Newsmax Columnist Defends Gabbard For Pushing Biolab Conspiracy Theory Topic: Newsmax
A March 25 Newsmax column by George J. Marlin is devoted to defending Tulsi Gabbard:
Earlier this month, inside-the-beltway progressives went ballistic after Gabbard made a statement concerning revelations of U.S. supported bio labs in Ukraine.
Gabbard stated the fact "that there are over 25 U.S.-funded bio labs in Ukraine, which if breached, would release and spread deadly pathogens across the United States and the world."
Reacting, progressives accused Gabbard of telling "traitorous lies," promoting "Russian Propaganda," "shilling for Putin" and Instagram is "shadow banning" her.
The leftist commentator, Keith Olbermann, demanded that Gabbard be arrested for being a "Russian asset" in time of war.
The left’s favorite tool, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, also jumped into the fray.
He declared, "Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda. Her treasonous lies may well cost lives." CNN contributor Alyssa Farah agreed: "I think Mitt Romney is absolutely right … this is … the Russians are spreading propaganda … it’s helping them get away with acts against Ukrainian civilians."
Huh?
To accuse Gabbard of treason — of betraying her country — for commenting on a matter in Ukraine is not only ludicrous but scary.
Marlin omitted the fact that Gabbard was not stating a fact. While there are biolabs in Ukraine, the U.S. is not running them and there is no evidence it is.By claiming otherwise, Gabbard is, in fact, spreading Russian disinformation. Still, Marlsin continued to falsely insist that Gabbard told the truth and that she was being persecuted by liberals, huffing that "Progressives arresting perceived dissenters is not new":
If the 1918 Sedition Act were in force today — the progressives would throw Tulsi Gabbard into the darkest dungeon for daring to speak the truth.
Yes, the left confirms Ron Paul’s maxim, "Truth is treason in the empire of lies."
Gabbard and I are on opposite sides of the political fence.
Nevertheless, I applaud her for standing up to the progressives and their "empire of lies."
I hope she continues to speak out and heeds Patrick Henry’s 1776 declaration, "If this be treason, make the most of it."
Whether it's treason is debatable, butGabbard is definitely not spreading facts and definitely is spreading Russian disinformation.
Newsmax's Hirsen Thinks Pixar Film is Evil And 'Occult' For Showing Non-Christians Topic: Newsmax
James Hirsen spent an entire March 22 Newsmax column lashing out at the new Pixar film "Seeing Red" for, essentially, dealing with a girl going through puberty and not being Christian enough:
Disney, via Pixar, is currently streaming a movie that is over-the-top in terms of its unsuitability and potential to cause outright harm to our youth.
The film "Turning Red" is being marketed as a coming of age story.
The setting is a Chinatown community located in Toronto, Canada. Lead character Meilin "Mei" Lee is 13 years-old and is in the process of transitioning to full-fledged womanhood.
Curiously, in this new state of transition, Mei discovers that whenever she feels angry, upset, or otherwise emotionally charged, she turns into a giant red panda. This condition is frequently accompanied by an unpleasant scent and some unfortunate occurrences.
The cinematic tale is apparently meant to be an allegory about female puberty, a kind of symbolic representation of the physiological, psychological, and emotional changes that occur in a female’s life as she journeys from youth to adolescence.
The panda manifestation, red in color, problematic, and emotionally intense, only happens to the women in Mei’s family.
The representation of the menstruation process is disrespectful and debasing in nature. But this is far from the worst of the film’s flaws. Adding to the potential mind, body, and soul-altering mix are the exploration of sexual urges and blatant participation in occult practices.
Wait, what? "Occult practices"? Yes, as Hirsen huffs further: "Christian parents should be especially concerned with the depictions of ancestor worship, polytheism, ritualistic practices, and supernatural transformations."
Actually, those things are better known as Chinese culture and Buddhism (the latter of which the right-wingers at MovieGuide similarly lashed out against). Millions of people follow those beliefs, but Hirsen seems obllivious to that. Instead, he found a pastor named Mike Signorelli to spread hate on the movie because shows people who areb't Christian:
During his clerical tenure, Pastor Signorelli has had extensive experience in a deliverance ministry, one in which he has had a key role in confronting evil itself.
This enables him to recognize imagery in the film that is not merely inappropriate, but dangerous to the spiritual well-being of our young ones.
"Even within the first eight minutes, you have chanting, communication with ancestors, and immediately a red flag should start to go off," he stated.
Additionally, he noted that scenes in the film contain numerous concepts that conflict with a biblical worldview. He warns of danger in the fact that "the movie contains an intermingling of spirituality and ritual."
[...]
"I cannot in good faith allow you to show this to your children knowing what I know about demonic spirits, knowing what I know about the cultures that demons create," he said.
Parents, relatives, and guardians of children and teens would be wise to take heed of Pastor Signorelli’s words regarding this film and other youth-oriented media that have hidden agendas embedded within.
Films are not inherently evil for showing how non-Christians live, but that's what Hirsen seems to believe.
NEW ARTICLE: A Black-Out At Newsmax Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax columnist Conrad Black seems to feel he needs to justify the pardon Donald Trump gave him for financial crimes by buying into his Big Lie and sucking up to him at every opportunity. Read more >>
Newsmax Keeps Up Trump Rally Stenography, Hides His Screw-Ups Topic: Newsmax
As befits its status as a pro-Trump suck-up, Newsmax is continuing to serve up stenograhy of Donald Trump's various rallies, touting what he says without bothering to fact-check -- so much so, in fact, that Newsmax's TV website has a standing page promoting how "Newsmax will air these rallies live!" while "Most major cable news channels including Fox News have restricted or censored live coverage of these Trump rallies." For his March 26 rjally in Georgia, reporter Eric Mack cranked out stenographic articles, including a couple that summed up an interview Trump did with Newsmax TV host John Bachman:
Mack was silent on the fact that the crowd for Trump's rally was a small one, especially compared to previous rallies. He also refused to report that Trump yet again praised Russia's Vladimir Putin as "smart" and praised other authoritarian leaders like China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un by saying that "the smartest one gets to the top."
The following week, thiere was another Trump rally, and after a preview touting the rally featuring contributions from Mack an another article toting, more stenography by Mack:
Again, Mack censored statements from Trump that were false or made him look bad. He caimed that he was once named Michigan's man of the year -- an assertion nobody in Michigan understands -- and he also mocked the spelling of local businessman and Republican Rep. Peter Meijer, whose challenger for the GOP nomination Trump endorsed because Meijer voted to impeach him. Not only is Meijer crushing said endorsee in fundraising, he's also a member of the family that founded a hugely successful namesake superstore chain with locations in and around Michigan, so everyone at the rally already knows how to spell and pronounce his name.
But Newsmax is not about the truth when it comes to Trump -- its job is to make him happy.
Newsmax Continued To Promote Greitens Until New Abuse Allegations Surfaced Topic: Newsmax
Last year, Newsmax and columnist Bernard Kerik gavepromotion to Eric Greitens, who had resigned in disgrace as Missouri's governor over allegations of blackmailing a mistress with sexual photos and election spending shenanigans and is now running for a Senate seat in the state. That promotion continued in the first part of this year.
A March 4 article by Charlie McCarthy hyped how "Donald Trump is telling people he's open to endorsing Eric Greitens in the Missouri U.S. Senate race despite having criticized the former governor over the scandal that forced him from office," adding that "Trump allies say the former president's flirtation with Greitens largely centers on the candidate's opposition to McConnell – something other Missouri candidates haven't expressed." McCarthy did note Greitens' record of scandal and fears he would lose the election if nominated.
Perhaps as a sweetener aimed at Trump, the Trump-fluffers at Newsmax also gave Greitens a March 9 column to rant about a foundation funded by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg funding election efforts in Missouri in 2020 and that where the money was given"Democratic candidates far out performed their traditional turnout while Republican candidates did not." He cited no source for this claim beyond obliquely and weirdly referring to "the reportage of the present day."
Newsmax's coverage wasn't completely devoid of reality, though. A Dec. 8 article featured right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt begging Trump not to endorse Greitens because he "will lose the seat," The article noted that Greitens "resigned from the statehouse in 2018 amid a scandal that involved alleged misuse of a mailing list for a charity he founded to benefit fellow veterans and an affair with his hairstylist at the same time he was married to his second wife."
The positive coverage Greitens was receiving, however, came to a screeching halt a couple weeks later when Greitens' ex-wife came forward with new allegations of domestic abuse. Newsmax turned against him quickly after that:
A March 22 article by Eric Mack featured Republican Sen. Ron Blunt, who currently holds the seat Greitens is running for, calling on him to drop out of the race.
An article the next day by Sandy Fitzgerald featured Missouri's attorney general calling on Greitens to drop out, declaring that "Eric Greitens belongs in a prison cell, not on the ballot for U.S. Senate. He should withdraw his candidacy immediately."
A March 28 article by John Gizzi noted that Greitens has dropped in polls since the accusations went public, adding that sources claimd that "Trump — once thought to be leading toward an endorsement of the former governor's comeback bid — would now remain neutral in the primary on Aug. 2."
Gizzi also arote a March 31 article stating that "Two days after St. Louis beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine entered the Democrat [sic] primary for U.S. senator from Missouri, there were increased calls on the Republican side for controversial former Gov. Eric Greitens to exit the race," adding that "Busch Valentine's surprise entry into the race comes as a just-completed Trafalgar Poll shows the charges against Greitens have taken their toll."
Newsmax Uniroinically Complains That The Media Lies Topic: Newsmax
Gene Berardelli ranted in a March 18 Newsmax column under the headline "There's No Denying It Anymore: The Media Lies to You":
Once upon a time, corporate media put in some effort to try to convince us that it was fair and impartial purveyor of news and current events. These days, news has given way to narrative.
If you needed further proof, you need not look further than the New York Times, who buried the lede when it confirmed the legitimacy of the New York Post’s much-maligned stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop in the middle of its coverage of The Justice Department’s investigation into his business dealings.
[...]
Sorry cannot be good enough. Not anymore. We, the duped, cannot allow this latest instance of media malfeasance to go unnoticed. We must remember those like Psaki and CNN and everyone else who embraced narrative over news, and hold them to account.
We can no longer tolerate hatchet jobs based on nameless and faceless “people familiar with” whatever the issue may be.
The time for half-measures is over. The benefit of the doubt is gone. Either corporate media returns to its reporting roots, or it’s time we get our news from those committed to reporting the news, not becoming the news.
Berardelli made no mention of the irony of his column being published by Newsmax, which is currently being sued by voting-tech companies Dominion and Smartmatic for spreading fake news about them, and which also settled a defamation lawsuit filed by a Dominion executive last year out of court.
Perhaps Berardelli should be looking closer at media malfeasance at the place that publishes his column before he casts aspersions elsewhere.
Newsmax Still Taking Shots At Fox News, Carlson For Supporting Putin Topic: Newsmax
As the Russian war in Ukraine has continued, so has Newsmax's sniping atFox News in general and host Tucker Carlson in particular for taking Russia's side.
A March 14 article by Theodore Bunker noted how "The Kremlin has been urging Moscow-friendly media outlets to use more material from No. 1 Fox News host Tucker Carlson to defend the Russia's actions in Ukraine," adding that "The Fox host has blamed NATO for fomenting the crisis as it has added states close to Russia to its membership. Carlson has made this claim though NATO had never formally offered membership to Ukraine."
Dick Morris lashed out again at Carlson in a March 16 column:
For over three decades in my professional work, I faced off against Russian propaganda in elections in Mexico, Taiwan, Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Ukraine, and even in Russia itself.
Through this time, I've discerned certain patterns in how our adversary fights against freedom and seeks to manipulate minds.
Eerily, I find myself dealing with this dangerous propaganda from Fox's Tucker Carlson.
He has effectively become Vladimir Putin's number one ally in the United States today (though I realize Carlson does not see it that way).
Remember, the Russians may not be great military geniuses, but their expertise in propaganda and psychological warfare is unparalleled.
Morris went on to note that "Neither Putin's nor Carlson's claims hold up under any scrutiny," adding:
Carlson has every right to hold his point of view.
He is not guilty of treason for doing so, and nor is Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democrat representative from Hawaii.
But his isolationism in the face of Putin's evil, even advocated with the best of intentions, endangers us all.
A March 18 article by Eric Mack noted that "Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is praising Fox News' coverage of its war on Ukraine, hailing it as 'trying to represent some alternative points of view' and denouncing 'information terrorism,'" adding that "Since the onset of the war, Fox’s Tucker Carlson has become a media star in Russia, as the Kremlin has urged state-owned media outlets to replay clips from his top-rated cable show."
A March 28 article by Luca Cacciatore recounted a Newsmax TV appearance in which the brother of the mayor of Kyiv took a shot at Carlson:
Wladimir Klitschko, the brother of Kyiv's mayor and a former two-time heavyweight world champion boxer, characterized Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine to Newsmax on Monday as "a pure genocide."
He also lashed out at Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and other Americans who have vocally opposed offering military aid to Ukraine. This, in an appearance on "Eric Bolling The Balance."
Bolling himself lashed out at Carlson, as described in an April 6 article:
Newsmax host Eric Bolling delivered an impassioned plea to Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, regarding the latter's views on Russia's war with Ukraine.
In a six-minute monologue, Bolling asked Carlson — his former colleague at Fox — to take back previous comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin could potentially use to justify the atrocities.
[...]
Bolling said he thinks Russian officials "see Tucker Carlson as their ally, the guy across the ocean who's helping their cause."
He added: "Tucker, I respect what you're doing; your wit and wisdom are right up there. But you spend too much time up in your intellectual ivory tower. Let me tell you what [it] looks like down here.
"... Now is the time to come down from the ivory tower, time to speak out against past comments, current comments even, or actions that in any way show support for Russia — or can be used by Russia in a way to show that any of us support what they're doing there."
Michael Reagan's Biden Derangement Syndrome, Russia Edition Topic: Newsmax
My father stood strong and did the right thing in 1986 and a year later he and Gorbachev had their historic weapons agreement that began the end of the Cold War.
We now have a weak president who wants to get along with the Russians.
And Putin knows it.
What Biden needs to do is make it crystal clear to Putin that although he paid no price for his annexation of Crimea in 2014, he’ll pay dearly if he invades Ukraine.
That means major economic and financial sanctions and energy policies designed to do what my father did to the old USSR — bankrupt Putin’s Russia.
We ordinary citizens don’t know whether Putin will actually invade Ukraine with the 127,000 Russian soldiers he’s placed at its borders or whether he’s just bluffing.
But the Biden administration — which belongs to the Neville Chamberlain School of Foreign Policy — doesn’t know what Putin is going to do, either.
Biden has just sent 3,000 troops over to Eastern Europe not to fight the Russians but to show Putin that America means business when it tells him not to take the part of Ukraine he hasn’t already grabbed.
That's Biden's way of trying to be tough on Russia.
But if we had a real leader with guts and brains, we'd tell Putin if he doesn’t pull his troops from the Ukraine border within 72 hours we’ll bankrupt him like we did in the 1980s.
We’ll shut down Russia’s vital Nord Stream natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany, reopen our Keystone Pipeline, free up our oil and gas frackers and flood America and the rest of the world with lower-cost energy.
That poor, corrupt and undemocratic Eastern European country is in the process of being beaten into submission and conquered by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
It should surprise no one.
Putin has been telling us for months, and showing us for weeks by encircling Ukraine with 150,000 Russian soldiers, what he was going to do.
Now Putin’s doing it — and there’s nothing we can do about it.
This is the kind of stuff that happens when there is a weak leader in the White House.
The invasion of eastern Ukraine proves that of the two countries, the United States and Russia, only one has a strong leader — and it’s not the U.S.
[...]
But for now, thanks to the Biden administration’s one-two punch of weakness and incompetence, Ukraine is now Putin’s to do with what he wants.
He’s been waiting for a weakling like Biden to occupy the White House and he has not let the opportunity pass him by.
He’s 73. He knows he’s personally running out of time to "Make Russia Great Again" (MRGA).
He also knew that he had only a four-year window to make his dream a reality.
He had to "MRGA" before Biden or his inevitable successor, the even more clueless Kamala Harris — was replaced by a competent president with a spine.
The fact is, no matter what you think of Donald Trump — and people know I don’t think very highly of him – the invasion of Ukraine would have never happened under Trump and certainly not under Ronald Reagan.
The late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., once said, "Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country." Which is true. It’s also a gas station with an army. An army financed by energy prices.
High energy prices fuel Putin's ambitions. Low energy prices limit his adventurism.
The Biden (or Brandon) administration’s anti-fossil fuel energy policies ended energy independence in the United States.
The end of energy independence drove gas prices up here and contributed to the global increase in oil and gas prices; this made Joe Biden one of the financiers of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And it's what happens when your nation is run by the kool kids from middle school.
Last week we wondered what President Biden was going to say in his first State of the Union address that was new, upbeat or important.
Unfortunately, this week we found out.
Nothing.
Biden meandered around for an hour.
[...]
A major problem we have in the "Free World" today is that there are no strong leaders except maybe for Ukraine’s heroic president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
To keep Putin from invading Ukraine, we needed a strong leader like Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher or Pope John Paul. Instead, all we had was Joe Biden.
So for now, it looks like the only way to end the war in Ukraine is if the people of Russia bring on a coup.
NEW ARTICLE: The Newsmax Personnel Merry-Go-Round Topic: Newsmax
Between anti-vaxxers, deadbeat dads and credibly accused sexual harassers, Newsmax has hired a rogue's gallery of on-air talent and commentators. Read more >>
Trump's Pollster Accuses Biden Of Trying To Wag The Dog On Russia Topic: Newsmax
McLaughlin & Associates was Donald Trump's pollster for the 2020 campaign, so it's no surprise it cranks out alleged polls that are designed to make the guy who beat Trump look bad. In their Feb. 25 Newsmax column, John and Jim McLaughlin accused Biden of trying to wag the dog over Russia:
Our most recent national poll of 1,000 likely voters was completed on the cusp of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just as President Biden was trying to publicly face down Vladimir Putin and rally the world to oppose the invasion.
Normally, at times of crisis the American public rallies to support our President. Currently, this is not the case. After weeks of President Biden wagging the dog against Putin and Russia, he still received only a 41% job approval with 57% disapproval. The same negative job rating as last month.
Even Joe Biden’s base is not rallying to him. President Biden has high level of disapproval among 2020 Biden voters 22%, Democrats 19%, African Americans 37%, women 55%, Hispanics 57% and independents 64%.
The reasons for this are obvious. Two thirds, 64%, of all voters say that America is on the wrong track. Only 32% say right direction. As gas and food prices rise the top issue is inflation. The number of voters saying the economy is in recession rose to 57%.
Needless to say, the McLaughlins believe this is very good news for their former employer:
In contrast, as we saw last month, President Biden’s colossal failure strengthens former President Trump. This explains the Democratic and liberal media’s more recent desperate attacks on President Trump. They are feeble attempts to stop him from running again. They must have the same poll numbers.
Based on support for President Trump, his statement that Putin’s war in Ukraine would never have happened if he were still President seems very credible with the voters.
It appears that the McLaughlins have never polled voters about Trump's remarks praising Vladimir Putin as "savvy" and a "genius" -- that would have made him look bad. Instead, for their March 28 column, the McLaughlins served up more anti-Biden polling that, of course, was good news for Trump:
The real beneficiary of Biden’s failure remains former President Donald Trump.
68% of all likely Republican primary voters want Trump to run in 2024.
If Trump runs again Republican primary voters will support him 82% to 15%.
In a wide 2024 Republican primary field of 13 potential presidential candidates, former President Trump leads with 55%, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., 15%, and former Vice-President Mike Pence 13%.
All others received 2% or less.
It seems that the McLaughlin might be using their polls to audition for another job in a future Trump campaign.
Newsmax Censors Why People Might Think Rittenhouse Is A White Supremacist Topic: Newsmax
Solange Reyner wrote in a Feb. 25 Newsmax article:
Kyle Rittenhouse says he wants an apology from "cowardly" President Joe Biden.
"Biden called me a white supremacist," Rittenhouse told Newsmax's Eric Bolling: The Balance.
"I tried to reach out to him five times to have an interview but he was too cowardly to sit down and talk to me so we may be sending him a letter. I want him to apologize; what he said was wrong. I want him to sit down with me and learn the facts of what happened to me."
Rittenhouse, who beat homicide charges after killing two people at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, protest, on Wednesday announced plans to sue Biden, along with NBA star LeBron James and actress Whoopi Goldberg for allegedly defaming him.
However, Reyner failed to tell her readers the reason why people might think Rittenhouse could be a white supremacist: He hung out in a bar in Wisconsin with members of the white nationalist Proud Boys, where he allegedly drank three beers -- he was 18 at the time, meaning he committed a crime -- posed for photos with members of Proud Boys and flashed a “white power” hand sign, all while wearing a T-shirt that said "Free As F**k." That seems important and highly relevant to this story.
Rittenhouse is now claiming that the bar visit was set up by his attorney at the time and he didn't know what the "white power" hand sign was. That's relevant as well and also needed to be part of the story. But Reyner's suggestion that Rittenhouse was being called a white supremacist apropos of notihng is dishonest and leaves a false impression.
It's not as if Reyner wasn't aware of this. In a February 2021 article, she wrote that prosecurors, in requesting that Rittenhouse be arrested for violating bail, "wrote in their filing that Rittenhouse 'demonstrated his carefree attitude by going to a bar immediately after his arraignment on Jan. 5, 2021, and drinking 3 beers in the company of known 'Proud Boys' while flashing white supremacist signs and wearing a 'Free as (expletive)' shirt.'" It seems that Reyner is trying to memory-hole this inconvenient little fact.
Newsmax's Parade Of 'Non-Clinician' COVID Misinformers Keeps Marching On Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax continues to allow its columnists to peddle misinformation about COVID and its vaccines, then tries to weasel out of taking responsibility for the misinformation with a disclaimer noting that a "non-clinician" wrote the column. Nicholas Chamberas and Conrad Black have done so recently, but they're not the only ones.
Dick Morris insisted in a Jan. 11 column that because the Omicron variant "is very unlikely to kill people, especially children," that means "an unvaccinated person poses little risk to others but significant risk to himself" and, thus, "it is neither anti-social nor irresponsible not to get a shot. It is simply an individual’s right to decide." In fact, five times as many children were hospitalized with Omicron than with previous variants.
Larry Bell argued in his Jan. 12 column that Omicron could "actually be a blessing — not just for my family and me, but also for many millions of others — perhaps serving as nature's vaccine."
Michael Reagan -- who likes to misinform about COVID -- complained in his Jan. 14 column that the CDC put an advisory against taking cruises at the height of Omicron because "these days a cruise ship is actually one of the safest places on the planet": "Passengers and crews are 100% vaccinated. Masks are mandatory in public spaces except when eating or drinking. Ships are not booked to full capacity. And there is a hospital with doctors and nurses on board." He then conceded a conflict of interest: "As I've mentioned before, my wife is a travel agent who books people on cruises and I often tag along."
In a Jan. 18 column, Christine Flowers attacked a study claiming that "schools that had mask mandates had fewer cases of COVID-19 than those without," though another study has since come to the same conclusion.
Judd Dunning ranted in his Jan. 18 column: "Brainwashed faithful lapdogs are getting unauthorized 4th and 5th COVID shots. Many in our own elite military forces and professional athletes across the globe are protesting vaccination injury risks while others, like [Novak] Djokovic, have been publicly paraded COVID detention like prisoners. Life insurance firms are reporting a spike of over 100,000 deaths a month beyond COVID." Dunning is implicitly blaming vaccines for the supposed deaths "beyond COVID," which isn't true.
Chamberas returned to rant in his Jan. 19 column: "In 2022 we are experiencing a requiem of the era in which "bloodletting" is passionately defended at all costs. The modern-day version of arrogantly supporting bloodletting is the stubborn defense of vaccine mandates!" He added: "This is no longer about healthcare but a Robespierre-inspired reign of terror against those deemed non-compliant to a persuasive loyalty oath for the regime in power. Comply or your life as you know is over instantly. This type of violent coercion runs counter to the ideals upon which our nation was founded."
Marc Schulte hurled his usual blizzard of numbers in his Jan. 19 column, while at one point claiming, "A possible contributing cause for the colossal 42% increase in COVID deaths between 2020 and 2021, in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, is President Biden's insane policy, since Inauguration Day, of allowing millions of untested migrants to cross the southern border with Mexico." Medical experts disagree.
Michael Dorstewitz claimed in his Jan. 26 column that "the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) admitted last week that standard cloth masks are ineffective. They're just for show, to announce to everyone you meet that you're superior because you're wearing a mask. And vaccines aren't much better." In fact, the CDC didn't say that cloth masks were "ineffective"; they're just not as protective as N95 or KN95 masks.
Jared Whitley huffed in a March 7 column: "The insanity over masks has been particularly pronounced, especially because they accomplish virtually nothing to stop the spread of disease."
Gene Crume declared in a Feb. 23 column that "There is no such evidence for mandates" for vaccines or masks.
Reagan (with Michael Shannon) returned in a March 8 column: "When a swine flu vaccine was rushed to market in 1976 the VAERS database reported 25 deaths and the vaccine was judged too dangerous and pulled from the market. The same VAERS database lists 24,402 deaths from COVID-19 vaccinations and your federal government continues to claim the jab is just fine." Reagan and Shannon are just the latest anti-vaxxers deliberately misinterpreting VAERS data; reports of deaths there are unverified.
Instead of lazily slapping a "non-clinician" disclaimer on these columns, wouldn't Newsmax improve its credibility if it fact-checked columnists before publishing them?
Dick Morris Still Pushing Fantasy Of Hillary Run In 2024 Topic: Newsmax
wrong Newsmax pundit Dick Morris just can't stop pushing the idea of Hillary Clinton running for president in 2024. His latest attempt to breathe life into a claim that lacks supporting evidence was detailed in a Feb. 20 article:
The next presidential race is shaping up to be a rematch of the 2016 contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, political strategist Dick Morris predicted Sunday.
Speaking to "The Cats Roundtable" radio show on WABC 770 AM hosted by John Catsimatidis, Morris called the showdown "a pretty good bet."
Morris explained his rationale by laying out a timeline of what he thinks will happen, starting with the Democratic Party forcing President Joe Biden to announce that he is not running again after the party suffers a major defeat in the midterm elections later this year.
Morris outlined an outlandish -- and completely evidence-free -- scenario in which the Democrats would cycle through candidates to the point that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will run -- "she’ll be three months old enough to be president in 2024," Morris added -- which will supposedly "force the establishment to rally behind Hillary to stop AOC ... just like they rallied to Biden to stop Bernie Sanders in 2020."
Morris comes off as a guy who wants to feed right-wing fantasies as a ploy to appear on radio and TV -- never mind the fact that his reputation as a wildly wrong political prognosticator precedes him.
UPDATE: He's not the only one at Newsmax pushing this fantasy, though. A Feb. 28 article by Luca Cacciatore hyped a CPAC poll claiming that "a plurality, 22%, believe Hillary Clinton has a greater chance of being the Democratic Party's 2024 nominee than President Joe Biden." Cacciatore also referenced "an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal last month from Democratic insiders Douglas E. Schoen and Andrew Stein pushing for her to make a 'political comeback' in 2024." Actually, Schoen is no "Democratic insider"; he's a Fox News Democrat brought on to trash Democrats, and he has donated to and raised money for Republican candidates. Charlie McCarthy referenced the CPAC poll in a March 16 article noting Hillary's dismissive response to Vladimir Putin sanctioning her and other Democrats.
Newsmax Still Bashing Fox's Carlson For Supporting Russia -- But Airs Its Own Pro-Russia Rhetoric Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax has continued to lash out at Fox News' Tucker Carlson for effectively taking Russia's side in the Ukraine conflict -- but it has also forwarded some pro-Russia, anti-Ukraine rhetoric of its own.
Dick Morris has been Newsmax's chief Tucker-basher, and he did that again in a Jan. 21 article by Charlie McCarthy:
Former presidential adviser Dick Morris ripped Fox News host Tucker Carlson Friday for "helping to join the Putin people" who are trying to scare Americans into believing that defending Ukraine against Russia will lead to a long, costly war.
Carlson on Tuesday tweeted, "America is moving towards war with Russia, and the media is encouraging it." On his program Thursday night, he told viewers that the U.S. defending Ukraine "serves no American interest."
Morris slammed Carlson's hyperbole and told Newsmax a war between the U.S. and Russia will not happen.
"He should know better, that economic sanctions can accomplish [stopping Russian aggression]," said Morris, a former adviser to then-Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
"I can't believe that Tucker Carlson is so willing to throw away the entire legacy and work of President Ronald Reagan," he said, noting Reagan's success is liberating Eastern Europe from communist subjugation.
Republican senators say they are not moved by Fox News host Tucker Carlson's recent rants in favor of Russia's Vladimir Putin while deriding support of Ukraine.
Carlson has been on a tirade rationalizing Russia's aggression toward Ukraine and downplaying its relevance to U.S. national security.
But major Republican figures are not afraid of taking on Fox's top-rated host for what they believe is dangerous thinking, if not outright propaganda.
[...]
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said lawmakers' actions are more important than TV hosts' opinions.
"Our allies around the world — obviously after Afghanistan — are doubting our credibility, our reliability," Cornyn said.
Dick Morris, a veteran political strategist and Newsmax analyst, has worked on Ukrainian elections and believes Carlson is deceiving the public.
Morris bashed Carlson again on Newsmax TV on Feb. 22:
Those who have been apologists for Russia and Vladimir Putin – like Fox News' Tucker Carlson – are woefully "short-sighted" about this "takeaway" by the "expansionist" regime, starting a "de facto world war," according to political strategist Dick Morris on Newsmax.
"Tucker Carlson, amazingly, on Fox News, said that he would choose Russia over Ukraine – I mean, how short-sighted could you be?" Morris told Tuesday's "America Agenda."
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Morris used his Feb. 24 column to beat up on Carlson some more:
But as war now rages in Europe with Russia’s reckless and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine, everything we feared about Vladimir Putin is coming true.
Still Fox’s top host is doubling down on his own support of the Russian dictator and even claims he would back Russia over innocent Ukraine.
Carlson is making claims which are patently false.
As I have written before, he's smarter than this.
I don’t know what his motive is, but I do know it’s a problem that he's seeking to win over normally sane rational Fox News viewers, and by osmosis, some Newsmax viewers.
[...]
We are watching pure 1930s-style appeasement in action on Fox News and in Carlson’s show. It’s not an invasion. It’s an incursion. It’s not important. Ukraine is not a vital ally. It’s none of our business. It’s Europe’s problem. They’re corrupt.
Such talking points must be dear to Putin’s heart as they split the conservative freedom-loving Republicans in America and sap the very limited reservoir of courage and resolve in Joe Biden’s heart.
Offering a coward a way out is like buying a drunk a drink.
Newsmax chief Christopher Ruddy even issued a company statement bashing Carlson's support for Putin:
Newsmax believes Russia has made a major transgression and this should be condemned strongly by all people. I think we are seeing for conservatives a clarity moment where Fox News’ main host is stating categorically he is siding with Putin and Russia in support of the invasion. Newsmax supports President Biden’s efforts to stop this invasion, if anything we think he is not being strong enough. We believe there is a bipartisan consensus in opposition to this dangerous aggression.
But as Mediaite noted, "Ruddy’s statement raised eyebrows across the media world, however, as Newsmax’s content in the past week and even 24 hours has been both highly critical of Biden and dismissive of the severity of Putin’s invasion," adding:
The conservative news network released the statement some twelve hours after Michael Savage appeared on Newsmax and condemned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “puppet of George Soros” who “provoked” Putin. Earlier on Thursday night, host Greg Kelly excused Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by comparing it to the U.S. invasion of Iraq under George W. Bush and went on to claim the U.S. should get rid of term limits, arguing Putin’s lengthy reign has benefitted Russia.
Meanwhile, another Newsmax TV host, Rob Schmitt, got a dressing down by none other than John Bolton for giving too much credit to Donald Trump for containing Russia, as Mediaite also reported:
Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton corrected and scolded Newsmax host Rob Schmitt on Monday evening over the assertion that Vladimir Putin didn’t invade Ukraine while Donald Trump was president because his administration was “very tough” on Russia.
[...]
“In almost every case the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard,” said Bolton. “The fact is he barely knew where Ukraine was.”
“He once asked John Kelly, the second chief of staff, if Finland were part of Russia,” Bolton continued. “It’s just not accurate to say that Trump’s behavior somehow deterred the Russians.”
[...]
Toward the end of the interview, Schmitt said that credit is nevertheless due, and claimed Trump was the first to warn Europe about the dangers of relying on Russian gas and oil.
“The first person to tell the Europeans not to rely on Russian oil and gas was Ronald Reagan,” said Bolton, which elicited a “Fair enough,” from Schmitt.
Newsmax needs to work a bit on unifying its messaging.
Newsmax Defends Trump Against Conservatives At National Review Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax remains firmly in Trump suck-up mode, and that was made clear again in a Feb. 6 "news" article by Eric Mack defending Donald Trump against the conservatives at National Review, complaining that "the magazine ran a lead editorial criticizing the Republican National Committee for censuring Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., calling the move "both morally repellent" and "political malpractice of the highest order." Mack huffed in response: "National Review did not criticize the House Democrats for not seeking accountability for the one in charge of Capitol security on Jan. 6 -- Pelosi."
In fact, Pelosi was not in charge of the Capitol police nor a member of any committee supervising it at the time of the Capitol riot.
Mack further complained: "While National Review has embraced progressive talking points on the Jan. 6 protests, it has not excoriated Democrats to the same degree for embracing months of violent George Floyd protests, nor has it called for Congressional hearings into the mayhem." In fact, the vast majority of protests against police brutality in 2020 were peaceful.
Mack also grumbled: "Last year, National Review's lead legal writer and Fox News contributor, Andrew McCarthy, even called for Trump's conviction after Democrats brought forth a politically motivated impeachment on legally dubious grounds." Mack didn't mention that McCarthy agreed that Trump's impeachment was "politically motivated" -- as all impeachments are -- he would have voged to impeach because "Impeachable conduct for which condemnation is warranted did in fact occur."
Meanwhile, Charlie McCarthy lived up to his name by uncritically mouthing Trump's words in a Feb. 8 article:
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning said President Joe Biden wouldn't have needed to threaten closure of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if he had continued Trump administration policy.
Biden on Monday warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. would "bring an end" to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russian troops invade Ukraine.
"Well, I stopped it, but I stopped it differently," Trump said Tuesday during an interview on Fox Business. "I stopped it with the threat of tariffs and with various other things. And it was stopped. It was dead. It was absolutely dead.
"Biden came in and he opened it. And he killed our pipeline, Keystone XL. But I stopped it. I had it stopped … I didn't know what he was doing, he came in and he said, 'Proceed with that [Nord Stream] pipeline.' "
In fact, the Trump White House, through then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, issued guidance that exempted the project from sanctions measures passed by Congress in 2017; at the time, Trump was trying to cozy up to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. It wasn't until later in his administration, Decmeber 2019 -- after the pipeline continued construction for three years during his administration -- that Trump sanctioned the entities building the pipeline, effectively stopping construction on it. The project was restarted in late 2020 as the entities found a way around the sanctions; Biden lifted the sanctions after he took office because it was clear they would no longer stop the project, and they were replaced in July 2021 with an agreement that the U.S. and Germany would impose costs on Russia regarding the pipeline if it harmed Ukraine or other European countries -- which is what happened when Russia invaded Ukraine.
A March 25 Newsmax column by George J. Marlin is devoted to defending Tulsi Gabbard:
James Hirsen spent an entire March 22 Newsmax 
As befits its status as a pro-Trump suck-up, Newsmax is continuing to 
Last year, Newsmax and columnist Bernard Kerik 
My father stood strong and did the right thing in 1986 and a year later he and Gorbachev had their historic weapons agreement that began the end of the Cold War.
Solange Reyner wrote in a Feb. 25 Newsmax 
wrong Newsmax pundit Dick Morris just can't stop 
