MRC Does Stenography For RNC In Partisan Attack On Google
Topic: Media Research Center

Earlier this year, we documented how the Media Rsearch Center falsely misrepresented a study, claiming that it showed Google's Gmail was exhibiting bias by sending more Republican campaign emails to the spam filter than Democratic emails -- but largely censored the fact that any purported bias goes away when users adjust their spam settings to receive those emails. Despite how misleading it is, it has become a full-blown right-wing narrative, and the Republican National Committee has decided to play along. Brian Bradley served as the RNC's stenographer in an Oct. 3 post:

The Republican National Committee told MRC Free Speech America on Monday that Gmail suppressed over 22 million GOP get-out-the-vote and fundraising emails Wednesday through Friday.

Gmail sent more than 3.1 million RNC emails to users’ spam filters on Wednesday, more than 9.8 million emails to spam on Thursday and nearly 10 million emails on Friday, the RNC said.

“We’re 40 days out from Election Day, we do not have any new transparency from Google,” the RNC wrote in an emailed statement. “We have raised this issue with Google for months with no resolution. On top of it all, our emails have been suppressed despite concrete changes that have improved overall performance.”

This comes more than a month after the FEC approved a Google pilot program to supposedly remove political spam bias from the email provider’s email filter, following widespread outcry among Republican politicians and political organizations.

[...]

A March North Carolina State University study exposed that Gmail marked 67.6 percent of right-leaning candidates’ emails as spam and just 8.2 percent of left-leaning candidates’ emails as spam.

In fact, the NC State researchers pointed out that right-wing partisans like the MRC have misrepresented the study's findings, adding that any blocking occurred only in default settings on newly created accounts and that users are free to tweak their spam settings to receive any email they want. One researcher even said: "Gmail isn’t biased like the way it’s being portrayed. ... I’m not advocating for Gmail or anything. I’m just stating that when we take the observation out of a study, you should take all of the observations, not just cherry-pick a few and then try to use them."

But instead of publishing what the researchers actually said, Bradley simply parroted Republican attacks on Google. Bradley also did not provide a link to any RNC data that supports its partisan conclusions, though he embedded two graphs that are too small to see what they are actually of. He also touted how "GOP party leadership is reportedly exploring unspecified 'legal options' to end Google’s 'clear pattern of bias.'"

When the RNC did launch that legal action, Bradley returned as stenographer again in an Oct. 24 post:

The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Friday asking a California court to require Google to stop sending hordes of Republican politicians’ campaign emails to Gmail users’ spam folders.

The RNC alleged seven counts against Google in its lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, including violation of California’s common carrier law, unfair competition, discrimination and negligence.

The committee is seeking a judgment that Google’s political email spam practices are illegal, an order banning Google from spamming RNC’s emails to supporters, and compensatory damages.  

Google has pushed “millions of RNC emails en masse to potential donors’ and supporters’ spam folders during pivotal points in election fundraising and community building,” the lawsuit alleges.

Bradley again misrepresented the results of the NC State study, andhe gave space to more right-wing activists. It wasn't until the 14th paragraph of his item that Bradley bothered to include a response from Google:

In a statement Monday to MRC Free Speech America, Google denied any actions to filter emails based on political affiliation.

“As we have repeatedly said, we simply don't filter emails based on political affiliation,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in a statement to MRC Free Speech America. “Gmail’s spam filters reflect users’ actions. We provide training and guidelines to campaigns, we recently launched an FEC-approved pilot for political senders, and we continue to work to maximize email deliverability while minimizing unwanted spam.”

But that's only two paragraphs of an 18-paragraph article. The rest are spent attacking Google -- ironic given how much energy the MRC expends complaining about alleged bias in other media outlets.

UPDATE: We found even more Republican stenography from the MRC over the email issue -- which also misrepresented the NC State study. Bradley touted an "EXCLUSIVE" in a July 5 post:

Republican senators are calling on Google to take quicker action after the company recently asked the Federal Election Commission to approve a pilot program to address concerns that Gmail’s spam algorithm disproportionately affects GOP electioneering campaigns.

Google’s filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) claims emails from participating campaigns won’t be “subject to regular spam detection algorithms.” But Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) flagged the FEC’s approval timeline as one of several concerns associated with the pilot, which comes at a critical time as GOP and Democratic campaigns briskly move forward just four months ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

“It is difficult to see how the proposed filing with the FEC to conduct a pilot program accomplishes anything beyond delay and distraction from reforming [Google’s] practices to allow for transparent, fair and equal treatment of Republicans and Democrats,” Daines told MRC Free Speech America in an e-mail. “Response for permission to conduct the six month pilot may take 18 months. It isn’t acceptable to allow one political party unfair and unequal advantage of this significance on such a dominant platform critical to the outcome of elections.”

Bradley served up more "EXCLUSIVE" Republican whining over the pilot program in an Aug. 17 post:

Republican politicians knocked Google’s newly approved email plan, suggesting it doesn’t  go far enough to ensure GOP fundraising emails reach Gmail users’ inboxes.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Aug. 11 approved a proposed pilot by Google to address GOP concerns that too few Republican political fundraising emails were reaching Gmail users’ inboxes. The approval follows a March North Carolina State University study that exposed how Gmail marked 67.6 percent of right-leaning candidates’ emails as spam and just 8.2 percent of left-leaning candidates’ emails as spam. 

In addition to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Republican Sens. Steve Daines (MT) and John Thune (SD) expressed doubt that Google will shore up its documented left-leaning spam filter bias, even after the FEC approved Google’s pilot proposal.

The MRC working hand-in-glove in pushing this anti-Google narrative demonstrates that it's a partisan storyline, not serious "media research."

WND Keeps Fearmongering Over COVID Vaccines For Children
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily has long fearmongered about COVID vaccines for children, and it's not about to stop. Art Moore complained in an Oct. 12 article:

Despite warnings from an FDA adviser of a lack of sufficient safety and efficacy data, the FDA on Wednesday authorized COVID-19 boosters of the updated bivalent vaccine for children 5 years of age and older.

The agency amended its emergency use authorization of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccines to include children, allowing it to be administered at least two months after completion of primary or booster vaccination.

The FDA adviser who issued the warning, Dr. Paul Offit, was one of two members of the agency's vaccine advisory panel to vote against recommending the booster shot, which was modified to target omicron variants. Offit, the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine, argued that the testing was limited to only eight mice, with no human participation.

"I don't ever think you should ever ask tens of millions of people to get a vaccine based on mouse data," he said in a video interview.

In fact, fact-checkers reported that an earlier bivalent booster that was very similar to the one that was approved was more thoroughly tested, and it's common not to comprehensively test flu vaccines each year because only minor tweaks to them are done based on the strain that is expected to be dominant.

Moore gave anti-vaxxers a platform in an Oct. 18 article:

Armed with information from dissenting health scientists, parents in a number of states convinced their health board to reject bids to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required shots for public schoolchildren.

And parents across the nation are demonstrating their lack of trust in the experimental mRNA vaccines issued under emergency use authorization, with only about 2% of children under 5 and less than one-third ages 5 to 11 having been fully immunized.

Nevertheless, the CDC is poised to address the "vaccine hesitancy" and the pharmaceutical companies' lack of permanent liability with one vote.

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to decide at its meeting Wednesday through Thursday whether or not to include COVID-19 vaccinations in their pediatric immunization schedule.

Approval not only would make it more likely that states will mandate COVID-19 shots to attend public school, it could grant permanent legal immunity to vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna along with another profit windfall, health scientists are warning.

"This is a dangerous idea that will only benefit the vaccine manufacturers at the expense of the best interests of kids," said the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) in a statement. "Not only do the shots have essentially no meaningfully positive impact on children's health, the fact that the risk of severe adverse events are greater than any potential small benefit is becoming increasingly evident."

Moore followed that with an Oct. 23 article featuring a list of states where "COVID-19 shots won't be mandated for schoolchildren."

Then, because Moore was apparently too reasonable, his boss, Joseph Farah, decided to raise the temperature -- and the misinformation -- several notches in his Oct. 31 column:

With a track record like this, why do our national leaders still talk about mandating shots for schoolchildren? It's insanity! Why in heaven's name do they insist it's the only way to make schools safe? What are they trying to accomplish? Are they trying to ruin children's lives – perhaps even kill them? Or do they just want to medicate children as a way to cater to Big Pharma?

Why are our inept officials not paying attention to this data? It's a scandal!

[...]

The U.S. government's enthusiasm for getting kids jabbed is hard to understand. It's enough to get you thinking that they are trying to reduce the level of the population! This has been one the most scandalous programs ever instituted by Joe Biden – and there's no end in sight for it.

Look at these numbers! Think long and hard about them.

Are you willing to have that risk taken by your children – especially since COVID poses almost no risk to them and never did?!

So why? Are they crazy? Or are they evil?

Well, now we may have the answer.

Because this is Joseph Farah, a conspiracy theory is incoming:

It appears that a coronavirus "simulation" was planned at the World Economic Forum's 2019 annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Event 201 took place only weeks before the first COVID-19 case was reported in Wuhan, China, reports independent investigative journalist Jordan Schachtel.

WEF and the Gates Foundation were among the organizations that joined forces for the Oct. 18, 2019, event, which Schachtel discovered – citing social-media posts – was planned during the January 2019 Davos meeting.

Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, announced on Jan. 23, 2019, that Event 201, in partnership with the Gates Foundation and WEF, would be held in New York City.

"Event 201 will shine light on need for pub health, global business, science, finance, security & political leadership to be fully engaged + working for common purposes to meet challenge of new pandemic," he wrote.

Schachel, on his Substack page The Dossier, explained the significance of the event originating at Davos.

"The World Economic Forum has become the go-to narrative and ideas shop for the global ruling class, weaponizing campaigns for their ideological agenda that are now advanced by the world's most powerful individuals and organizations, through slogans and movements such as 'The Great Reset' and 'Build Back Better,' among others," he wrote.

"The WEF and its backers seek to impose an extremely authoritarian agenda upon humanity, under the guise of healing the planet from climate change."

Schachtel noted that the first person to retweet Inglesby's Event 201 announcement was Ronald Klain, who now is White House chief of staff under Biden.

Inglesby, along with his role at Johns Hopkins, is now a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Heads must roll over this – Democratic heads. It's a disgrace – maybe the most egregious one yet.

Yes, WND's Moore did an article about this simulation day before Farah's column, treating it as "news" even though the exercise was reported on at the time it happened and has been the subject of conspiracy theories since the COVID pandemic began.

Meanwhile, here in the real world, it's not exactly clear what Farah is mad about or why he thinks "Democratic heads" should roll over the exercise (which, by the way, was not predictive of the COVID pandemic). He's just ranting and talking nonsense because that has served him well as a business model until recently.

Newsmax Did Last-Minute Campaigning For Mich. GOP Candidates
Topic: Newsmax

Newsmax did a little last-minute campaigning for Republicans running for office in Michigan before the midterm elections.

Newsmax served up a pair of video reports by Tom Basile on Nov. 3 promoting gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon, with whom Basile was traveling that day. She was given a softball interview on Newsmax TV on Nov. 7:

Conservative Republican Tudor Dixon said Monday her focus on education is behind her closing a gap in support with voters as she faces off against incumbent Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

In an interview on her final day of campaigning, Dixon told Newsmax's "Wake Up America," education is the No. 1 issue with voters in the state.

Michigan was out of school for so long during the coronavirus pandemic," she said, adding online learning "was not effective for our students… we have a lot of catching up to do."

A Nov. 7 article by Jay Clemons rehashed a Newsmax TV appearance by Kristina Karamo, Republican candidate for Michigan secretary of state, spouting her talking points:

Kristina Karamo, the Republican candidate for Michigan secretary of state, didn't require much time to answer the question of how she plans to shake things up on her first day in January — if she prevails in Tuesday's midterm elections.

"By following the law," Karamo succinctly told Newsmax on Monday while appearing on "American Agenda" with hosts Bob Sellers and Katrina Szish.

[...]

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's current secretary of state and Karamo's main opponent, has garnered criticism from residents over the last few years — with issues ranging from election integrity and election security to the Democrat leaders' actions in handling the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21.

This strikes Karamo as odd, since the secretary of state position is "really not a partisan role."

Also, Karamo alluded to allegations of Benson's office committing election-related violations in the past month.

"I'm running on following the law" and making sure Michigan residents are properly served, regardless of political affiliation, Karamo said.

Karamo then conflicted with her pledge to be nonpartisan by spouting right-wing talking points about "pornographic materials in schools." The Newsmax host didn't call her on it.

The day of the midterms on Nov. 8, John Gizzi typed up some quick last-minute boasting from another Michigan Republican:

With an hour before the polls close in Michigan’s four-county 8th District. Republican Paul Junge predicted to Newsmax he would “end the Kildee Dynasty after 46 years.”

Former TV anchorman Junge was referring to his Democratic opponent, five-term Rep. Dan Kildee, and the congressman’s late uncle Dale Kildee, who represented a similar district from 1976-2012.

[...]

“There was no Republican to take on Dan Kildee and I felt someone had to do it,” he told us.

The conservative hopeful told us that in campaigning through blue-collar Bay County, “I met a lot of union folks.  They made it abundantly clear the Democrats’ policies were driving their county into the ground.”

Kildee, he charged, “votes 100 percent with Joe Biden and belongs to the House Progressive Caucus.  That says a lot.”

Many Democrats in Junge’s part of Michigan, he said “are still pro-life and that is what my opponent is attacking me for.”

As to whether he can unseat the heir to one of Michigan’s most durable political names. Junge told us: “I feel pretty good tonight.”

Unfortunately, the confidence of these candidates -- and Newsmax -- in their would-be victories was misplaced. Karamo lost to Benson by 14 percentage points, while Junge lost to Kildee by 10 percentage points. Dixon was also losing, but Newsmax touted her election denials in a Nov. 9 article:

Despite some projections suggesting Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will win Tuesday night, GOP gubernatorial challenger Tudor Dixon is vowing to continue battling in a race too close to call.

Newsmax has not called the race, but Dixon was trailing the incumbent and some "premature" election calls have left former President Donald Trump's endorsed candidate angry.

"This race is not over yet, and Fox's call was premature," Dixon told her campaign headquarters. "We expect counting to continue into tomorrow in our major counties. This race has a long way to go."

Dixon ultimately lost by 10 percentage points. Later that day, a Newsmax article noted that Dixon had conceded to Whitmer.

MRC Still Taking Childish Shots At CNN
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center hates CNN so obsessively that it takes creepy, perverse and immature glee in the alleged misfortunes of its employees. We've noted how there was basically a street party at MRC HQ when channel head Jeff Zucker was fired and when Brian Stelter lost his hosting gig (and fits of rage when Stelter got a new job at Harvard), and much chortling when Don Lemon was supposedly "demoted" from his prime-time show to a retooled morning show. Curtis Houck tried to make up stuff regarding another CNN personality in an Oct. 6 post:

Matt Lauer anyone?

The Daily Mail reported in an exclusive late Wednesday that weekday morning CNN Newsroom co-host and former Obama official Jim Sciutto has been sent off on a leave of absence from the struggling network so he can “address personal issues” stemming from a mysterious trip to Amsterdam with a producer earlier this year after having been covered the war in Ukraine.

“CNN mainstay Jim Sciutto has been off air after network bosses ordered him to address a ‘personal situation’ stemming from a 'serious fall' he suffered while in Amsterdam earlier this year,” saidDaily Mail reporter Paul Farrell. He explained that, after having co-hosted Monday morning’s CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow, he hasn’t been seen since.

Farrell added that “a media source has told” them Sciutto “is now on ‘personal leave’” and “CNN has not responded to requests for comment.”

Houck name-dropping Lauer was effectively an accusation that Sciutto had engaged in some sort of untoward sexual misbehavior -- something for which he has presented absolutely no evidence and something not even hinted at in the Daily Mail story. Sciutto returned to CNN a few weeks later, suggesting that whatever "personal issues" he may have had were addressed during his leave. The MRC has yet to acknowledge Sciutto's return.

If Sciutto has not, in fact, been credibly accused of sexual misbehavior as Houck snarkily suggested, Houck probably needs to retract that baseless allegation lest he and the MRC find themselves on the wrong end of a defamation lawsuit.

Houck served up even more chortling in an Oct. 28 post at the prospect of more CNN layoffs:

In both a memo to staff and a story about the network on CNBC.com, CNN boss Chris Licht marked six months this week with the struggling liberal network by announcing he’s been tasked with cost cuts and layoffs as, according to CNBC, CNN’s profit “is set to drop blow $1 billion this year” and Warner Bros. Discovery is aiming to layoff 1,000 people from its 40,000-workforce. 

In objectively welcome news, CNBC also revealed Licht will continue to move CNN back toward reality and away from what Licht called “the quick sugar high of ratings and outrage.”

Licht said in a memo Wednesday that he’s conducted “formal business reviews with senior staff to identify areas where we should make changes, investments, and reductions” and, as part of that, he’ll “reduce or eliminate areas that aren’t core to our mission.”

Then came the key lines as Licht said “that work will accelerate” in “the next several weeks” and, to accomplish that and “factor” in the state of the global economy, there will be “noticeable change to this organization...affect[ing] people, budgets, and projects.” All told, Licht said he hopes “these decisions” are “made by the end of the year.”

[...]

Not surprisingly, Licht has found winning the trust of employees to be a challenge with many still worshipping his predecessor, Jeff Zucker, who was more or less the network puppetmaster.

The MRC loves to tag the Jewish Zucker as a "puppetmaster" -- an anti-Semitic trope.

It took both Nicholas Fondacaro and Geoffrey Dickens to take even more lame shots at Lemon in a Nov. 1 post as his morning-show stint began:

Don Lemon will be starting his totally-not-a-demotion stint on CNN’s revamped morning show CNN This Morning this morning. So we at NewsBusters thought it would be nice to take a stroll down memory lane and look back at Lemon’s heinous remarks that the network would prefer were memory-holed.

This was joined by a "brief montage of Lemon’s primetime blathering" from Bill D'Agostino. So it actually took three MRC employees to spew this nastiness. This childishness and gossip is what passes for "media research" at the MRC these days.

WND Tried To Scare Its Readers One More Time Before Midterms
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Scaring its dwindling right-wing audience into voting for Repubicans and against Democrats is one thing WorldNetDaily just loves to do, so it's not surprising that the fearmongering form WND columnists crested the evening before the midterms, the final pre-election columns readers would see. Let's review how that went.

We've waited a long time for this.

I suggest there are two things to do today without fail – VOTE AND PRAY!

Voting has never been more important. It's a matter of saving our country – nothing short of that. This could be a pivotal election. It must be. It's deadly serious. There is no excuse for not voting this time. It has never before been more important.

I cannot promise you a fair election. I cannot promise you some of it will not be rigged. I cannot promise you that the Democrats will not try to fix it. I cannot promise you that we will win all of the races we deserve to win. I CAN promise you there will be shenanigans. One side has demonstrated its willingness to cheat in election after election.

But there is no question we must try. We must succeed. We must bring about the expected RED WAVE to save this nation as best we can – peacefully, under the law.

[...]

Today is the day to vote like we never have needed to do before in the United States of America. Our lives, our posterity, our fortunes depend on it. It's a somber day – full of anxious moments.

Pray to God like you have never done before. May God help us!

-- Joseph Farah, Nov. 7

Once upon a time in the fabled Land of Georgia, a diabolical Wicked Witch and a demonic Evil Warlock joined forced to overthrow the powers of truth and justice in order to subjugate The People of the Kingdom.

Through their cunning, lies, deceit, debauchery and treachery, the Wicked Witch and the Evil Warlock succeeded in deceiving the people, ousting the true rulers and assuming control of the throne.

The result was to bring a frozen eternal winter to the Land of Georgia and the surrounding Land of Freedom subjugated by their evil relatives – and there was no Christmas.

Because of the Witch and the Warlock's diabolical and malignant schemes, the people of Georgia were left impoverished as inflation soared, making prices for energy, goods and services so astronomical they could barely afford to feed and care for their families.

After taking power, the Wicked Witch and the Evil Warlock even began to torture, dismember and murder babies through their campaign of terror. Human sacrifices for their demonic and perverse pagan religious rituals were both performed and encouraged.

[...]

Joining with the Lion, the people of Georgia fought in a mighty war against the Witch and the Warlock culminating in The Battle of the Eighth of November and even beyond as the Witch and Warlock sought to defeat the Lion in one last gasp through fraud, stealth and deceit – but to no avail.

As the Lion restored power back to the people of the Land of Georgia, the Witch and the Warlock were banished in disgrace never to be heard from again.

Soon the winter ice began to melt, and springtime once again returned to Georgia – and the people cheered and thanked God for sending the Lion to deliver them from the evil that had come upon them.

-- "George Bailey" (a fake name), Nov. 7

So does the D or the R matter at the end of a politician's name? You had better believe that it does. So how do I decide for whom to vote? Well, I think a good idea is to spend a few minutes and look at the two very different platforms. Again, this platform is a covenant the parties have put together that represents their beliefs and ideals. This platform, this covenant, is like a table each party is laying out before us loaded with all their beliefs, ideals, aims and standards. Our vote chooses of which table we have decided to partake. As for my family and myself, we compare these distinctly different tables to the Word of God. The Bible says:

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." (Psalm 23:5)

So God has prepared a table, a covenant – a platform – before us through His Word, the Bible. We have to take God's table with His beliefs, ideals, aims and standards and compare it to the table the Democrats have prepared and the table the Republicans have prepared. We then choose to sit at the covenant table with the political party that most aligns itself with the table of the LORD. That is how we vote. That is how we choose. That is how we judge and discern the righteous from wickedness. We use the authoritative Word of God. The Bible clearly says: "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." (I Corinthians 10:21)

As you vote, remember you are choosing at which table you are going to sit and with which governing group you are choosing to covenant. I hope you choose one most aligned with God, so that He can "Bless Us, Every One!"

-- Richard Blakley, Nov. 7

Stacey Abrams is trying win the highest elected position in her state – the state and people, mind you, she disparages and viciously vilifies at every opportunity.

That's the mentality and the reality of the worldview they must espouse if they want a seat at the Democratic table. Democrats do not permit nor suffer individuality. Why else would those who claim they're being victimized, hunted down and murdered by police and treated with monumental contempt, support abortion?

These emotionally indentured people are willing to promote paying to have their children brutally murdered by Planned Parenthood, the most evil agency in American history, one that celebrates its so-called whiteness.

They're willing to be mistreated, disrespected, insulted, treated like chattel and allowed to speak only as directed. But, these people know who butters their bread, as the saying goes.

To be treated as I've just shown and be expected to show gratitude is the height of servitude. No wonder those such as myself are hated and feared by them.

-- Mychal Massie, Nov. 7

The problem with inflation is spending. An increase in spending will not repair that. The problem with immigration is a porous border. Further opening the border will not fix it. Fake news will not be solved by more lies. Drug abuse will not be solved by more legalization of dangerous drugs. Crime will not be solved by letting criminals off the hook. And, if anyone is crazy enough to want World War III, I can tell you the best way to achieve that goal – appease those who threaten World War III. Weakness draws aggression like sugar draws flies.

A moral freefall underlies all these problems. Breaking down even more of our moral foundation will only make matters worse. Yet, that's what our society continues to do.

As always, we find our hope in the grace of Jesus Christ. The United States can have another Great Awakening. Millions can still turn to Jesus. I believe that would hold off America's fall until after the rapture. Better yet, all those millions get to go to heaven! So, don't give up on the United States. Don't stop hoping, and don't stop praying. Work to make things better. Have faith that as you do His will, God is always on your side.

-- Hal Lindsey, Nov. 7

NEW ARTICLE: The MRC's Sports Squad of COVID Fearmongerers and Misinformers
Topic: Media Research Center
Media Research Center sports bloggers Jay Maxson and John Simmons spent much of 2022 peddling misinformation, fear, and outright lies about COVID vaccines, as well as continuing to champion selfish athletes who won't get vaccinated. Read more >>

Positive GDP Forced Narrative Shift At MRC So It Could Still Blame Biden
Topic: Media Research Center

We've documented how the Media Research Center rushed to declare that U.S. was in a full-blown recession -- largely so it could push right-wing narratives by blaming President Biden for it -- and attacked anyone to dared to suggest that two straight quarters of a (slightly) negative gross domestic product is not the only possbile definiton of what a recession is (and it even found a way to blame George Soros as well). Kevin Tober was still harping on the negative GDP numberds in a Sept. 29 post:

On Thursday morning, The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their third and final revision on the nation’s GDP growth for the second quarter and it wasn’t good. The BEA found that the economy shrank 0.6 percent for the second straight quarter which means the United States economy is in a recession. Knowing this news is bad for the Biden administration and the Democrat Party [sic], the evening newscasts made sure to cover it up. 

ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News both ignored the news entirely, while CBS Evening News allowed a scant 22 seconds to the story while avoiding the word “recession” or tying Biden and his disastrous economic policies to this in any way. 

While CBS at least covered the negative GDP growth revision, ABC & NBC decided Queen Elizabeth’s autopsy report showing she died of old age, or Ginni Thomas’s beliefs on the validity of the 2020 elections were more important than the nation’s economy.   

Tober offered no evidence that network newscasts have ever covered GDP revisions. Curtis Houck whined in a post the next day:

Amid their non-Hurricane Ian coverage on Friday, NBC’s Today and the 3rd Hour of Today returned to a recent liberal media trend in defending the Biden administration by dismissing the reality that the country’s in a recession. This time, they wondered if it “matter[s] when everything you buy everyday is more expensive” and “it doesn’t feel good out there.”

Of course, nowhere in either news show did the Biden administration come up or be assigned blame.

Of course, neither Tober nor Houck provided any evidence that specifically links any Biden policy to the decline in GDP.

In another Sept. 30 post, Joseph Vazquez hyped "the economy’s poor performance under Biden," adding that "following new third estimate data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showing that U.S. GDP contracted for the second straight quarter in a row to meet the technical definition of a recession, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 550 points on Thursday; the S&P 500 dropped 2.4 percent and the Nasdaq sank 3 percent." Vazquez cited only partisan right-wing sources like the New York Post and the Washington Examiner as purported proof that Biden was to blame.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the MRC's narrative manufacturing plant: GDP increased in the third quarter. That blew up the MRC's narrative, so it was forced to reverse direction. An Oct. 27 post by Tober demanded that we look beyond the numbers to argue that the GDP growth doesn't actually mean anything:

On Thursday morning, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released the third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers which reportedly showed that the United States economy grew 2.6 percent in the third quarter. Predictably the three evening news networks hyped the supposedly good news for their friends in the Biden administration and ignored the real reason for the positive economic growth despite the two past quarters being negative. The 3rd quarter numbers were almost entirely due to U.S. trade exports, not due to the health of the economy at large. 

World News Tonight anchor David Muir began carrying water for the Biden administration and embattled Democrats running in this year's midterm elections by spinning the seemingly good numbers: "President Biden in Syracuse, New York, celebrating the new numbers on the economy today," Muir noted.

Hyping the numbers, Muir went on to report that "the gross domestic product, of course, a measure of goods and services produced increasing 2.6 percent this last quarter." Later on in the segment, he spoke to correspondent Terry Moran and gushed that "these were encouraging GDP numbers today."

Tober made sure to praise his favorite cable news channel for making the partisan narrative flip-flop along with the MRC:

Back in reality, on Fox News Channel's Special Report, Jacqui Heinrich told viewers the truth about the state of the economy: "At first glance, today's GDP Report suggests the U.S. Economy is turning around after two consecutive quarters of negative growth," Heinrich prefaced. "But a closer look shows the 2.6 percent growth was driven by fluctuations in international trade, not reflecting the underlying health of the economy and increased government spending."

Tober didn't explain why it suddenly became "reality" to look beyond the GDP numbers when it had criticized those who previously did so.

Despite having to explain away that inconenient number, the MRC continued to cling to the old narrative as well. A Nov. 1 post by Jeffrey Clark huffed that "the U.S. entered a recession roughly three months ago. A July Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report revealed that GDP fell for a second quarter in a row, which meets the definition of a recession, according to American Institute for Economic Research economist Phillip Magness."Clark rehashed the obsolete talking point again in a Nov. 14 post:

For the “past century,” as economist Phillip Magness explained in August, a recession has primarily been defined as GDP falling for two consecutive quarters. That’s precisely what happened in July, per a Bureau of Economic Analysis report, but President Joe Biden’s media cronies have been crusading to redefine the meaning of the word “recession” in an attempt to stem political backlash from President Joe Biden’s economic disaster.

In both posts, Clark censored the fact that GDP increased in the most recent quarter -- which would have undermined his narrative. And narrative is more important than the truth at the MRC.

WND Trots Out Anti-Google Reseracher Again
Topic: WorldNetDaily

What's a good sign that you're a right-wing hack who likes to peddle dubious claims and outright falsehoods and wants to get your views out without having to answer challenging questions about them? You choose to sit down for an interview with WorldNetDaily.

Which brings us to anti-Google obsessive Robert Epstein. WND has been a fan of his (as has the Media Research Center) because he fed the right-wing anti-"big tech" narrative by accusing Google of skewing search results toward Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election through some highly dubious "research." Since pushing falselhoods about election fraud (along with COVID vaccine misinformation) is the WND's main function these days, it needs to keep up that narrative. So WND's Art Moore did an interview for a Nov. 4 article, making sure to play up Epstein's purported Democratic credentials (despite sounding just like a right-wing conspiracy theorist) under the headline "Democrat researcher: Google shifting votes in my party's favor":

Empirical research shows Google affected the outcome of the 2016 and 2020 elections in favor of Democrats, and the tech giant "has its digital thumb on the scale" of the current midterms, says Robert Epstein, a Democratic Party voter who was famed behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner's last PhD student at Harvard.

In a WND video interview (embedded below), Epstein contended, however, that his ever-growing, unique "Nielsen rating-type" system of monitoring Google's manipulation of search results provides the solid evidence needed to stop the Big Tech behemoth in its tracks.

In the meantime, he said, the novel "Brave New World" has come to life.

"This is power that's never existed before in human history. This is power that the worst dictators in history could have only dreamt of," Epstein told WND.

"But this is real. This is occurring now."

[...]

By the end of 2023, he plans to have a "massive monitoring system" – a "digital shield" – in place with at least 20,000 field agents across 50 states.

"We will be monitoring in real time, and we will be exposing every single anomaly that we find," he said, adding that "sunlight is the best disinfect."

At no point did Epstein say "my party" or even describe himself as an active Democrat -- that's just a false headline. Moore then moved on to pumping up Epstein's credentials:

Epstein, a research psychologist for four decades, has served in various editorial positions at Psychology Today magazine and Scientific American MIND. He's the author of 15 books and more than 300 scientific and mainstream articles on artificial intelligence and other topics. He currently is a research psychologist at the non-profit American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology in Vista, California. His work can be seen at MyGoogleResearch.com.

After that, it was more conspiracy-mongering:

Epstein doubts that lawmakers will make a serious attempt to take on Big Tech, with Democrats "lavishly" supplied with Google cash – 95% of Big Tech donations go to Democrats – and Republicans having a distaste for regulation.

In any case, regulation moves at a snail's pace, he said, arguing tech needs to be fought with tech, and his scientific evidence can be used in lawsuits.

"I'm in touch with some state AGs and some other officials who are champing at the bit," he said. "They’re just waiting to use the kind of data that we are collecting to go after these people."

Then victimhood was added to the conspiracy mix:

The personal cost of his work – which he sees as an effort to preserve free and fair elections and ultimately the republic itself – has included the loss of friendships and some family members who "think I'm crazy." But he's also been warned that his safety is at risk.

After presenting his Google findings to the Senate in 2019 and drawing the attention of Hillary Clinton, Epstein gave a private briefing to state attorneys general. After the briefing, one of the state AGs took Epstein aside and shared his concern that Epstein might "die in an accident in the next few months."

Shortly after that, Epstein's wife was killed in a car accident under what he described as suspicious circumstances. A couple of months ago, there was a knife attack on a key staff member and her husband. And recently, a reporter told him of a conversation with a woman in Google's PR department who "screamed" at the reporter regarding Epstein.

The reporter told Epstein there were two things he learned from that interaction. One is that "you have their attention." And the second is, "I would take precautions."

Needless to say, Moore didn't seek substantiation of Epstein's claim, nor did he mention that Epstein's original anti-Google "research" has been discredited.

Morris Quiet After Red Wave Midterm Prediction Failed
Topic: Newsmax

We've noted how Newsmax pundit Dick Morris confidently predicted a red wave in the midterm elections, with Republicans seizing both the House and the Senate and Democrats losing all 60 close congressional races. Well, that didn't happen, making this yet another failed Morris prognostication. Perhaps he saw this a bit on election day, when he played the election-fraud card in a Nov. 8 Newsmax TV appearances:

Former adviser to Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Dick Morris, joined Newsmax on Election Day to weigh in with his take. Morris told Newsmax that it would be "horrific" if the election were to be "stolen" by election officials; alluding to Arizona's current secretary of state and Democratic candidate for governor, Katie Hobbs.

Speaking with "American Agenda" Tuesday, Morris said, "'It's deja-vu all over again,' as Yogi Berra said. Maricopa County, Philadelphia, that has a certain ring to it."

"It would be horrific if this election was lost or was stolen by election officials: particularly horrific when the democratic candidate for governor is the former secretary of state; to whatever extent anyone was at fault in 2020 in Arizona, it was Katie Hobbs, the democratic candidate for governor."

If Morris appeared on Newsmax TV elsewhere that night there's no record of it on the website; Newsmax didn't see to memorialize them with a stenography piece. But in a Nov. 9 appearance, Morris insisted there really was a red wave because Republicans didn't lose as badly as they could have:

The mainstream media is performing "ultimate acts of obfuscation" concerning Tuesday's midterm elections, but as the week moves on, it will be clear that there was a red wave, Dick Morris, the author of "The Return: Trump's Big 2024 Comeback" said on Newsmax Wednesday.

"This morning, they'll all tell you there was no red wave," Morris said on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "Wake them up tomorrow morning or the morning after, and they'll have to say maybe there was one because Republicans took the House and the Senate and came very close in a number of states and advanced their vote totals."

"I think this is like 'The Hunt for Red October,'" Morris added. "This is a red wave rising."

His comments come after Ric Grenell told Newsmax that same-day ballots will deliver wins in vital Arizona GOP races, including the one for the U.S. Senate pitting GOP contender Blake Masters against incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly, who as of Tuesday afternoon was holding a five-point lead in the race.

The next TV appearance Newsmax sought to document came on Nov. 12, when Morris talked a lot more about Trump than about the midterms:

Former President Donald Trump won't only officially announce his 2024 presidential race Tuesday, but he'll surround himself with his "success stories" from the 2022 midterm races, Dick Morris, author of the bestselling "The Return: Trump's Big 2024 Comeback" said on Newsmax Saturday. 

"The Democrats are launching an anti-Trump disinformation campaign saying he lost everything, and he didn't," Morris said on Newsmax's "Saturday Report," adding that there are several GOP candidates who would not have won their senatorial races, including J.D. Vance in Ohio, Ted Budd in North Carolina, Markwayne Mullin in Oklahoma, Eric Schmitt in Missouri, and Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin.

He also said Kari Lake will likely pull out her win for governor in Arizona, once the ballots are counted, and she'll be part of his announcement celebration Tuesday to kick off a "very good, very strong campaign that, as I predicted in my book, will result in his big 2024 comeback."

Morris also played the bogus election-fraud card again:

Fewer than 1,000 votes now separate Laxalt and incumbent Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and Morris pushed back at suggestions that the elections system in Nevada might simply be "dysfunctional.'

"It's dysfunctional in one direction, which is toward the Democrats," said Morris.

Morris continued the Trump suck-up work in a Nov. 14 appearance in which he insisted that Trump wasn't to blame for the red-wave failure due to his extremist candidates:

"Those who blame Trump for this, it's just wrong," Morris said during "American Agenda."

"Mitch McConnell, the [minority] leader of the senate, absolutely failed to fund the Republican Senate candidates who were backed by Trump. Anybody who won the primary, who is trump's endorsed candidate, was shut out of money from the Senate committee, or from McConnell's PAC. The Democrats spent an aggregated $360 million Republicans spent only $190 million in specific races," Morris added.

Morris said that Trump's endorsement picks won in nine of the 15 "tough" races, including Senator-elect JD Vance in Ohio, Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, and Rep. Ted Budd's GOP Senate win in North Carolina.

Morris apparently didn't reference his own failed midterm predictions.

That was followed by a Nov. 16 appearance in which Morris bragged that a GOP-controlled Senate will grind the Biden administration to a halt:

Dick Morris, author of "The Return: Trump's Big 2024 Comeback," told Newsmax that a GOP-controlled House could stop President Joe Biden's agenda and investigate his White House.

During a Tuesday interview with John Bachman, the political insider pointed out that Republicans still won last week's midterm elections after garnering 53 million votes and beating Democrats by five points in the generic ballot.

"We took the House back. Of the 15 tough Senate races, we won nine of the 15. So, explain to me how this is a defeat," Morris stated, adding that with the lower chamber, Republicans can accomplish a litany of tasks that they sought to do.

"Once we have the House, we can stop him from passing bills, and we can get a gavel and investigate this cesspool of corruption that Joe Biden calls an administration," he continued. "We can put Hunter [Biden] under oath. We can put his people under oath. We can really get somewhere."

Meanwhile, Morris wrote no Newsmax columns explaining how he predicted so badly yet again.

CNS Nitpicks Biden Statements -- But Uncritically Promotes GOP Attacks
Topic: CNSNews.com

By contrast to its uncritical stenography of Republican attacks on Democrats before the midterm elections, CNS articles on Democrats who criticize Republicans -- and especially articles quoting President Biden -- tended to include criticism and fact-checking. It's something that, as we've noted, CNS rarely did to Donald Trump when he was president.

A good example of how this works is an Oct. 27 article by Susan Jones. First came the complaining:

Who's lying? Republicans are, according to President Joe Biden, who -- according to the Democrat-friendly New York Times -- "spins yarns that often unravel."

In a teleconference fund-raiser on Thursday, Biden said the midterm election is "not a referendum" on Democrat leadership -- "it's a choice," he insisted.

"And this is not your father’s Republican Party," Biden said, according to the White House transcript.

When Biden noted the MAGA extremists "who were breaking down the doors — literally, the doors and the windows of the Congress and two cops ended up dying," Jones did a selective fact-check:

The only person killed on January 6 was a protester, Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a police officer as she climbed through a window. Four other people died of natural causes, including one police officer.

The D.C. Medical Examiner says Capitol Police Office Brian Sicknick died of natural causes following the riot. And press reports say four police officers who were at the Capitol on January 6 committed suicide much later.

Jones ignored that the medical examiner looking into Sicknick's death said that “all that transpired played a role in his condition,” or that at least two Capitol Police officers who died by suicide had their deaths declared to be in the line of duty.

Then came the whataboutism:

According to a New York Times article published on Oct. 10, 2022, "President Biden has been unable to break himself of the habit of embellishing narratives to weave a political identity."

[...]

The article adds that Biden’s “stories” have been “repeatedly and publicly challenged, as far back as his 1987 campaign for president, when his attempts to adopt someone else’s life story as his own, and his false claims about his academic record, forced him to withdraw.”

Funny how Jones suddenly considers the Times to be a credible source when it criticizes a Democrat -- even though doing so undermines the agenda of CNS and its Media Research Center parent to portray the Times and other outlets as having a hopelessly liberal bias.

In contrast to CNS' uncritically repeating GOP talking points attacking Democrats, Jones spent a Nov. 3 article whining about the attacks Biden issued against "extreme MAGA Republicans:

In a speech that bounced from warnings about political violence, to warnings about "autocrats," to warnings about election deniers, to warnings about “extreme MAGA Republicans” and to the premise that "democracy" is on the ballot, President Joe Biden seemed to be telling the country Wednesday night that unless they vote for Democrats, they can kiss the republic goodbye.

He echoed Abraham Lincoln; he slammed Donald Trump; and he urged Americans to prioritize "democracy" over "policy."

Biden also contradicted himself on the topic of voter suppression -- giving a nod to the "record" turnout in early voting, but also warning that "extreme MAGA Republicans" are "denying your right to vote."

"Once again we’re seeing record turnout all over the country," Biden said in his speech.

Jones then whined that Biden invoked the Constitution and Abraham Lincoln:

Biden also contradicted himself on the topic of voter suppression -- giving a nod to the "record" turnout in early voting, but also warning that "extreme MAGA Republicans" are "denying your right to vote."

"Once again we’re seeing record turnout all over the country," Biden said in his speech.

Abraham Lincoln also used the phrase in his First Inaugural Address, noting that "in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was 'to form a more perfect Union.'”

Lincoln was making the point that no state can lawfully get out of the Union -- "that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary..."

Biden also echoed Lincoln by saying, "What we’re doing now is going to determine whether democracy will long endure."

(Speaking at Gettysburg in November 1863, President Lincoln said: "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.")

Unlike with the attacks from Republicans CNS uncritically presented, Jones gave space to a Republican responding to Biden:

In response to Biden's partisan speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted: "President Biden is desperate to change the subject from inflation, crime, and open borders. Now he's claiming that democracy only works if his party wins. What nonsense. Americans aren't buying it. Ask how the last two years have affected your family, and then get out and vote!"

Jones used a Nov. 7 article to hype Biden's response to a question in which he called for "no more drilling" and replacing coal plants with wind and solar. She then blockquoted Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's "blistering response to Biden's remarks about coal," then added that "As with many of Biden's remarks, the White House tried to walk back the one about coal plants." We don't recall CNS ever promoting walkbacks of remarks made by Donald Trump. We've already noted how Craig Bannister used a diferent Nov. 7 article to criticize Biden denouncing the violent attack on Paul Pelosi by claiming that he was "ignoring times in recent years when prominent Democrats have been criticized" for glorifying violence.

Jones adopted a whining tone in reporting more remarks from Biden in a Nov. 8 article:

Speaking to a group of Democrat [sic] Party officials by teleconference Monday night, President Joe Biden explained what "being a Democrat is all about."

He said Democrats want "power" only to "help people," and he described the opposition as "some of the darkest forces we've ever seen in our history."

"You know, you guys represent everything that’s good about our party, the reason why we got into politics in the first place," Biden told the Democrat National Committee [sic] National Finance Committee, according to the White House transcript:

[...]

Biden then quoted "my dad," as he does so often: "As my dad used to say, 'I don’t expect the government to solve my problem, but I ex- — I just expect them to understand my problem.'"

Jones somehow refrained from adding her usual huffy commentary to what is supposed to be a "news" article. But she did so stealthily by deliberately getting the name of both the Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee wrong. It's sad that CNS employs someone who deliberately misspells words to advance a political agenda.

MRC Gives The Same Pass To Kyrie Irving's Anti-Semitism It Gave To Kanye
Topic: Media Research Center

As with Kanye West, the Media Research Center hated NBA star Kyrie Irving before it loved him. It was, however, for a much briefer time than the MRC hated Ye: The only early criticism of Irving we found was a June 2020 post by Jay Maxson complaining that Irving was among NBA players considering boycotting the rest of the 2020 season (which would eventually be played in a bubble in Florida to protect against COVID infections) over social justice concerns following the death of George Floyd.

Then Irving became an anti-vaxxer, and the MRC loved him, with its two sports bloggers, Maxson and John Simmons, gushing over his supposedly prinicipled stance.It has continued to lionize Irving's anti-vaxxer attitudes: An Aug. 31 post by Simmons whined that the NBA "made Kyrie Irving an outcast because he did not want to get vaccinated," while a Sept. 10 post by Simmons helped Irving play victim because no team would give him a long-term contract over his anti-vaxx selfishness:

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving claimed that he turned down a massive contract extension before the 2021-22 season in large part to remain unvaccinated.

Irving said that the Nets offered him a contract of four years and roughly $100 million in salary, but that his decision to be unvaccinated was a strong factor in him and the organization not being able to come to terms with the new contract.

"I gave up four years, 100-and-something million deciding to be unvaccinated and that was the decision," Irving said on Monday. "[Get this] contract, get vaccinated or be unvaccinated and there's a level of uncertainty of your future, whether you're going to be in this league, whether you're going to be on this team, so I had to deal with that real-life circumstance of losing my job for this decision."

[...]

Sure, Irving has made enough money in his excellent NBA career to last him for a long time, but he likely could have easily cashed in on a big payday and the sides likely could have reached an agreement without any hiccups had New York not been so adamant about implementing a pointless, harmful, and costly mandate. 

So when Irving indulged in Kanye-esque anti-Semitism by posting a link to an anti-Semitic film on his Instagram account, then wouldn't apologize until after the NBA suspended him, he built up enough anti-vaxx goodwill at the MRC that it came to his defense instead of criticizing his anti-Semitism. A Nov. 10 post by Clay Waters whined that the New York Times reported on both Irving's and West's anti-Semitism and that they were being "blamed on Trump and Republicans." Waters did at least call the anti-Semitism "rancid" -- which is the only word of criticism the MRC has expressed toward Irving's anti-Semitism. (Just like with Kanye.)

The next day, however, Maxson wouldn't criticize Irving at all, instead going into full whataboutism mode:

On Thursday, Nike co-founder Phil Knight said the Swoosh is done with Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving because the star guard “stepped over the line” by posting a social media link to an anti-Semitic movie. Boston Celtics’ all-star Jaylen Brown was having none of this, as he tagged Nike for hypocrisy over the issue of China. 

“Since when did Nike care about ethics?,” Brown tweeted in response. 

The same can be said of Brown and the NBA. He has worn Nike shoes in some games this season. Nike sources products from a factory in Qingdao, China, where Uyghur laborers are brutalized and forced to produce basketball shoes. The NBA pacifies China to protect income from its largest market.

[...]

Nike and the NBA will continue to rake in their Chinese windfalls, while giving meaningless lip service to social justice. Shame on both of them. They deserve zero respect and none of our consumer dollars.

Speaking of meaningless lip service, the MRC used to criticize Elon Musk for his close ties to China -- until he started spouting right-wing rhwtoric and got interested in buying Twitter.

It took both Jason Cohen -- the guy who wrote a post that tried so hard to justify Kanye's anti-Semitism that the MRC eventuially deleted it -- and Matt Philbin to write a Nov. 17 post that played whataboutism with both Irving's and Ye's anti-Semitism:

Say what you want about Kanye West and Kyrie Irving – their antisemitism doesn’t come with a body count. Then there’s Al Sharpton.

Race hustling MSNBC host was inciting riots and deadly arson against New York Jews before Irving was born. So the timing of a positive new documentary about Sharpton is … ironic. And for John Legend to executive produce it and Joe Scarborough to promote it is flat-out hypocritical. 

So what is the deal here? 

Al long ago laundered his image, losing weight and trading in the shiny tracksuit and gold chains for a tie, an MSNBC job and close ties to left-wing politicians. Had it had one, MSNBC’s reputation would have taken a hit. The English language certainly did.

Conversely, Ye has recently shown himself to be quite conservative and even sinned greatly by supporting Trump. While Kyrie’s politics are less clear-cut, he refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine, which undoubtedly alienated him from the mainstream left. 

So are progressives proponents of canceling antisemites, or is it only when convenient? 

Al Sharpton’s antisemitism was more virulent and harmful than anything Ye or Irving said. His race hoaxes ruined lives and he’s never shown any contrition.

[...]

The evidence is clear that Sharpton was a dangerous antisemite at a level much more severe than Ye and Irving. Yet Ye and Irving have been completely canceled while Sharpton has been embraced. 

At no point do Cohen and Philbin actually condemn Irving's or Ye's anti-Semitism -- they simply argue it wasn't allegedly as bad as Sharpton's.

It seems that Cohen and Philbin only want to cancel anti-Semites when its convenient to their right-wing agenda -- and Irving and Kanye have been too convenient to their agenda for these two to offer even the slightest criticism of their anti-Semitism, let alone go into cancel mode.

CNS Unemployment Coverage Distortion Watch
Topic: CNSNews.com

How do you know the employment numbers were good under a Democratic president? CNSNews.com's lead story focuses instead on a different number than the unemployment rate. Susan Jones' lead story on October's employment numbers again put the labor force participation rate in the headline and buried the good news:

In the final jobs report before Election Day, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said the October employment situation weakened from the prior month.

In October, the unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a point to 3.7 percent; and the labor force participation rate declined a tenth of a point to 62.2 percent.

The number of employed Americans -- 158,608,000 in October -- dropped by 328,000 from September's all-time high of 158,936,000.  At the same time, the number of unemployed Americans increased by 306,000 to 6,059,000, and the combination of that unemployed up/employed down produced the higher unemployment rate.

The nonfarm economy added 261,000 jobs last month, well above the consensus estimate of 200,000. Notable job gains occurred in health care, professional and technical services, and manufacturing.

And as before, Jones was still touting how great the economy was under Donald Trump:

The labor force participation rate reflects the active workforce -- the percentage of civilian, non-institutionalized workers available for the production of goods and services, so the higher, the better.

The participation rate was 61.4 percent when Joe Biden took office as the pandemic raged. Today's number, 62.2 percent, is still more than a point below the Trump-era high of 63.4 percent recorded in February 2020, just before COVID shut things down.

Editor Terry Jeffrey served up his usual sidebar about government employment, complaining that it increased "despite the fact that state government employment actually declined during the month." Jeffrey didn't explain why he doesn't think government jobs are real jobs.

For the first time in a while, there was a second sidebar in the form of an anonymously written piece:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) put out a statement expressing her satisfaction with the October jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and arguing that Republicans are not happy with good economic news.

[...]

“The October jobs numbers are the latest evidence that, under President Biden and the Democratic Congress, America continues to create jobs at a strong, steady, sustainable pace,” Pelosi said.

“While Republicans want to send costs soaring and make working families pay the price, Democrats will always put People Over Politics: lower costs, better-paying jobs and safer communities for all,” she said.

The anonymous author offered no evidence that Pelosi was wrong.

MRC Freaks Out Over Twitter Whistleblower Who Didn't Follow Pro-Musk Narrative
Topic: Media Research Center

At the Media Research Center, you're only a good whistleblower if you advance right-wing narratives, like Peiter “Mudge” Zatko did in bolstering Elon Musk's pre-purchase attacks on Twitter and like Frances Haugen did in criticizing Facebook (at least until Facebook started working behind the scenes with right-wing media outlets to attack her, at which point the MRC flipped as well).

When a whistleblower emerged that countered right-wing anti-Twitter narratives, the MRC was quick to attack by playing the Soros card in an attempt to discredit him. Joseph Vazquez threw a massive tantrum in a Sept. 23 post, whining that this whistleblower was distracting from Zatko's pro-Musk narrative:

The Washington Post found a so-called “whistleblower” connected to liberal billionaire George Soros to stoke hysteria about how former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account threatened the planet.

In a so-called “exclusive,” The Post found a Twitter truther to steal former Twitter executive Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s thunder and make the issue about Trump rather than the Big Tech platform. “ Jan. 6 Twitter witness: Failure to curb Trump spurred ‘terrifying’ choice,” was The Postheadline. 

The leftist whistleblower — now identified by The Post as Anika Collier Navaroli — was reportedly a “former policy official on the team designing Twitter’s content-moderation rules,” meaning the “rules” that made Twitter a bloated censorship operation to silence conservative speech. But nowhere in the article did The Post mention Navaroli's ties to Soros.

Navaroli reportedly overcame the “terror she felt” about coming forward due to her so-called “worry” that Trumpian “extremism and political disinformation on social media pose an ‘imminent threat not just to American democracy, but to the societal fabric of our planet.’” [Emphasis added.]

The story fawned how a previously “unidentified former Twitter employee” testified before the Soviet-style House Jan. 6 committee to slam the company for ignoring “false and rule-breaking tweets from Donald Trump for years because executives knew their service was his ‘favorite and most-used … and enjoyed having that sort of power.’” Twitter banned Trump two days after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Navaroli “worked on media and internet privacy campaigns for” the nutty, Soros-funded defund-the-police group Color of Change — founded by CNN commentator and former Obama appointee, Van Jones. Soros has donated millions to the group. The leftist organization proclaims itself as the “nation’s largest online racial justice organization.”

[...]

While disingenuously painting Navaroli as having a “strong bias for protecting speech,” The Post championed how she “grew fascinated with how” online censorship rules “were helping shape real-world social movements, from the inequality campaigns of Occupy Wall Street to the protests over racial justice and police brutality.”

At no point did Vazquez disprove anything Navaroli said, and he didn't even prove Navaroli is a "leftist"  -- he was just mad that his preferred narratives were getting ignored by someone with at least as much credibility as Zatko offering a different story that was just as credible.

NEW ARTICLE: Selective Honesty At WND
Topic: WorldNetDaily
Joseph Farah claims he's being honest about WorldNetDaily's seemingly perpetual financial crises -- but he's not. Farah also attacked Google for (temporarily) blocking WND due to malware on its website -- which WND ultimately admitted was true. Read more >>

MRC Cheers Musk Firing Twitter Employees For Being 'Woke' (Whatever That Is)
Topic: Media Research Center

We've noted how pleased the Media Research Center was at reports that Elon Musk would fire much of Twitter's staff if he did what he agreed to do months before and buy the company. Well, when the firings became imminent, an anonymous Nov. 6 post was positively orgasmic at the prospect of Musk ruining people's lives:

You’re fired! That’s not only a famous shout from Donald Trump’s TV celebrity days, it’s a sentence that woke Twitter employees are hearing in increasing numbers as Elon Musk takes over the platform. And The Washington Post is furious.

In the article “Musk’s Trump-style management rattles Twitter workers awaiting layoffs,” The Washington Post whined about the scraps of gossip Twitter employees have collected to discover if massive layoffs are indeed imminent.

“Workers follow new boss’s tweets and share rumors on anonymous apps amid silence from leadership on firings, staff cuts and product changes,” The Post reported. Twitter employees have reportedly started panicking about reductions in force based on the Google Calendar of “one of their new bosses”  as well as through Slack chats and anonymous workplace “gossip” site Blind.

Woke pro-censorship Twitter employees were Blind, indeed, when they targeted any alternative voices on the platform.

The anonymous writer didn't explain when being "woke" was just cause for termination (or even what "woke" means). And, as we've noted, Musk's mass firings were so botched that Twitter had to ask some fired people to return because they did essential work.

A Nov. 8 post by Autumn Johnson sought to blame "left-wing activists" for advertisers pulling their ads from Twitter instead of the more likely cause that Musk has created too much chaos on the platform for advertisers to feel comfortable there:

Several companies have caved to the demands of liberal activists and pulled their ads from Twitter after Elon Musk announced the platform would no longer unfairly censor conservatives.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Audi, General Motors, General Mills, and Pfizer paused ads on the platform after Musk said significant changes would be made to the company’s content moderation standards.

General Motors told CNN that it is “monitoring” Twitter’s “new direction” under Musk and will potentially re-evaluate its decision to remove ads from the platform.

“We have paused advertising on Twitter,” General Mills spokesperson Kelsey Roemhildt told CNN in a statement. “As always, we will continue to monitor this new direction and evaluate our marketing spend.”

Several leftist advocacy groups appear to be leading the ad suspension effort. Among them is one called Accountable Tech.

Johnson censored the fact that Musk threatened to "thermonuclear name and shame" advertisers who paused their Twitter spending -- which doesn't seem like a good way to encourage the advertisers who provide the biggest share of Twitter's revenue.

Johnson penned another press release for Musk in a Nov. 9 post:

Twitter CEO Elon Musk reaffirmed his commitment to free speech in a meeting with advertisers Wednesday.

The Washington Post reported that Musk discussed some of his plans for Twitter in an effort to attract advertisers to the platform. The public broadcast was viewed by over 100,000 people online:

“Musk took questions over the course of roughly an hour from two of his executives and a representative of the advertising industry during a Twitter Spaces meeting, which was broadcast live on the site midday. More than 100,000 people listened live.”

Musk suggested that while the platform’s content moderation standards have not changed yet, supporting free speech is not the same as amplifying so-called “hate speech.”

“We have to be tolerant of views we don’t agree with, but those views don’t need to be amplified,” he said, according to The Post.

Johnson somehow forgot to mention that Musk had spent the previous few days suspending Twitter accounts that made fun of him, strongly suggesting that his purported tolerance for differing views has clear limits.

The MRC even spun one of Musk's failures -- selling blue check marks for $8 a month without considering that people would buy them and masquerade as genuinely certified accounts -- because it helped make one of the MRC's enemies look bad. A Nov. 10 post by John Simmons insisted that Musk had "good intentions" in starting the feature, it was used for "mischievous purposes," one of which was an account masquerading as NBA star LeBron James demanding to be traded. Simmons declared: "hile it is humorous that someone created this headline to cause a stir, it isn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility that this could happen."

Jeffrey Clark helped Musk play the victim in a Nov. 10 post:

The pro-China outlet Bloomberg News attempted to defame Twitter CEO Elon Musk by portraying him as a threat to the United States.

“Mister President, do you think Elon Musk is a threat to U.S. national security?” Bloomberg White House reporter Jenny Leonard asked President Joe Biden during a Nov. 9 press conference at the White House.

But she didn’t stop there, also pressing Biden on whether the president should use government power to “investigate” Musk’s lawful purchase of Twitter. Musk is a self-described “free-speech absolutist” who has taken flack for tweeting in March that “[f]ree speech is essential to a functioning democracy.” 

But Leonard framed Musk’s Twitter deal as a shady partnership with “foreign governments, which include the Saudis.”

MRC Free Speech America President Dan Schneider slammed the liberal media for ignoring the obvious question: What about TikTok?

Clark's description of Bloomberg News as "pro-china" is laughable (not to mention unsupported by any actual evidence) because the MRC itself was accusing Musk of being pro-China less than a year ago. Clark was silent about that, of course. And the MRC's TikTok whataboutism lacks credibility because its attacks on the platform are clearly doing the bidding of Facebook, which hired a conservative PR firm to help spread anti-TikTok talking points in right-wing media. Clark went on to grumble:

The liberal media have repeatedly alleged connections between Musk and the Saudis, laying the groundwork for Leonard’s pointed question. Axios, Newsweek, CNN Business — and yes — even Bloomberg News all gave sensational coverage to reputed ties between Musk and the Saudi royal family.

Clark didn't even bother to disprove any of that reporting, which tells us he's complaining simply in an effort to distract from it (even though, again, the MRC itself was criticizing Musk's foreign entanglements before he showed interest in buying Twitter).

Tierin-Rose Mandelburg helped Musk slag Twitter employeees in a Nov. 11 post:

Work from home option is ELIMINATED.

ABC News somehow obtained an audio from a Twitter meeting where Elon Musk told his staff that if they don’t return to the office full-time, he’ll consider their absence their resignation. AKA, COVID-19 is over, get out of your pajamas and off the couch and get your ass to work.

"Let me be crystal clear, if people do not return to the office when they are able to return to the office -- they cannot remain at the company. End of story," Musk told an employee who asked about the company's new expectations.

[...]

Twitter employes are probably like the rest of the world who got used to working from home and are mad that they can no longer half-ass their jobs. 

As usual, Mandelburg provided no evidence to prove that was the case. She concluded with the slavishly loyal Musk hero-worship the MRC has become known for:

Why is it “ridiculous” for fully capable employees to — ya know — go to work? Firefighters can’t “work from home,” surgeons can’t operate from their couches, police officers can’t catch criminals virtually. They go into work because that’s what workers are supposed to do! 

Musk realizes this and is not going to take any bs regarding people who simply “want” to work from their homes.

Nobody has ever accused software engineers of being surgeons or firefighters -- which is why most normal companies, especailly in the wake of the COVID pandemic, allow at least some workers to work from home. This tells us Mandelburg is much more interested in doing PR for Musk than trying to understand how the working world works outside her right-wing media bubble.