WND's Kupelian Rants Others Are Doing To Trump What WND Did To Obama
Topic: WorldNetDaily

One has to admire, sorta, the strategic lack of self-awareness at WorldNetDaily. WND managing editor David Kupelian writes in an April 13 column:

Yet, ever since Trump emerged the surprise victor in Nov. 8’s historic election, it has been the Democrats who have refused to accept the electorate’s choice, with over 60 Democrat members of Congress boycotting the Inauguration and multitudes of demonstrators marching in the streets carrying “Not My President” signs. Since then, Trump opponents have tried in every conceivable way to undermine – and if possible, reverse – the results of the election:

• First there was Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s demand for a vote recount. Though she won only 1 percent of the popular vote and zero electoral votes, nevertheless Stein asked for – and the Clinton campaign backed – a full vote recount in several states. This pointless and expensive exercise was completed in early December and accomplished little beyond giving Trump even more votes in Wisconsin;
• Later that month, Democrats pursued a campaign to persuade Electoral College delegates to betray the voters they were entrusted to represent and vote against Trump, denying the president-elect the office he won fair and square. But only two Trump electors (from Texas) ended up heeding the siren call to go “faithless”;
• Next was the suggestion that Trump didn’t really win the election because he prevailed only in the Electoral College and not in the popular vote. At the very least, congressional Democrats and the big media insisted, since he didn’t win the popular vote. This despite the fact that the Electoral College has been Americans’ system for electing presidents since 1787, spelled out in the Constitution;
• Then there have been all the calls for Trump’s impeachment. That’s right – even before Inauguration Day some Democrats, including Rep. Maxine Waters, were demanding his removal from office. On what grounds? The California congresswoman told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that if it turned out the Russians had fed Trump his favored nickname for Hillary Clinton (“Crooked Hillary”) or had influenced him to mention her health problems (“she’s ill, something’s wrong with her energy”), then such “collusion” would constitute impeachable offenses. Yes, she really said that.” So, you think you can commit an impeachable offense before you take office?” Matthews asked Waters.”Well, I think that at the point that investigations discover and confirm and can document any of [the Russians’] role in helping to strategize – they had a role in attempting to determine the outcome [of the election],” Waters said, before veering off into even more incomprehensible territory. “What I have learned or heard about the dossier,” continued Waters, referring to the universally discredited intelligence “dossier” that Matthews himself conceded was total “misinformation”: “It’s about his involvement with women. It’s probably prostitutes that are involved and those kinds of things. And he has sounded that way. He has acted that way, and it gives you reason to think maybe something is to this and we need to find out more.”

In short – from excruciatingly unhinged members of Congress like Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren, to the George Soros-funded “Women’s March” right after Inauguration Day, featuring large numbers of women wearing costumes resembling female sexual organs, to the media's hypnotic fixation with fake news about Russian collusion – Democrats and the establishment press continue to demonstrate openly pathological responses to the election and presidency of Donald Trump.

What Kupelian won't tell you: WND had many of these exact same "openly pathological" responses to, and "hypnotic fixation" with, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Kupelian has appareently forgotten that, as we've documented, the website he runs lobbied Electoral College members in 2008 to betray the voters they were entrusted to represent and not vote for Obama. Or that his boss, Joseph Farah, was the original "Not My President" guy, declaring that "Obama has never been my president. I have steadfastly refused to acknowledge him as such." Or that WND was not only touting the impeachment of Hillary Clinton before the election took place, it was doing so before she even started running.

Kupelian also devoted part of his column to trying to distract readers from the growing links between Russia and the Trump campaign, insisting dagainst all evidence that the evidence is "unfounded" and that the real story is that HIllary Clinton "agreed to give control of one-fifth of America’s uranium reserves to Russia in return for millions of dollars going to the Clinton Foundation and directly to her husband Bill" -- a quid pro quo that has never been proven.

MRC Suggests Birth Control Is Eugenics
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center's Sarah Stites devotes an April 19 post to complaining that the National Geographic channel is producing a documentary about birth control.Despite the program still being in production -- meaning she can't possibly have seen it yet -- Stites was quick to assert that "a biased perspective is likely" from the documentary.

One of the people to be featured, Stites writes, is "Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, a noted advocate of eugenics."

Huh? Is Stites suggesting that birth control is a form of eugenics? She provides no other reason from mentioning that otherwise-irrelevant claim. While the MRC loves to lie about Sanger, she was an advocate of eugenics, though Stites conveniently omits the fact that it was a popular view in America during her early lifetime.

To equate birth contol with eugenics, as Stites is apparently doing, is malicious and counterhistorical since nobody is forcing women to take it. Is that the standard at the MRC these days?

NEW ARTICLE: Religious Freedom For Me, But Not For Thee
Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily loves it when Christians invoke a federal law designed to stop zoning discrimination against religious institutions. It's much less happy, however, when Muslims make use of the very same law. Read more >>

MRC Tries to Spin Away Dem Nearly Winning Seat In GOP Congressional District
Topic: Media Research Center

Jon Ossoff came very close to winning a majority of the vote in a multi-candidate race for the seat in Georgia's 6th Congressional District formerly held by Rep. Tom Price, now President Trump's Health and Human Services secretary. But the Media Research Center wants to make sure it's perceived by its right-wing readership as nothing more than a loss.

Kristine Marsh complained that ABC "used the race’s closeness as a reason to bash Trump while political analyst John Avlon spun that Democrats had 'an emotional victory.'" Marsh added: "Ironically, the ABC chyron was more accurate than what was actually said during the report. It read: 'Democrat fails to win after Trump endorsement.'" But Trump didn't endorse any of the 11 GOP candidates; he merely encouraged Republicans to vot and attacck Ossoff.

Kyle Drennen huffed: "Despite acknowledging that the media’s chosen candidate in Georgia’s special congressional election on Tuesday, Democrat Jon Ossoff, had fallen short of the 50% threshold necessary to avoid a runoff, on Wednesday, NBC’s Today touted the failed liberal effort as a near win that would send an 'ominous sign' to Republicans."

Scott Whitlock grumbled that MSNBC "hyp[ed] John Ossoff’s failed effort to win outright against 11 Republicans" and "have been doing their best to salvage the non-win." LIke the MRC isn't doing its best to salvage the near-loss.

Drennen then promoted White House press secretary Sean Spicer's spin on the race insisting that "They said on the record that their goal was to win this race. They lost. And the reaction has somewhat been, you know, that they almost won. No, they lost."

Randy Hall was also in propaganda mode, cheering a CNN appearance by Ossoff's runoff opponent, Republican Karen Handel. Hall put in boldface type Handel's assertion that Ossoff doesn't live in the district, but failed to mention that it's not a requirement that he do so and that numerous members of Congress don't live in the districts they represent.

Brad Wilmouth dissembled when CNN portrayed the district as solidly Republican: "While it is true that the seat could be accurately described as 'traditionally Republican' since there is a history of Republican presidential candidates performing well there through 2012, districts can change, and it is at least debatable whether the district should still be considered 'deeply Republican.'"

Nicholas Fondacaro, meanwhile, fretted that "the Republican vote was dangerously split between 11 different candidates" and whined that "NBC embarrassed themselves the night of the election with how much they gushed over" Ossoff.

Clay Waters complained that Ossoff "may have failed to take advantage of glowing media coverage and huge out-of-state donations by falling short in a special election to fill a congressional seat," but the New York Times "hyped Ossoff optimism even after he failed to win on Tuesday." Waters made sure to add that Ossoff, "despite great publicity and enormous spending outlay failed to attain the 50% mark necessary to avoid a runoff."

Finally, apparently oblivious to the his own right-wing spin and that of his employer, Curtis Houck groused that USA Today "continued the liberal spin about the Georgia congressional special election" and called the race a "non-win" for Ossoff.

That's nine posts by eight different MRC writers to spin this race the way conservatives want it spun. Talk about an all-hands-on-deck effort.

WND: Only Acceptable Form of Christianity Is 'Evangelical Protestant'
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily has been promoting itself lately as "the largest Christian website in the world" (while never explaining how "the largest Christian website in the world" can lie so brazenly to its readers). But, really, there's only one form of Christianity WND cares about.

WND's Art Moore makes that clear in an April 13 article attacking a Bible scholar for purportedly ceasing to be Christian enough:

Known as the “Bible Answer Man,” Hank Hanegraaff’s daily radio show aims to “equip Christians to pursue sound doctrine to discern truth and error.”

Faithful listeners have presumed that to mean the evangelical Protestant interpretation of the Scriptures and the church, which is why more than a few sat up when they heard Hanegraaff confirm to a caller Monday a rumor that he had gone through a formal rite, known as chrismation (“the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”), to become a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church on Palm Sunday, April 9.

Moore then quotes numerous people attacking Hanegraaff in one form or another, including one blogger for a "Christian apologetics site" who ranted, "The Orthodox Church is a false expression of Christianity, much like the Roman Catholic Church, that is highly driven by graven images and denies the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone, and instead, trusts in meritorious works and a sacramental system for salvation."

As per usual for WND, Moore did not give Hanegraaff any real opportunity to defend himself, noting only that "Hanegraaff’s office did not reply Wednesday to a WND interview request." Moore has not touched the subject since, meaning all this Hanegraaff-bashing stands unchallenged.

This isn't the first time WND has attacked Hanegraaff. In 2015 it gave Joel Richardson -- perhaps best known for likening Obama to the Antichrist while laughably denying he was doing so -- a platform to bash Hanegraaff for failing to conform to his particular vision of "replacement theology."

CNS Now Shilling for the Pizza Industry
Topic: CNSNews.com

The fossil-fuel industry is not the only conservative-leaning business lobby for which CNSNews.com will serve as a loyal stenographer. Craig Bannister writes in an April 17 CNS blog post:

Food chains like pizza retailers are warning that an Obamacare regulation set to kick in on May 5 will overwhelm customers, raise prices and bankrupt businesses.

A costly and burdensome 400-page regulation in the Affordable Care Act (Section 4205) is set to go into effect on May 5 requiring any “restaurant” with 20 or more locations to post in-store menu boards with separate nutrition information for every food item and combination served.

Bannister regurgitates talking points from industry lobbying groups the American Pizza Community, "which represents pizza companies like Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Dominos," and the Food Marketing Institute, "whose members operate 37,000 supermarkets." Bannister helpfully and editorializes -- something the "mainstream media" Bannister loves to criticize would never do -- by putting in underlined bold type key PR phrases "locally-produced products will be dropped" and "estimates the first-year cost of compliance at more than $1 billion."

Bannister fails to report, however, that the rules have been in the works for years, takeout-oriented chains like Domino's don't have to post calorie counts in-store, temporary items are exempt from disclosure, and other restaurant chains already comply with the standards.

Further, Bannister misstates the compliance costs. He uncritically repeats the FMI's claim that "the first-year cost of compliance at more than $1 billion"; in fact, as Media Matters notes, the Food and Drug Administration found that the $1 billion cost would actually be spread out over a 20-year period.

Bannister quotes nobody in support of the calorie disclosure rules, so slavishly is his devotion to being a stenographer to food industry interests.

WND's Klayman Remains A Birther Dead-Ender
Topic: WorldNetDaily

The Obama derangement refuses to die at WorldNetDaily. Larry Klayman spends his April 19 WND column reminding us that he's a birther dead-ender:

For over the last eight years, during President Barack Obama’s tenure, he steadfastly refused to release the original of his birth certificate when repeatedly questioned by many about his status as a “natural born citizen,” the constitutional criterion to be eligible to run for and be sworn in as president – and when he finally posted a “scanned version” a few years ago on the White House website, many forensic experts found it to be fraudulent.

As just one example, notwithstanding forensic analysis by other experts, my client Dennis Montgomery, a “computer wizard” and NSA/CIA whistleblower (see www.freedomwatchusa.org), found that the one posted by Obama’s White House was not genuine.

To this day, Obama has never released an original of his alleged Hawaiian birth certificate for further analysis. Leftist claims that this so-called “birther issue” is simply the result of “alt right racists,” of which President Trump, according to them, is a charter member (having early on questioned Obama’s place of birth), is empty and itself reverse racist rhetoric. The bottom line: The issue of the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate and status as a “natural born citizen,” ironically first raised by 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was and remains, at least for the history books, a legitimate and unanswered issue, no matter how the left has played the race card by spinning it as a conspiracy by white racists.

Note that Klayman moved the goalposts to claim Obama never released "the original of his birth certificate." Of course, Obama released two birth certificates, but no evidence would have been good enough for die-hard birthers like Klayman. Hhis claim that "many forensic experts found it to be fraudulent" goes to a December WND article about the incompetent investigation by Joe Arpaio and his "cold case posse" chief Mike Zullo.

As far as Klayman's client, the "'computer wizard' and NSA/CIA whistleblower" (and alleged fraudster, but Klayman won't tell you that) Dennis Montgomery, goes, actual news outlets reported that Montgomery's birth certificate probe did not turn up "anything of value."

But Klayman is not done with his conspiracy theories:

Second, also during the 2008 presidential election period and throughout the eight years of his presidency, Obama refused to release medical records about his health. What could be more important for the American people to know than whether or not their commander in chief, the leader of the nation and the free world, is healthy and able to do his constitutional duty to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States, and the American people as a whole?

Actually, FactCheck.org reports:

During the 2008 campaign, Obama released summary medical information from his personal physician, who pronounced him to be in “excellent health” with routine test results for such things as cholesterol all within normal levels. (McCain, who is a cancer survivor and was 71 at the time, let reporters see his records for three hours to show he was cancer-free.)

Since taking office, Obama has followed the practice of earlier presidents. He released results of his first “periodic” physical exam on Feb. 28, 2010. Results of his second “periodic” exam were released Oct. 31, 2011. His physician described him as being “in excellent health and ‘fit for duty.'”

This appears to be much more than Donald Trump has released -- to date, just a one-page summary -- but Klayman won't tell you that either.

Klayman also reminds us that his continued Obama conspiracy-mongering is in service to distract us from the fact that Trump has refused to release his tax returns:

Whatever the reason for the president’s refusal, it is likely based on his real and documented perception that the leftist media would use his tax returns to continue to lie and divert attention from affairs of state and his Making America Great Again.

[...]

So when you turn on cable news and see these leftists continuing to riot – hopefully you will not find yourself in the middle of one – remember that this is not because they are genuinely concerned about the release of President Trump’s tax returns, no more than they were about Obama’s failure to disclose his original birth certificate or medical records. Instead, they have and will continue to look for any bogus pretext to destabilize the Trump presidency and to discredit conservatives, people of faith, libertarians and others who voted for and continue to support his quest to restore the 1776 vision of our Founding Fathers: freedom and not tyrannical socialism!

Needless to say (though Klayman won't), the whole point of the birther conspiracy was never about the Constitution and was always about trying to delegitimize and destabilize the Obama presidency.

Hypocrisy At The MRC Over O'Reilly's Sexual Harassment
Topic: Media Research Center

Tim Graham and Brent Bozell begin their April 21 column this way:

Fox News took Bill O'Reilly off the air after a heavy campaign to fire him led by CNN's media unit and The New York Times. If all the charges of sexual harassment are true, his case is indefensible. That said, it's time for his media critics to stand down. They are guilty of rank hypocrisy.

Hold it right there. Two guys who couldn't be bothered to say anything publicly about the accusations against O'Reilly until Fox News had safely fired him -- and after Graham had appeared on the final episode of O'Reilly's old show, renamed "The Factor" after O'Reilly's official departure, where even then he couldn't be moved to say a word about O'Reilly -- are accusing others of hypocrisy? It's as if Bozell and Graham care more about ensuring they continue to appear on Fox News in the future than speaking truth to power.

Graham and Bozell go on to play the Clinton Equivocation card, complaining about a Times editorial that "noted that Hillary Clinton had told a New Hampshire town hall questioner a month earlier that Juanita Broaddrick's tale of rape was not to be believed." Well, that's not exactly what happened; the Times editorial did note that Clinton responded to a question about whether Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Paula Jones should also be believed -- but added that "Mrs. Clinton’s response was odd, and unhelpful."

The two also fail to mention that there's a good reason why Broaddrick's accusation has believability issues: she spent nearly two decades denying that any rape had taken place.

Graham and Bozell huffed that the Times editorial was in service of bashing Trump as "sexist and beyond the pale" for bringing up old Clinton stuff -- but then, they went even harder on the Clinton Equivocation when tales of sexual harassment against Trump began to surface late in the 2016 campaign. Bozell whined that "you did not get as much coverage of Juanita Broaddrick as you got on Donald Trump in 48 hours."

That's hypocrisy.

Speaking of which, Graham and Bozell weren't done with their hypocritical ranting:

On April 2, 2017, the Times published a 3,148-word front-page article lamenting "O'Reilly Thrives as Settlements Add Up." Reporters Emily Steel and Michael Schmidt declared that their investigation found five women who received payouts from either O'Reilly or Fox "in exchange for agreeing to not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations against him. The agreements totaled about $13 million."

As they noted, the lion's share of that total came in a $9 million settlement from 2004. That was 13 years ago, but it didn't qualify as a "tired subject" or some "ancient scandal."

CNN relentlessly pushed for O'Reilly's dismissal, calling up advertisers and pressuring them to take commercials off their competition. Bashing O'Reilly dominated their Sunday show "Reliable Sources" for weeks and their "news" programming after their victory.

But two days after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, CNN aired a town hall meeting titled "Investigating the President: Media Madness?"

[...]

Back then, it was "media madness" to investigate whether then-President Bill Clinton might be assaulting women in the workplace — the Oval Office. There was zero concern about a "culture of abuse" inside the White House. For good measure, CNN moved on to specials attacking special prosecutor Ken Starr for prudishly investigating where CNN and the rest of the press never wanted to go.

[...]

Women deserve a workplace where men don't harass them for sex. But that's not what these sanctimonious liberal journalists care about. It just doesn't matter how brutal the alleged rape of Juanita Broaddrick was. What matters is that Bill O'Reilly had to go.

Bill Clinton is laughing.

Probably because he, like the rest of us, can see through the sanctimonious load of horsepuckey Graham and Bozell are serving up here.

Bozell and Graham have no problem with sexual harassment if a conservative or a Republican does it, and they cannot criticize a conservative's harassment on its own. They rant at length about Clinton's sex life at the slightest provocation, but they offer only a token one-word criticism about the terrible behavior of O'Reilly and Trump -- then rant about Clinton some more. Their outrage is driven by partisan politics, not by any sense of morality they claim to hold, which is why they give O'Reilly and Trump a pass. They're more mad that the media exposed O'Reilly's bad behavior than by the behavior itself.

And that is the biggest hypocrisy of all.

Dubious WND Doc Goes Godwin on Obamacare
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Dubious WorldNetDaily doc Lee Hieb goes there in her April 14 column, stretching really hard to play the Nazi card on Obamacare:

But all this has lead me to ask: Apart from atrocity experimentation on inmates, what was the Nazi health program?

For an in depth review there is no better source than “National Health Care: Medicine in Germany 1918-1945” by Marc Micozzi, M.D., written for the November 1993 Freeman magazine. Socialized medicine was inaugurated by Otto Von Bismarck to keep the German populace from voting for an even more socialist government. After World War I, the German government’s health-care system purposely discouraged private practice, for the express purpose of instituting universal coverage and standardization. Prevention of disease was emphasized over the treatment of disease, and doctors made a significant philosophic shift – from working solely for and in the interest of their patients, to working for the government and the collective good. Although they may not have realized the significance of this at the time, this shift was necessary for what followed under the Nazis. As Dr. Micozzi puts it, “Politicized medicine is not a sufficient cause of the mass extermination of human beings, but is seems to be a necessary cause.”

In the Weimar Republic, preventive medicine was successful in improving the overall health of the “volk.” But, as economic troubles began, predictably, the state-run health system was gutted until it provided little care, but lots of regulation. Efficiency and cost containment became the order of the day. When given a choice of treating the young producers or the non-productive elderly, imbeciles and disabled children, the government (using expert panels) chose care for the most productive.

Hieb is apparently referring to this article. She skips the part where Micozzi wrote that the Weimar health reforms "resulted in clearly improved public health," and that it was the Great Depression in the early 1930s that caused Weimar health care to go awry as well as pave the way for the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. But because Weimar-era health care dabbled in eugenics, this is somehow directly linked to the Nazi takeover, under which things went to lengths presumably never envisioned by Weimar officials -- never mind that that socialized medicine was introduced under Bismarck a full 50 years earlier.

Hieb then tries to pretend she's not going Godwln here by insisting, "No one is saying that Obama is Hitler ... but Obamacare is right out of the Weimar Republic." Hieb doesn't seem to understand the difference between the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany.

That's just ignorance. She also asserted that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger "believed in racial purification through abortion, segregation and forced sterilization" -- something for which there is little evidence (she was anti-abortion, was not particularly racist and the idea that the "feeble-minded" should be sterilized was a widespread belief of her era).

Hieb then wrote that "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg echoed Margaret Sanger when she said, 'Frankly, I thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations we don’t want too many of.' (Italics mine, scary words hers.)" That statement is taken out of context; in fact, Ginsburg was attributing that sentiment to others, not herself.

Hieb also claims that "In the Netherlands today, the No. 1 cause of death of children under 10 years old is euthanasia by a physician." She cites no evidence to back up this claim, a surprising one given that euthanasia is not permitted there for children under 12.She may be referring to claims that hundreds of babies are killed each year in the country, which have not been substantiated.

Hieb finally offers a closing rant:

Government medicine is evil. It makes citizens into dependent children, and it turns once-honorable doctors into tools of the state. Just ask yourself this: When you are in your sick bed, whom do you trust at your bedside – a private physician you have hired or a doctor sent from the government?

If the government doctor understands history (i.e., the difference between the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany) and prefers telling the truth to peddling malicious, politically motivated lies, then yes, we'd take the government doc.

CNS Reporter Jones' Trump Stenography, By The Numbers
Topic: CNSNews.com

We've repeatedly highlighted CNSNews.com reporter Susan Jones' eagerness to serve as a stenographer for the Trump campaign and, later, his administration. Here's another number to back that up.

One of the laziest things a reporter can do is write a single-source story that simply repeats what someone said. If all you're doing is writing down what one person said and making that the entirety of your story, it's stenography, not reporting.

ConWebWatch examined all 281 articles Jones wrote during the first three months of Trump's presidency, from Jan. 20 through April 20. We counted the number of her articles that quoted only President Trump, a member of his administration or the military, versus the number of articles that quoted only a Democratic member of Congress.

By our count, Jones wrote a whopping 64 articles in which Trump or a member of the administration was the sole source, versus just 20 in which a Democratic member of Congress was the sole source (since Democrats do not control the executive branch or the military).

Further, while Jones focused her Trump articles on a wide variety of figures, a majority of the Democratic articles quoted just two people, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. That appears to be because Pelosi and Schumer are CNS' designated Democratic punching bags; for example, one of these articles serves as a way to mock Pelosi for tripping Jones' obsession with people who want Trump to release his tax returns like every other modern-era presidential candidate.

Jones has long been a biased reporter, but putting a number to it demonstrates the extent of her bias. It also demonstrates that CNS cannot be taken seriously as a news outlet.

Methodology: Count included articles based on interviews that paraphrased statements from the questioner or quoted the questioner without naming him or her, but excluded articles that quote the questioner by name.

WND Reporter: Don't Trust Media on Trump, Trust Pro-Trump Partisans!
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily reporter is nothing if not a loyal Trump partisan -- see how hard he has worked to spin away all those Trump-Russia links.

In an April 18 WND article, Kant complains that "the major media" has pointed out President Trump's distinct lack of accomplishments in his first 100 days, and he's eager to spin for his idol.

Kant first quotes Trump himself touting his achievements. That was followed by conservative author Michael Walsh, who conveniently wrote a New York Post column touting Trump's achievements; Kant further quotes Walsh complaining about the "Democrat-Media Complex."

Then, purporting to offer "a seasoned politician’s perspective on the president’s performance so far," Kant called on another Trump partisan, former Rep. Michele Bachmann. Kant simply copies-and-pastes Bachmann's "sweeping analysis" of Trump into his article, in which she enthuses that "President Trump has shown a steady hand and unflinching commitment to advance his promises."

The headline of Kant's article, by the way, is "Media vs. reality on Trump's first 100 days."

So, according to Kant, we're not supposed to trust "the major media" in its assessments of Trump but we are supposed to trust people whose goal is present Trump in the most positive light possible, regardless of the facts. Got it.

CNS Says Goodbye to O'Reilly By Touting His Legacy, Downplaying Harassment Charges
Topic: CNSNews.com

At CNSNews.com, the only original coverage of the departure of Bill O'Reilly from Fox News over mounting claims of sexual harassment had little to do with that -- it was about his legacy.

An April 20 article by Susan Jones is headlined "CNN Anchor: ‘Many Think That If There Was No Bill O’Reilly, There Would Be No President Donald Trump’," and leads by insisting that some of the harassment claims against O'Reilly were "very old and legally settled," followed by a statement from O'Reilly that 'It is tremendously disheartening we part ways due to unfounded claims. That is the reality many of us in the public eye must live with today."

The rest of the article touts O'Reilly's political legacy, paraticularly regarding Donald Trump. Jones doesn't mention that Trump has been accused of sexual harassment and even worse behavior toward women.

Jones sneered that CNN's Brian Stelter "covered the O’Reilly controversy diligently" -- unlike her and the rest of CNN, but Jones didn't mention that. She concluded her article quoting O'Reilly's lawyer complaining about "character assassination" and and ranting about alleged "evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by far-left organizations bent on destroying O’Reilly for political and financial reasons."

Of course, Jones knows a thing or two about engaging in character assassination for political and financial reasons.

WND's Peterson Suggests Trump Is Being Guided By God
Topic: WorldNetDaily

The Trump-deifiers at WorldNetDaily have struck again. Jesse Lee Peterson writes in an April 16 column headlined "Trump's magic is not from human power":

Most people do not understand the magic working through President Donald Trump.

He controls and confounds the media (“the opposition party”) – and they don’t know they’re being controlled! They endlessly attack him and insinuate suspicions of collusion with “Russia.” Trump tweeted that Obama “wire tapped” Trump Tower, and for weeks they shouted, “There’s no proof!” But as proof comes out, they remain in denial.

[...]

As Christians, we are supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We are to be “cunning as serpents and innocent as doves.” President Trump appears to be a living example of this.

[...]

Jesus Christ came and died so that we might return to the Father. As Christians, we are to overcome the world, not be overcome by the world. Trump seems to be overcoming the world – overcoming evil with good. Too many Christians today are lost in intellectualism and emotionalism, pontificating, complaining and fighting in the wrong way as their character and families slide into hell. Yet the mind of God is spiritual and present, with no fear, doubt or confusion. It produces strong action.

Peterson still has a raging case of Obama Derangement Syndrome, however, and he takes even more potshotshere, calling President Obama a "girly man" who is among the "children of Satan" and repeated the false right-wing claim that he went on an "apology tour" while president.

He also laughably claimed that unlike "how nasty Obama acted when challenged," "you don’t see that spirit with Trump when things don’t go his way" and that Trump "maintains a good attitude." Has Peterson never heard Trump speak or read his Twitter account?

MRC's War on the Truth Continues, Starring Tom Blumer's Failure
Topic: NewsBusters

While Media Research Center chief Brent Bozell was defending the lies of Donald Trump and reflexively bashing the "liberal media" by ranting that "This is not a press that has any interest in objective truth," his organization was once again attacking the idea of objective truth.

NewsBusters blogger Tom Blumer -- who has a lengthy record of not understanding how the media works despite being a self-proclaimed media critic -- is the latest batter up in bashing fact-checkers for, you know, checking facts.

An April 13 post by Blumer begins:

Posts over the next several days will show that certain left-leaning websites and existing left-leaning news organizations have figured out that they can employ the technique of "fact-checking," perhaps once nobly intended, as a handy device to advance a left-supporting, right-bashing agenda.

Further, these "fact checkers" have taken advantage of their platforms to select and evaluate politicians' and pundits' claims in a decidedly unfair and unbalanced manner. Finally, thanks to the willing cooperation of the world's dominant search engine and the leader in social media, "fact checkers" are transitioning into roles which could ultimately position them as de facto news censors.

Blumer then proclaims right-wing reporter Sharyl Attkisson the official arbiter of all things ideological in journalism by touting her spectrum chart of media outlets, which is done pretty much the way you'd expect from a right-winger. For instance, UPI is somehow listed as "centrist" despite the fact that it's owned by the highly biased (and Moonie-owned) Washington Times. And curiously missing is Attkisson's own employer, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has a decidedly conservative bias.

Needless to say, Blumer heartily approves: "Readers can and certainly will quibble over how far to the right and left of center certain outlets are. But with the exception of Reuters, which has no business being placed in the center, the chart generally places these entities on the correct side of center." He then whined that "Almost all of the major sites holding themselves out as 'fact-checkers' lean decisively left."

Blumer further touted Attkisson as being "formerly of CBS News until her superiors decided she was actually doing her job in covering the Obama administration's various scandals." His link to support the claim was to a National Review article that uncritically peddled her assertion that her computer was hacked, which actual computer experts diagnosed as just her backspace key getting stuck. Blumer also didn't mention that Attkisson likes to peddle anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.

The next day, Blumer tried again, this time complaining that fact-checkers "overwhelmingly select facts presented by Republican and conservative politicians and pundits, while ignoring similar howlers generated by the left." Blumer highlighted a claim from the blog Powerline (whose right-wing bias Blumer curiously failed to identify despite being quick to label every outlet he doesn't agree with as "liberal" or "left") that most of thte last 25 fact-checks the Associated Press conducted were of claims made by Trump and his administration.

Perhaps Blumer hasn't noticed that Trump is president and, thus, dominates the media.

Blumer then ranted:

The AP is not an isolated example. Readers going to the first few pages compiling recent "fact checks" by Politifact will see a clear tendency to go after Republicans and conservatives combined with a stubborn reluctance to give them the benefit of the doubt.

A comparison which looks at the number of times the Politifact has evaluated the statements of certain well-known politicians demonstrates how obvious the lack of balance is:

Scott Walker, Republican Governor of Wisconsin: 175
Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senator from New York: 9
Rick Scott, Republican Governor of Florida: 148
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York: 12

The three governors listed above have been in power since the 2010 elections, and Schumer's national profile, which has never been low, thanks to his attention-seeking nature, rose at roughly the same time.

What Blumer didn't mention: Thge reason why there are so many PolitiFact items on Walker and Scott is because PolitiFact has newspaper affiliates in Wisconsin and Florida that wrote those posts -- as should have been obvious by the "PolitiFact Wisconsin" and "PolitiFact Florida" tags on them. By contrast, PolitiFact set up an affiliate in New York, the Buffalo News, only in March 2016 and that hasn't resulted in may posts yet; most of the posts on Schumer and Cuomo were written have the "PolitiFact National" tag.

Apparently oblivious to this fact, Blumer continued to rant: "To believe that Politifact doesn't have a selection bias, one has to defend the absurd notion that Walker and Scott have consistently made controversial or questionable statements or claims worthy of evaluation at a rate 15 times greater than Schumer and Cuomo (323 for Walker and Scott combined compared to 21 for the two New Yorkers)."

How does someone so incapable of understanding how the media works -- or doing basic research before ranting -- continue to be an MRC blogger? Apparently, assuming his readers are dumb is a big part of that.

WND's Hohmann Still Fearmongering About Idaho Assault Case Involving Muslims
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Lead WorldNetDaily Muslim-hater Leo Hohmann has been obsessing over one of his favorite obsessions, the case in Idaho in which "three refugee boys" assaulted a 5-year-old girl in an Idaho town.

In an April 5 article, Hohmann huffs that "In the same week that three refugee boys pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl in Twin Falls, Idaho, the mayor and council floated the idea of passing a resolution declaring Twin Falls a “welcoming city” for illegals and refugees.

The subhead for Hohmann's article states, "WND, Breitbart vindicated in case that brought accusations of fake news." In fact, as we pointed out, Hohmann and WND did publish fake news about the case when it first broke. Apparently, the fact that the boys pleaded guilty to charges in the case equals "vindication" for Hohmann's Muslim-bashing.

In a further attempt to exploit the case, Hohmann includes the name and picture of the 5-year-old victim. How cynical and irresponsible.

On April 11, Hohmann was ready to milk the case again, complaining:

One week after three refugee boys from Sudan and Iraq pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl in Twin Falls, Idaho, the city council has voted unanimously to lay out the welcome mat for more refugees.

The council voted 7-0 to direct the city staff to draft a resolution declaring Twin Falls a “welcoming city” after hearing a pitch from local Boy Scout Troop 4, which is sponsored by the Mormon Church. 

Hohmann also accused one supporter of refugees, Mark Crandall, as having "provided the council with false statistics in his letter about the number of refugees being sent to the U.S. in fiscal 2017," but he only one he cited was that "the Trump administration recently announced it will allow 62,500 refugees entry into the U.S. this year, not 50,000 as Crandall stated." Not exactly a smoking gun there. Hohmann also uncritically quoted one anti-refugee activist viciously smearing refugee supporters, who are linked with the local Mormon church: "Isn’t that what communists do, use the children? The propaganda machines work best if you start with children."

Hohmann got the story back to his pet issue eventually: "WND previously reported that the girl’s family has endured nearly 10 months of public shaming and downplaying of the crime by powerful elites who support continued refugee resettlement in Idaho and nationwide."

Isn't that about the same amount of time Hohmann has been spending trying to desperately smear all Muslim refugees -- and, really, all Muslims, period -- as sexual predators just like the youths were arrested in this case, as well as downplaying the inaccurate reporting he and his employer produced about this case?

Hohmann once again includes a picture of the victim but curious omits her name despite having revealed it the week before. Both articles include pleas to "Donate to the family’s GoFundMe account to help with mounting medical and legal expenses," which is simply more evidence Hohmann has no interest in reporting in a fair and balanced manner.