MRC: How DARE The Media Treat AOC Like An Actual Human!?!
Topic: Media Research Center

Right-wingers hate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and think she deserves everything bad that happens to her and that she's making up some of that. When CBS' Gayle King suggested that people can learn from her tough response to a crude slur from a fellow male (Republican) congressman, the Media Research Center's Kyle Drennen had a meltdown in a July 24 post, in which he insulted AOC merely for existing, expressed doubt that the slur actually happened, and threw a couple insults at King for good measure:

Just a couple weeks after CBS This Morning co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King proclaimed that “we all need to take a class” from a radical Black Lives Matter activist who supported rioting and property destruction, on Friday, the left-wing anchor demanded that everyone take “decency class lessons” from unhinged socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

[...]

Remember, this is the same Ocasio-Cortez who in 2019 labeled immigration detention centers along the U.S. southern border “concentration camps.” It was so wildly offensive that even members of the Democratic Party press, like NBC’s Chuck Todd and CNN’s Jake Tapper, hammered her for the comment. Even so, this is who King thinks we should look to as a beacon of civility.

King’s education mandate came in reaction to Ocasio-Cortez taking to the House floor on Thursday to accuse Republican Florida Congressman Ted Yoho of calling her a “f**king bitch” during a heated argument on the steps of the Capitol on Monday. The exchange has been highly disputed and Yoho has flatly denied using any such language.

Of course that doesn’t matter to the leftist media, they so want the far-left Democrat’s account of the incident to be true that reporters on NBC, ABC, and CBS all eagerly ran with the story Thursday evening and Friday morning.

[...]

Ocasio-Cortez is a left-wing bomb-thrower who delights in attacking her political opponents with outrageous rhetoric. The leftist media are no better. No one needs a civility lecture from radical Democrats or their cheerleaders in the press.

Drennen made sure not to quote any of what Ocasio-Cortez said in response to Yoho's crude slurs so his readers would have an idea of why King thought it was so powerful, but he did excerpt a paragrpaph from Yoho's non-apology and his claim that he was "strongly denying use of any profane or vulgar language." He then whined that "the tone of the reports" about the incident "made it clear that Ocasio-Cortez was the hero of the story and Yoho was the 'sexist' and 'misogynist' villain representing a pattern of dehumanizing women that is all too familiar in our society and even in the halls of Congress.'"

The MRC has been getting more shrill and hateful of late, and Drennen's post is an example of how that tone has changed for the worse.

CNS Finally Pins Deficit Blame on Republicans -- Yet Still Finds A Way To Blame Pelosi Too
Topic: CNSNews.com

For months, CNSNews.com -- and in particular, editor in chief Terry Jeffrey -- has been trying to implicitly blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for this year's record federal deficit spending, even though she leads only one-half of one branch of government and all that spending was also approved by a Repubican-controlled Senate and a Republican president (which CNS somehow never identifies by name).

This reached an absurd level in a July 23 article by intern John Jakubisin, which was actually straightforward by CNS standards on the deficit issue:

Since Donald Trump took office in 2017, federal spending has soared to record highs, pushing the federal debt up more than $6.5 trillion to a total of more than $26.5 trillion. Some conservative leaders denounced this spending as “deadly” and appalling and stressed that GOP members of Congress are not serious about the debt or reducing the size of the government.

Over the last few days, CNS News sent the following question to numerous conservatives across the country: “Republicans have controlled both the White House and the Senate for the past 42 months, but during that time the federal debt has climbed more than 6 and a half trillion dollars--rising from about 19.9 trillion to $26.5 trillion. Do you believe the Republicans are serious about rolling back the federal debt? What should Congress do to roll it back?”

The article is actually fairly decent and well focused. The issue is the image that was chosen to promote it, as noted above. Look who's pictured: President Trump, Senate leader Mitch McConnell, and ... Pelosi. Who is not even mentioned in the article at all.

That's right: CNS finally calls out Republicans by name for all the deficit spending, and it still finds a way to blame Pelosi as well. Can we stop taking CNS seriously as a "news" organization now?

MRC's Double Standard On Anonymous Sources, Mark Levin Edition
Topic: Media Research Center
In a July 21 Fox Business appearance, Media Research Center chief Brent Bozell "trashed the liberal media’s shameless overreliance on anonymous sources, noting that they have no interest in 'journalism 101' and 'have nothing to do with the news.'" But as we've documented, Bozell's a shameless hypocrite on this issue; the MRC will enthusiastically embrace anonymous sources as much as the "liberal media" it despises when doing so advances its right-wing agenda.

Indeed, the MRC did so exactly one week before Bozell's appearance. Alexander Hall breathlessly wrote in a July 14 article:

A former Wikipedia editor blasted Wikipedia for not being neutral, and slammed the platform for a multi-year scorched-earth campaign against popular conservative talk radio host Mark Levin.

A massive exposé accusing Wikipedia of having biased editors was put out by Breitbart News. “Localemediamonitor” and “Snooganssnoogans,” according to Breitbart, have been allowed to run rampant on conservative Wikipedia entries. That included their jihad against Levin.

The banned Wikipedia editor wrote at Breitbart under the alias T.D. Adler.

That's right -- the author is anonymous. The Breitbart article claims that the writer is hiding behind a fake name because of "previous witch-hunts led by mainstream Wikipedians against their critics," but no evidence is provided of this -- and, more importantly, no evidenceis provided that "Adler" is who he says he/she is, or that Breitbart did any sort of fact-checking to verify his/her identity or claims.

Funny how the MRC is treating "Adler" so credulously despite lacking proof the author's veracity. It's especially funny coming after it ranted so hard about the media failing to fact-check Mary Trump's claims about her uncle, Donald Trump, despite the fact that she's not hiding behind a fake name and she clearly lived much of what is in the book she wrote about it.

And, of course, Hall failed to disclose that the MRC has had -- and perhaps still has -- a cross-promotion deal with Levin, and that Levin is a close personal friend of Bozell, meaning that this post falls somewhere between a personal favor to Levin and a contractual busines deal. That seems relevant to disclose, no?

Newsmax TV Gives Shows To Right-Wing Extremists
Topic: Newsmax

Newsmax had a couple announces to make on Aug. 7. First up was this article by Bill Hoffmann:

She's powerful, she's provocative and she never pulls her punches — and now award-winning journalist Michelle Malkin is ready to rock America with her new weekly show on Newsmax TV.

Tune in every Saturday, beginning Aug. 8, at 7 p.m. ET for "Michelle Malkin Sovereign Nation." The program re-broadcasts on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.

Every weekend, the best-selling author and outspoken media entrepreneur will bring you stimulating commentary and detailed analysis of the news from her uniquely "American" point of view.

Since he's paid to be a shill and not an actual reporter, Hoffmann failed to mention that Malkin's "uniquely 'American' point of view" involves embracing white nationalism, elevating racists and fearmongering about vaccines.

That was joined a few minutes later by this gushy piece from Hoffmann:

They're opinionated, they're outrageous, and they're always on the money — and now America's beloved dynamic duo Diamond and Silk are coming to Newsmax TV.

"Diamond and Silk Crystal Clear" debuts Saturday, Aug. 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET, only on Newsmax TV, America's fastest-growing cable news network.

Lynette "Diamond" Hardaway and Rochelle "Silk" Richardson exploded onto the political scene in 2015, when they shed their Democrat roots to go Republican and began a livestream video blog in support of President Donald Trump.

[...]

Diamond and Silk are a hurricane force to be reckoned with — a force that already has proved too edgy for one cable outfit.

Hoffmann didn't bother to flesh that last part out, of course. Otherwise, he'd have to admit that Diamond and Silk lost their gig at Fox News' Fox Nation division earlier this year for spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. That's not being "too edgy" -- that's being malicious liars.

Hoffmann clearly isn't going to do this, but someone at Newsmax should explain why it gave such medacious and sleazy extremists their own TV shows.

Kupelian Mad That WND Is Accurately Described
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily managing editor David Kupelian continued his routine of pretending that nobody knows what WND is really about in a July 23 email to readers addressed to the "Pro-Family American" Kupelian likes to think is WND's readership. After proclaiming that "FIVE black conservative candidates won their primaries in Maryland!" -- something he didn't provide a link for to back up the claim -- huffed that these candidates were being ignored by the "diversity-obsessed leftist media" because the "elite media’s goal in 2020 is to paint conservatives as racist reactionaries." he then huffed (bolding in original):

Here at WorldNetDaily, we believe in telling the truth to the American people… not a far-left “narrative.”

But right now, WND is struggling … because Big Tech and the far left are doing everything they possibly can to suppress, censor and ban us, to defame us as “bigots” and “conspiracy theorists,” to wipe out our advertising revenue, to silence our truthful reporting and shut us down – and ultimately to brainwash the American people.

No, David -- WND is described as "bigots" and "conspiracy theorists" because that's what you are, and that's how you got here.

Kupelian wants people to forget it has published racial bigots like Paul Nehlen, Colin Flaherty and Scott Greer, among others. WND directly employed racial bigots like Michael Thompson and Kevin DeAnna.

Kupelian also wants us to forget that for the eight-plus years that Barack Obama ran for and held the presidency, WND pursued the never-proven conspiracy theory that he was not eligible to be president and possibly born in Kenya. The chief proponent of that conspiracy theory at WND, Jerome Corsi, was employed by WND for mroe than a decade and was so comfortable in his bigotry that he appeared on a white nationalist radio show to promote his anti-Obama work. Kupelian has yet to apologize for that credibility-destroying obsession, just as he has yet to apologize for its pursuit of conspiracy theories over Seth Rich's death.

If Kupelian doesn't want WND to be dismissed as bigots and conspiracy theories, he should stop publishing bigots and conspiracy theories and apologize for the ones he has published over the years. Simple, really.

Kupelian concluded by begging readers for money so WND can "continue reporting honestly, factually and fearlessly, something America needs now more than ever." America does need that more than ever, but it's never going to get that from WND.

MRC Flails In Trying To Discredit Book By Trump's Niece
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center had itself a big ol' meltdown over a book highly critical of President Trump written by his niece, Mary Trump -- so much so it tried to discredit the book as unverified, despite the fact that, as a member of the Trump family, Mary lived a lot of what is in the book.

In a July 9 post, Duncan Schroeder ranted that CNN hosts "brought on political correspondent Sara Murray to salivate over the supposedly tell-all book authored by President Trump's niece, Mary Trump. Scrapping all pretense of being journalists, the Democratic hacks eagerly lapped up the book's “revelations” without even questioning the truth of the wild accusations (like calling Trump a "sociopath")." He went on to huff that host John Berman "clearly does not care whether or not the book is true. He only cares about making Trump look bad with the presidential election looming."

Schroeder then went full whataboutism: "Berman loved the claim that the President paid someone to take his SAT, but conveniently forgot Joe Biden’s disreputable academic reputation. ... Speaking of the election, if Berman were to be an actual journalist instead of a Democratic mouthpiece, he could discuss Joe Biden’s academic record. Biden has plagiarized multiple speeches and was caught cheating in law school. He also lied about finishing in the top half of his class in law school."

Schroeder expressed his purported concern over the accuracy of Mary Trump's memoir in a July 15 post complaining that a CNN anchor's interest in former Trump lawyer's upcoming memoir "must be like the allegedly tell-all books CNN has eaten up from John Bolton and Mary Trump without any reservations for ascertaining the truth of their claims."

In another post the same day, Schroeder further complained about Mary Trump's book:

Without any fact checking, the hacks took the claims that Mary Trump makes about President Trump at face value in an effort to make it a campaign issue. Louis also venomously declared that Trump supporters are white “supremacists” and that they are “those who were always opposed to all of the civil rights movement from the 1960s forward.”

[...]

Are any of the claims in this “devastating portrait” verified? Would it not be the job of a news organization to determine whether or not such claims about the President are true or not? Oh wait, CNN is not a news organization, it is the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party.

After one anchor pointed out that Mary Trump "has a certain amount of credibility and insight" into her uncle, Schroeder raged: "'Credibility?' Literally not a single claim in the book is verified."

For the first time in these three posts, Schroeder offered something approaching evidence to bolster his claim that Mary Trump is a liar: "It’s also interesting that they did not bring up Mary Trump’s allegation that Trump cheated on his SAT. When Berman and Camerota last discussed it, they mocked Trump over it. But the reason that they did not bring the claim up is that the wife of the man who allegedly took the SAT for Trump said it was false."

Schroeder cited a New York Post article quoting the widow of the man, Joe Shapiro, denying the claim. But Mary Trump has since said it was another Joe Shapiro who took the test for Trump (though she has no documentation to prove it).

The next day, Michael Dellano joined in the attack, complaining that MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell "expressed his unwavering belief in the unhinged screed from Donald Trump’s niece, specifically the wild and hateful assertion that the President cannot feel human emotions," further whining that "O’Donnell and the rest of the partisan hacks in the media read the Mary Trump book as if it’s the Gospel, not because it is true, only because it fits their leftist narrative."

(You know who also pushes things because they fit a narrative, not because they're true? The MRC.)

Joseph Vazquez followed up with a post declaring that Trump has a "glaring bias" because she "had been a Democrat donor for years, donating to the party, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama," adding: "Had a responsible unbiased media reported this information, it would have made Mary Trump look as she is — extremely biased concerning her wild claims about her uncle."

Kristine Marsh, in a July 23 post, even attacked late-night host Stephen Colbert for having Mary Trump on as a guest:

After having a meltdown on live television on election night, Late Show host Stephen Colbert revealed Wednesday that he might still need therapy to recover from the shock he experienced four years ago. Psychologist Mary Trump should’ve been charging Colbert, as the late-night host spent 38 minutes (with breaks) trashing the president and whining about how he's traumatized the country, to Trump's Democrat donor niece.

Marsh dismissed Trump's book as a "gossipy tell-all," ultimately pivoting to whataboutism: "Will Colbert or the media also do a deep dive into Joe Biden’s family history to find skeletons in his closet? Well considering how the media dismissed and mocked the former VP’s corruption scandal with his son on the board of Ukraine company Burisma and that was recent history, I think we know the answer to that question."

Marsh tried to follow in Schroeder's footsteps in making lame attempts to discredit the book in another post the same day, cheering how in an appearance on "The View." Trump "was unexpectedly grilled by co-host Meghan McCain, over allegations she makes in her salacious tell-all book. While the liberal hosts took the Democrat donor and Trump critic’s wild claims at face value, McCain called her out, asking if she was just doing this to 'get a paycheck.'" Marsh didn't reveal what part of her MRC paycheck was received in exchange for writing that post.

Dellano returned to exhibit the MRC's usual craven callousness toward the safety of anyone who's not a Trump dead-ender in a July 30 post bashing MSNBC's Joy Reid for expressing concern that "Trump supporters may physically attack the President’s niece, Mary Trump, over her book bashing her uncle." He declared that "Reid’s clear objective was to incite fear into her viewers by thinking that the President and his supporters will act violently against Mary Trump' and that "Reid’s statements only incite fear and create division, which has been exactly the goal of the left-wing media since Trump took office."

As if Dellano the rest of the MRC are not trying to incite fear and create division by viciously attacking anyone who dares criticize Trump.

Allen West, Useful Idiot
Topic: CNSNews.com

Allen West ranted in his July 13 CNSNews.com column:

“Useful idiots” is a phrase attributed to Vladimir Lenin, who supposedly used it to describe communist sympathizers in Western Civilization.

It is a very appropriate descriptor when it comes to the so-called “woke” mob of the so-called “resistance” that has overtaken the streets of America. Well, let me rephrase that: They have overtaken the streets of major population centers in America. The infestation of wokeness and idiocy seems concentrated in the very places where progressive socialist policies have failed in America.

[...]

America’s useful idiots want to embrace a philosophy of governance that is the antithesis of the liberty and freedoms that they enjoy. Do not believe me? Well, how about our woke little temper tantrum kids take a trip to Hong Kong. There you will find young people resisting the very ideology that our young people want to live under. How about our useful idiots talk to those Venezuelans who now reside in the United States, like former Miss Venezuela Carmen Maria Montiel, and learn just how awesome socialism truly is.

America’s useful idiots are busy searching and destroying anything that they claim is connected to systemic racism. Then why are these little cherubs aligning themselves with the Democrat [sic] Party? If we were to do a truly historical analysis of the Democrat [sic] Party, you would find the real purveyors of systemic racism in our country. I could go on, but think about the history of a political party that voted against the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments. A political party that created our first domestic terrorist organization, the Ku Klux Klan -- oh, yeah, they created the second one also, Antifa.

As fact-checkers have pointed out, the Democratic Party did not not create the KKK, and West provides no evidence that Antifa is a Democratic Party creation. But as his deliberate misnaming of the Democratic Party demonstrates, the real useful idiot here is West.

His main function in the Republican Party is as a black man in an overwhelmingly white party, and it's unlikely that CNS' parent, Media Research Center, would name him a "senior fellow"(despite having no relevant experience in the "media research" realm) or give him a weekly column if he didn't hold that rare distinction -- something he has tried to exploit to benefit Republicans.

In his June 22 column headlined "A Black Man’s Letter to Black Lives Matter," West self-aggrandized: "There is a high possibility that I have forgotten more black history than some may ever learn -- or certainly know. I just authored a book titled, “We Can Overcome, An American Black Conservative Manifesto.”I do not need to “qualify” my being Black based upon some pre-determined ideological agenda." He went on to huff:

I am tired of our Nation cowering, appeasing, acquiescing, and surrendering to this absurd organization calling itself Black Lives Matter (BLM). There is nothing true or sincere about this ideologically aligned progressive socialist, cultural Marxist organization.

BLM is just another leftist organization created by the same ilk of progressive socialists who created the NAACP. When one reviews the goals and objectives of BLM, they have nothing to do with the real issues facing the Black community in America. The focus of BLM is to cleverly advance the leftist ideological agenda under the guise of a witty name that forces people into guilt, shame.

I do not need any white person in America to kneel before me, apologize, wash my feet, or as the insidious comment of Chick-fil-A CEO, Dan Cathy, shine my shoes. I did a doggone good job of shining my own boots during my career in the US Army -- that was my individual responsibility, in which I took great pride.

West also went on a tirade against Planned Parenthood: "Planned Parenthood was founded by a known white supremacist, racist, a woman who spoke at Ku Klux Klan rallies -- Margaret Sanger. Planned Parenthood has over 70 percent of their “clinics” located in black communities across America." West is lying' Sanger was not a "known white supremacist," and most of its clinics are not in "black communities."

But West gets away with those lies because it benefits his political ideology and his fellow ideologues will not hold him accountable for it.

IN his July 6 column, West condescendingly wrote:

If American Blacks are to truly overcome, the time has come for them to stop being driven into irrational emotionalism.

Somehow, in the Black community, reason and rational thought have taken a backseat to the acceptance of thoughts, perspectives, and ideologies that are not consistent with the “proclaimed” principles and values over which many in the black community shout “hallelujah” on one particular day of the week -- Sunday.

Why are we watching a community self-implode but go right along “whistling past the graveyard” in addressing its real, true issues.

One of those issues, West claimed, is black-on-black crime. West chose to attack the NAACP over the issues, claiming that "I have yet to hear the NAACP voice any concerns about the rampant shootings, black on black, in our American urban population centers." West obviously couldn't be bothered to do basic research, because the NAACP has spoken out numerous times on black-on-black crime.

West served up more right-wing talking points: "The bottom line is that the left has once again coopted a title for an organization that dupes Blacks into believing that white liberal progressive socialists care. The only thing they care about is power. The only thing they care about is maintaining a victim class for political patronage."  Because that, ultimately, is what the MRC is paying him to do.

MRC Embraces QAnon To Own The Libs
Topic: Media Research Center

We've already caught the Media Research Center siding with far-right extremists at Reddit because they claim to be pro-Trump, whitewashing their hate and endorsement of violence as being merely "politically incorrect." The MRC is finding more extreme right-wingers to defend.

In a July 20 post, Duncan Schroeder complained about how CNN analyst John Avlon "hypocritically accused the Republican Party of promoting extremism and conspiracy theories through discussing the QAnon conspiracy theory." Rather than concede that QAnon followers are pretty extreme, Schroeder shifted into whataboutism mode, ranting that "CNN has promoted multiple “nonsense” conspiracy theories about Trump," declaring that "If Avlon was not a Democratic hack, he would discuss how Democrats have directly pushed misinformation and conspiracy theories," and whining that "CNN was also involved with awarding the bogus 1619 Project a Pulitzer," which he declared to be "leftist fan fiction."

Schroeder's ranting was not done: He concluded by ranting, "CNN has become an enabler of dangerous, radical, far-left extremism, but will hide that fact by attacking a few extreme right wingers. Facts do not matter for the network, it has an election to win."

That's a rant written by someone who feels like he has an election to win -- and his silence about QAnon speaks volumes.

Two days later, Alexander Hall had a sad that QAnon-related accounts were deleted by Twitter. He actively downplayed their extremism, declaring these deleted accounts to be "pro-Trump":

Twitter declares war on QAnon theorists! Thousands of Pro-Trump accounts have been purged as Twitter targets theorists on the right while ignoring radicals on the left. 

“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” Twitter declared in a July 21 post. It specified that “this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service.” A Twitter spokesperson told NBC News that around “150,000 accounts” will be affected in one form or another. The same article explained that the company has removed 7,000 QAnon accounts in the past few weeks for allegedly breaking Terms of Service rules about targeted harassment.

Twitter wrote that, going forward: “We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics.” The company made clear that it will “[n]o longer serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in Trends and recommendations.” It will even “Block URLs associated with QAnon from being shared on Twitter.”

The closest Hall got to noting what QAnon actually does is repeating a New York Times description of the "ideology" of the group as being that Trump "ran for office to save Americans from a so-called deep state filled with child-abusing, devil-worshiping bureaucrats." Hall censored the Times' further description of QAnon's extremism and serial harassment of their targets, regarding how they believe that "the president’s enemies are prominent Democrats who, in some telling, extract hormones from children’s blood" and their link to the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which led to a "vigilante gunman" showing up at a Washington, D.C., pizzeria and firing an assault rifle inside it.

Instead, Hall went the whataboutism route, complaining that "The presence of far-left extremists like Antifa groups is strangely tolerated online" while not presenting any compelling evidence that they are.

Andy Schlafly's Mask Meltdown
Topic: WorldNetDaily

A stark difference between the approach of President Trump and the newly radicalized Democratic Party is revealed by the issue of mandatory face masks. The "mask police" mentality of the Dems is inciting an Orwellian society of snitches and bullies.

Democrats are now insisting that everyone be required to wear masks and that anyone seen not wearing a mask be reported to the authorities. This is despite how leading liberal television commentators, including Chris Cuomo of CNN, were spotted outside without masks while they were being quarantined for COVID-19.

The wearing of masks in public places causes harm beyond COVID, which is why face coverings have long been against the law in many U.S. states and in other countries. There is no substitute for seeing the faces of strangers on the street and in stores.

A witness cannot give proper evidence in court while masked, for example. Reading a witness' face is essential to determine his credibility.

The idea of a faceless society has long symbolized descent into totalitarian control, but that is where we are headed. The mask police are determined to exploit the COVID crisis to turn us into a faceless society.

A woman with a medical condition preventing her from wearing a mask recently entered a Walmart in Summit County, Utah, where masks are mandatory. In that Utah county, residents are required not only to wear masks, but to report on anyone seen without a mask so that the police can rush out and give the person a summons or ticket.

Is this what our society should become? With all the violent protests occurring, one would think that local authorities have better ways to spend their scarce resources than to be mask police.

[...]

President Trump is right to reject wearing a mask in most places. Bandits and anarchists wear masks, not the leader of the free world.

-- Andy Schlafly, July 21 WorldNetDaily column

MRC's Houck Still Lacks The Courage Of His Convictions
Topic: Media Research Center

Media Research Center writer and NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck is pretty vocal on Twitter, usually in meltdown mode over some imagined slight on CNN. But he's also a coward -- he refuses to translate his opinions into NewsBusters content when they deviate from right-wing orthodoxy, like the slightest, entirely justified criticism of President Trump.

One thing Houck has been vocal about on Twitter is his struggles with depression. That's a courageous thing for him to do -- he even has a thread about his struggles pinned to the top of his Twitter feed. In an Aug. 5 tweet, Houck noted a CBS report on Michelle Obama talking about her current struggle with depression, and responded somewhat sympathetically: "Even though she's very well off with places to live, things to do, and resources to help, I still think it's great @MichelleObama spoke out about her feelings of depression during this coronavirus pandemic. Good on @MargBrennan for covering it. We need all voices to #EndTheStigma."

Because we've been observing Houck and the MRC for as long as we have and understand how it works, we tweeted in response: "Yet you’ll still probably have @gabrieljhays write a @newsbusters post mocking Obama for being a “very well off” woman who’s complaining about being depressed, right?"

Sadly, it turns out we were right. The very next day, Gabriel Hays had a post sneeringly headlined "Michelle Obummer: Former First Lady's Podcast Blames Trump for Her ‘Depression,’" and he did exactly what we said he would do:

Michelle Obama may be many things, a mega-millionaire, emerging media personality, bestselling author and former White House resident, but complete happiness has been eluding her lately, and shocker, it’s because of a certain sitting president. 

During the latest episode of her fancy new Spotify podcast, the former first lady told her guest that President Trump has given her a mild bout of “epression” due to his unrelenting “hypocrisy.”

Cue up the melancholic violins for this Zoloft-sponsored performance of “Orange Man Bad.”

[...]

Oh and there it is. Though when it comes to helping along some of her depression for the racial strife, she could look at some crime stats to reassure herself that cops aren’t out hunting black people, or take a breather and realize that America isn’t an inherently racist country, as the left/BLM wants us all to believe. As far as the Trump problem goes, well she might have to sit tight. 

“So I’ve kind of had to give myself that,” Mrs. Obama stated, demonstrating that she’s allowing herself to feel “dispirited” over Trump and racism that’s not really occurring. Again. Isn’t that wonderful? America is under assault from vicious lies about its character and a street mob physically enforcing them. But rather than Michelle seeking the balanced approach, she’s letting leftwing talking points encourage her depression. How is this Trump’s fault exactly?

That's right -- Houck allowed Hays to make a mockery of a very personal issue to him. It's almost as if he's not actually managing anything at all as managing editor and just obediently taking marching orders from Brent Bozell and Tim Graham. Being forced to be a rage-bot and apparently forbidden to inject a little humanity into the increasingly hate-driven NewsBusters can't be helping Houck's mental health.

CNS Complains That Drag Queen Got Federal Relief Money, Censors That It Did Too
Topic: CNSNews.com

Craig Bannister complained in a July 17 CNSNews.com article:

Walter Cole, aka “Darcelle,” says that not even the coronavirus and Black Lives Matter riots in his city can force his Darcelle XV Showplace theater to close after 53 years in business – thanks to the coronavirus relief loan he got from the government.

“We’ll never close,” Cole, thought to be the world’s oldest drag queen, told The Oregonian on Thursday, responding to local news reports that his Portland, Oregon theater might have to shut its doors:

[...]

But, thanks to the federal pandemic relief loan, Cole says he’ll be able to continue to pay his staff, which has been cut by nearly two-thirds, and keep his nightly drag show going.

What Bannister didn't tell his readers: His employer, the Media Research Center, took more than $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program money -- the same program, apparently, that Cole took advantage of.

That means the same federal funding that's keeping Cole's theater alive is also keeping Bannister employed. It also means that Bannister has no moral standing to attack Cole. And it also means that CNS' frequent complaints of excessive government spending ring increasingly hollow since it's now on the record as directly benefiting from that very same spending.

In Midst Of Pandemic Surge, MRC Remained A Florida Apologist
Topic: Media Research Center

We've documented how the Media Research Center praised Florida and its Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, earlier this year for low coronavirus infection numbers -- but when those numbers started spiking this summer, it had to go into defense-and-deflection mode by throwing out a lot of whataboutism regarding New York's case numbers. That deflection has continued apace.

A July 14 post by Kathleen Krumhansl (also available in Spanish) complained about Latino news networks, where allegedly "numbers are routinely bent to fit their ongoing glorification of New York, and demonization of Florida and other Republican states." The whataboutism came hot and heavy: "According to data from the CDC, in New York City alone, the fatality rate is 277.7 deaths per hundred thousand; for the whole state of Florida, total deaths reach 19.9 deaths per hundred thousand."

The same day, Duncan Schroeder huffed that "CNN co-host John Berman brought on Miami Beach’s Democratic Mayor Dan Gelber to spread liberal propaganda about Florida's response to COVID-19. Throughout the segment, Berman bashed the state's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and attempted to make Gelber’s handling of the pandemic look better." He also huffed whataboutism: "Attacking DeSantis is nothing new for Berman. He's repeatedly savaged the Republican, but refused to hold Democratic governors such as New York’s Andrew Cuomo accountable for their mismanagement of the virus."

Kristine Marsh pounced on a report about "inflated, erroneous positive infection data"in Florida because it counters "the media’s determination to vilify Florida as the new coronavirus epicenter," going on to tout how Fox News shows like "Fox and Friends as well as the FNC’s primetime lineup shared and discussed the report Tuesday, and Monday night, respectively. Laura Ingraham said the report exposed a 'potentially massive scandal brewing regarding the way hospitals, labs, and others are reporting the percentage of positive test results.'" But as an actual fact-checker pointed out, while there have been discrepancies in reporting numbers, they don't explain away the surge in Florida coronavirus cases, as Marsh seems to be suggesting.

Schroeder also complained that a doctor who appeared on CNN was bashing Republican governors like DeSantis for their mismanagement of the pandemic, grousing that he should "have noted that California had more deaths than Texas and Florida yesterday."

Krumhansl returned to complain (in Spanish as well) that Univision provided "sympathetic coverage of a lawsuit filed by Florida's largest teacher’s union against DeSantis" over opening schools in the fall, ranting that "Univision’s viewers did not hear from Hispanic parents who want schools to open, nor from experts with views on how to safely make that happen, nor from anyone from the DeSantis Administration. She went on to assert that Univision "supports and advocates for infinite lockdowns," though she offered no alternative idea for stopping the spread of coronavirus.

Adter that, though, the MRC seemed to finally tire of defending Florida and DeSantis, apparently realizing the situation there was too dire for even diehard partisans to defend.

NEW ARTICLE: Whitewashing A Black Right-Winger
Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com loves to promote black right-wing activist Candace Owens -- and to censor the numerous controversies she's been in and the extreme statements she has made. Read more >>

MRC's 'Facts Feared by Leftist Media' Short On Actual Facts
Topic: Media Research Center

Last month, the Media Research Center started a thing called "Facts Feared by Leftist Media," which are just a list of right-wing talking points on particular issues -- which, it turns out, are themselves a bit on the fact-deficient side.

In a post on how Planned Parenthood was "founded on racism and eugenics," Kyle Drennen wrote: "Planned Parenthood was founded by enthusiastic eugenicist Margaret Sanger in 1916. Sanger’s racist views were well-established, declaring that 'minorities (including most of America’s immigrants) are inferior in the human race, as are the physically and mentally handicapped.'"

But that quote is not from Sanger; it's from a 2017 Washington Times column by right-wing activist (and onetime director of communications at WorldNetDaily) Rebecca Hagelin, who we can assume (and Drennen should assume) is more than a bit biased against Planned Parenthood.While Sanger was very much a eugenicist, there's no evidence explicit racism drove her beliefs.

In a post on Black Lives Matter, Drennen ranted that "what reporters don’t want people to know is that the group was founded by self-avowed 'Marxists' who demand 'revolution' and seek to unmake American society." As we've documented, the MRC has been on a tear trying to brand BLM as "Marxist" because of its founders, despite the fact that even other conservatives admit BLM as it's currently constituted is not pursuing Marxist goals.

In a July 23 post on how the Democratic Party is "rooted in racism," Drennen huffed: "On Wednesday night, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News both promoted a blatant lie from presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who claimed Donald Trump was America’s 'first racist president.'" But Drennen doesn't deny that Trump is racist -- just that he's the "first racist president."

Drennen added: "Despite DNC operatives in the media routinely attempting to tar Republicans and conservatives as 'racist,' history shows it’s the Democratic Party that has to answer for the nation’s worst racial atrocities – from the birth of the Confederacy, to the founding of the Ku Klux Klan, and right through the Jim Crow era." Or course, the media is talking about what's happening today; nobody's denying that there was racism in the Democratic Party up until the 1960s -- when it began supporting civil rights legislation and those Democrats who wouldn't became Republicans.

Drennen also whined: "Even with this mountain of damning evidence, many in the leftist press still try to conceal the truth of the Democratic Party’s racist history. On June 30, USA Today attempted to do just that with a fake 'fact-check' that pretended Democrats weren’t responsible for the Civil War or founding the KKK." Drennen is lying; the fact-check specifically responded to the claim that the Democratic Party, not individual Democrats, were responsible for the Civil War or the KKK.

Drennen concluded with more huffing: "The next time some sanctimonious reporter or Democratic politician accuses any Republican or conservative of racism, someone should ask them if they’ve ever opened a history book." Drennen might want to consider opening one as well so he can get a fully rounded view of American history and not just cherry-pick things that advance his employer's right-wing agenda.

On Aug. 4, Drennen did a lot of ranting about the "scandals and unhinged agenda" of "Squad" members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley." They're all negative attacks that read like an Republican opposition research document; he won't mention, for instance, that a Republican congressman slurred Ocasio-Cortez as a "fucking bitch."

Drennen ultimately came up with some boilerplate for his mission: "The Media Research Center is committed to telling the truth about the left, unlike the compliant press that push its extreme views." But only certain truths, of course; inconvenient facts will be censored.

Newsmax Columnist Attacks Fauci With Dubious Coronavirus Statistics
Topic: Newsmax

Tawfik Hamid -- whose expertise is apparently in hating Muslims, given that he's written a book called "Inside Jihad: How Radical Islam Works, Why It Should Terrify Us, How to Defeat It" -- complaine in a July 14 Newsmax column that Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he didn't know where President Truump got his assertion that 99 percent of coronavirus cases are "not a problem":

Yet even basic research on coronavirus statistics confirms beyond doubt that President Trump is correct.

For example, if anyone consults Worldometer’s coronavirus statistics, he or she can easily see, in the first box on the left of the page, about active cases of coronavirus, the essential statistics showing how many among those active cases have developed only mild symptoms and how many of them have developed more severe or serious conditions.

According to Worldometer’s statistics, 99% of coronavirus infections constitute mild cases, and only 1 percent are in serious or critical condition.

Therefore, Worldometer’s statistics fully support President Trump’s assertion.

Well, we consulted Worldometer’s coronavirus statistics and found that he 1% number referred only to current cases, not all cases. It also does not provide a definition of what it considers to be a "mild" case, and that numerical assertion appears to be contradicted elsewhere on the site. In a page that dates to April, Worldometer reported on a group of 72,314 coronavirus cases in China, where it found (bold in original):

• 80.9% of infections are mild (with flu-like symptoms) and can recover at home.
• 13.8% are severe, developing severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath.
• 4.7% as critical and can include: respiratory failure, septic shock, and multi-organ failure.
• in about 2% of reported cases the virus is fatal.

Worldometer also stated that of the 12.7 million closed cases, more than 707,000, or 6 percent, resulted in death.That seems to be much higher than 1 percent.

Hamid is simply massaging statistics in a desperate attempt to boost Trump. Yet he went on to rant: "I find it difficult to understand why Dr. Fauci has ignored such clear and unmistakable statistics, which are available to anyone who wants to track coronavirus cases. Let us express our appreciation to President Trump for providing the American people with the correct statistics about coronavirus."

Yeah, not so much.