison open and holding trials there help terrorist organizations recruit more members. Fox Dismisses Idea That Guantanamo Is Helping Terrorists Kilmeade Ridicules Idea That “Gitmo Makes Us Look Bad.” Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade ridiculed the idea that the Guantánamo prison is a national security problem for the U.S.: KILMEADE: They’re going to go, “We’re going to decide to change our policy on letting these Gitmo detainees go back to Yemen.” You know when they go back to Yemen they go to prison, and suddenly they end up tunneled out and disappeared

Progressive News Post- Fox Dismisses Experts’ Conclusion That Gitmo’s Existence Helps Terrorists’ Causes

New York Times columnist Bill Keller thinks President Obama should appoint failed Whitewater sleuth Kenneth Starr to investigate the Internal Revenue Service’s improper scrutiny of conservative groups. And yes, Keller adopts the conventional wisdom that so-called scandals in recent weeks have “knocked” Obama’s “second term off course.” (Public polling suggests otherwise .) But let’s now marvel at the columnist’s fantastic claim that if Obama appointed that special counsel the partisan clouds would magically part in Washington, D.C.

Progressive News Post- Eric Boehlert: The New Beltway Fantasy: Appointing IRS Special Counsel Would End GOP Obstructionism

The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore cited figures that independent analysts have called misleading to hype Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s claims about his administration’s job creation record

Progressive News Post- Justin Berrier: WSJ’s Moore Hypes Gov. Scott’s Misleading Job Math

On Sunday, I wrote about the real scandal of the century that the media is ignoring or misreporting — unchecked global warming (see “ Worse Than Watergate “). Now I have a name for this growing scandal — No-Water-Gate

Progressive News Post- No-Water-Gate: Scandalous NY Times Piece On Dust-Bowlification Never Mentions Climate Change

Despite previously applauding a Bush administration official who invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to testify before a Congressional hearing, Rush Limbaugh is now criticizing IRS official Lois Lerner for doing the same.

Progressive News Post- Andrew Lawrence: Limbaugh’s Hypocrisy On The Fifth Amendment

Daily Caller contributor Mickey Kaus theorized that recent incidents of sexual assaults in the military may be a diversion tactic aimed at steering attention away from the White House.

Progressive News Post- Emily Arrowood: Mickey Kaus: The Daily Caller’s Sexual Assault Truther

Rep.

Progressive News Post- Michele Bachmann: God Will Repeal Obamacare

Less than 24 hours after Alex Jones theorized that a “weather weapon” could have been used to cause the devastating Oklahoma tornado, conservative gossip Matt Drudge returned to his pattern of promoting the conspiracy theorist. On May 21, Jones  told  a caller that the government has the ability to “create and steer groups of tornadoes” and that if people spotted helicopters and small aircraft “in and around the clouds, spraying and doing things” in Oklahoma, it could be evidence that a “weather weapon” was used.

Progressive News Post- Oliver Willis: After Alex Jones Pushed Oklahoma "Weather Weapon" Theory, Drudge Continues To Promote Him

Progressive News Post- Rob Tornoe: Only If It Happened In Benghazi

WND columnist Les Kinsolving equated homosexuality to bestiality, suggesting that people who engage in bestiality should receive the same legal protections afforded to gay people in same-sex relationships. In a May 20 column titled “Why Not An Additional ‘B’ To LGBT?,” Kinsolving suggested that people engaged in bestiality should be allowed to legally marry animals, equating homosexuality with bestiality and suggesting that animals are capable of consenting to sex with humans: If lesbians, male homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals should have the right to marriage licenses – as a few states, including Maryland, now provide – why should the  real  animal lovers (whose orientation is bestiality) not be allowed to marry?

Progressive News Post- Media Matters staff: WND Asks Why Bestiality Isn’t Treated The Same As Homosexuality

Conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones explained to his audience today how the government could have been behind the devastating May 20 tornado in Oklahoma. On the May 21 edition of  The Alex Jones Show , a caller asked Jones whether he was planning to cover how government technology may be behind a recent spate of sinkholes

Progressive News Post- Ben Dimiero & Oliver Willis: Alex Jones Explains How Government "Weather Weapon" Could Have Been Behind Oklahoma Tornado

New York Times  columnist Bill Keller joined Fox News’ scandal machine in calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the Obama administration’s role surrounding the Internal Revenue Services’ (IRS) improper scrutiny of conservative groups. In an opinion piece titled, “Bring Back Ken Starr,” Keller ignored the independent investigations already underway as well as the fact that Starr’s last round of investigations as special counsel set records for the cost to the American taxpayer and encouraged a hyper-partisan environment that can still be felt today. After the Fox-led  GOP investigation into the attacks in Benghazi collapsed, Fox News  geared up its scandal machine  to focus on President Obama and the IRS and promptly called for a special prosecutor.

Progressive News Post- Tyler Hansen: "Bring Back Ken Starr": NYT’s Bill Keller Joins Fox’s Campaign For A Special Prosecutor

A recent Fox News poll of registered voters, which purports to illustrate that a majority of voters agree with the network’s dark narrative on the Obama administration’s response to the 2012 Benghazi attacks, relies on questions from a foundation of tired distortions and lies. Fox News conducted a poll of 1,013 registered voters between May 18-20, attempting to discern respondents’ opinions on a variety of questions related to the government’s handling of the Benghazi attacks

Progressive News Post- Brian Powell: Fox News Push Polls Benghazi

Summer has not even begun and children across America have barely gotten bored with last year’s Christmas presents.

Progressive News Post- Texas Fires Shot Against The War On Christmas — In May

The Wall Street Journal opinion page is turning into the go-to source for documenting President Obama’s supernatural influence over the thoughts and actions of IRS employees. Reagan DOJ veterans David Rivkin and Lee Casey wrote a May 21 Journal op-ed  arguing that fault for the IRS’s inappropriate targeting of conservative non-profit applicants lies with the president. “The Obama administration made clear its deep dislike of  Citizens United  and of the various new conservative groups spawned by the ‘tea party’ movement,” they wrote, and “the IRS has always been well-attuned to even subtle guidance from the White House.” That argument was borrowed from Kimberley Strassel’s May 17 Journal column: “All [Obama] needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds.” This notion of bureaucrat whispering is, in isolation, a pretty big stretch

Progressive News Post- Simon Maloy: The Enduring Legend Of The Bureaucrat Whisperer

At least six Fox News contributors have reportedly signed on to an open letter opposing the comprehensive immigration reform legislation currently being debated in the Senate. Fox News, which has admitted it is the “voice of opposition” on certain issues, has long ignored and even fostered such unethical behavior from its personalities.

Progressive News Post- Solange Uwimana: Fox News Contributors Sign Letter Urging Immigration Reform Defeat

The  American Spectator ‘s Jeffrey Lord misrepresented White House visitor logs to suggest that President Obama knew about the IRS targeting of conservative nonprofits because he met with the president of a union that represents IRS employees shortly before the agency began its controversial actions.

Progressive News Post- The Right-Wing Media’s Failed White House Log Conspiracies

The New York Post treats a reveal it got yesterday as a guess-that-name gossip item, but the word that a Game of Thrones actress didn’t want to do any more nude scenes raises more interesting and important questions than the simple question of who it was: One of the stars of “Game of Thrones” is refusing to appear in any more nude scenes, according to a cast member. “One of the girls in the show who got her [dress] off the most in the first couple of seasons now doesn’t at all,” Oona Chaplin, who plays the noblewoman Talisa Maegyr on the show, told reporters in London over the weekend

Progressive News Post- A ‘Game Of Thrones’ Actress’s Revealing Comments About Nudity And Seriousness

Progressive News Post- Sergio Munoz: WSJ Supports Dismantling Federal Court In Order To Block Obama Nominees

As the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) prepares to release its annual report on the cost of regulations, the media should be aware of the organization’s documented and vested interest in attacking government regulations, as well as the report’s flawed methodology and biased analysis.

Progressive News Post- Albert Kleine: What The Media Should Know About The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Regulation Report

Fox News continued to push for a special prosecutor following reports that the White House chief counsel knew of an IRS investigation but did not inform the president, a claim that ignores the legal and political problems raised by involving a president in an ongoing investigation. On Fox News’ Happening Now, contributor Nina Easton reported that White House chief counsel Kathryn Ruemmler knew about the investigation into claims that the IRS delayed approval of nonprofit status to conservative groups. After host Jon Scott asked why Ruemmler would know about the investigation and not inform Obama, Easton claimed a special prosecutor should be assigned to find out if the White House was being dishonest about when the president had been informed

Progressive News Post- Andrew Lawrence: Fox News’ Continued Calls For Special Prosecutor Ignores Legal Determination

Extremist radio host Pete Santilli is defending and reiterating his  inflammatory attacks  on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stating on his program that he wants “to shoot her in the vagina and let her suffer right before my eyes.” In a May 17 rant  captured  by Right Wing Watch, Santilli called for the Bush family and President Obama to be shot and for Clinton to be “shot in the vagina.” The Secret Service  told TPM Media  that they would investigate Santilli’s comments in order to “determine what a person’s intent is when making comments like this.” SANTILLI: You need to understand that what I said was very clear. I didn’t want Hillary Clinton to die. I want her to suffer painfully, right in front of me, after she’s convicted for committing crimes against humanity.

Progressive News Post- Oliver Willis: Santilli Doubles Down On Clinton Attack: "I Want To Shoot Her In The Vagina And Let Her Suffer" Over Benghazi Actions

While Fox News has devoted extensive airtime to pushing scandals that have since begun to fall apart, it has largely ignored new allegations of sexual assault in the military. Three Service Members In Charge Of Sexual Assault Prevention Programs Are Under Investigation For Sexual Assault Air Force Officer In Charge Of Sexual Assault Prevention And Response Office Charged With Sexual Battery.  On May 6, the officer in charge of the Air Force’s sexual abuse prevention department was arrested for drunkenly groping a woman

Progressive News Post- Report: Fox News Underreported Sexual Assault In The Military

Fox News is apparently desperate for a scandal over President Obama’s handling of news that the Internal Revenue Service applied extra scrutiny to conservative groups, especially now that the network’s campaign to embroil the president in scandal over his response to the Benghazi attacks is falling apart. Fox has gone from ignoring Obama’s swift responses to the IRS’s actions to downplaying the significance of his firing the IRS’s acting commissioner, each time distorting reality in order to call for a special prosecutor.  The release of over 100 pages of inter-agency emails obtained by CNN have threatened to derail months of right-wing scandal-mongering over the administration’s response to the 2012 attacks on a U.S.

Progressive News Post- Emily Arrowood: With Benghazi Scandal Collapsing, Fox Focuses On Obama And The IRS To Manufacture A New One

As of this writing, there is no indication that the IRS’s inappropriate targeting of conservative political groups has any connection whatsoever to the White House. And some conservative talking heads are even acknowledging as much. But they’re not letting that stop them from naming Barack Obama as the culpable party, arguing that the president is responsible due to his preternatural ability to bend the average bureaucrat to his maleficent will from afar.

Progressive News Post- Simon Maloy: The Bureaucrat Whisperer

Appearing on Fox & Friends , Roger Ailes’ biographer Zev Chafets joined host Steve Doocy in toasting Fox News’ coverage of the so-called Benghazi scandal. Doocy was positively giddy about how Fox had been out way ahead of the mainstream press on the story of last September’s terror attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Lybya.

Progressive News Post- Eric Boehlert: Really Fox News? Benghazi Is Your Example Of Stellar Fox Journalism?

Fox News Sunday selected Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova, attorneys who represented witnesses at a Republican-led hearing on the attacks at a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, for its “power players of the week,” an unfortunate choice given that both individuals misled Fox News and its viewers about allegations of threats and intimidation against their clients and about efforts by the administration to prevent their clients from testifying. Though Fox News Sunday aired certain aspects of Toensing and diGenova’s biographies, the segment neglected to mention that the two have a history of poor professional conduct, including criticism from a Democratic congressman for inappropriate behavior and actions while they worked as congressional investigators due to their constant media appearances attacking President Clinton

Progressive News Post- Zachary Pleat: Fox News Got Played On Benghazi By Its "Power Players Of The Week"

Sunday talk shows on NBC, CBS, and ABC compared reports that the Internal Review Service (IRS) applied extra scrutiny to conservative groups to President Nixon’s Watergate scandal, a comparison which people who worked on both sides of the Watergate scandal agree is baseless. IRS Inspector General Report Found Agency Used “Inappropriate Criteria” For Some Tax-Exempt Applicants IG Report: “IRS Used Inappropriate Criteria” For Some Conservative Applicants

Progressive News Post- Network Sunday Shows Give Credence To Absurd IRS-Watergate Comparison

On Sunday, during an appearance on Meet The Press, Sen.

Progressive News Post- Mitch McConnell Backs Away From GOP Claims Of A Benghazi Cover Up

Fox News has announced  it’s hired former Rep. Allen West as a contributor. The far-right Republican and the conservative news network are a match made in heaven: West’s incendiary rhetoric against progressives and Democrats closely mirrors Fox News’ own smears and attacks

Progressive News Post- Eric Hananoki: 8 Reasons Allen West Is The Perfect Fox News Contributor

The Washington Post ‘s Bob Woodward, based on a series of dubious factual errors, is now offering a flawed comparison between the Watergate scandal and the Obama administration’s response to the September terror attack in Benghazi, Libya. There’s no small irony to Woodward injecting himself into what has become a scandal driven by deceptively edited emails passed off to reporters, given the recent attention he received after using a similar method to support his ridiculous accusation that a White House aide threatened him. In his latest attempt to jump into the debate on the side of the right wing, Woodward demonstrates a striking lack of familiarity with the basic facts of what happened.  Here’s what Woodward said during his May 17 appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe , and what’s wrong with those statements.

Progressive News Post- Matt Gertz: Dissecting Bob Woodward’s Comparison Of Benghazi To Watergate

Fox News hyped the candidacy of its former contributor Pete Snyder, calling him “a really good guy.”  On May 17, the Virginia Republican Convention began. Over the course of the weekend, Virginia Republicans — as described by a May 17 Washington Post article — are gathering “to pick nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general, and rally behind Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II for governor.” One of the candidates for lieutenant governor is Snyder, a former Fox News contributor , whose campaign website — as of May 18 – features that fact in a front page box

Progressive News Post- Remington Shepard: "A Really Good Guy": Fox Hypes Former Employee’s Candidacy

The cover of the June 3 issue of National Review shows a caricature of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with exaggerated features and playing a fiddle in front of what appears to be the attacked U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya engulfed by flames.

Progressive News Post- Mike Burns: National Review Caricatures Hillary Clinton As Infamous Roman Emperor

Fox News contributor and Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer pushed new and old falsehoods about the attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, by misrepresenting recently-released emails that prove that government agencies drafted talking points without references to terrorism in order to protect the ongoing investigation into the attacks

Progressive News Post- Hannah Groch-Begley: Krauthammer Peddles False Claims In Desperate Attempt To Keep Benghazi Scandal Alive

Mainstream media have dismissed recent scandal mongering by sources like Fox News over the initial de-classified talking points used to describe the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, as baseless and a distraction. Recently released emails that detailed the creation of the initial talking points used to describe the attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi confirmed past reporting that changes made to the talking points were not political and were approved by intelligence agencies.

Progressive News Post- Remington Shepard: Mainstream Media Dismiss Fox’s Benghazi Scandal Mongering

Fox continued its effort to target the Obama administration with manufactured scandals, fearmongering that IRS commissioner Sarah Hall Ingram will use the IRS’ authority under the Affordable Care Act to discriminate against conservatives by denying or postponing approval for medical procedures. IRS Commissioner Who Oversaw Tax-Exemption Approvals Now Heads Healthcare Office ABC News: “IRS Official In Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office.” In a May 16 report headlined “IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office,” ABC News reported that Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS commissioner previously in charge of the office that oversaw the approval of tax-exempt organizations had been moved to an IRS office in charge of some aspects of the new health care legislation: The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Progressive News Post- Grasping For New Scandals, Fox Fearmongers That Obamacare Will Allow IRS To Deny Medical Treatment

Republicans leaders are reportedly concerned that the scandal machine that has been kicked into high gear in recent days will lead to similar backlash the party faced over its endless and costly investigations into President Clinton in the 1990s: To veteran lawmakers, the sudden proliferation of investigations cannot help but raise the ghost of 1998.

Progressive News Post- Jeremy Holden: ABC News & The Whitewater Tactics At The Center Of The Scandal Machine

A new U.S.

Progressive News Post- U.S. Geological Survey: Warmer Springs Causing Loss Of Snow Cover Throughout The Rocky Mountains

It was just ten days ago that Stephen Hayes of  The Weekly Standard  reported “fresh evidence emerged that senior Obama administration officials knowingly misled the country about what had happened in the days following the assaults” last September on U.S.

Progressive News Post- Ari Rabin-Havt: Stephen Hayes’ Benghazi Reporting Marks A Return To Cherry-Picking Form