Misstating the State of the Union (Right-wing Media Distortions About the Clinton and Bush Presidencies)

 Misstating the State of the Union reveals a simple truth that the media too often obscures: by every objective measure, the Clinton presidency was immeasurably better for America than the Bush presidency. Yet an army of conservative pundits have conspired to lie to the public about both the Clinton and Bush records, denying the proven success of progressive policies and leadership while shamelessly covering-up abject conservative failures. This book dissects the conservative misinformation campaign to distort and discredit the progressive agenda point by point, while unmasking the dark ideological agenda and rank dishonesty behind all the cable TV and radio hot air.

From Rush Limbaugh’s claim that the federal government spends three times as much on education as defense (the truth: the government spends five times as much on defense as on education) to Sean Hannity’s dismissal of air quality concerns (“This is silly”) to Ann Coulter’s attacks on the elderly (“39 million greedy geezers collecting Social Security”), this book clearly and concisely refutes many of the most dangerous right-wing lies in circulation, using sound logic, incontrovertible fact, and illustrative charts and graphs.

Misstating the State of the Union is the first book produced by Media Matters Action Network, the advocacy organization associated with Media Matters for America, a not-for-profit web-based research and information center in Washington, DC that monitors, analyzes, and corrects conservative misinformation in the US media. Media Matters for America, founded by David Brock, author of Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative and The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy, has established itself as a key resource on conservative misinformation for both producers and consumers of news. Visit mediamatters.org and get involved in holding the news media accountable.