We’re focusing this week on how the system really works – whether it’s the Beltway press reflexively blaming Obama for actions of Congressional Republicans, how FreedomWorks funded Beck and Limbaugh, or how the media neglect important issues. All that and a Fox News host who decided that facts have a liberal bias.

John Whitehouse Twitter: @existentialfish

For Presidential Appointments, Beltway Media Come Up Short

No matter who President Obama nominates for his cabinet, the Beltway press relish saying he’s picking a fight. They hold only him accountable for partisan bickering, while simultaneously ignoring historic obstructionism that Republicans are engaging in. Eric Boehlert examines how political press decided that a Democratic President is to blame for the actions of Republicans: http://mm4a.org/10imTS7

Behind The Scenes At FreedomWorks

“I had come to the point where I don’t know how much we are spending on Beck and Limbaugh, but we are spending too damn much and we are getting too little value out of it.”  That’s former FreedomWorks chariman Dick Armey speaking to Media Matters investigative reporter Joe Strupp in an exclusive interview about how FreedomWorks spent money on Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck – and how little they got in return. http://mm4a.org/ZlCcYZ

On Climate Change, Sunday Shows Miss The Boat

Did you know that Sunday shows have not quoted a scientist on climate change in four years? Did you know that every single one of the politicians Sunday shows have quoted on climate change has been a Republican? Our climate team analyzed network news coverage of climate change in 2012, and the results are grim: http://mm4a.org/WJopoB

Violence Against Women Act Expires In Silence

Did you know that the Violence Against Women Act expired at the end of 2012? A biparisan extension of the bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate, but it died quietly in the House without receiving a vote. You may not have heard about this, though, because news media failed to cover its expiration: http://mm4a.org/UmKPfj

FEATURED VIDEO

Stephen Colbert once joked that “reality has a liberal bias.” But that’s not a joke to Fox News host Eric Bolling, who criticized a history book for having liberal bias – because the book noted that the Bush administration never found WMDs in Iraq:  http://mm4a.org/13hVhLz

NRA USES THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AS A SHIELD

First it was a former NRA president comparing a potential new assault weapons ban to racial discrimination. Now, NRA board member and columnist Ted Nugent argues that gun owners are the next Rosa Parks. Ben Dimiero explores the NRA going to extremes: http://mm4a.org/VUQBVK

EVEN RUSH CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT HE SAID

Rush Limbaugh has spent this week comparing marriage equality to pedophilia. But when the media called him on it, Limbaugh was brazenly dishonest about what he had previously said: http://mm4a.org/SkWCPI

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Fox Co-Host Greg Gutfeld Defends Sweatshops