"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage on the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation. We'll look to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.
02.25.22
Blue-Anon – CNN
Attacks taking place on the watch of the current guy is the fault of the previous guy, obviously.
John Harwood has to use logic in need of muster to justify blaming Trump for the Russian invasion.
another way of stating Garrett's point:
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) February 24, 2022
the Russian thug now attacking Ukraine helped Donald Trump become president because he thought that would some day make this kind of attack easier to pull off
he was right in the short term
longer term, TBD https://t.co/HuRWEzMayR
So once again, the talking point is Putin feels emboldened by Trump to invade, which is why he never invaded during Trump's term but has enforced his second invasion in eight years under Democratic presidents.
Pre-Written Field Reports – THE NEW YORK TIMES
The call for a tyrant to adhere to documents is sound reasoning.
While many are fretting over the best way to combat Vlad Putin's aggressions, Peter Barker of The New York Times has the perfect form of restraint. See, Putin promised he would never do this, and he even wrote it down. The No Take Backs Doctrine is the perfect solution to ending this horrific conflict.
Reminder: Russia signed a binding international agreement in 1994 committing "to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and “to refrain from the threat or use of force” against the country.
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) February 24, 2022
DNC PR Firm – VARIOUS OUTLETS
At CPAC, Governor Ron DeSantis gave a rousing speech, one in which he solidified his leadership in the state of Florida and targeted Joe Biden on a number of issues. One thing he did NOT talk about – the Ukraine crisis. A state politician who has no action he can take on the invasion is presented as a problematic development.
Gov. DeSantis just attacked the press in his speech at CPAC, calling it a "blizzard of lies." Said the press is intent on propping up the "regime" in the United States, which he calls the "Brandon administration."
— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 24, 2022
Speech ended at 1:55 p.m. ET. No mention of Russia or Ukraine.
You know where people who cherish freedom are looking today? To Ukraine—about which DeSantis, a former member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, apparently didn’t have the courage to say a word, because he’s scared Donald Trump or Tucker Carlson might criticize him. https://t.co/r8g4HtX05Y
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 24, 2022
DeSantis goes to give big #CPACFlorida speech on day #russianinvasion of #Ukraine, biggest war on European continent in 80 years, But #DeSantis2024 instead criticizes authoritarianism in Canada and Australia. @zacjanderson reports.https://t.co/UVgjVYYmKz
— Antonio Fins (@PBPoliticsFins) February 24, 2022
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – MSNBC
The real problem with the Ukraine invasion is how it will help the right in European countries.
On MSNBC, they had a small panel to discuss the crisis, and the experts homed in on what the real threat was going to become – the immigrants the attack will create can embolden a rise of far-right political groups on the continent.
- "I'm just reminded of what happened in 2015 when Syrians were turned away at European borders, when countries shifted to the right, their politics. That is fresh here. You know, Britain left the European Union over basically a misinformation campaign about immigration. So this is a continent that is not necessarily prepared to handle this during a pandemic."
Blue-Anon – THE NEW YORK TIMES
Judging conspiracies based on your search engine preferences.
The New York Times has zeroed in on how to identify those who might trend toward the conspiratorial side of politics. If you have a desire to forego Google as your go-to source for learning new information, then you are probably a Pizza-Gate, "Q" devotee.
- The embrace by some conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists is part of a broader effort to shift people away from Big Tech.
Be wary; if you seek out funny animal videos on DuckDuckGo, it could be a gateway search in the Q-anon rabbit hole!
i reported on privacy before coming to disinfo, so that meant using DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine loved by privacy activists. so it was odd when I entered disinfo spaces and found that they, too, seemed to use DuckDuckGo.
— Stuart A. Thompson (@stuartathompson) February 23, 2022
here's what's up: https://t.co/sHPKqV37rJ
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – The Week
Remember that hysteria over SUVs decades back, intoning how they were horrible for the environment and will doom us all? It must be time to reinvigorate that hectoring, as now we get another reason to demonize Denalis and other oversized trucks. At The Week, we get the lecture on why these trucks are a nefarious driving menace.
- "Trucks have gotten bigger, taller, gotten larger blind spots, and become much more powerful, luxurious, and expensive. Almost nobody even makes small pickups anymore. This behemoth design trend — particularly the very tall, square front end seen in so many SUVs and trucks today — is both pointless and dangerous. Manufacturers have known for years that this style of vehicle is much more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists, yet they keep making them bigger, taller, and heavier."
I almost suspect this could be a planted article by the auto-makers. After all of those years of telling us not to buy these trucks and SUVS, it has led to this market reality.
- "Trucks and SUVs now make up fully 70 percent of all new cars sold in the U.S."
automakers "design, build, and sell pointlessly huge SUVs and trucks they know for a fact are much more deadly for pedestrians, and resist proposals to incorporate pedestrians into their safety rating." https://t.co/5XhQ656htUhttps://t.co/OyqXQCcws4
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) February 23, 2022
