CNS' Favorite (Selective) Fact-Checker Fearmongers About Masks Topic: CNSNews.com
Just Facts and its leader, James Agresti, is a fact-checker the Media Research Center and its "news" division, CNSNews.com, really likes -- which should be a red flag as to its right-wing bias. Agresti returned for a Feb. 1 CNS commentary to peddle the right-wing narrative against mask mandates:
Allegations that “masks work” and “don’t cause harm” have been enforced by governments and corporations around the world for more than 18 months through arrests, censorship, fines, and denial of access to schools, supermarkets, hospitals, streets, and other public spaces. This has made it virtually impossible for many people to live without complying with mask mandates.
In recent weeks, however, more medical scholars and media outlets are coming to grips with facts about masks that Just Facts has been documenting for more than a year and painstakingly compiled in a September 2021 article sourced with more than 50 peer-reviewed science journals. Here’s a sample of people who are speaking up about the facts and their implications:
But the examples Agresti cites are, well, less than factual. His first is a commentary by Dr. Vinay Presad in which he huffed that " masking is now little more than an appealing delusion" and that decisions to mask schoolchildren are "ignorant, cruel, fearful, and cowardly." But Presad has a history of dishonesty on the issue of masking, and he rather ludicrously likened vaccine mandates to the rise of Hitler.
His next example was from Chad Roy, in an interview with the right-wing Washington Examiner, who said that "all this song and dance of wearing cloth masks with some presumption that you’re being protected from ambient virus is completely and positively 100% counter to how masks and respirators work." Of course, nobody is seriously arguing that cloth masks offer the same protection as an N95 mask, but they did offer some level of protection that is better than not wearing a mask at all.
After citing more questionable claims falsely claiming that cloth masks are totally worthless, Agresti moved on to victim mode:
Some of the most powerful proponents of masking continue to spread destructive fictions and withhold genuine facts from people. For a prime example, Google-owned YouTube recently censored a video from Just Facts about the dangers of N95 masks. Even though every fact in the video is documented with data from peer-reviewed science journals, OSHA, and the CDC — YouTube purged it with callous disregard for the health of people, especially children.
But the video engages in the same fearmongering he's doing here. He's deliberately trying to scare people away from using N95 masks by cherry-picking facts to make them sound dangerous -- they may be "facts," but they're highly selective and chosen to advance a political agenda rather than objectively informing people.
Then again, carefully selected facts designed to advance an agenda is what CNS and the MRC are all about too.
MRC Has Another Meltdown Over Cartoons Not Being Heterosexual Enough Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center has spent the past few years hating the children's cartoon "Arthur" because it committed the offense of being relevant to the lives of its viewers -- thus, the MRC's meltdowns over the show featuring a same-sex marriage and discussing racism. Now that the show is ending its 25-year run on PBS, Elise Ehrhard devoted a Jan. 23 post -- headlined "Get Woke, Go Broke" -- to baselessly blaming those two episodes for the show ending:
After spending recent seasons alienating parents across America with homosexual and BLM propaganda, PBS Kids' Arthur, the longest running animated children's series ever on television, is officially getting the ax.
On January 18, the public broadcaster announced that the final four episodes of the series will be released next month. How did PBS Kids manage to ruin an iconic cartoon beloved by generations?
First, the series announced in spring 2019 that Mr. Ratburn, Arthur's teacher, was homosexual and premiered an episode with a gay wedding.
[...]
As if confusing prepubescent kids about sexuality wasn't enough "wokeness" for the show, it then premiered a short BLM-themed segment in the summer of 2020 which attempted to teach kids how to be "anti-racist" (i.e. Marxist). Arthur and his friend Buster talked about a video they saw of a cop killing a black person. Buster asked, “But how could it happen here, in Elwood City, outside the Sugar Bowl?” Elwood City is populated by animals.
Gosh, I wonder why this established show with high name recognition had middling ratingsas of late?
Never mind, of course, that Ehrhard offered no evidence whatsoever to back up her contention that the episodes that offended her so much are the direct cause of the show's cancellation. Nevertheless, she whined that the show's content will move online, meaning that "parents who want to teach their kids about gay and anti-racist anthropomorphized animals, will have to seek out such content online." She concluded by sneering: "Maybe PBS Kids will learn from this and quit the woke nonsense on children's programming, but I doubt it. Marxists cannot help pushing their agenda on kids."
Pretty much what you'd expect to hear from some one who thinks that merely acknowledging the existence of non-heterosexual people and racism is "propaganda."
This wasn't the only show the MRC was upset with for failing to be sufficiently heterosexual. Rachel Peterson huffed in a Jan. 25 post:
This is a warning to parents who want to introduce their children to their childhood favorite, "The Proud Family" - the upcoming reboot of it...is really "proud."
If you don't remember, the animated series "The Proud Family" aired from 2001 to 2005 and "[follows] the adventures and misadventures of Penny Proud as she does her best to navigate through the early years of teen-dom," according to the original version of the show's description on IMDb.
The show and the subsequent reboot are rated TV-Y7, which is designed for children ages seven and up. But the new reboot has themes and characters that may not be appropriate for children.
In the age of reboots, Disney+ is revamping the animated series with the upcoming "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder," airing on February 23rd. This new take on an old classic gets both louder and prouder in the way of pushing the LGBTQ agenda. The show heavily leans into this as, according to producer Ralph Farquhar, the biggest change in the show is the "introduction of LGBTQ+ characters."
Yes, Peterson thinks that acknowledging the biological reality that people can be other than heterosexual is "not appropriate for children."
Peterson went on to grouse about the LGBTQ talent that would supplying voices for some characters in the reboot, including Lil Nas X, over whom the MRC spent last year being repeatedly triggered.
The MRC had previously grumbled that "The Proud Family" reboot would not be for its pro-heterosexual-obsessive employees.
NEW ARTICLE: The Continuing Crisis -- And Consequences -- At WND Topic: WorldNetDaily
Joseph Farah and Co. would rather spread conspiracy theories than admit that spreading fake news and conspiracy-mongering is what's killing WorldNetDaily. Read more >>
Flooding The Zone: The MRC's War on Whoopi Topic: Media Research Center
One of the Media Research Center's anti-media tactics is best described as "flooding the zone" -- cranking out post after post about an issue it has designated to be an outrage with the goal of not only getting its fellow right-wing media outlets to join in the outrage but also to force non-right-wing outlets to pick up the story. We've documented the MRC's abortiveattempts to flood the zone before the story changed away from right-wing-friendly narratives, but that tactic also works on stories that stay on narrative but have been deemed to need a little extra oomph.
That explains why the MRC managed to wring a whopping 14 items over four days manufacturing outrage over Whoopi Goldberg's misguided remarks regarding the Holocaust. Now, her remarks didn't need much help to generate outrage, but because Goldberg is an enemy of the MRC for committing the offense of not being conservative, the MRC felt compelled to amplify the comments as much as it could. Nicholas Fondacaro was quick to brand her "anti-Semitic" while also getting in a a tacit endorsement of school book banners:
Following a Monday segment blasting podcaster Joe Rogan for spreading “misinformation,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg showed us that real misinformation and anti-Semitism was alive and well on ABC’s The View as she falsely suggested, “the Holocaust isn't about race” but just “two white groups” going at it.
As part of their discussion about a Tennessee school allegedly banning the Holocaust-themed graphic novel Maus (in reality it was simply removed from an 8th-grade reading list and they were open to bringing it back), Whoopi described the Holocaust as “ white people doing it to white people. So, this is y'all go fight amongst yourselves.
[...]
A few minutes later, Whoopi let loose her full anti-Semitic perspective on what the Holocaust was: “Well also, if we're going to do this, then let's be truthful about it because the Holocaust isn't about race.
Immediately following her false declaration, you could hear a pin drop on the set. It was broken by co-host Sara Haines saying “no” seemingly in agreement and Whoopi doubling down. “No. It's not about race,” she said.
Was Goldberg wrong and ignorant about the Holocaust by denying it was about race? Absolutely. Was it anti-Semitic, as Fondacaro insisted? Not so much -- she didn't deny the Holocaust, nor did she deny that Jews were its main victims, nor does she have any kind of history of anti-Semitism. But that's the narrative the MRC ran with -- even though it could be argued that the MRC is more anti-Semitic than Goldberg because of its obsession with George Soros -- at one point declaring him a Jew you're allowed to hate -- and its habit of using the anti-Semitic "puppet master" trope to describe both Soros and ex-CNN chief Jeff Zucker.
In a later update to his post, Fondacaro proclaimed himself "first on the scene" in capitalizing on Goldberg's comment and noted her apology that cited "comments from Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt scolding her."
But Fondacaro had a narrative to push. Soon after, Fondacaro wrote a post declaring that Goldberg went on "an anti-Semitic screed," gushing that right-winger Ben Shapiro went on Fox News "to unpack and call out Whoopi and the radical left-wing ideology that allow for her type of anti-Semitism." That was followed by Curtis Houck complaining that Goldberg appeared on CBS pre-apology where she "defended her vile comments about the Holocaust," dismissing the partial apology she made on the show as "mealy-mouthed pandering."
The day after Goldberg's original remarks, Fondacaro lashed out not only at her but, bizarrely, at Greenblatt for helping educate her on the truth about the Holocaust (while, again, bragging that he was "first to report" her statement even though she said it on national TV in front of an audience of millions):
Proving there’s a double standard when it comes to who politically gets to have their career survive and life’s work preserved after making controversial comments, on Tuesday’s edition of ABC’s The View, co-host Whoopi Goldberg (a stage name) got direct absolution from Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt after she falsely claimed: “the Holocaust isn’t about race” (for which NewsBusters was first to report).
[...]
Greenblatt did note that the history of hate against Jews doesn’t comport well with “the way we think about race in 21st century America, where primarily it's about people of color.”
Adding: “But throughout the Jewish people's history, they have been marginalized, they have been persecuted. They have been slaughtered in large part because many people felt they were not just a different religion, but indeed a different race.”
At no point did Greenblatt address the recent revelation that the ADL changed their definition of racism to suggest only white people can be racist. “The marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people,” they wrote.
Despite claiming a "double standard," Fondacaro cited no instance of a right-winger whose remarks unfairly cost them their career.
Kyle Drennen devoted a post to complaining that ABC's morning show didn't cover the story immediately, sneering: "Perhaps the network morning show was waiting for Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to grant Goldberg absolution before it touched the story – something which occurred later Tuesday morning on The View." Another Fondacaro post again referenced "Whoopi Goldberg’s (stage name) anti-Semitic comments about the Holocaust" -- he's weirdly obsessed about noting that Whoopi uses a "stage name" -- and hying that "sources inside ABC said Whoopi’s in “deep s--t” with some pushing for her to be fired." At the end of the day on Feb. 1, Fondacaro got the climactic resolution he was hoping for, while still whining that Greenblatt worked with her:
ABC finally took disciplinary action against The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg (stage name) Tuesday night regarding her anti-Semitic comments about the Holocaust, in the form of a two-week suspension, effective immediately, according to a staff e-mail sent by ABC News president Kim Godwin and leaked to CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy.
[...]
As NewsBusters reported, Whoopi was conveniently absolved of her transgression by Anti-Defamation League CEO and former Obama official Jonathan Greenblatt during Tuesday’s show. It was something [ABC News president Kim] Godwin seemed thankful for.
Written like someone whose work to manufacture a narrative got the payoff he wanted -- and that was just two days of work and seven outraged MRC posts. But the MRC wasn't done complaining -- more soon.
More CNS Columnists Laud Putin, Bash Biden And NATO Topic: CNSNews.com
Pat Buchanan is not the only CNSNews.com columnist who is advocating that President Biden and the U.S. capitulate to Vladimir Putin's demands over Ukraine. Some just want to avoid war, while others simply love Putin or hate Biden that much.
Doug Bandow is the former camp in his Jan. 27 column, beginning by whining, "What is it about Republican legislators that makes them so fond of wreaking death and destruction upon others?" He then went on to write that "Nothing suggests that Putin wants what can never be given." The same day, a column by Ted Galen Carpenter lamented that "U.S. assistance to anti-Russian guerrillas would further poison bilateral relations" and that "actively assisting Ukrainian resistance forces could prove embarrassing and discrediting for professed U.S. commitments to liberty and democracy." Carpenter went on to blame the U.S. for the situation: "If Washington had not foolishly pushed the expansion of NATO to Russia’s borders and interfered in Ukraine’s internal affairs, turning the nation into a Western political and military client, Moscow would have few reasons to make trouble for the United States."
Michael Letts used his Feb. 14 column (also published at WorldNetDaily) to accuse Biden of wagging the dog over Ukraine:
My question is: Why do anything? The U.S. has no vital interests there. Ukraine is not a member of NATO. So there is only one possible compelling reason Joe Biden has to pull the Russian Bear’s tail, putting the U.S. at risk of receiving anything as fundamental as cyber attacks to full-scale thermonuclear World War III.
The reason is ratings.
Historically, being a wartime president is synonymous with high public approval ratings.
George W. Bush was not doing that well until 9/11, when he shot up to a 90 percent approval rating.
But are high poll numbers worth the risk? No.
Are high poll numbers even guaranteed to raise Biden’s chances in a future election? No.
Laurence Vance, a writer for a libertarian think tank, devoted a Feb. 16 column to parroting non-intervention talking points from uber-libertarian Ron Paul to argue against interfering in Ukraine: "Non-interventionism is practical, sane, moral, just, and right. It is the foreign policy of the Founding Fathers — and Ron Paul."
Jose Nino argued for dissolving NATO in a Feb. 21 column because it "has done scant little to uphold middle American interests" and "would incentivize countries to pursue more independent foreign policies and start taking defense matters into their own hands, like any self-respecting nation that believes in sovereignty should." He also touted "populist presidential candidates like Eric Zemmour" in France, who "have explicitly called for a rapprochement between Russia and France."In fact, Zemmour is a far-right politician, an anti-immigration Islamophobe who has been fined for peddling hate speech.
Carpenter returned for a Feb. 22 column whining that "Foreign policy hawks in the United States habitually equate a noncommunist Russia with the totalitarian Soviet Union, insisting that today's Russia is not the USSR and softpedaling Putin by comparison: "Politically, Putin’s rule embodies a conservative authoritarianism, not the outsized, revolutionary ambitions of the USSR’s communist rulers."
On Feb. 24 -- several hours before Russia invaded Ukraine -- R. Emmett Tyrrell suggested that Putin might be hesitating on an invasion, making sure to take a shot at Biden: "A couple of weeks ago, I saw something in Putin's eyes that I had not seen before. He seemed to lapse into hesitancy. For the first time ever, he seemed a bit flabby. Is he keeping with his martial arts regimen? Frankly, he looked stunned and put me in mind of our almost 80-year-old president, President Joe Biden. Could Putin be giving his grand design a second thought?"
The same day, Ryan McMaken complained that "countless media stories" were trying to link Russia with China, insisting that "Russia is not the geopolitically secure juggernaut many Russophobes apparently believe it to be."
Nino returned for a Feb. 25 column once again blaming NATO for Russia's invasion:
With Russia launching a military invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, the corporate press has grown shrill in its calls for punishing Russia with draconian sanctions, supplying Ukraine with increased military aid, and diplomatically isolating the Eurasian power as much as possible. The two-minutes hate against Russia has been cranked up to 11, thereby making any nuanced analysis of why the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has reached such a point almost impossible.
The failure of policy wonks to understand why Russia took decisive action against Ukraine is emblematic of a flawed grand strategy that has dominated D.C. foreign policy circles since the end of the Cold War. Once the dust settled from the Soviet Union’s collapse, international relations specialists were convinced that the U.S. had entered an “end of history” moment where liberal democracy would become the governing standard worldwide. Former Soviet Union (FSU) states would be the preliminary trial ground for this new liberal democratic project.
Carpenter served up another NATO-blaming column the same day: "Vladimir Putin bears primary responsibility for this latest development, but NATO’s arrogant, tone-deaf policy toward Russia over the past quarter-century deserves a large share as well." He also insisted that "It was entirely predictable that NATO expansion would ultimately lead to a tragic, perhaps violent, breach of relations with Moscow."
Meanwhile, Buchanan served up more praise for Putin and NATO-bashing in his Feb. 25 column:
Putin did exactly what he had warned us he would do.
Whatever the character of the Russian president, now being hotly debated here in the USA, he has established his credibility.
When Putin warns that he will do something, he does it.
[...]
Whatever we may think of Putin, he is no Stalin. He has not murdered millions or created a gulag archipelago.
Nor is he "irrational," as some pundits rail. He does not want a war with us, which would be worse than ruinous to us both.
Putin is a Russian nationalist, patriot, traditionalist and a cold and ruthless realist looking out to preserve Russia as the great and respected power it once was and he believes it can be again.
But it cannot be that if NATO expansion does not stop or if its sister state of Ukraine becomes part of a military alliance whose proudest boast is that it won the Cold War against the nation Putin has served all his life.
President Joe Biden almost hourly promises, "We are not going to war in Ukraine." Why would he then not readily rule out NATO membership for Ukraine, which would require us to do something Biden himself says we Americans, for our own survival, should never do: go to war with Russia?
Buchanan's column is only a couple days old, but it's already not aging well.
MRC Loves Gutfeld's Cruel 'Humor' Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center has a cruel streak, as seen by its immature gloating over CNN's allegedly low ratings. It loves when others are cruel to its preferred targets too, which brings us to this Jan. 24 post in which Nicholas Fondacaro enjoys Greg Gutfeld's casual cruelty:
In a hilarious and pointed segment on the Fox News Channel’s The Five on Monday, co-anchor Greg Gutfeld unloaded on CNN’s Brian Stelter for taking swipes at Fox News for reporting on the fact that violent and other forms of crime were on the rise throughout President Biden’s America. Even Democratic co-host and former Congressman Harold Ford (D-TN) took Stelter and his henchman Oliver Darcy to task.
After playing a clip from CNN’s so-called “Reliable Sources” where Stelter and Darcy whined about Fox’s reporting, Gutfeld declared: “It's got to be gross to work at CNN where all you do is push these elaborate hoaxes while denying actual human suffering.”
Gutfeld recalled his jokes about Stelter being “fat,” “bald,” and “homely” and how CNN host Don Lemon and disgraced former host Chris Cuomo would repeatedly mock the rise in violent crime on-air[.]
Yes, Fondacaro thinks mocking someone's looks is "hilarious." And Gutfeld's justification for his cruelty isn't any better:
People ask me why do I constantly point out how fat Brian Stelter is, how fat and bald and homely he is. And I always tell you that no insult is worse than their ideas, as long as they mocked the black-on-black crime and death in the streets, which there is tape of Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo laughing about it. As long as they believe that I got a pass on it, then everything is on the table. You can make fun of them about anything. Right?
So, they chose this hill to die on while cops and civilians are literally dying.
How does the fact Gutfeld doesn't agree with Stelter's criticism of Fox News' cirime coverage justify Gutfeld's viciously smearing Stelter over his looks? It doesn't. But Gutfeld thinks it does -- and Fondacaro thinks his cruelty is hilarious.It's clear neither of them see Stelter as a human bein, only an enemy to be destroyed for failing to conform to right-wing groupthink. That's how conservative cancel culture works.
Which tells you all you need to know about Fondacaro and the mindset that runs the MRC.
Joseph Farah's Biden Derangement Syndrome Watch, New Year Edition Topic: WorldNetDaily
Joe Biden took the presidential oath of office Jan. 20, 2021, repeating these words: "I, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God."
Does anyone seriously question the words "solemnly swear," "faithfully execute," "to the best of my ability," and, most of all, "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God"?
I do.
I question every word he now speaks.
I always did.
[...]
There's so much oppression in this country. It represents the proof we have needed to know that Biden was always evil, out of touch with America, fully corrupt. Does anyone need convincing that he would steal an election if he could?
Again, I repeat what he said in his oath of office.
Does anyone seriously question the words "solemnly swear," "faithfully execute," "to the best of my ability," and, most of all, "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God"?
Whether it was done through the voting machines, phony ballots, illegal votes, Big Tech collusion, or just plain old corruption like Joe Kennedy once played in 1960 in the state of Illinois, anyone who still has doubts that there was widespread cheating in the 2020 election must have his head examined.
Does anyone think that Joe Biden actually got a record number of popular votes, more than Barack Obama – some 81.2 million – that year? How in the hell could he do that while hiding in his Delaware bunker?
Meanwhile, Donald Trump was drawing record crowds all over the nation. He supposedly only received 74.2 million votes.
Come on, man!
This was shameful! And we're only figuring it out now – and Joe Biden is seemingly figuring it out along with us.
What's the proof? Look at Biden now! He's so angry. He hates the American people. He blames THEM for his own failures!
How can the president of the United States not have respect and reverence for the people who (supposedly) put him in office?
[...]
Joe Biden has got all the trappings of power – and it will do him no good.
This was all predictable. I think of Barack Obama's words: "Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f–- things up."
That was stated in more normal times. But today we're witnessing Biden under extraordinary pressure – on the verge of losing his power to fool people. He's irrational. He condescending. He's frustrated. He's embarrassing himself and this once great nation.
It was a question posed by James Rosen of Newsmax. It was about a Politico poll that found a majority of voters don't think Biden is "mentally fit." He proved that point in this press conference.
What did Biden say?
He broke into a wide grin and said, "You all make the judgment that they're correct."
Rosen continued: "If you'd let me finish … why do you suppose such large segments of the American electorate have come to harbor such profound concerns about your cognitive fitness?"
"I have no idea," was Biden's response.
It was the only truthful thing Biden said the entire night.
These are the most dangerous times the nation has experienced – ever!
[...]
A recent poll shows the president is "incompetent," with 52% wanting him to take a cognitive health test and release the results. Only 43% believe him.
You might remember, back in the administration of Barack Obama, there was a popular ditty by Victoria Jackson, late of "Saturday Night Live," called "There's a Communist Living in the White House."
Jackson had joined the Tea Party. She had already endorsed my buddy Rush Limbaugh for president, who died just a year ago. And she came on a WND cruise to Alaska with us. She just loved to strum her ukulele while singing odes to Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Mike Huckabee.
And the funniest thing she ever sang was "There's a Communist Living in the White House."
I was thinking about that recently. If Obama was a communist, what do we have today in the White House?
A pretender? A fascist? A dunce? An incompetent? A traitor to these United States and everything they stand for? A guy who is few French fries short of a Happy Meal? A tad cognitively challenged?
Biden sees Americans as domestic "enemies." Remember when he called Americans who believed in voter integrity racists like George Wallace, Bull Connor and Jefferson Davis – all Democrats?
And we're supposed to believe that this is the guy who won a record number of popular votes – 81.2 million – in 2020? I wouldn't be surprised if he actually got less than half of that. For being part of that fraud, he will always live in infamy, shame, dishonor and contempt.
He's irrational. He condescending. He's frustrated. He's angry. He's embarrassing himself and this once great nation.
[...]
What is there to like about Joe Biden? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The MRC's Mean Girls Mock CNN's Ratings Again Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center loves to gloatchildishly over the allegedly low ratings on non-right-wing channels. Curtis Houck is the designated childish mocker of CNN's ratings, and he brought the immature hate again in a Jan. 21 post:
CNN’s New Day co-host and insufferable liberal pundit Brianna Keilar received her turn this week to audition for the vacant 9:00 p.m. Eastern slot and, instead of it being called CNN Tonight, it was labeled Democracy in Peril. According to Nielsen Media Research, no one seemed to care as she drew fewer viewers than shows like Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America, Game Show Network’s Chain Reaction, TLC’s My 600 Pound Life, and reruns of The Andy Griffith Show.
Needless to say, we’re not surprised that few seemed to tune in for a nightly dose of her penchant for spewing venom against just about anyone who disagrees with her. If they want fear porn about your conservative coworker or spouse, they probably watch MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace instead.
[...]
No matter how you slice it, things aren’t going well for her and the divisive, snarky kind of politics she espouses (masquerading as news).
That act normally wouldn’t fly in the eyes of any reasonable executive worth spending millions to make permanent, but given the way Jeff Zucker has operated, it wouldn’t be surprising if Keilar and Democracy in Peril receive the permanent nod.
Since the MRC has made CNN's Jim Acosta its longtimepersonalenemy, it's no surprise that lazy potshots were taken at him too.Kevin Tober whined about Acosta's turn in that timeshot for a Jan. 24 post:
If you are like the overwhelming majority of Americans and did not tune into Jim Acosta’s debut of the low-rated CNN show Democracy in Peril, you weren’t missing much. In fact, you can probably guess what was said by Acosta and his conga line of leftist guests.
The first guest Acosta had on was the left-wing election attorney Marc Elias who spewed all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories on the show. Jim Acosta was the first one out of the gate, asking Elias “how likely is it in these upcoming midterms that we're gonna see a scenario of multiple elections across the country becoming such a huge circus because of these bogus fraud claims?”
As expected Elias didn’t scoff at this notion, instead he fearmongered that “we are one, maybe two, elections cycles away from a real constitutional crisis.”
Tober made no effort whatsoever to disprove or counter anything that was said on the show, so maybe it's not as "crazy" as he would like us to believe.
Sure enough, a few days later, Houck served up another dose of immaturing in mocking Acosta's ratings:
Following New Day co-host Brianna Keilar’s spectacularly bad week hosting CNN’s poisonously partisan Democracy in Peril special, carnival barker Jim Acosta received his chance to audition for the primetime slot formerly held by Chris Cuomo and, through three days, Acosta did even worse. Among the shows he lost to, Acosta fell behind a Hallmark movie, History’s Forged in Fire, a rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond, Property Brothers, and, yes, My 600 Pound Life.
Yes, Houck sure seems to find fat people eminently mockable, doesn't he?
This petty gloating doesn't exactly make people want to the MRC seriously -- Houck comes off as a jerk, not a serious person.
WND Touted Quack Doctor's Video On 'Mass Psychosis' Topic: WorldNetDaily
The anti-vaxxers at WorldNetDaily eagerly embraced dubious doc Robert Malone's evenmore dubious concept of "mass formation psychosis" in an attempt to discredit COVID vaccines. As part of that, it promoted a version of the bogus theory coming from an even more discredited doctor. An anonymous Jan. 2 article stated:
Popular Dr. Joseph Mercola says we're in the middle of "an epidemic of madness" that occurs when a "large portion of society loses touch with reality and descends into delusions."
It's happening he says due to the "relentless fearmongering coupled with data suppression and intimidation tactics of all kind."
He cited a 20-minute video, "Mass Psychosis – How an Entire Population Becomes Mentally Ill," created by After Skool and Academy of Ideas, explains the tactics used to seed and nurture mental illness – on a grand scale.
A number of mental health experts have expressed concern over the blatant panic mongering during the COVID-19 pandemic, warning it can have serious psychiatric effects.
Dr. Mercola cites S.G. Cheah's report which said, "Even when the statistics point to the extremely low fatality rate among children and young adults (measuring 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at 25), the young and the healthy are still terrorized by the chokehold of irrational fear when faced with the coronavirus."
"It's one of the reasons why you're seeing so many people who'd happily approve the silencing of any medical experts whose views contradict the WHO or CDC guidelines," Dr Mercola suggests. "'Obey the rules!' becomes more important than questioning if the rules were legitimate to begin with."
WND won't tell you that Mercola is a documented quack witih a history of making false and even illegal claims and pushing drugs of questionable value. Instead, the anonymous writeruncritically touts Mercola's quacky claims:
It's adults who are inflicting this emotional trauma on an entire generation, Dr. Mercola insists.
Worst of all, mass delusion is leading us into slavery.
"The mass delusion must also be addressed because it's driving us all, sane and insane alike, toward a society devoid of all previous freedoms and civil liberties, and the corrupt individuals in charge will not voluntarily relinquish power once we've given it to them," he says. "Totalitarianism actually begins as psychosis within the ruling class, as the individuals within this class are easily enamored with delusions that augment their power."
The anonymous WND writer made no effort to ponder if the quack Mercola was the one suffering psychosis through his need to lie to people and fleece them to enrich himself.
MRC Is Upset M&M Characters Getting A Design Update Topic: Media Research Center
Last year, the Media Research Center was a top combatant in right-wing culture wars, whining about everything from cereal to Legos to Muppets mostly for failing to hate non-heterosexual people enough. It's a new year, but the MRC has the same old culture-war things to complain about -- like the female M&M characters being made less stereotypically female. Gabriel Hays was the designated complainer in a Jan. 20 post:
What a time to be alive! M&Ms has made its Green M&M mascot less sexy. All is well with the world.
Yep that’s a real news development and it’s not just about the green M&M losing her high heels and having her “come hither” demeanor turned way down. All the zany M&Ms characters that fill the candy product’s ads are getting their toxic personalities adjusted for the sake of inclusivity, as declared M&M’s parent company Mars.
Well this is downright pathetic.
[...]
I previously enjoyed M&Ms because I really loved objectifying the anthropomorphized piece of green candy-coated chocolate and her sexy voice.
Thankfully pervs like me will be snapped out of this lust by such soul-saving corporate decisions.
Well, we wouldn't call Hays a "perv," but he does seemunnaturallyobsessed with transgender people, so...
Anyway, Hays wasn't done sneering:
And Ms. Green M&M isn’t the only sexpot that’s being told to put some clothes on. The brown female M&M has “transitioned from high stilettos to lower block heels and a fresh pair of glasses.” Oh yes, because she’s sexy AND smart.
Though I don’t know, Mars. You might be playing right into the hands of guys who fetishize the sexy librarian look. Might we suggest putting her in a brown paper bag to be completely safe. Or how about putting her in a Burka? Actually yeah! Think of it! You’d get even more diversity points!
[...]
In addition to this marketing idiocy, Adweek mentioned that M&Ms “will stop attaching prefixes to the characters’ names to prompt people to focus more on their unique personalities rather than their gender.”
Well even if they removed peanut M&Ms from their candy lineup, M&Ms will always contain nuts. This is insane stuff.
But, really, what's more insane -- a company updating its image, or a right-wing activist getting paid to write several hundred words whining that the image update doesn't conform to his preferred gender stereotypes?
The Softest Of Softballs: CNS Editor Interviews Boss To Plug His New Book Topic: CNSNews.com
As much as the Media Research Center loves to complain about "liberal media" figures giving softball interviews to people, it has no problem when the softballs are coming from its fellow right-wing media sources. And of course, the softest of softballs are gently tossed from inside MRC headquarters.
Thus, we have a Feb. 1 CNSNews.com article in which editor Terry Jeffrey interview his boss, Brent Bozell, in a blatant plug for Bozell's new memoir -- you know the one for which Bozell has been using the MRC to promote, in possible violation of nonprofit rules that govern use of those resources for personal purposes. The unchallenging gushiness is there from the beginning:
L. Brent Bozell III, the founder and president of the Media Research Center, has published a memoir in which he recalls the days of his youth and points to the direction in which he believes America should go now.
“We have to tell a story to the next generation about not just the good old days, but an aspirational story about what society could be if we so chose,” Bozell said in an interview about “Stops Along the Way: A Catholic Soul, A Conservative Heart, An Irish Temper, And a Love of Life.”
“And the more I thought about this book on airplanes, the more I thought: Time to tell the story,” he said.
Parts of this story take place in the Virginia countryside, where Bozell’s family moved when he was a boy. Others take place in El Escorial, Spain, where he and his brother attended a high school run by Augustinian monks. Yet another takes place in Washington, D.C. as the Reagan Revolution unfolded—and still another takes place in Sandinista-controlled Nicaragua.
Jeffrey never explicitly states that Bozell is his boss, outside of noting that CNS "is a part" of the MRC.As Bozell spins his tales unchallenged, Jeffrey is reduced to obsequiously saying things like "wow" and "my gosh."
Because this is both a trip down memory lane and a paid ad for Bozell, Jeffrey has no reason to ask -- or perhaps has been forbidden from asking -- challenging questions of his boss. Thus, you will find no mention, for instance, of the ghostwriting scandal in which Bozell slapped his name on syndicated columns that were actually written by Tim Graham. There will also be no discussion of the MRC's unseemly aggressive defense of Rush Limbaugh after he got into serious trouble for calling Sandra Fluke a "slut," or a discussion of Bozell's smearing of President Obama as a "skinny ghetto crackhead." And there will definitely be no mention of Bozell's son getting arrested for particpating in the Capitol riot.
No, only the softest of softballs for Jeffrey's boss. And they want us to think CNS is a real "news" organization.
MRC Turns Djokovic Into An Anti-Vaxxer Hero Topic: Media Research Center
Last fall, the Media Research Center was cheering tennis player Novak Djokovic as "the hero in a greater cause" because of his refusal to get a COVID vaccine in preparation for the Australian Open tournament, even though Australia was requiring all visitors to be vaccinated. The tourney's ultimate decision to allow unvaccinated players in as long as they undergo a two-week quarantine period was declared by MRC sports blogger John Simmons to be a victory and a "convicted stance against tyranny." But as the tournament neared and auestions were raised about the medical exemption Djokovic claimed to have received, Simmons rushed to his defense again in a Jan. 5 post:
Tennis player Novak Djokovic has received a medical exemption from taking the COVID vaccine, allowing him to play in the prestigious Australian Open tournament. However, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison is attempting to intimidate the star beforehand, threatening that Djokovic will be sent home if his medical exemption does not meet Australia’s standards.
Both Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews expressed that they will not be afraid to enforce their tyrannical vaccine mandates, even if that means sending the world’s best tennis player back to his native Serbia:
Simmons went on to laud Djokovic becaise "he has already won the fight against medical tyranny in several ways" by finagling his way into the tournament without being vaccinated" and declaring him a "rebel" fighting against the island's "draconian ways."
A Jan. 8 post by Clay Waters ranted about the New York Times' "judgmental hysteria over vaccines"in writing about Djokovic. He went on to proclaim that "As the world’s No. 1 tennis player, he’s presumably in above-average physical condition, in relatively little danger from the virus," and that "the Omicron variant is significantly less deadly than the Delta variant it is replacing." He didn't mention that Omicron is far more contagious than Delta.
Jay Maxson used a Jan. 12 post to complain that Howard Stern argued Djokovic should be banned from tennis for not being vaccinated. Maxson retorted: "Well, guess what, Howard? Djokovic already had COVID-19. How many more times does Stern think he’ll catch it without the vaccine that needs multiple booster shots to actually finish the job and prevent COVID-19 forever?"
Novak Djokovic’s intense battle to have his visa approved by the Australian government took a turn for the worse when Immigration Minister Alex Hawke revoked the tennis star’s visa and threatened him with deportation, even though Djokovic has done nothing wrong.
[...]
So far, Djokovic’s legal team has shown that he has sufficiently met every requirement necessary for a medical exemption and even had an Australian judge say that he would be cleared to stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open (which begins Monday). So how in the world does overriding a judge’s ruling just so you can flex your power benefit anyone?
In fact, Djokovic did do something wrong: he messed up his visa paperwork, and he never disclosed what exactly the reason is for his medical exemption -- and then it was revealed that Djokovic had caught COVID the month before, which had not been previously disclosed.
Rather than tell his readers those relevant facts, Simmons raged that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is someone "many rightly consider a tyrant," then praised Djokovic again as a hero against the purported hellscape that is Australia:
The result of those sacrifices has created a world in which policemen can fire rubber bullets into a crowd of protestors and get away with it and where police have the authority to separate a child from its mother. Australians are not free, the government is in full control over everyone and everything, and that’s how people like Morrison and Hawke want to keep it.
So when a high-profile, widely respected individual who is not bowing down and groveling to Australia’s vaccine tyranny steps onto the scene (potentially inspiring millions of others to stand up), it would only make sense that Australia’s officials would do what they can to not let Djokovic into their country.
Djokovic loast his appeals and was barred from playing at the Australian Open. Simmons returend to cheer again in a Jan. 26 post when player Daniil Medvedev said he was losing a match until he asked himself, "What would Novak do?" (Unmentioned was the fact that Medvedev did something Djokovic didn't do: he had his visa papers in order and he didn't try to deceive Australian officials.) Simmons went into full gush mode again:
It is quite comical to see that Djokovic has caused quite the stir Down Under, even when he was deported back to Serbia for “not having a legitimate enough reason” to be in Australia to compete in the Australian Open. The man is not even in the country, and he’s still living rent-free in the minds of those who are mad that he had the nerve to stand against Australia’s pervasive and restrictive vaccine mandates.
He’s even influencing the tournament despite not being in it!
But Simmons still wasn't done fawning over Djokovic, upgrading him to full-blown martyr in a Feb. 15 post:
Novak Djokovic was crucified by the media and deported by the Australian government after not providing “sufficient enough information” to receive a vaccine exemption so he could participate in the Australian Open. Despite all the trials he has had to endure because of his stance, his resolve to defy medical tyranny has not wavered.
Djokovic told the BBC that trophies are not as important to him as the freedom to choose what goes into his body. He currently sits tied for second all-time in the men’s division with Roger Federer for most Grand Slam titles won with 20, just one behind his contemporary Rafael Nadal (who won the Australian Open Djokovic was forbidden from playing in). But if he is forced to get the vaccine to pursue becoming (statistically) the greatest men’s player ever, Djokovic will not chase that illustrious achievement.
[...]
The majority of celebrities today will sacrifice any of their convictions just to roll with the flow of the political and social environment as long as it does not affect their livelihood. But Djokovic’s rigid determination is a reminder that there are still people who value freedom and their beliefs over material gain and who understand that life is more than money, trophies, and fame if you have to compromise who you are to get there.
In reality, Djokovic exposed himself as a selfish jerk who cares only about himself and not about the society in which he lives. No wonder conservatives like Simmons love the guy.
WND Dishonestly Covers Anti-Vaxx Rally, Censors Offensive Statement By Speaker RFK Jr. Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily's Art Moore used a Jan. 21 article to deceptively tease an upcoming rpotest rally:
Drs. Robert Malone and Peter McCullough will join Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and many other opponents of COVID-19 vaccine mandates at a rally at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., this Sunday.
The event, Defeat the Mandates, will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Washington Monument with a march to the Lincoln Memorial.
But Malone, McCullough and Kennedy aren't just opponentsd of vaccine mandates -- they're opponents of COVID vaccines, period. Moore is falsely soft-pedaling the underlying purpose of the protest.
Reporting on the protest itself two days later, Joe Kovacs found a way to be completely dishonest in noting Kennedy's remarks:
Despite frigid temperatures, thousands of Americans showed up Sunday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to voice strong opposition to COVID-vaccine mandates.
"Every time you comply, you get weaker," said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a featured speaker at the "Defeat the Mandates" event. "Every time you say 'yes,' you're getting pushed back to a weaker position."
"The hill that you're going to die on is the hill you're on right now," he said, "and they're coming for our children."
Kennedy hammered the companies that manufacture the experimental vaccines being mandated in many locations worldwide, with no legal liability.
"You think they found Jesus suddenly ... and they're suddenly concerned with public health?" he said. "These are the companies that gave us the opioid crisis. These are not good citizens, these are criminal enterprises."
He warned of what he called "turnkey totalitarianism," as dark powers look "to control every aspect of behavior."
"Today the mechanisms are being put in place so none of us can run and none of us can hide," Kennedy said, warning of efforts to cut off the food supply.
Kovacs is lying by calling the vaccines "experimental" -- the fact that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have received full government approval discredits that talking point. But more disturbingly, Kovacs censored the fact that Kennedy made an offensive Nazi comparion in that speech. As a more reliable news outlet reported:
At a rally against vaccine mandates in Washington, DC, on Sunday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likened vaccine policies in the US to the actions of a totalitarian state, even suggesting Anne Frank was in a better situation when she was hiding from the Nazis.
"Even in Hitler Germany (sic), you could, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland. You could hide in an attic, like Anne Frank did," said Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine advocate, in a speech at the Lincoln Memorial. "I visited, in 1962, East Germany with my father and met people who had climbed the wall and escaped, so it was possible. Many died, true, but it was possible."
Kennedy's historically inaccurate anti-Semitic remark ignores the fact that Frank and some 6 million other Jews were murdered by Nazis. Frank, who was a teenager at the time, hid in an attic in the Netherlands, not Germany, before she was caught and was sent to a concentration camp, where she died.
It's unknown why Kovacs didn't consider that wildly inflammatory statement to be unworthy of mention -- perhaps because he knew it discredited him, and WND has an interest in keeping Kennedy viable as an anti-vaxxer. Indeed, back in November, Moore lavished an article on Kennedy misusing VAERS statistics to falsely claim that, in Moore's words, "the COVID-19 vaccines are deadlier than all vaccines combined over the past 30 years."
And since Kovacs didn't report the original statement, WND certainly did not report that Kennedy was shamed into semi-apologizing for it a couple days later. Kovacs did, at least, tacitly concede that the rally was really against the vaccines, not the mandates:
Kennedy was joined by doctors who have been censored by Big Tech as they warn of the dangers of the COVID shots.
Among them was Dr. Robert Malone, one of the developers of the technology being used in today's vaccines.
"These vaccines do not prevent omicron infection," Malone declared. "These products cannot achieve herd immunity and stop COVID."
"They are not completely safe and the full impact of their use remains unknown."
"The dark winter predicted by our president and pushed by the fear-mongers in our media, is failing to materialize," he continued.
He also did notte on of the crazier speakers in passing: "Rizza Islam, an author and minister for the Nation of Islam, said the devil is behind the current madness, saying 'Satan [is] the one who has obviously declared war on all humanity.'"But Kovacs didn't question why the anti=vaxxers he loves so much is hanging out with a member of the Nation of Islam, which WND is normally quick to attack as far-left radicals (and black ones at that).
Kovacs also refused to report just how extreme the crowd was, so we hae to turn to a more reliable news outlet for that:
The marchers carried posters and flags that included false statements such as “Vaccines are mass kill bio weapons” and “Trump won.” A bus was parked beside the Washington Monument, wrapped in “Arrest or Exile” signs and displaying pictures of Anthony S. Fauci, Bill Gates and Jacob Rothschild — the last an echo of antisemitic conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family.
[...]
As speakers took to the stage — including a group of doctors in white coats — the crowd roared its approval at lines comparing vaccine mandates to the actions of authoritarian regimes such as Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union and railing against the news media for its reporting on the scientific evidence supporting the coronavirus vaccines.
It could be that Kovacs agrees with many of these extreme views, so he didn't see them as newsworthy. But overall, WND's shoddy, hole-filled coverage of the rally shows why nobody trusts WND as a "news" source.
NEW ARTICLE: The MRC's Anniversary of Distraction Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center's coverage of the first anniversary of the Capitol riot featured nothing about its role in helping to incite it and everything about deflecting attention away from it. Read more >>
One way to stop CNSNews.com from picking at the Biden administration over employement numbers is to turn in impressive ones. That's what happened in January, and even Susan Jones could find little to complain about in her main article:
Even before the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its January employment report, the Biden administration signaled that it was expecting a "blip" in today's data.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CNN on Thursday morning that "this will be an an unusual month, potentially," because of the surge in omicron cases during the reporting period.
This morning, BLS delivered the "blip" referenced by Raimondo, but it was a very positive one:
The economy added 467,000 payroll jobs in January, way above the consensus estimate of +150,000. Some analysts were expecting 6-figure job losses for January.
The number of employed Americans increased by 1,199,000 in January to 157,174,000, the strongest showing in two years and just 1,692,000 below the record high of 158,866,000 in February 2020.
Because the number of unemployed Americans also increased (to 6,513,000 from 6,319,000), the unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 4.0 percent.
Impressively, the labor force participation rate increased by 0.3 points to 62.2 percent in January.
Jones, who is normally so good at cherry-picking numbers to denigrate the overall picture, couldn't find any this time.
The only sidebar this time was the usual grousing by editor Terry Jeffrey about government employment, but even he found a bright spot: "Government in the United States grew by a net of 23,000 workers in January with all of the government employment growth coming in local governments—particularly public schools--as state governments and the federal government actually decreased their employment."
Just Facts and its leader, James Agresti, is a fact-checker the Media Research Center and its "news" division, CNSNews.com, really likes -- which should be a red flag as to its right-wing bias. Agresti returned for a Feb. 1 CNS commentary to peddle the right-wing narrative against mask mandates:
The Media Research Center has spent the past few years hating the children's cartoon "Arthur" because it committed the offense of being relevant to the lives of its viewers -- thus, the MRC's meltdowns over the show 
One of the Media Research Center's anti-media tactics is best described as "flooding the zone" -- cranking out post after post about an issue it has designated to be an outrage with the goal of not only getting its fellow right-wing media outlets to join in the outrage but also to force non-right-wing outlets to pick up the story. We've documented the MRC's 
Pat Buchanan
The Media Research Center has a cruel streak, as seen by its 
Joe Biden took the presidential oath of office Jan. 20, 2021, repeating these words: "I, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God."
The Media Research Center 
The anti-vaxxers at WorldNetDaily 
Last year, the Media Research Center was a 
As much as the Media Research Center loves to complain about "liberal media" figures giving softball interviews to people, it 
Last fall, the Media Research Center 
WorldNetDaily's Art Moore used a Jan. 21 
One way to stop CNSNews.com from 
