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Monday, November 7, 2022
MRC Still Defending DeSantis' Dubious Election Cops
Topic: Media Research Center

Earlier this year, the Media Research Center rushed to the defense of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis (again) for his "election cops" initiative to crack down on purported fraudulent voting in the state by former felons who weren't supposed to vote -- even though only a paltry number of alleged cases were found (just 20 in a state where 11 million people voted in the last election), several of the alleged violators thought they had the right to vote and were not stopped from doing so by state election officials, and the showy arrest targets were almost entirely people of color and not, say, white elderly people living in an enclave called the Villages, where people have ben arrested for voter fraud but never touted by DeSantis.

Well, the MRC came to DeSantis' defense once more after the dubiousness of the election-cop program was demonstrated again -- not that Kevin Tober framed it that way in an Oct. 18 post:

On Tuesday, during a segment on CBS Evening News, the leftwing newscast seemed shocked and appalled that in Florida, violent felons are being arrested for committing an act of voter fraud by illegally voting when they had lost their right to cast their ballots after being convicted of felonies. 

“In footage obtained by CBS News on August 18, police showed up at the Tampa home of Tony Patterson a registered sex offender who was told he was under arrest for voter fraud,” correspondent Ed O’Keefe announced. 

“That same day, Romona Oliver, who served 18 years on a second-degree murder charge was arrested for voting illegally in 2020 even though she’d received a voter I.D. card from the state,” O’Keefe added.

He then reported that “Patterson and 18 others were accused of violating a 2018 state law that allows most former felons to vote after they complete their sentences. But not those convicted of murder or felony sex offenses. As Patterson and Oliver were.” 

Then what’s the problem? O’Keefe admitted that they were forbidden from voting because of the crimes they were convicted of. The purpose of running this story is obviously an attempt to smear Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. 

It wasn't until later in his post that Tober got around to alluding to the real issue: Manyt of these people were not explicitly told they were not eligible to vote, and their voting applications were not rejected by the state, which presumably would have a running list of which former felons are not eligible to vote. But Tober depicted reporting of that relevant context as "whining."

Nicholas Fondacaro echoed this dishonest framing a day later:

Leave it to ABC’s The View to take up the position that murderers, pedophiles, and other sex offenders deserve to vote and commit voter fraud. That was the hill they wanted to die on Wednesday after body-camera video surfaced showing Florida law enforcement officers arresting individuals accused of illegally voting. The cast didn’t seem to know what the law was with one claiming they were illegally arrested and another claiming the Republicans were cheating to win.

It was Whoopi Goldberg who seemed unable to understand the law as she decried “Florida Governor Ron DeSantis imposing his crackdown on so-called ‘voter fraud’ when he sent cops out to arrest people…” She also seemed to suggest DeSantis had a racist motivation, noting the “crackdown wound up with all of 20 arrests in total, 13 of whom were black.”

“Clearly, it's not written anywhere or they would not have allowed him to do this,”Goldberg proclaimed, seemingly saying that the law didn’t really bar murderers and pedophiles from voting. She then started screaming at DeSantis through the camera (using air quotes to describe the voter fraud they allegedly committed):

Fopndacaro also got annoyed when the co-hosts pointed out that DeSantis wasn't sending any police raids to the folks in The Villages:

Hostin went on to declare the law was “racially targeted” (an odd thing to argue since the law does not mention race, just that murderers and sex offenders can’t vote). Assuming only white people are Republican, she angrily demanded elderly folks from a Florida retirement community be arrested in front of cameras:

The Villages. Overwhelmingly they found the amount of voter fraud that, like, 0.006 were Republicans, elderly people from there. Why were they not paraded in front of cameras? Why were they not arrested in front of cameras?

Hostin is a former federal prosecutor but doesn’t understand that video of the arrests was from police body cameras. “Well, I don’t think they were paraded. It was actually body-cam footage,” explained “conservative” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin.

For Farah Griffin’s part, she had the job of trying to explain to the rest of the cast that they were taking “bait” supposedly placed by DeSantis. “This is what he does. He knows how to drive news attention. He wants us all to say, ‘of course, murderers should be able to vote,’” she lamented.

Farah Griffin is right, of course, given that this is the exact framing both Tober and Fondacaro used in their posts -- but Fondacaro irrationally hates her too much to ever admit that.

Tober repeated his dishonest framing again in an Oct. 19 post:

On Wednesday night's edition of MSNBC's The ReidOut, host Joy Reid opened the show by lashing out at Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for daring to enforce the laws of his state and not allow violent felons to illegally vote in elections. Reid who presumably wants violent felons to be allowed to vote melted down and accused Florida of being a Jim Crow state. 

[...]

Of course, there's nothing wrong with DeSantis cracking down on voter fraud. Reid knows the only way her Democrat candidates in Florida can win is if violent criminals are allowed to vote. That's why she's melting down over police arresting rapists and murderers for voting illegally.

Tober, of course, censored the issues with DeSantis' election cops.

Two days later, the first defendant arrested by DeSantis' election cops had his case dismissed, albeit due to a jurisdiction issue. The MRC was completely silent about that.


Posted by Terry K. at 9:00 PM EST
Updated: Monday, November 7, 2022 11:58 PM EST
WND's Norris Gets Into The Election Endorsement Business (And Farah Tags Along)
Topic: WorldNetDaily

When he's not using his WorldNetDaily column to shill for companies that pay him to do so, Chuck Norris is using his column to shill for right-wingers, handing out numerous election endorsements before the midterms. Norris started his Oct. 17 column this way:

When my wife, Gena, and I heard the political watershed news that Tulsi Gabbard, who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021, announced this past week that she was stepping away from the Democratic Party, we were thrilled and commend her courage. Actually, I made a very similar shift back in the 1960s.

Actually, Gabbard hasn't been a real Democrat for years -- meaning that courage was hardly a factor here -- and Norris conveniently omitted any mention of Gabbard's propagandizing for Russia. Norris then went on to proclaim his "Chuck Norris Approved" endorsement of right-wing candidates:

America is again at a huge tipping point, maybe the biggest one ever. If we don't stop liberal progressives now by electing more constitutionally conservative leaders, they will continue to lead most Americans (particularly younger generations) down the slippery slope to socialism and Marxism.

So, without further adieu, let me highlight a few of my top choices in the midterm elections about to take place in just three short weeks. Obviously, there are several critical races on the national stage as well as for most local regions, which is why I will also recommend a website that will help you choose the right candidates in your state, too.

[...]

Please, share this column and especially those candidate choices above with everyone you know across the country. We are in the final stretch to what are clearly the most critical midterm elections in years.

Norris' list includes right-wing extremists like Blake Masters and Kari Lake -- who still push the lie that there was election fraud in 2020 -- as well as carpetbagger Mehmet Oz and immoral abortion-lover Herschel Walker.

Norris went on to add: "Also, for additional election wisdom, please subscribe to WND's insightful Whistleblower magazine and especially its latest edition: "Stopping the Madness: A Midterm Election Guide for Voters who Love America." As we've documented, this issue of WND's sparsely read magazine is little more than an fearmongering anti-liberal screed designed to demonize anyone who's not as far right as Davie Kupelian and try to scare his fellow right-wingers into voting.

Norris ramped up his own fearmongering -- as WND columnists do -- in his Oct. 24 column, blaming an alleged increase in police officers killed on duty on how " liberals around the nation demanded that cities 'defund the police' and "pushed for a woke anti-police ideology." He repeated his list of endorsements, with a few additons, demanding that "we must elect constitutionally conservative candidates in these next midterm elections ... to rebolster our law enforcement agencies and stop the outrageous levels of violent crime."

Norris switched his fearmongering focus to the border for his  Oct. 31 column, uncritically repeating right-wing talking points and unsurprisingly blaming "the completely-do-nothing-open-border policy of the Biden administration is that it is literally killing hundreds of migrants trying to get into the U.S." It weird to see Norris claiming to care about the lives of migrants since most right-wingers do, given how they're described with dehumanizing terms like "illegals." Norris then went on to "re-list my 'Chuck Norris-Approved candidates' who are strong advocates for securing U.S. borders."

In his final pre-election column before the election on Nov. 7, Norris equated himself with the Founding Fathers, baselessly insisting that they were as dogmatically right-wing as he is while also serving up eve more fearmongering (read: parroting right-wing talking points):

America as our founders created it is on life support and desperately needs our help.

Our broken borders have allowed into the U.S. record numbers of criminals and contraband. The last few years, overdoses from fentanyl that was smuggled from Mexico killed over 100,000 Americans (including teens). Cartels have capitalized on the Biden administration's open border policies, making billions of dollars more by increasing human smuggling and child trafficking.

Inside the U.S., violent crime and police killings have soared in every state. Inflation is at a 40-year high. Mortgage rates are at a 20-year high. The fed raised interest rates six times this year alone. The largest shipping mogul just reported that "dark economic clouds are on the horizon." Full-blown recession is imminent. And, most painful of all, as gas, grocery and house prices skyrocket, average middle-class Americans are struggling simply to pay for essentials like food and shelter.

As a result of all the above, the United States of America is more divided than ever. And it doesn't help that U.S. and Russian leaders have recently brought us again to the brink of Armageddon by their nuclear-war rhetoric and pride-filled warmonger actions.

The downfall of the American dream is why Americans are rightly disappointed with Democrat-led local, state and federal governments. The most recent Gallup poll shows that Mr. Biden's job approval has spiraled "back down to 40%." More than 75% of Democrats don't even like him!

[...]

To be frank, the only way your quality of life is going to get better is by getting the liberal Democrats out of office across the country. It starts with these midterm elections and will run to the 2024 presidential campaign.

But rather than just me sharing how powerful your vote is, I want to remind you what America's founders said about it when they created our republic, including their advice about whom to vote for in these upcoming midterm elections.

This is what just eight prominent founders want you to remember as you go to the polls and draw the curtain on that voting booth. (A special thanks goes to historian David Barton from Wallbuilders for providing this information on his website: www.wallbuilders.com.)

The fact that Norris is invoking the notoriously wrong "historian" Barton tells you all you need to know about how seriously he and his endorsements should be taken.And, of course, he fails to consider that one reason "the United States of America is more divided than ever" is because right-wingers like himself insisting on spreading fear and misinformation about anyone who doesn't agree with them.

Norris again repeated his list of endorsements, adding: "Friends, this is a do-or-die midterm election. Please share this column ASAP on your social media and encourage everyone you know to get out to vote, by mail or in person."

Meanwhile, WND editor Joseph Farah attempted to hitch a ride on Norris' endorsement bandwagon, parroting Norris' parroting in his Nov. 2 column:

I love Chuck Norris' political endorsements!

And I'd like add my own because we think so much alike. How do I know?

He told me so. Yes, I have had the pleasure of meeting Chuck, his wife, Gena – even their kids. I've been invited to his house and met him a few times. There are very few people who share my ideas quite so closely.

Farah repeated Norris' endorsements, then added a bunch of his own favorite far-right folks, many of whom are election deniers like Farah.

Note that Farah said "there are very few people who share my ideas quite so closely" as Norris. Farah seems to think that's a good thing, but given that Farah's "ideas" include election denial and spreading COVID lies, it really isn't.


Posted by Terry K. at 3:03 PM EST
Updated: Monday, November 7, 2022 3:38 PM EST
NEW ARTICLE: The MRC's Hypocritical Herschel Embrace
Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center labored to deflect from and excuse Herschel Walker's personal baggage before he became a Republican senatorial candidate. When it was revealed he paid for an abortion, the anti-abortion MRC tried to deflect that too. Read more >>

Posted by Terry K. at 1:36 AM EST
Sunday, November 6, 2022
MRC Pushes Narrative That Debate Showed Fetterman Is 'Incapacitated'
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center has been attacking Pennsyvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman ever since it decided it could exploit Fetterman's stroke for partisan gain in order to get his Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz, elected. When Fetterman needed closed captioning during his debate to counter issues with auditory processing afater his stroke -- an issue that usually resolves itself over time -- the MRC quickly pounced to bash Fetterman as severely mentally ill. Kevin Tober was first up, trying to establish the narrative that Fetterman's performance was "disastrous" and that the tsroke has "incapacitated" him:

Hours after Pennsylvania Democrat Senate candidate’s disastrous debate performance Tuesday night, where he was unable to complete a coherent sentence, MSNBC’s The 11th Hourhost Stephanie Ruhle sought to excuse Fetterman is clearly incapacitated by his recent stroke, and played whataboutism by directing attention toward Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker. 

“Given how he performed recovering from his stroke, Michael, some Republicans are out there tonight saying that Fetterman is unfit, he should withdraw,” Ruhle said as if Republicans are the ones who are wrong in this situation.

Tober then complained that the folks on Ruhle's panel pointed out that Oz isn't from Pennsylvania.

Curtis Houck followed with an Oct. 26 post that emphasized Fetterman's "physical and mental incapacitation":

On Wednesday, ABC, CBS and NBC attempted to channel Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars during their morning news shows by telling viewers to move along and dismiss what they saw Tuesday as Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D-PA) showed severe cognitive impairment on a debate stage against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat.

For a news media that so often has demanded we not normalize Donald Trump, they were hellbent on normalizing Fetterman’s inability to offer a string of coherent thoughts and required massive screens displaying the closed captioning.

Alex Christy complained that CNN reported that Fetterman's condition is not permanent and that he did OK despite that, then mixed in a little whataboutism:

CNN senior political analyst joined CNN Newsroom host Erica Hill on Wednesday to recap John Fetterman’s Tuesday debate performance. Avlon tried to reassure viewers that Fetterman’s poor performance was just “a snapshot in time,” that he will recover from his stroke, and that he was “gutsy” to even show up, but also that party label matters. The last point being a complete 180 from Avlon’s commentary on GOP candidates.

Hill began by recalling, “I spoke with former Democratic Governor Ed Rendell and former Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania Charlie Dent. And what I was struck by, I asked the governor out of the gate, do you think that John Fetterman should have debated and he said, no.”

Acknowledging that many Democrats “are feeling that way,” Avlon disagreed and wanted to give Fetterman a participation trophy, “And I think you've got to give credit to Fetterman for showing up. Because it is a risky decision, it's a gutsy decision, knowing how debilitating the stroke was against the backdrop of him saying that doctors have assured him that this is something that can be recovered from.”

[...]

Avlon has repeatedly declared Herschel Walker to be unfit to be a U.S. senator, partly because of the question of whether he paid for a girlfriend’s abortion, but also declaring him to be irredeemably incompetent and anyone who still supports him is putting party over country. Now that the party labels are switched and the Democrat is showing signs of being unfit for office, Avlon has decided to make party labels great again.

Nicholas Fondacaro similarly played Herschel whataboutism while similarly whining about a TV show that wouldn't promote the right-wing anti-Fetterman narrative:

Two weeks ago, the cackling coven of ABC’s The View mocked Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker for how he talks and suggested he had brain damage. Earlier this week, they used the term “stroke” to malign Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s debate performance. But on Wednesday, following the Pennsylvania Senate debate, the cast decried criticism of Democratic candidate John Fetterman as “unempathetic” and accused Republican candidate Mehmet Oz of “bully[ing] a stroke victim.”

Tim Graham pushed this narrative as well in his Oct. 26 podcast, grumbling that "the post-debate coverage lauded Fetterman's 'courage,' downplayed his disabilities (or made them a virtue)." Tober, meanwhile, did some servile stenography for his favorite Fox News host:

Nearly 24 hours since the end of the one and only Pennsylvania Senate debate between Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman, Fox News host Tucker Carlson opened his popular primetime show Tucker Carlson Tonight by going after the leftist media for knowingly covering up the extent to which Fetterman is incapacitated. Other than NBC correspondent Dasha Burns, the entire leftist media establishment covered up or downplayed Fetterman's brain damage. 

"It's the media who covered John Fetterman who should be the most ashamed. They've known the truth for months," Carlson opened by noting. "With only one exception, that would be NBC reporter Dasha Burns, the media lied to voters about it. We don't know anything about Dasha Burns, but she at least tried to be sort of honest," Carlson added.

By contrast, the MRC never criticized Carlson for selectively editing his interview with Kanye West -- which the MRC used to praise his right-wing values both before and after he tweeted out an anti-Semitic attack -- to take out the craziness and even more anti-Semitism.

Tober returned to whine in yet another Oct. 26 post:

On Wednesday night's edition of MSNBC's The Last Word, host Lawrence O'Donnell went into damage-control mode in the aftermath of Tuesday night's Pennsylvania Senate debate where Democrat candidate John Fetterman proved to everyone watching that he is incapacitated from the stroke he suffered last spring, and is unqualified to serve in the United States Senate. Knowing that, O'Donnell used the opening monologue of his show to compare Fetterman's illness to former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 

[...]

By tying FDR and Churchill to Fetterman, O'Donnell hopes to lead his viewers to believe that Fetterman is just as capable of performing his duties as Senator as FDR and Churchill were in leading their respective nations in World War II. 

The problem is that FDR was stricken by Polio and unable to walk. That didn't affect his ability to speak or make important decisions. Whereas Fetterman is clearly mentally incapacitated.

O'Donnell is so desperate for his party to control the United States Senate that he's willing to lie to his audience. 

Mark Finkelstein huffed in an Oct. 28 post:

Poor Mika Brzezinski. With John Fetterman's campaign collapsing around Democrat ears in the wake of his disastrous debate performance, the Morning Joe co-host soldiered on Thursday. 

Like a rescuer sifting through the rubble for signs of life after a building collapse, Brzezinski did her brave best on behalf of her fellow Democrat. Even so, she strained credulity well beyond the breaking point with this line: 

"Given that he did have a stroke, some might be surprised, [by] how well he did."

Mika must travel in some seriously strange circles if she knows people who thought Fetterman did surprisingly well. Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations!

Finkelstein then penned another post complaining that Brzezinski repeated Fetterman's claim that “By January I will be much much better, but Oz will still be a fraud,” which quickly devolved into fearmongering about Fetterman's condition:

As per Johns Hopkins Health [emphasis added throughout]:

“The first three months after a stroke are the most important for recovery and when patients will see the most improvement.” 

Fetterman's stroke was five months ago.

As Johns Hopkins further notes [emphasis added]: 

"The most common long-term effects of stroke include aphasia, the medical term used to describe difficulties with language use. It is the most common long-term effect of strokes. Patients may struggle to find the right words, or have difficulty forming words or making themselves understood. They may also have problems understanding what people are saying, or have difficulty reading."

Anyone who watched the debate saw a textbook example.

Finally, Johns Hopkins also notes:

"It is very difficult to estimate how long a patient will take to recover from a stroke, which symptoms they will experience, and if those symptoms will resolve themselves over time or be permanently disabling."

So for Fetterman to boast that he will be "much, much better by January" is wishful thinking at best. Made even more questionable by his refusal to release his medical records. It could be that what we saw in the debate from Fetterman is basically what we'll get going forward.

Reminder: Finkelstein is not a medical doctor, he's just some guy who did an internet search.

Jeffrey Lord spent his Oct. 29 column spinning a conspiracy theory about Fetterman under the ridiculous headline "What Did the Media Know and When Did They Know It?," in which he declared that "The reason for the collective shock at Fetterman’s performance - by “panicked Democrats” and others - is that once the fact of Fetterman’s stroke was known, the media tried to run cover on the subject of Fetterman’s real condition as a result":

Instead of investigating and doing its due diligence on what was really going on with the stricken candidate and reporting it to Pennsylvania voters and the rest of the nation, the media reflex was to run cover for Fetterman. And when Fetterman finally agreed to that solitary debate with Oz, the intake of breath by debate-watchers in and out of the media was real. Sheer shock at hand. And for one reason and one reason only.

In not digging into Fetterman’s condition, and attacking NBC’s Dasha Burns for simply and objectively reporting what she observed, the media was signaling it was there not to cover Fetterman but to protect him - to cover for him.

Which is to say, yet another self-inflicted blow to liberal media has been had.

That's rich coming from a guy who has suffered numerous self-inflicted blows by being such a creepily obsequious kneejerk Trump defender.


Posted by Terry K. at 10:56 PM EST
Like Its MRC Parent, CNS Has Trouble Criticizing Kanye West's Anti-Semitism
Topic: CNSNews.com

CNSNews.com followed its Media Research Center parent in moving from loathing Kayne West to loving him for his right-wing rhetoric and bromance with Donald Trump. After nearly a two-year period without mentioning him at all, West resurfaced to spout more right-wing anti-abortion talking points, and Susan Jones eagerly documented it in an Oct. 7 article:

Kanye West, the celebrity rapper, fashion designer, and leader of Sunday church services, recently sat for an interview with Tucker Carlson. West was wearing a badge with an ultrasound photograph of a baby in the womb.

"What does that mean?" Carlson asked West.

"It just represents life, I'm pro-life," West said.

Carlson asked him, "You wear it on a badge, what kind of response do you get?"

"I don't care about people's responses.  I care about the fact that there's more black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point. That fifty percent of black death in America is abortion.

“So I really don't care about people's response, I perform for an audience of one, and that's God.”

West, no stranger to controversy, said he took a lot of grief from his family and everyone around him for supporting Donald Trump and wearing a MAGA hat. West recently stirred things up by wearing a "White Lives Matter" shirt to his fashion show in Paris.

Two days later, West spewed on Twitter that he was "going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE" and bizarrely caiming that "The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew." nAnd like its MRC parent, it had trouble criticizing his anti-Semitism. An Oct. 10 article by Melanie Arter -- the day after West's outburst -- was focused on a Fox News interview with Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and touted that host Shannon Bream "asked Abrams whether she shares the view of rapper Kanye West, who told Fox News that there are more black babies aborted than born in New York City" while making no mention of West's anti-Semitic tweet.

CNS didn't mention West again -- during which time it was revealed that Carlson selectively edited his interview with West to remove parts in which he spouted anti-Semitism and said even more crazy things -- until a week later, when an Oct. 17 article by Arter announcing West' purchase of right-wing soial media site Parler finally mentioned West' anti-Semitism:

Rapper Kanye West, who now goes by the moniker “Ye,” is set to buy conservative social media platform Parler, the company’s CEO announced on Monday.

This comes as West was suspended from Instagram and locked out of Twitter because of an anti-Semetic [sic] tweet.

Much of the article was devoted to a statement by Parler CEO George Farmer -- who, like Arter, was not moved to criticize West's anti-Semitism. And like the MRC, Arter also failed to report that the person selling Parler to West is also a chief funder of her paycheck, Rebekah Mercer, as well as the fact that right-wing activist Candace Owens, who did the "White Lives Matter" shirt stunt with West, is married to Farmer, raising the possibility that she set in motion events that ultimately resulted in Farmer and Mercer unloading Parler on West.

It wasn't until another article later that day by Arter that CNS finally reported criticism of West's anti-Semitism -- albeit from Democrats, not its fellow right-wingers:

The White House on Monday condemned rapper Kanye West’s comments about Jews as news broke that the rapper is set to buy conservative social media platform Parler.

As CNSNews.com reported, Parler CEO George Farmer announced Monday that “Parlement Technologies has entered into an agreement in principle to sell Parler to Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that she couldn’t speak to the purchase agreement of Parler, but she condemned what she called “anti-Semitism” and “hateful” and “insulting rhetoric.”

As a result of his tweet about Jews, West was recently suspended from Instagram and locked out of Twitter.

An Oct. 31 article by Arter finally brought a Republican, Sen. Rick Scott, into the discussion  -- but only in a roundabout way, recounting a CNN interview in which Scott was asked to denounce not West's anti-Semitism but, rather, the phrase "Kanye Was Right About the Jews" being projected on a college football stadium.

It seems that CNS promotion of West over the past several years has made it surprisingly shy about condemning his anti-Semitism, espcially since it is so quick to promote right-wing Jewish groups like the Coalition for Jewish Values that frame any criticism of Israel by liberals and Democrats as anti-Semitism. That seems to tell us just how corrupted CNS' "news" product is -- after all, criticizing anti-Semitism wherever it surfaces should be a slam-dunk and one of the things both sides ought to agree on.


Posted by Terry K. at 11:14 AM EDT
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Nine Days Later, MRC Finally Criticizes Ye's Anti-Semitism
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center spent years embracing Kanye West as a popular Black entertainer who embraced Trumpism -- to the point that when he started spewing anti-Semitism, it couldn't even be moved to criticize him. The MRC even praised Ye's purchase of social media site Parler (while, of course, hiding the fact that he's purchasing it from the MRC's biggest funder, Rebekah Mercer).

So if was a bit rich to see Nicholas Fondacaro's Oct. 18 post being outraged that someone was arguing that Ye's anti-Semitism is part of mainstream conservatism:

In an appearance with Chris Cuomo on NewsNation on Monday, singer Kanye “Ye” West doubled down on anti-Semitic comments about what he called “the Jewish underground media mafia.” But in the following hour, host Dan Abrams suggested during his eponymous show that West’s disgusting comments and interest in buying the social media company Parler were strategic movies to “create a right-wing brand.”

Abrams set the tone by kicking off the show with this question:

Kanye West or Ye will buy the right-leaning social media platform Parler after being kicked off Twitter and Instagram over anti-Semitic comments. But isn't this more evidence that he is not mentally ill but just trying to create a right-wing brand?

“But from Kanye’s perspective, it appears he's just doubling down on fringe right-wing positions,” Abrams added a little bit later.

Fondacaro's description of Ye's anti-Aemitism as "disgusting" is the first criticism of it in any MRC post -- a full nine days after Ye spouted it. That utter lack of rush to judgment would seem to indicate a certain amount of comfort with such anti-Semitism -- after all, the MRC has used anti-Semitic tropes to attack Geoge Soros and former CNN chief Jeff Zucker.Fondacaro also didn't mention that the main person who funds his paycheck is also the person selling Parler to Ye.

Fondacaro went on to be annoyed that Abrams wasn't dismissing Ye's anti-Semitism as mental illness, which is how he clearly wants to frame it:

Abrams also didn’t put stock in theories that Kanye’s recent actions and outbursts were signs that he was suffering from his diagnosed bipolar disorder.

“Now, many have refused to take Kanye’s comments seriously, expressing sympathy for what they believe are clear symptoms of severe mental illness, which I think is a cop-out,” he said. “And the people who think he's mentally ill, maybe aren't giving him enough credit for believing what he's saying, including his anti-Semitism.”

To him, “[i]t seems too easy and protective of him to just say he's mentally ill” and it was all part of a machination to appeal and profit off of bigotry on the right:

[...]

“To write off this gambit as some sort of manic episode is to completely downplay his business acumen,” Abrams added. “His apparel brand has been valued somewhere between 3.2 billion and 4.7 billion. He also has a deal with The Gap and industry experts value in excess of a billion dollars.”

At no point did Fondacaro prove that anything Abrams said was wrong -- he was just mad it was said. And he certainly did not distance the MRC away from its years of promoting West's alleged right-wing values and Trump bromance.


Posted by Terry K. at 10:54 AM EDT
Updated: Saturday, November 5, 2022 11:20 PM EDT
WND Columnists Fearmonger About Biden, Dems To Scare Right-Wingers Into Voting
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Wayne Allyn Root isn't the only WorldNetDaily columnist to engage in extreme rhetoric about Democrats in general and President Biden in pjarticular in order to scare right-wingers into voting. Here are some of the others.

Since January 2022, rapacious politicians, led by the most compromised and destructive president in our lifetimes, have failed us, our Western allies and our nation's future. The hopes and dreams of our progeny have been put at grave risk by the Biden regime's embrace of a far-left, domestic and foreign, globalist agenda.

On his first day in office, Sleepy Joe destroyed our nation's energy independence. Now, with the sabotage of the only undersea pipeline capable of supplying Germany and much of Europe with natural gas to heat homes and businesses in winter, the Biden regime is hoping to consummate a deal with the despotic ayatollahs in Tehran to get fossil fuel for European consumers.

Domestically, the Biden regime's plan to recruit, train and deploy 87,000-plus IRS officials will make biblical tax collectors look like benefactors. His White House has opened our southern border to millions of undocumented immigrants while ignoring an unprecedented nationwide crime wave and horrific overdose deaths from Communist Chinese-concocted fentanyl.

[...]

A far-left troika – Biden, Pelosi and Schumer – has declared war on Christians, conservatives, hardworking Americans, members of our Armed Forces and anyone unwilling to bow to their unfettered authority. Left unchecked, this terrible trio will convert America into a Third World country governed by unelected globalists thousands of miles from our shores. They are a threat to our Constitution and the Judeo-Christian principles upon which the United States of America was founded. Undeterred, their actions will prevent the USA from remaining the freest, most productive, prosperous and generous nation on Earth.

In just 35 days we can stop the Biden, Pelosi, Schumer Troika from destroying our constitutional republic. We the People have the power to end their reign of tyranny. Our founders gave us the weapon we need to avoid a catastrophe. It's called an election.

-- Oliver North and David Goetsch, Oct. 4 column

Biden has already stuffed the federal judiciary with 84 new leftist judges, more than any recent president at this stage, and another 57 Biden nominees are pending before the equally divided Senate. Only a GOP-controlled U.S. Senate can stop Biden's mad dash to change our laws through activist judges, as the GOP did in 2016 when Obama tried to replace Justice Scalia with Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court.

Roe v. Wade could even be reinstated if Biden and Democrats get their way in this election, and Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg just gave the ACLU $3 million toward that goal.

-- Anmdy Schlafly, Oct. 4 column

Unfortunately, the Constitution does not envision a situation wherein a president, a speaker of the House of Representatives and a Senate majority leader would form a far-left, treasonous cabal to govern the United States of America. Yet that is precisely what we have today in the Biden, Pelosi, Schumer Troika.

This terrible trio is why we forfeited energy independence and why we are in economic free fall with horrendous debt and runaway inflation. It's why we no longer have a southern border and millions of "migrants" have invaded our country. It's why an unprecedented violent crime wave is sweeping our nation. It's why tens of thousands of our countrymen are dying from Communist Chinese fentanyl. And it's why every law enforcement entity in our land is short-handed, reeling from the troika's "defund the police" movement. 

[...]

Finally, the questions about how ethically, physically and mentally compromised the head of the troika may be. Have Hunter Biden's dealings with the Communist Chinese made our president vulnerable to blackmail by Xi? Does Joe Biden have the stamina to deal with a collapsing economy here at home, Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the possibility of a nuclear exchange in Europe? Is his cognitive disarray so severe he cannot grasp why describing Putin's threats as a potential "Armageddon" is seen as "weakness"?

Strike back! On Nov. 8, take at least five voters with you to the polls.

-- Oliver North and David Goetsch, Oct. 11 column

On Joe Biden's first day in office, he signed an executive order that has become emblematic of his presidency, stopping the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a conduit that would have transported more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada into the U.S. He has since canceled or halted leases for the production of oil in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. These decisions, along with other Biden policies and regulations, have contributed to spiraling energy prices. This past summer, the average price of gasoline hit $5 a gallon. In some parts of California, a gallon of gas has cost $8 a gallon this year.

[...]

This, in turn, has dramatically increased the prices of everything else, including production and transportation of goods.

Wages were rising under the Trump administration, while unemployment continued to decrease. Inflation was low.

In stark contrast, inflation has increased every month since Biden took office, and is now the highest it has been in 40 years, creating what some economists have calculated is an 8.5% reduction in Americans' "real wages."

-- Laura Hollis, Oct. 13 column

In the last major election, some sat out. Radicals won out. Now we must vote out those harming our nation before more damage is done.

Remember the words of warning from Thomas Jefferson: "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

I beseech you with all the urgency and fervency I have to join millions of patriotic and principled Americans in what can be the most significant turnaround election in our history.

[...]

Today we face the brutal reality of recession, a tottering stock market, worst inflation in 40 years and the highest gas prices in history; sky-high mortgage interest rates; explosive violent crime in cities; unprecedented border chaos and the accompanying fentanyl deadly epidemic; CRT and radical LGBTQ indoctrination in schools, businesses and military; corruption in the media, Department of Justice and FBI; "woke" and "climate crisis" ideology undermining freedoms and justifying out-of-control spending fueling inflation; transgender mutilation, abortion (until birth), marijuana legalization and student loan absolution; massive government giveaways and underwriting of "illegals'" medical care, transportation, cellphones, food stamps and education; finally, an inept, increasingly incapacitated almost 80-year-old "accidental president" who called out a dead congresswoman in the audience as he regularly bumbles through prepared propaganda on the teleprompter.

-- Larry Tomczak, Oct. 18 column

Who wants a cuddly, fluffy Biden hand puppet? Impress your friends and neighbors with this official three-letter-agency-crafted, heirloom-quality Biden look alike! Listen to entertaining, official words of folksy Biden family wisdom like, "Oh, come on, man! You know … the thing!"

Get one puppet FREE with each $70 billion taxpayer-sponsored donation to the NATO-Ukraine war effort, which when fully funded will obliterate both Mad Vlad Putin and his evil Russian military!

Craige McMillan, Oct. 21 column

But what about Russia? Biden is president. It is his duty to guide the nation away from nuclear war, not promote it. Why thrust himself out in front of his own failure? Everyone in America, left or right, knows the Democratic Party has been lashing out at Russia for six years. For Democrats, there is no threat greater than Russia, Russia, Russia.

So why threaten Americans with nuclear annihilation? Biden and his handlers must be convinced they can say and do anything and still sweep to victory on Nov. 8.

[...]

How will Americans react if the secret federal campaign to register people and get out the vote results in an overwhelming win for the people who blew up the economy, destroyed the border, abandoned Afghanistan and then rushed into Ukraine, focused the attention of kindergarteners on their sex organs and declared the United States of America racist to the core?

A Democratic victory would mean those obscenities are a winning strategy, and it also means it is only a matter of time before the nation goes kaput.

-- Mike Pottage, Oct. 27 column

Should we reform the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI leadership to ensure our law enforcement agencies provide "equal justice" for all Americans? Shouldn't the shutdown of America's energy independence and use of our Strategic Petroleum Reserves for partisan political purposes be unlawful? Should elitist demands for government to eliminate transportation powered by internal combustion engines be acceptable?

Do polls reflecting parental anger at government and teachers unions' collusion on indoctrinating children with phony, anti-white racism, gender transitions (with proper pronouns!) and revisionist history mean nothing? "Green Weenies" and anti-parent candidates do not represent us.

[...]

Will those we elect next week help make us – and our Asian allies – less vulnerable to perils posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons? Must we face a future where women are gunned down by Tehran's ayatollahs while they acquire nuclear weapons and the means of delivering them?

God-fearing, conservative Americans who want to preserve our constitutional republic know the answers to the questions above. Vote with them next week.

Strike back! On Nov. 8, take at least five voters with you to the polls.

-- Oliver North and David Goetsch, Oct. 31 column

One of our political parties has evolved into a left-leaning entity, excusing mob violence and anarchist conduct, and is unbelievably seducing a less-informed generation. That party has two goals:

1. Retain political power by any means necessary in concert with a corrupt media and politicians lacking any moral code.

2. Remove our Judeo-Christian foundations representing a bulwark to their plans to reconstruct America through a secular vision, embracing a globalist "Green New Deal" and Marxist/socialist way of life.

As we raise our children in today's confused culture, we're faced with politicians and positions that are unbiblical and dangerous. Conservatives are increasingly ostracized because of biblical standards we unapologetically embrace. Explain this to your children.

Voting for wrong candidates will affect ours and our children's future! We're directed by Jesus to be "salt" – not isolated but influential in preserving society from decay.

-- Larry Tomczak, Nov. 1 column


Posted by Terry K. at 3:18 AM EDT
Updated: Saturday, November 5, 2022 3:19 AM EDT
Friday, November 4, 2022
MRC Forced To Distract From Herschel Walker's OTHER Abortion Scandal
Topic: Media Research Center

If there's anything the Media Research Center doesn't want anyone talking about more than Herschel Walker's abortion scandal, it's Herschel Walker's other abortion scandal.

When a second woman accused Walker of paying for an abortion as well as offered proof of their relationship, the MRC rushed into action like it did the first time to try and tamp this one down too. Curtis Houck whined that the story was being covered in non-right-wing meda, writing in an Oct. 27 post under the dismissive headline "Here We Go Again":

With things continuing to break against their liberal pals running for office, the major broadcast networks chose Thursday to spend nearly eight minutes (seven minutes and 49 seconds) flaunting a second supposed abortion allegation against Georgia Republican senatorial candidate Herschel Walker with some help from far-left attorney Gloria Allred to boost incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock (D).

[...]

Despite the lack of solid evidence tying Walker to the act, Scott ran with hit because “[t]he woman is remaining anonymous because she says she fears retaliation” and she’s being represented by Allred. Further, the pair “released a voicemail, photo receipt, and card saying its evidence of her relationship with Walker, but did not provide evidence of the abortion itself.”

[...]

CBS Mornings led with these claims via co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King about these new claims hitting Walker “in the midst of a very tight race that could help determine control of the Senate.”

Congressional correspondent Nikole Killion hyped: “Herschel Walker is doubling down on this new claim, saying it's not true. But the accuser insists that this is not politically motivated and says she has proof.”

Citing Walker’s denials, Killion went onto treat the accuser’s claims as fact even though Allred “did not present receipts from the clinic” and instead “other evidence of the relationship.”

[...]

Jackson followed suit from those on the other networks by insisting “NBC News has not verified her allegations and the woman did not provide evidence Walker was involved in her abortion,” but if you spend more than a few seconds on something, isn’t that a suggestion you’re viewing it as fact?

Of course, lack of independent verification didn't stop the MRC from heavily hyping Hunter Biden's laptop. 

Tim Graham complained about the accusation as well in his Oct. 28 podcast -- not because it will cause him to disqualify the heavily anti-abortion MRC from abandoning Walker (it's more than shown its cynical hypocrisy on the issue), but that the scandal was being reported, insisting without evidence that the story was being pushed by the "liberal media" to "help their side."He went on to whine: "My problem with this is that once again, we have an anonymous woman quote-unquote "coming forward." Is that really coming forward? ... The whole problem here is you can't really verify this at a very sensitive time in the election." He then brought up, yes, the Hunter Biden laptop and whined that it was dismissed by non-right-wing media, then blamed the non-right-wing media again: "They can't stand that Herschel Walker is running."

He then deflected, insisting that any criticism of Walker is politically motivated because "the media ... don't want two or three black Republicans in the Senate. They don't want five or 10 black Republcians in the House, because they want to sell this idea that the Republican party is a pile of white nationalist males."

Graham returned for an Oct. 30 post complaining that "Saturday Night Live" lampooned Walker's penchant for buying abortions for his girlfriends:

The fake PBS anchor asked about Walker paying for abortions and holding a gun to his ex-wife's head, and asked why he was doing so well: “Look, if you want to get on a Jumbotron at the Falcons game, you don’t throw on a cardigan and start making sense. You take your shirt off and shake your belly around. That’s what I’m doing, and people love me, no matter what. Like the great Trump Donald said, I could pay for an abortion in the middle of Fifth Avenue, and not lose any voters. And that's a promise from me, Herschel Wickapotamus.”

Graham was silent on the fact that the MRC is very much giving Walker a pass for his love of abortions.

The same day, Mark Finkelstein grumbled that MSNBC host Tiffany Cross said that "Georgia Democrats in general, and Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in particular, have gone too easy on Herschel Walker, specifically with regard to allegations that he urged two former girlfriends to have abortions." Rather than explain why he and the MRC are still supporting Walker despite his egregious violations of right-wing anti-abortion orthodoxy, he simply sneered that if Warnock "he had taken her advice and worked abortion allegations against Walker into virtually every answer, voters would surely have soon been turned off by such a tiresome and transparent ploy."

But is it any less tiresome than the MRC continuing to aggressive support and defend Walker despite growing evidence of his immorality?


Posted by Terry K. at 8:37 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 10:51 PM EST
CNS Unsurprisingly Cheers DINO Gabbard Officially Leaving 'Democrat Party'
Topic: CNSNews.com

CNSNews.com has long been a fan of Democrat-in-name-only Tulsi Gabbard because it could quote her attacking Democrats while pretending she legitimately was one. We saw that yet again in a July 26 article by Craig Bannister that approvingly quoted Gabbard appearing on Fox News sounding like a Republican:

“Our Department of Justice is being weaponized as a political hit squad,” Former Democrat [sic] congresswoman (Hawaii) Tulsi Gabbard said Monday, commenting on how Democrats held in contempt of Congress have not been indicted, but former Trump White House official Steve Bannon has.

[...]

“This is the telltale sign of an authoritarian regime and directly undermines our democracy. That is really what's at the core of what's wrong here,” Gabbard warned.

“It's mind-blowing to see this double standard at play,” Gabbard said. “And, again, the more serious issue is how directly this threatens and undermines our democracy and the faith that we need to have in these public institutions and public officials.”

The one-sided January 6th Committee investigation is further proof of how Congress is more concerned with power than with serving the American people, Gabbard said:

So when Gabbard officially admitted she wasn't a real Democrat by finally disassociating herself from the party, Bannister returned to cheer in an Oct. 11 article whose headline falsely identified her party as the "Democrat Party":

Former Democrat [sic] congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbbard says she has left the radical, “woke” Democrat – and she’s inviting other “common-sense” Democrats to do the same.

“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers,” Gabbard says in a Twitter video posted Tuesday, denouncing today’s Democrats, who she says:

  • “are driven by cowardly wokeness,
  • “divide us by racializing every issue and stoking anti-white racism,
  • “actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms that are enshrined in our Constitution,
  • “are hostile to people of faith and spirituality,
  • “demonize the police, but protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans,
  • “believe in open borders,
  • “weaponize the national security state to go after their political opponents.”

“And above all,” Gabbard warns, the Democrat elitists “are dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.”

Note that Gabbard actually said "Democratic Party," and that Bannister deliberately misquoted her for his headline. Bannister didn't mention that Gabbard had long ago given up any credibility as a Democrat by making dozens of appearances on Fox News, many of which were on the show of far-right host Tucker Carlson -- after all, Fox News does not let actual Democrats have that kind of access to its airwaves.

This was followed later that day by an article from intern Peyton Holliday compiling how "many Republicans and conservatives praised her decision and applauded her for her 'courage' and commitment to working for a better America." Like Bannister, Holliday failed to note that Gabbard his been a de facto Republican for years and that no actual "courage" was needed to make the party switch. That article also used the false "Democrat Party" descriptor in its headline.

Bannister and Holliday were also silent on the fact that the same day Gabbard's party switch was announced, one of the few actual Democrats on Fox News, Jessica Tarlov, pointed out not only that Gabbard long ago ceased being a real Democrat, she's also beloved by Russian state media, which went so far as to call her "our girlfriend." She got shouted down by other right-wing Fox hosts, of course. There was also no mention of how, a few days later, Gabbard endorsed far-right Republican Joe -- who pals around with white nationalists like Nick Fuentes -- in a House race.


Posted by Terry K. at 4:02 PM EDT
Updated: Friday, November 4, 2022 4:07 PM EDT
COVID Misinformer Risch Runs To WND For Softball Interview
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Harvey Risch is yet another COVID misinformer WorldNetDaily has promoted, and he got the full interview treatment with Art Moore in an Oct. 16 article. Because Risch had to be puffed up to give his misinfo some gravitas, Moore led things off by reciting his qualifications:

Dr. Harvey Risch has a distinguished career as a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, with more than 300 original peer-reviewed publications that include advances in cancer research. He's the editor of the International Journal of Cancer, associate editor of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and for six years was on the editorial board of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

But over the past two and a half years, establishment media have labeled him a purveyor of "misinformation" for his criticism of the public health response to the pandemic and his advocacy – including in Senate testimony – for treating COVID-19 with drugs that have been shown to be safe and effective, such as hydroxychloroquine (367 studies) and ivermectin (92 studies). Further, the government and scientific establishment have suppressed and dismissed his scientific contributions to the global crisis with little or no engagement, adopting the media's "disinformation" narrative.

In a one-hour video interview with WND (embedded below) that includes his reaction to the FDA's new COVID booster shot, Risch was matter-of-fact about the current state of medical science.

"All of this censorship, all of these claims of misinformation, disinformation, is purely a statement of: We cannot fight on the playing field of ideas, of argument. We do not have the ability to fight back against those positions, and so we are using the tool of censorship instead," he told WND.

Risch, describing the "misinformation" tactic as "totalitarian," said the pandemic has opened the eyes of Americans to longstanding corruption in the medical establishment that has shattered trust. He discussed the fundamental problem of government serving the big pharmaceutical companies instead of the people, with influential figures in a revolving door between the governmental and private worlds.

Moore is not about to admit that Risch has, in fact, been caught spreading misinformation. And those studies he referenced purportedly proving the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin are all listed on websites that, as we documented, are anonymously run and may actually be secretly run by the fringe-right Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Indeed, Risch has lowered himself to doing interviews with less-than-credible outlets like WND precisely because he knows he'll never be exposed as a misinformer and always be celebrated as someone with a "distinguished career" who can be portrayed as a "victim" whenever his misinformation gets called out by more credible media outlets. And he knows that an anti-vaxxer reporter like Moore will always suck up to him and hype that "distinguished career" and never ask him challenging questions that threaten the narrative he's trying to push.

There are reasons WND is perpetually on the edge of extinction, and Moore's sycophancy is just one of them.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:11 PM EDT
NEW ARTICLE: The MRC's War on Brian Stelter
Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center was filled with joy when CNN fired the "Reliable Sources" host and canceled his show -- mainly because he was a leading critic of the right-wing media bubble the MRC resides in. Read more >>

Posted by Terry K. at 1:30 AM EDT
Thursday, November 3, 2022
Gaslighting: MRC Pretends Dems Are The Real 'Extremists' On Abortion
Topic: Media Research Center

Through this election season, theMedia Research Center has been trying to gaslight readers by pretending that Democrats are the real "extremists" on abortion, not those on the right -- even though the MRC wants to create an Orwellian surveillance scheme to monitor women lest they cross state lines to have an abortion. Kyle Drennen complained in a May 20 post:

NBC, ABC, and CBS were in full panic mode over Oklahoma passing “the most restrictive abortion law in this country.” ABC’s Good Morning America went so far as to wail that there was “a race among the states to pass the most extreme law restricting abortion.” However, none of network coverage examined some of extreme pro-abortion laws in leftist states across the country.

[...]

While the networks were eager to throw around words like “extreme” or phrases like “the most restrictive law in the country” when it came to regulating abortion in red states, the left-wing media never seem to show any concern for pro-abortion laws in blue states going too far.

When Colorado passed a radical law just last month that would allow abortions to be performed right up to the moment of birth, Politifact rushed to defend the measure from criticism and The Washington Postspent it’s time exclusively denouncing “extreme” pro-life laws.

The "abortion up to the moment of birth" claim right-wingers like the MRC love to tar pro-choice supporters with is little more than a canard. As Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler detailed, only 1.3 percent if abortions happen over 21 weeks of gestation, and many of those are done as a result of discovery of catastrophic birth defects other fetal anomaly. Drennen did not name a case in which an abortion of a viable fetus was done "at the moment of birth."

Scott Whitlock cheered a CNN anchor who bought into the right-wing narrative in an  Aug. 29 post:

The networks are eagerly pushing the idea that support for abortion rights against an extreme GOP is powering a Democratic comeback in the midterms. What they aren’t telling you about is just how radical many of the Democratic Senate candidates are. For instance, Tim Ryan in Ohio supports abortion up to the day of birth. And yet this hasn’t been a story on the network newscasts. His name has only come up twice in the month of August. 

Yet, shockingly, it was CNN and anchor Dana Bash who committed journalism and grilled the Democrat on Sunday. Interviewing the candidate on State of the Union, she demanded, “You’re criticizing your Republican opponent for not supporting abortion exceptions. So, I want to ask about your position. What restrictions, if any, do you believe there should be on abortion?”

[...]

Journalists have a responsibility to cover both ends of the abortion spectrum. If Republicans supporting most or all restrictions is extreme, so are opposing all restrictions. 

Like Drennen, Whitlock did not cite any case in which a woman aborted a healthy fetus at "the time of birth."

Whitlock pushed the narrative again the next day:

CNN on Tuesday spent over seven minutes hyping Republicans trying to hide their allegedly extreme position when it comes to abortion. Reporter Kyung Lah spotlighted GOP senatorial candidates changing their website now that they have the nomination. But nowhere in the segment was there anything on the extreme stance of Democrats when it comes to abortion. 

Host Brianna Keilar parroted the Democratic talking points about radical Republicans: “The Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade has energized voters and made abortion rights a flashpoint in the midterm elections. It's given Democrats a boost. Now, some Republican candidates who were strongly opposed to abortion are suddenly softening their stance.”

Whbitlock went on to rant in a Sept. 7 post:

In the month of August, Joe Biden’s approval rating climbed back into the low 40s and the Democrat/Republican congressional preference poll closed to a statistical tie. The liberal network newscasts are eager to promote a new narrative: Democrats are making a comeback in the midterms and it’s all because Republicans are extreme on abortion. 

CBS, CNN, and other outlets have pushed the idea of a “flashpoint” over supposedly rigid Republicans holding outrageously severe positions on abortion. But Democrats in Congress this summer supported legislation that would dismantle most, if not all, restrictions.

(According to CNSNews.com, the Susan B. Anthony List denounced a vote on the bill as the “Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act.”) 

Additionally, Democratic senatorial and gubernatorial candidates hold radical views on the issue, supporting abortion right up until birth. Only 34 percent of Americans support abortion in the second trimester and just 19 percent in the third. So this position is the definition of extreme.

And the Orwellian surveillance state the MRC wants is not?

MRC executive Tim Graham pushed the narrative in a Sept. 12 TV hit: "On Monday's Spicer & Co.  on Newsmax, NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham took on Chuck Todd's softball questions for Vice President Kamala Harris on NBC's Meet the Press. Todd lamely asked Harris if the border was secure, as if everyone doesn't know the answer, and didn't in any way find the Democrats were extreme on abortion." Graham made sure not to mention his employees' extreme advocacy of Orwellian surveillance.

Alex Christy spent a Sept. 22 post attacking Kessler's above-noted fact-check, and his further statement that "the GOP attacks are disingenuous at best. They imply that late-term abortions are common — and that they are routinely accepted by Democrats," huffing that "If Kessler wants to argue for radical and unpopular abortion positions, he should take it the opinion page, because that isn’t a fact-check." But like his co-workers, Christy cited no case of an abortion of a healthy, viable fetus "at the moment of birth," and he did not otherwise counter Kessler's facts.

Whitlock played whataboutism to distract from Herschel Walker's abortion stance in an Oct. 10 post:

The leftist partisans posing as political journalists at ABC want you to think that the candidate in Georgia with an extreme position on abortion is Herschel Walker. On Monday, Good Morning America allowed Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock to slam his opponent as the only ideologically rigid candidate. No mention of the fact that Warnock opposes ANY restrictions right up until birth. 

Reporter Rachel Scott insisted, “Walker opposes abortion, no exceptions. His opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock making it clear he supports abortion rights.” She then played a clip of Warnock attacking, “I support reproductive choice. My opponent, on the other hand, is talking about a nationwide ban.”

ABC, yet again, failed to note just how radical Warnock is on abortion. Saying he “supports abortion rights” is an understatement.  As noted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on June 30, the Democrat refused to mention ANY restrictions he supports:

Whitlock refused to address his hypocrisy in defending Walker's anti-abortion stance while also joining the MRC in shielding him from responsibility for the fact that he paid for a girlfriend's abortion. Instead, he whined that "the networks only want to focus only on the allegations that Walker paid for an abortion in 2009, devoting over 27 minutes by last Friday. 

Tim Graham spent an Oct. 22 post complaining that "PolitiFact tried to claim that "codifying Roe" isn't the same abortion without limits. But Barnes was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America and touted he supports the "Women's Health Protection Act." These people really need to absorb the no-limits text of that extreme bill." Like his minions, Graham named no case in which a woman aborted a healthy fetus "at the moment of birth."

Tierin-Rose Mandelburg -- one of the MRC writers who advocates that Orwellian survelliance state for pregnant women -- went full gaslight in an Oct. 28 post:

In today’s episode of things that make no sense, people who want laws that permit the slaughter of innocent children are celebrated while those who support someone’s right to life are considered “extremists.”

The life-affirming group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America recently released a video regarding the left’s views on unrestricted abortions which furthered the point that the media celebrates pro-abortionists and their views yet likens pro-lifers as villains.

[...]

To help these candidates, the media spends time glorifying people who support unrestricted abortion rights. Whether it’s in their approval and promotion of the views of pro-abortionists or their negligence in asking about abortion limits, left leaning media aims to prop up candidates in favor of unlimited abortion. 

Unrestricted abortion is barbaric and evil.

Picture this: a baby girl presently weighs 7 pounds, is roughly 19 inches long, is fully capable of breathing on her own, is due tomorrow and is presently just a few inches up the birth canal. People who support unrestricted abortions would have no problem injecting that innocent child with poison to kill her and then ripping out her remains.

That view is NOT considered “extreme” by todays thought police.

Like the rest, Mandelburg did not name a case in which that actually happened -- probably beause it's ridiculous and nonsensical to think that a woman who carried a healthy baby to term would suddenly decide to abort it because, well, who knows what bizarre reason Mandelburg would ascribe to this mythical person for purposes of hate and partisan gain. Instead, she continued to whine:

And then there’s the media that has a history of likening pro-lifers to “extremists.” ABC’s Good Morning America once said that there’s “a race among the states to pass the most extreme law restricting abortion.” The Washington Post titled a piece “Just how extreme are these new red-state abortion laws?” MSnBC’s “Deadline White House” claimed that pro-life laws are from “far-right extremists.”

It’s obvious that the media has conducted biased reporting. They want to push the narrative that abortion is good and widely accepted. They want abortion supporters to be promoted and glorified while at the same time falsely calling life supporters “extremists.”

Remember, Mandelburg thinks creating an Orwellian surveillance state for women isn't extreme at all, so maybe she's a tad biased and her opinion shouldn't be trusted.


Posted by Terry K. at 10:49 PM EDT
Irony: WND Columnist Frets Over Right-Wing Grifters (Like, Um, WND)
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Rachel Alexander fretted in her Oct. 10 WorldNetDaily column:

It's becoming more and more apparent that grifters are hijacking the conservative movement, people more concerned with making money than helping the cause. They've figured out that inflammatory rhetoric disguised as news, combined with outrageous comments from famous figures on the right, gets clicks and opens wallets, so this now drives the right's agenda. Instead of measured, calculated steps being taken to accomplish a conservative agenda, those who scream the shrillest set the platform.

The grifters are fond of throwing around certain important words like the Constitution, patriot, MAGA, God, America First and RINO – our favorite words, so they sound like they're one of us. But they frequently misuse them. They'll declare that the Constitution requires whatever they say it does, even if they're not constitutional experts and haven't bothered analyzing years of case law.

It doesn't matter how lengthy your conservative credentials are, how much you've studied constitutional law, or how much your position aligns with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over theirs; if you don't go along with their determination of what the Constitution says, you're now a RINO who doesn't care about the Constitution.

These loudmouths do outrageous things to get attention, which leave the rest of us stuck defending them since we all realize there's a slippery slope; if we allow the left to make inroads into defeating them, it will make it easier for them to come after the rest of us. But it wastes valuable time; it puts us constantly on the defensive, treading water instead of making advances.

It's highly ironic that she's making this complaint at WND, which has been involved in a years-long grift to stay alive. Remember that bogus cybercurrency giveaway scam it ran a few years back?

Alexander's unintentional irony continued:

One of the most damaging areas where this is happening is election integrity. Hysterical outlets on the right constantly run blaring headlines declaring there has been voter fraud and that people should go to prison – but a quick perusal of the law often finds that there wasn't any crime. Often there is a civil violation, or a body in charge of investigating such as the Arizona Senate decides not to take any action due to a single RINO legislator impeding the effort.

We saw this happen with COVID-19 vaccines. What started out as advocating for freedom of choice when it came to the vaccine got hijacked by loud, angry voices asserting what had traditionally been more of a fringy left position championed by Robert Kennedy Jr., anti-vaccine. This left people on the right in the strange position of disagreeing with Donald Trump on the vaccine, more evidence something was off. And the left happily went along with rewriting the debate for us.

An accountant for what's become known as "scam PACs'' went to prison for his role in raising $2.2 million using Ken Cucinelli's name. The PAC donated only $10,000 to Cucinelli's gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, according to Cucinelli. This Conservative StrikeForce PAC raised more than $2.8 million between January 2013 and June 2014, but only $82,000 of that went to candidates or campaign committees.

WND has been an avid promoter of Donald Trump's Big Lie about election fraud as well as the highly debunked film "2000 Mules." WND has also been a prime source of misinformation about COVID and its vaccines, even trying to make money off dubious doc Vladimir Zelenko and his highly questionable "protocol." We also remember a super PAC endorsed by WND editor Joseph Farah and then-reporter Jerome Corsi and funded largely by WND itself -- and gave no money at all to candidates.

Alexander then struck a little closer to home:

Grifters are taking over conservative media, too. Good journalism never was expected to make money – that's why the left has gotten away with PBS for so many years; people realize there's a disconnect. The leading conservative magazine of the 20th century (before it became much more moderate during this century), National Review, was the product of William F. Buckley Jr. who came from wealth. When it launched, everyone who was a part of the magazine was expected to either be supported financially by their family or have another job. It didn't turn a profit for years. In 2015, its editor at the time, Rich Lowry, converted the magazine into a nonprofit, stating, "[P]ublishing a serious opinion magazine has never been a profitable business, and never will be."

Of course, WND manages to lose money and have terrible journalism. Alexander isn't going to mention that, of course -- she wants to keep WND as an outlet for her writing, after all. Instead, she unironically continued:

As the former Maricopa County Elections attorney (when it was under better leadership), who has written more about voter fraud than almost any other reporter, I can tell you there's a lot of fake news accompanying the valid evidence of wrongdoing. So when little happens in terms of consequences, patriots feel worse than they need to. Yes, our country is in a bad place, going downhill fast, but adding in fake news leads to unnecessary confusion, anxiety and makes our side look like the boy who cried wolf or ignorant when we get caught repeating the fake news. Look what happened to QAnon.

This from a writer who hyped Seth Rich conspiracy theories. Yes, the irony is quite thick here.


Posted by Terry K. at 8:41 PM EDT
MRC Embraces Story Of Assaulted Campaign Worker (Who's Also A White Supremacist)
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center's Kevin Tober huffed in an Oct. 24 post:

A canvasser for Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was reportedly assaulted and seriously injured late Sunday night while going door-to-door for Rubio’s reelection campaign, according to a statement put out by Rubio’s campaign. On Monday, all three evening newscasts ignored the vicious politically motivated attack on an innocent Republican volunteer.

Instead, ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News had plenty of time to report on local weather forecasts, the Powerball Jackpot numbers hitting $625 million, and a recall of various dry shampoo products.  

“Last night one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a DeSantis hat was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood in Hialeah, Florida,” Rubio said in a tweet Monday morning. 

“He suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw &amOn Fox News’s Jesse Watters Primetime, host Jesse Watters and radio host Dana Loesch tore into the media for their failure to report on this horrific political attack.

According to The Daily Wire, “Hialeah Sgt. Jose Torres revealed that the victim was “an unidentified 27-year-old,” and was struck “multiple times in the face and the head causing the injuries.” 

[...]

If this was a Democrat campaign volunteer who was assaulted like this by a Republican, the media would be howling over it nonstop, and it would be on the front page of every newspaper in the United States. 

Tober noted that the victim was unidentifed, and it turned out there was a good reason for the victim being unidentified at this ppoint -- one that made Tober's anufactured outrage age very poorly very quickly. A few hours after Tober's post went live, it was revealed by the Miami New Times that the victim was identified as Christopher Monzon, who is well known in the area of Florida where he was canvassing as a white supremacist who was known as the "Cuban Confederate," and that he attended the 2017 far-right protest in Charlottesville, Va., that ended with a counterprotester being killed. (He has clamed to have expressed regret for some of his racist hate.) And contrary to Tober's parroting of Fox News types who portrayed Monzon's assault as politically motivated, no such motivation was mentioned in the police report on the incident.The New Times also reported that members of the far-right Proud Boys were guarding Monzon's hospital room.

This seems like something Tober would want to add to his post to avoid looking liike he's defending a white supremacist. But, no, his post remains live, uncorrected, and non-updated.

And after these unsavory revelations about the victim, you'd think the MRC would steer clear of the story -- but you'd be wrong. Kathleen Krumhansl doubled down in a post the next day, asserting reporting Monzon's white supremacist background amounted to victim-shaming (no, really):

A volunteer for Senator Marco Rubio (R) Fla., was in the hospital after being brutally attacked during a midterm campaign event, and just like Rubio predicted over a Univision interview following the incident, the very network ended up victim-shaming the Republican to the point of implying that perhaps he deserved to be beaten.

The assault, which happened in Hialeah over the past weekend, left canvasser Jesús López with a broken jaw and internal bleeding. Yet the viciousness of the attack, as Rubio anticipated, mattered little to anchor Satcha Pretto, who made sure to emphasize that “the victim had previously been involved in some protests and had publicly spoken out in favor of white nationalism.” 

Watch as the main national Spanish-speaking network covers up political violence from the left - like Rubio warned would happen.

[...]

Note how the anchor uses ´alleged´, ´appears to´ and ´allegedly´ when referring to the attacker, who in Pretto´s words, was apparently “upset that the victim was handing out Republican flyers in his neighborhood while wearing a Governor Ron DeSantis cap and a Senator Marco Rubio T-shirt.”

In contrast, when talking about the victim, Christopher Monzón, there is no ´alleged´, ´allegedly´, or apparently: instead, as per the anchor, it is a given fact that the Republican volunteer “had previously been involved in some protests and had publicly spoken out in favor of white nationalism.” No ifs, ands or buts.

Krumhansl offered no evidence that Monzon wasn't a white surpremacist -- the public record is pretty clear on that, to the point that no "allegedly" is required.And we thought that one of the few things people across the political spectrum could agree on is that white supremacists deserved to be shamed; Krumhansl didn't explain why she thought Monzon shouldn't be. Then again, she's clearly not someone who's into facts, given that she went on to push the unsupported narrative tha tMonzon was the victim of a political attack:

Like Rubio noted, “The difference that exists here today is that when there is political violence from someone who they say is a supporter of the right, they devote hours and hours of coverage to it. When it comes from the left, either it is not covered, or the victim is blamed, or it is not talked about anymore.” Rubio has a point, given Univision’s non-coverage of the Congressional baseball practice shooting once it became known that the shooter was a deranged Sandernista.

On mark: So far at Univision, the violent beating of Monzón has been granted exactly 1:02 minutes of air time, and this during their morning kaffeeklatsch. Most probably, that will be all that Univision audiences will hear about the leftist political violence that left López seriously injured and in need of facial reconstruction surgery, simply for being a Republican.

The MRC was somehow so proud of Krumhansl giving a pass to white supremacism that her post was translated into Spanish

Meanwhile, the Rubio narrative the MRC parroted continued to fall apart -- Florida Republicans had paid thousands to Monzon for get-out-the-vote efforts, and it turned out that Monzon started claiming the attack was politically motivated only after Rubio tweeted the claim, the alleged assiliant has nevervoted, and the assailant's mom said the attack had nothing to do with politics.

Not only has the MRC not told its readers about this, it hasn't addressed the story since. Even it can see no benefit in pushing this story further -- though, apparently, also no benefit in correcting the record.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:35 PM EDT
CNS Continued To Promote Kanye West's Right-Wing, Pro-Trump Turn
Topic: CNSNews.com

When last we left off, CNSNews.com had fully embraced Kanye West for his bromance with Donald Trump. It continued to crank out the Kanye praise and stenography later in 2018:

When CNN panelists in October 2018 criticized West's embrace of Trump as "what happens when Negroes don’t read," CNS was not only there to document the atrocity, it even called in Herschel Walker to criticize it (which, in retrospect, may not have been the best idea, though at the time Walker was being built up by right-wing media like CNS to be a political candidate). CNS columnist came out in force to defend West:

  • Allen West complained not only about this but also that "Even Saturday Night Live could not resist in making the Kanye West Oval Office visit the brunt of its jokes" and that any criticism of Kanye is just part of "the tyranny of collectivism."
  • David Limbaugh insisted that "Democrats have no solutions anymore and thus are reduced to crass, divisive identity politics ... This explains why they demonize Kanye West and any other black person who dares to stray from the prescribed liberal dogma."

By 2019, CNS was giving space to West's more esoteric ideas, like a July 2019 piece by Craig Bannister headlined "Kanye West Designing 'Star Wars'-Themed 'Living Spaces for the Homeless'." In September of that year, Michael Morris was touting West's then-wife, Kim Kardashian, saying that Kanye "had an amazing evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ." More pontification was given a platform in an October 2019 article: "Songwriter and record producer Kanye West said his parents fought for the right to express their opinion, not the right to vote for politicians the “white liberals” said blacks are “supposed to vote for.” West added that Democrats have pushed policies that compel blacks to abort their children."

In November 2019, managing editor Michael W. Chapman cheered how "Evangelical leader Franklin Graham praised singer/songwriter Kanye West for using his talent to 'point thousands of people to Jesus Christ,' especially young people, and urged Christians to pray for West, stressing that liberals will oppose him and the Devil will try to discourage and 'destroy him.'"A couple weeks later, Melanie Arter served up related pontification:

Rapper Kanye West joined Pastor Joel Osteen’s congregation on Sunday and gave his testimony on how God had a calling on his life that he had been ignoring for a long time, and that even in his lowest moments, God was sending him visions and inspiring him.

“I know that God’s been calling me for a long time, and the devil’s been distracting me for a long time. And when I was in one of my low points, God was there with me and sending me visions and inspiring me, and I remember sitting in the hospital at UCLA after having a mental breakdown, and there’s documentations of me drawing a church and saying—writing ‘start a church in the middle of Calabasas,’ and even after that, I went and made the Life of Pablo album,” he said.

In January 2020, Chapman returned to cheer that "During a press conference about the upcoming Super Bowl, Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark wore a sweatshirt displaying a photograph of President Donald Trump and musician Kanye West. When asked about his sweatshirt at the Jan. 24 press conference, Clark said, 'Never forget man! Y'all know the moment when Donald Trump met Kanye, a very historical moment in our history!'"

In April 2020, CNS published a column by its favorite dishonest Catholic, Bill Donohue, headlined "Kanye's Christian Rebirth Really Does Seem Genuine":

He says he has given his life to Christ, crediting Jesus as his "anchor" and saying he is "definitely born again." He recognizes that there are those who have done things "with the word of Christ that were bad," but, he hastens to add, "that's not going to stop my love for Christ. I'm going to keep on expressing what God has done for my life."

Jesus, West says, has been a source of "healing," noting that his succumbing to alcohol—he wound up drinking Grey Goose in the morning—was the work of the devil. He began rebounding the day he said, "Devil, you're not going to beat me today." He says he hasn't had a drink since. 

[...]

Perhaps the most surprisingly astute observation West made—it is shared by many devout Catholics and evangelicals—is his comment on surrender.

"Now all of that energy and that creativity that I have channeled and put on track comes from me surrendering to God and saying that everything is in God's will."

That is the voice of a mature Christian. 

Kanye West is his own man. He is also a man at home with the Creator. He should be welcomed, not disparaged, for going against the grain of the dominant culture.

West continued saying more right-wing-friendly things for which CNS served as a dutiful stenographer in the runup to the 2020 presidential election:

These were joined by a November 2020 column by James Ensor parroting right-wing support for West's stated position on abortion:

Kanye West’s  recent tearful call for the black community to reject abortion as child-killing gives us hope that a wave of black Americans will flood into the pro-life movement. If so, it means the end of abortion as a business! 

West’s plea erupted from a contrite heart. It was public and loud. Recalling the pressure he put on his pregnant wife, he shouted, “I almost killed my daughter!” His own words hit him and he broke down weeping, “I almost killed my daughter.” The raucous crowd went silent.

When painful truths rise up on the tears of repentance like this, it tends to crash through all our defenses. In that silence, I suspect hearts and minds were undergoing radical transformation regarding abortion.

Ensor went on to repeat a right-wing myth about the locations of abortion clinics in black neighborhoods and falsely equated Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger's  onetime support for eugenics to "white supremacy."

CNS didn't reference West again until last month. We'll get into that soon.


Posted by Terry K. at 1:32 AM EDT
Updated: Friday, November 18, 2022 1:09 AM EST

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