Tue, Aug 5, 2008 10:52am ET

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Memo: New Anti-Obama Books... Swift Boat Redux?

M E M O R A N D U M

To: Interested Parties

From: J. Jioni Palmer, Media Matters for America

Re: Swift Boat Redux?

Date: Tuesday, August 05, 2008

The release this month of two books attacking Sen. Barack Obama -- both of which have links to the 2004 smear book, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry -- raises the question: Have the media learned from mistakes made four years ago?

In 2004, when Sen. Kerry's military record drew scurrilous and false attacks by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, media analysis of these assaults was anything but thorough or swift.

This year, we have already seen how irresponsible reporting and a steady stream of conservative misinformation allowed erroneous perceptions about Obama to harden in the minds of many Americans.

In the preface of The Obama Nation, Jerome Corsi compares his new book to Unfit for Command, which he co-wrote. The comparison seems apt: Just as Unfit for Command contains false attacks on Sen. Kerry's military service, a Media Matters for America analysis of The Obama Nation similarly reveals numerous lies about Sen. Obama.

Likewise, The Case Against Barack Obama, by author David Freddoso and published by Unfit for Command publisher Regnery, contains false and misleading statements, beginning with the introduction and first few pages.

These volumes offer the media an opportunity to demonstrate that they will do better than they did four years ago.

In an effort to stay up-to-date on the latest Media Matters research on The Obama Nation and The Case Against Barack Obama, click here.

J. Jioni Palmer

National Press Secretary

Media Matters for America

(202) 756-4116 (office)

For more items on these books;

http://mediamatters.org/items/200808040005
http://mediamatters.org/items/200808020004
http://mediamatters.org/items/200808020003
http://mediamatters.org/items/200808010003
http://mediamatters.org/items/200807310003
http://mediamatters.org/items/200808010005
http://mediamatters.org/items/200807300005
http://mediamatters.org/items/200408060010

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