Saturday, February 23, 2013

Reporter Snark about "Friends of Hamas" Becomes Fake GOP Talking Point

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Ben Shapiro on Breitbart
On Thursday, Senate sources told Breitbart News exclusively that they have been informed that one of the reasons that President Barack Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, has not turned over requested documents on his sources of foreign funding is that one of the names listed is a group purportedly called “Friends of Hamas.”
. . . Called for comment and reached via telephone, Associate Communications Director at the White House Eric Schultz identified himself, heard the question, was silent for several seconds, and then hung up the phone immediately without comment. Called back via the White House switchboard, Schultz’s phone rang through to his answering machine. Called on his cell phone, Schultz’s phone rang through to his answering machine.

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From the Hugh Hewitt Conservative Talk Show with Rand Paul
HH: Well, let’s stay focused on Friends Of Hamas. Obviously, that would be a support group for a terrorist organization. Can you imagine voting or not filibustering anyone who’d received support from supporters of a terrorist organization?
Rand Paul: Like I say, it’s very troubling. And I’ve just seen the press report, so I’m going to have to look at what the response is, what the group is, and that kind of thing. But it is very concerning.

If it proves true the rumors of Chuck Hagel's having received funds from Friends of Hamas, if that's true then on its face that would disqualify him.
~ Conservative Radio and TV Pundit, and ex-Republican Candidate, Mike Huckabee

Rumors abound on Capitol Hill that a full disclosure of Hagel’s professional ties would reveal financial relationships with a number of “unsavory” groups, including one purportedly called “Friends of Hamas.” The GOP aide said it was “noteworthy” that the White House has yet to deny the association. “Maybe it’s not true, but why not provide a list of groups he spoke to and remove all doubt?” the aide said.
~ National Review

Well this is certainly an eye opener. According to Senate sources, the reason Hagel hasn’t released documents on his sources of foreign funding is because he received funding by a group named “Friends of Hamas”.
~ The Right Scoop

That is quite the accusation, and it gives the Left a rare opportunity to go after the Breitbart constellation of websites. All they have to do to debunk it is to have Hagel reveal his foreign donors. I mean, how likely is it that the White house could have messed up vetting Chuck Hagel that badly…
~ Moe Lane on Red State


But Wait Just a Minute . . .

"Friends of Hamas": The Scary-Sounding Pro-Hagel Group That Doesn't Actually Exist
Here's the problem: There's no proof that "Friends of Hamas" actually exists. At best, it's an organization so secret that nobody in government has thought to mention its existence. At worst, it's as fake as Manti Te'o's girlfriend. The Treasury Department, which designates sponsors of terror, has done so to many charities tied to Hamas. "Friends of Hamas" is not among them. The State Department doesn't designate it, either. And a bit less holistically, a Lexis search for the group reveals absolutely nothing.
~ David Weigel on Slate, and one of the first to realize that Friends of Hamas does not exist


Oh, Perhaps This is Why . . .


Dan Friedman of New York Daily News
Fortunately for Hagel, this claim, which galloped across the Internet, was bogus. I know, because I was the unwitting source.
. . . On Feb. 6, I called a Republican aide on Capitol Hill with a question: Did Hagel’s Senate critics know of controversial groups that he had addressed?
Hagel was in hot water for alleged hostility to Israel. So, I asked my source, had Hagel given a speech to, say, the “Junior League of Hezbollah, in France”? And: What about “Friends of Hamas”?
The names were so over-the-top, so linked to terrorism in the Middle East, that it was clear I was talking hypothetically and hyperbolically. No one could take seriously the idea that organizations with those names existed — let alone that a former senator would speak to them.
. . . I erred in counting on confidentiality and the understanding that my example was farcical — and by assuming no one would print an unchecked rumor.
If anyone didn’t know already: Partisan agendas, Internet reporting and old-fashioned carelessness can move complete crocks fast. If you see a story on Hagel addressing the Junior League of Hezbollah, that’s fake too.

Shapiro is Kinda Ticked-Off . . . 

NY Daily News Hack Posits He's Source of 'Friends of Hamas,' Lies by Omission
. . . Friedman knew his story was false when he printed it. He printed it anyway. The story Breitbart News ran originally was accurate and clearly caveated. Dan Friedman was not the source of the information given to Breitbart News. But the media is already jumping to help Friedman push his narrative. It’s all part of the mission to protect Barack Obama and Chuck Hagel. Because, after all, this is the most easily debunked story in the world: all Chuck Hagel has to do is release his records.
~ Andrew Shapiro on Breitbart AFTER Friends of Hamas was shown to be Bogus Group

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If the rumor-mongering was limited to conservative blogs, it wouldn’t be as worrisome. Unfortunately, prominent Republicans have been all too keen to go along with the line of questioning started by Breitbart.
~ Think Progress

So … Chuck Hagel has no ties to a group called “Friends of Hamas.” Ahem … Because no such group exists. But right wingers, and the McCarthyite Senators they’ve gone and elected, and their silly “news” cable channel, and their talk radio guys, and their blogs, just need, NEED, NEEEEED, to hate Barack Obama and everyone around him so desperately, they’ll believe damned near everything.
. . . And therein lies the problem with the right. They start at the end, rather than the beginning — so filled with the desire to believe the worst, that they’ll just as easily believe the stupidest.
~ The Reid Report







#FakeRightWingHagelStories



























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Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central, February 21, 2013
Senate Republicans have found all sorts of shady associations in Hagel's past. For instance, he was once a Senate Republican.
(laughter)
And now, according to conservative news anger-gator Breitbart.com, Hagel may have taken money from an organization called "Friends of Hamas."
(laughter and boos)
Friends of Hamas, that is serious. Being friends with a Muslim terrorist is a big commitment. (laughter) You've got to be groomsman in all four of their weddings. I mean, the suicide vest-rental alone . . .
(laughter)
Folks, this bombshell has lit up the conserve-o-sphere.
(plays audio about Breitbart, Rand Paul, and Fox News talking about Friends of Hamas)
Lou Dobbs of Fox: Friends of Hamas. That has a ring to it.
Colbert: Yes, that has a ring to it. A ring that goes something like this:
(Rings large bell, sound of Arab women making high-pitched sound - audience laughs and claps)
And folks, Friends of Hamas is even worse than it sounds because this organization is so sinister that it doesn't even exist.
It turns out Hagel's link with Friends of Hamas goes back to Daily News Reporter Dan Friedman who asked a Republican Senate Aide looking for dirt in Hagel's past if Hagel had given a speech to the "Junior League of Hezbollah" or the "Friends of Hamas" - "assuming that no one could take seriously the idea that organizations with those names existed."
(laughter)
Why wouldn't you take it seriously?
I mean, if there's no Junior League of Hezbollah then who puts out the cookbook of Bomb Recipes?
Besides, the fact that these organizations don't exist only makes it more suspicious that Chuck Hagel has been tied to them!
What else is he hiding that hasn't happened?
(laughter)
Is he a member of the Al Qaeda Kidz Club?
What about the Muslim Brotherhood?
Or the Muslim Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?
(laughter and clapping)
And what about Non-Islamic Non-Existant Groups?
Has Chuck Hagel ever given a speech to Cobra, or for that matter Cobra Kai?
Has he received donations from the Lollipop Guild?
(laughter)
What are his ties to the Dead Poets Society? And why are they dead? Do they know too much about Benghazi?
(laughter)
President Obama, you must withdraw Hagel's nomination or you will lose the support of of every Moderate Republican, another group that doesn't exist.




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