Clifford May
Encyclopedia
Clifford D. May is an American
journalist, editor, and political activist. He is the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a conservative policy institute
created shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and the Chairman of the Policy Committee department within the Committee on the Present Danger
. He works as a columnist
, with his writings appearing in National Review Online and in The American Spectator
, for example, and as a talk show host. He has served as a reporter, a foreign correspondent
, and a newspaper/magazine editor, working notably for Newsweek
in the 1970s and for The New York Times
in the 1980s.
May is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
, the Henry Jackson Society
, and the Project for the New American Century
. In October 2007, The Daily Telegraph
named May number 94 in its list of the '100 most influential conservatives in America', identifying him as a neo-conservative within the Republican Party.
degree from Sarah Lawrence College
in Bronxville, New York
in 1973. He then earned Masters Degrees
from both Columbia University
's School of Public and International Affairs and its School of Journalism
. In addition, he holds a certificate in Russian language
and literature
from Leningrad University. May worked as an associate editor of Newsweek
from 1975 to 1978. Around this time, he also served as senior editor of Geo Magazine. He then became a foreign correspondent for Hearst newspapers
and he worked with for CBS Radio News
and Bill Moyers' Journal
on PBS
as well.
May then spent about a decade with The New York Times
serving as a Washington reporter and as a foreign correspondent
. He opened theTimes' West Africa
bureau and worked as its chief. He also worked as chief of its Northern Ireland
bureau and served as editor of The New York Times Magazine
. He then moved to Denver, Colorado
to be associate editor of the Rocky Mountain News
. He started writing a weekly political and social criticism column that was distributed nationally by Scripps Howard News Service. He also hosted two weekly television programs and a talk radio show around this time.
from 1997 to 2001. In his position, he oversaw activities such as strategic planning, press, radio, television, online services, speech writing, and advertising. He worked as the editor of Rising Tide, the official Republican Party
magazine.
He also was Vice Chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition
.
After leaving the RNC, he became a director in the Washington, D.C. office of BSMG Worldwide, a public affairs and public relations company. In 2006, he was appointed an adviser to the Iraq Study Group
. He strongly dissented from the recommendations that the group came to, and he then worked with various groups to oppose the policies. On July 11, 2008, May was nominated by President George W. Bush
to be a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors
for a term expiring August 13, 2009. "In this very challenging period of history, it is vital that the United States communicate with audiences abroad clearly and creatively,” May said, “I will be honored and privileged if I can assist with this mission.”
, the Henry Jackson Society
, and the Project for the New American Century
. In October 2007, The Daily Telegraph
named May number 94 in its list of the '100 most influential conservatives in America'. The paper labeled him "an outspoken proponent of the need to achieve victory in Iraq and the broader war against Muslim extremism". It also described him as a "nimble" Republican Party activist in the American media.
May supports the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques
', other than waterboarding
, against those captured by the United States
in what he calls the War on Terror
so long as they are used as a "last resort". He views them as fundamentally different from 'torture
'. He also opposes regarding those captured as either criminal defendants
or prisoners of war. On April 23, 2009, May appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart discussing the subject of torture, and he and Stewart engaged in a rather heated yet cordial debate on the subject. Jacob Gershman of New York Magazine later highlighted the exchange as one of the clearest discussions about the issue in the news media.
May supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq
as well as the 2007 "surge" strategy in the country
. In March 2008, he wrote for National Review Online, "[w]hat one can not say is that regime change in Iraq was unjustified: Not if you know Saddam’s record, his clearly stated intentions, and his ties to international terrorists - including, as a new Pentagon report reveals, a group headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, now al Qaeda’s second-in-command." In an April 2004 interview with Tavis Smiley
, who alleged that Bush had decided to invade Iraq before the 9/11 attacks and manipulated intelligence on weapons of mass destruction
, May argued that Bush had been continuing the policy of the Clinton-era
Iraq Liberation Act
and that Bush had pushed the CIA for accurate information.
He also told Smiley
, "I'm rooting for the guy in the White House, personally, 'cause I do think he has done a good job". In the aftermath of the American re-deployment in Iraq during July 2009, he wrote for The Washington Times
, "[t]he news is not that American combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities. The news is that American combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities in victory -- rather than in defeat."
was a CIA agent, and May stated that the fact was an open secret
widely known across Washington, D.C.
He also remarked that he chose not to mention this in his own writings since he considered this to be irrelevant to anything else. David Corn
, writing for The Nation
in March 2007 in the aftermath of the scandal, disputed May's assertions, and he quoted Plame
as saying that only a handful of people knew about her covert status. Corn
then called upon May, along with other conservative commentators such as Jonah Goldberg
who had made similar statements, to apologize.
On the October 15, 2007 edition of Tucker on MSNBC
, May agreed with host Tucker Carlson
's allegation that Hillary Clinton had unfairly used her gender
to garner support in her Presidential campaign
. May then referred to Clinton as setting herself up as a 'Vaginal-American
'. The comment was highlighted by Media Matters for America
. In September 2007, Media Matters for America
criticized May for making numerous public appearances in support of the Bush administration
without mentioning his relationship with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
's Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion or the fact that the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies had received State Department monetary grants.
After Rush Limbaugh
compared Barack Obama
to Adolf Hitler
in August 2009, Salon writer Glenn Greenwald
stated on his blog that May had called Limbaugh's
commentary "wrong, outrageous and damaging". May wrote at National Review Online shortly afterward that Greenwald
had "[p]redictably" and "dishonorably" misrepresented the statement that he had e-mailed to Greenwald
, which he said had criticized specious Nazi comparisons by both Limbaugh
, Moveon.org, and Nancy Pelosi
.
On December 31, 2009, May suggested releasing uncharged prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Yemen
, then sending "missiles to strike the baggage-claim area". He later defended the remarks, describing critics such as Greenwald
as "humorless". He also stated that he had intended to highlight the logical disconnect between someone both supporting the extrajudicial killing of suspected militants and opposing the holding of suspected militants without trial at Guantanamo Bay at the same time.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist, editor, and political activist. He is the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a conservative policy institute
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
created shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and the Chairman of the Policy Committee department within the Committee on the Present Danger
Committee on the Present Danger
The Committee on the Present Danger is an American foreign policy interest group. Its current stated single goal is "to stiffen American resolve to confront the challenge presented by terrorism and the ideologies that drive it" through "education and advocacy"...
. He works as a columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, with his writings appearing in National Review Online and in The American Spectator
The American Spectator
The American Spectator is a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. From its founding in 1967 until the late 1980s, the small-circulation magazine featured the writings of authors...
, for example, and as a talk show host. He has served as a reporter, a foreign correspondent
Foreign correspondent
Foreign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
, and a newspaper/magazine editor, working notably for Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
in the 1970s and for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in the 1980s.
May is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, the Henry Jackson Society
Henry Jackson Society
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic geopolitics". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson, the late Democratic Senator from Washington State...
, and the Project for the New American Century
Project for the New American Century
The Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...
. In October 2007, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
named May number 94 in its list of the '100 most influential conservatives in America', identifying him as a neo-conservative within the Republican Party.
Early career
May earned a Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
in Bronxville, New York
Bronxville, New York
Bronxville is an affluent village within the town of Eastchester, New York, in the United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately north of midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County. At the 2010 census, Bronxville had a population of 6,323...
in 1973. He then earned Masters Degrees
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from both Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's School of Public and International Affairs and its School of Journalism
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of Columbia's graduate and professional schools. It offers three degree programs: Master of Science in journalism , Master of Arts in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications...
. In addition, he holds a certificate in Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
from Leningrad University. May worked as an associate editor of Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
from 1975 to 1978. Around this time, he also served as senior editor of Geo Magazine. He then became a foreign correspondent for Hearst newspapers
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
and he worked with for CBS Radio News
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
and Bill Moyers' Journal
Bill Moyers' Journal
Bill Moyers Journal is an American television current affairs program that covered an array of current affairs and human issues, including but not limited to economics, history, literature, religion, philosophy, science, and most frequently politics...
on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
as well.
May then spent about a decade with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
serving as a Washington reporter and as a foreign correspondent
Foreign correspondent
Foreign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
. He opened the
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
bureau and worked as its chief. He also worked as chief of its Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
bureau and served as editor of The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
. He then moved to Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
to be associate editor of the Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
. He started writing a weekly political and social criticism column that was distributed nationally by Scripps Howard News Service. He also hosted two weekly television programs and a talk radio show around this time.
Later career
May served as the Director of Communications for the Republican National CommitteeRepublican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
from 1997 to 2001. In his position, he oversaw activities such as strategic planning, press, radio, television, online services, speech writing, and advertising. He worked as the editor of Rising Tide, the official Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
magazine.
He also was Vice Chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition
Republican Jewish Coalition
The Republican Jewish Coalition , founded in 1985, is a political lobbying group in the United States that promotes Jewish Republicans. The RJC claims that it is the most important voice on conservative political issues for the Jewish-American community...
.
After leaving the RNC, he became a director in the Washington, D.C. office of BSMG Worldwide, a public affairs and public relations company. In 2006, he was appointed an adviser to the Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...
. He strongly dissented from the recommendations that the group came to, and he then worked with various groups to oppose the policies. On July 11, 2008, May was nominated by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to be a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for all non-military, international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S government. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.-Origins:Starting in...
for a term expiring August 13, 2009. "In this very challenging period of history, it is vital that the United States communicate with audiences abroad clearly and creatively,” May said, “I will be honored and privileged if I can assist with this mission.”
Issue positions
May is a member of the Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, the Henry Jackson Society
Henry Jackson Society
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic geopolitics". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson, the late Democratic Senator from Washington State...
, and the Project for the New American Century
Project for the New American Century
The Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...
. In October 2007, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
named May number 94 in its list of the '100 most influential conservatives in America'. The paper labeled him "an outspoken proponent of the need to achieve victory in Iraq and the broader war against Muslim extremism". It also described him as a "nimble" Republican Party activist in the American media.
May supports the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques or alternative set of procedures are terms adopted by the George W. Bush administration in the United States to describe certain severe interrogation methods, often described as torture...
', other than waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
, against those captured by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in what he calls the War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
so long as they are used as a "last resort". He views them as fundamentally different from 'torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
'. He also opposes regarding those captured as either criminal defendants
Defendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
or prisoners of war. On April 23, 2009, May appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart discussing the subject of torture, and he and Stewart engaged in a rather heated yet cordial debate on the subject. Jacob Gershman of New York Magazine later highlighted the exchange as one of the clearest discussions about the issue in the news media.
May supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
as well as the 2007 "surge" strategy in the country
Iraq War troop surge of 2007
In the context of the Iraq War, the surge refers to United States President George W. Bush's 2007 increase in the number of American troops in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province....
. In March 2008, he wrote for National Review Online, "[w]hat one can not say is that regime change in Iraq was unjustified: Not if you know Saddam’s record, his clearly stated intentions, and his ties to international terrorists - including, as a new Pentagon report reveals, a group headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, now al Qaeda’s second-in-command." In an April 2004 interview with Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
, who alleged that Bush had decided to invade Iraq before the 9/11 attacks and manipulated intelligence on weapons of mass destruction
Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
During the regime of Saddam Hussein, the nation of Iraq used, possessed, and made efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction . Hussein was internationally known for his use of chemical weapons in the 1980s against Iranian and Kurdish civilians during and after the Iran–Iraq War...
, May argued that Bush had been continuing the policy of the Clinton-era
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
Iraq Liberation Act
Iraq Liberation Act
The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 is a United States Congressional statement of policy calling for regime change in Iraq. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, and states that it is the policy of the United States to support democratic movements within Iraq...
and that Bush had pushed the CIA for accurate information.
He also told Smiley
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
, "I'm rooting for the guy in the White House, personally, 'cause I do think he has done a good job". In the aftermath of the American re-deployment in Iraq during July 2009, he wrote for The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
, "[t]he news is not that American combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities. The news is that American combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities in victory -- rather than in defeat."
Disputes and debates
During the beginning of the CIA leak scandal, May wrote in September 2003 that an ex-administration official had told him that Valerie PlameValerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
was a CIA agent, and May stated that the fact was an open secret
Open secret
An open secret is a concept or idea that is "officially" secret or restricted in knowledge, but is actually widely known; or refers to something which is widely known to be true, but which none of the people most intimately concerned are willing to categorically acknowledge in public.Examples of...
widely known across Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He also remarked that he chose not to mention this in his own writings since he considered this to be irrelevant to anything else. David Corn
David Corn
David Corn is an American political journalist and author and the chief of the Washington bureau for Mother Jones. He has been Washington editor for The Nation and appeared regularly on FOX News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and BloggingHeads.tv opposite James Pinkerton or other media...
, writing for The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
in March 2007 in the aftermath of the scandal, disputed May's assertions, and he quoted Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
as saying that only a handful of people knew about her covert status. Corn
David Corn
David Corn is an American political journalist and author and the chief of the Washington bureau for Mother Jones. He has been Washington editor for The Nation and appeared regularly on FOX News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and BloggingHeads.tv opposite James Pinkerton or other media...
then called upon May, along with other conservative commentators such as Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Jacob Goldberg is an American conservative syndicated columnist and author. Goldberg is known for his contributions on politics and culture to , of which he is editor-at-large...
who had made similar statements, to apologize.
On the October 15, 2007 edition of Tucker on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, May agreed with host Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American political news correspondent and conservative commentator for the Fox News Channel...
's allegation that Hillary Clinton had unfairly used her gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
to garner support in her Presidential campaign
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2008
New York junior Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had expressed interest in the 2008 United States presidential election since at least October 2002, drawing media speculation on whether she would become a candidate. No woman has ever won the nomination of a major party in the...
. May then referred to Clinton as setting herself up as a 'Vaginal-American
Vagina
The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
'. The comment was highlighted by Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America is a politically progressive media watchdog group which says it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Set up as a 501 non-profit organization, MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and...
. In September 2007, Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America is a politically progressive media watchdog group which says it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Set up as a 501 non-profit organization, MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and...
criticized May for making numerous public appearances in support of the Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
without mentioning his relationship with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
's Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion or the fact that the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies had received State Department monetary grants.
After Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
compared Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in August 2009, Salon writer Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
stated on his blog that May had called Limbaugh's
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
commentary "wrong, outrageous and damaging". May wrote at National Review Online shortly afterward that Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
had "[p]redictably" and "dishonorably" misrepresented the statement that he had e-mailed to Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
, which he said had criticized specious Nazi comparisons by both Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
, Moveon.org, and Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
.
On December 31, 2009, May suggested releasing uncharged prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, then sending "missiles to strike the baggage-claim area". He later defended the remarks, describing critics such as Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
as "humorless". He also stated that he had intended to highlight the logical disconnect between someone both supporting the extrajudicial killing of suspected militants and opposing the holding of suspected militants without trial at Guantanamo Bay at the same time.
See also
- Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
- Members of the Council on Foreign RelationsMembers of the Council on Foreign RelationsThere are two types of Council on Foreign Relations membership: life, and term membership, which lasts for five years and is available to those between the ages of 30 and 36 at the time of their application. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have applied for U.S. citizenship are...
- Republican Jewish CoalitionRepublican Jewish CoalitionThe Republican Jewish Coalition , founded in 1985, is a political lobbying group in the United States that promotes Jewish Republicans. The RJC claims that it is the most important voice on conservative political issues for the Jewish-American community...
- Supporters of the Henry Jackson Society
- People associated with the Project for the New American Century
External links
- Clifford May's official website, with a full archive and mailing list
- Archive of May's columns at National Review Online
- "The Resurrection of the Committee on the Present Danger". By Laura Rozen. AlterNetAlterNetAlterNet, a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a progressive/liberal activist news service. Launched in 1998, AlterNet now claims a readership of over 3 million visitors per month .AlterNet publishes original content as well as journalism from a wide variety of other sources...
. Posted August 25, 2004.