Just a heads up for a great piece on the New York Times’ latest entry into the “liberal phony photo-journalism posing as editorial content” category.

Kudos to Thomas Lifson of The American Thinker who has busted the Old Grey Lady once again:

Is a fake staged photo fit to print? What if it staged in a way that makes the US forces fighting the War on Terror look cruel and ineffective? The evidence argues that yes, it can run, and in a prominent position - at least in the case of the New York Times website.

They’re at it again. Those happy collaborators at the Associated Press and Ipsos have brought forth their latest bit of fantasy. The headline? “AP Poll: Congressional Democrats Favored.”

In yet another sly attempt at bolstering Democratic hopes in glum times, the ever-dependable Will Lester and David Espo tell us that, “In an ominous election-year sign for Republicans, Americans are leaning sharply toward giving Democrats control of Congress, an AP-Ipsos poll finds.”

In a mere three opening paragraphs they manage snide allusions to President Bush’s forty percent job approval rating, a surge in violence in Iraq and the Jack Abramoff trial. They caution that, “Republican strategists fear that fallout from the Abramoff scandal will give Democrats fresh opportunity for gains.”

Just in case you won’t see these in the Associated Press, the Washington Post or the New York Times, here are two useful tools for use when wading through the Jack Abramoff trial stories.

The first is a list supplied by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called “Democrats Don’t Know Jack???” It lists the forty of forty-five Senate Democrats who’ve accepted cash from Abramoff and/or his clients.

40 Of The 45 Members Of The Senate Democrat Caucus:

Two old and typically biased news organizations have combined on an unctuous double-teaming against the Bush Administration. The Washington Post and the Associated Press have taken a story based on innuendo and un-named sources and made it front-page news. What a surprise.

The Post ran its story, “Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest” with the subtitle, “Jurist Concerned Bush Order Tainted Work of Secret Panel.” In it, the Post makes the claim that a judge who sits on the FISA court, resigned “in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program according to two sources.”

Months after her death, the Associated Press has reopened the tragic story of Terri Schiavo, this time giving its huge audience the big news that her husband has launched a Political Action Committee:

Michael Schiavo, whose effort to end life support for his brain-damaged wife divided a nation, is launching a political action committee that will challenge candidates based on where they stand on government's reach in private lives.

In rehashing the story, the AP continues just as it left off, lying. Terri Schiavo was no more on “life support” than is an infant child who cannot feed itself. But just to keep the ball rolling--in an AP-ish sort of way--they couldn’t resist jabbing you know who:

The Associated Press is at it again. In its continuing crusade against the Catholic Church, Richard Ostling has come up with a piece titled, “Catholics Disagree Over New Vatican Decree,” in which he attempts to use priests to chastise the church for the Vatican’s decree forbidding gay men to enter seminaries. A few samples:

"I have no idea how they will apply it. It will just be a nightmare," said the Rev. Eugene Lauer of the New York-based National Pastoral Life Center.

"Our seminaries are likely to be depopulated to a significant extent," said the Rev. Donald Cozzens of John Carroll University.

The Associated Press has its problems with religion. Newsbusters has documented many examples of the AP mentioning conservatives’ religious affiliations when they are actually irrelevant to the stories they publish.

Today however, they ran a piece called, Disasters Heighten Habitat's Profile, which dealt with the growing popularity of Habitat for Humanity, a group previously most known for its involvement with former president Jimmy Carter.

As is their practice, the Associated Press once again demonstrates that some of their writers will often use quotes by Republican conservatives out of context to damage them; even if that context is one of their own reports. In addition, they will distort and even mis-report facts when it suits their purposes.

In his latest, GOP's Legislative Agenda Losing Steam, the ever-reliable David Espo doesn’t disappoint. He opens his gloom and doom piece explaining the GOP agenda is in trouble due to, “President Bush's sagging poll numbers, an unstable leadership lineup in the House and growing concern about congressional elections less than a year away.”

The Associated Press continued the media crusade against Scooter Libby continued today by clarifying the aims of his enemies, but revealed a typical omission instead. The cleverly-titled piece, “Democrats Don't Want Libby to Be Pardoned,” speaks volumes about its bias.

AP special correspondent David Espo began by quoting a letter from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid to the White House:

"We also urge you to state publicly whether anyone in the White House -- including White House counsel Harriet Miers or Vice President Cheney -- has already discussed the possibility of a pardon with Mr. Libby."

Our friends at the Associated Press have once again reminded us why any of their releases that contain the name ‘Bush’ must always be viewed skeptically. Their latest entry, “Bush Diplomacy Means Settling for Less” is one such example.

While praising their efforts to work with the UN on Iran and Syria, AP writer Anne Gearan takes the Bush Administration in general and Condi Rice in particular, to task for their former unapologetic unilateralism:

In showdowns over Iran, North Korea and now Syria, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice seemingly agrees that half a loaf is better than none -- an unexpectedly pragmatic streak for a Bush administration better known for going its own way in international affairs.

The Associated Press, in its continued obsession with the religious affiliations of Supreme Court justices and nominees--as long as they are Catholic--released its first story of the day concerning the rumored pick of Samuel Alito for the high court: Alito Would Be Fifth Catholic on Court.

The brief story notes, “If confirmed, Samuel Alito would be the fifth Roman Catholic on the current Supreme Court and the 11th Catholic to serve in the court's history.” It then goes on to list the names of those eleven.

As it so often does, the Associated Press likes to play word games, especially when it comes to stories on Republicans.

On Wednesday, Larry Margasak wrote a piece called, “DeLay Acknowledges Failure to Report Money.” In it, Margasak seemed to imply that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was somehow guilty of intentionally trying to hide donations to the Delay Legal Expense Trust; money raised to battle the charges brought against him by Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle.

Not to worry, America. The Associated Press, with its vast worldwide resources, has uncovered some vital information on the Miers nomination: The high school she attended was “all-white.”

And because of this, “Miers (Was) Isolated From Social Turmoil As Teen.” So says the title of the latest in the AP’s series of insightful articles on the possible Supreme Court Associate Justice.

Harriet Miers spent her teens in an all-white high school far removed from the racial and social upheaval of the early 1960s, consumed instead with academics, tennis and even a stint as the school newspaper's assistant sports editor.

In its zeal to promote the “right” kind of candidates, the Associated Press put out a piece called, “Death Penalty, Bush Loom in Va. Race.” While citing the main issues as capital punishment and the popularity of President Bush, author Ron Fournier seeks to paint Democrat Tim Kaine’s Virginia gubernatorial candidacy as one reaching out to “so-called values voters:”

Kaine is a Roman Catholic who opposes the death penalty. That puts him at odds with most Americans (two-thirds support capital punishment for murderers), and poses even greater peril in a conservative Southern state that favored Bush by 9 percentage points last year.

The AP is still reporting news from Capitol Hill in its own "fair and balanced" way. Two stories were posted today concerning the status of bills in Congress.

AP writer Laurie Kellman checked in first with “Congress OKs Gun Industry Lawsuit Shield.” The lead paragraph is nearly innocuous and only slightly suggestive:

Congress gave the gun lobby its top legislative priority Thursday, passing a bill protecting the firearms industry from massive crime-victim lawsuits. President Bush said he will sign it.

Does the Associated Press take sides against the U.S. military when reporting in Iraq? You decide. In a story today describing retaliation for a roadside bomb that killed five American soldiers on Saturday, the ABC/AP story titled, “U.S.: 70 Insurgents Killed in Airstrikes,” opens:

U.S. helicopters and warplanes bombed two villages near the restive city of Ramadi…

The “restive” city of Ramadi? My dictionary defines that word as “uneasy or fidgety.” Hardly the way to describe a rat’s nest of terrorist activity; one that even UPI said is “exploding with violence”. The story continues:

The Associated Press is up to its old tricks again. In its latest doom and gloom piece, “Poll: Groups Unhappy with Bush Performance,” they report that the president’s approval rating dropped to 39% in the most recent AP/Ipsos poll. Add to that today’s CBS poll that has the number at 37% and Bush supporters might have reason to squirm…except that they don’t.

As is usual, these anti-Bush organizations under-poll Republicans while over-polling Democrats. The AP survey contained only 40% Republicans versus 48% Democrats, while the CBS boys tilted the playing field an amazing 43% to 57% in favor of the Dems.

The nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court has produced lots of reaction from the left and particularly from the right. There have been charges that she lacks an education from a top-rated law school, lacks a certifiably conservative background and, since she has never been a judge, might be lax in adhering to the Constitution.

And now she lacks what the Associated Press apparently considers an important factor: the financial wherewithal necessary for the position. That’s right, the AP is questioning whether Harriet Miers is rich enough to sit on the highest court in the land.

In a sneeringly elitist piece titled, “Miers Wealth Shrank During Time in D.C.,” the AP, after years of denigrating President Bush, Dick Cheney and anyone else in the Administration as rich, greedy tools of corporate America, now informs us that:

Just a quick note to prepare you for the fair and balanced coverage of the John Roberts confirmation hearings you’ll surely be reading in the coming days.

Before the opening bell on the hearings rang, the AP provided a predictably slanted breakdown of the eighteen members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

There are ten Republicans on the Committee and eight Democrats. Surely this accounts for six mentions of the word ‘abortion’ in the Republican bios and only one for the Democrats.

Seeking to extol the virtues of ‘diversity’ and bemoan the lack of same on campus, Michelle Locke of the Associated Press gives us a story titled, “Blacks Still a Minority at UC Berkeley.” She writes:

This fall's incoming class of 4,000 students at the University of California, Berkeley is expected to include just 129 black freshmen, a disturbing trend to leaders of the socially progressive and academically elite school.

The piece then goes on to discuss not only the lack of black freshmen (about three percent), but also Hispanics: