"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of 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.
09.14.22
Low Octane Gas Lighting – "THE VIEW"
- Attempting to alter the record when her remarks are on video.
Stacey Abrams is a politician attempting to be a chameleon on issues but is repeatedly undone by that always pesky issue – history. She tried to change her claim of chasing the MLB All-Star Game out of Atlanta once the financial hardships on area POC businesses had been realized. After a lengthy time of demonizing the new election laws as being racist and exclusionary, when the record turnout was discovered, she attempted to claim this was due to her efforts at correcting issues with the law.
Now, she is attempting to deny her biggest claim to fame, that being her second career of denying she lost the governor's race in 2018. On "The View," she not only claimed to have never contested the results, but she was praised by the panel for her gracious concession – despite having said months after the election, "I don't concede that I lost."
They want us to forget the years Abrams has spent denying she lost, and even saying she refused to concede. pic.twitter.com/dFNKUVkeOU
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) September 14, 2022
DNC PR Firm – THE HILL
- Did someone miss the memo about opposing this kind of behavior?
Citing a new poll from Axios/Ipsos, The Hill was not too critical in detailing how fully one-third of Americans feel it is a keen idea to have the president be given the ability to remove judges if they rule against the will of a majority. Where to begin…
First, you have a flawed polling method that suggests the national interest be a ruling force of policy – something determined through polls. Huh. Next, you have to ignore a majority rule being given more weight than the Constitution and have a president who could alter the makeup of the Court that is actually in place to serve as a check against the executive branch. Finally, you have the small issue of this permitting a president to install rubber stamp justices so he can rule by decree – something that is fast approaching fascism, the very thing that is all the rage for the Dems and the press to pretend to be concerned about the most.
Just an overall fantastic job by The Hill on this one.
1 in 3 says presidents should be able to remove judges over decisions: survey https://t.co/so86Vdjw5m pic.twitter.com/W8SMHabgCM
— The Hill (@thehill) September 12, 2022
Prose & Contradiction – MSNBC
- If only there was some evidence we could rely upon to untangle this mystery.
It is hard to decipher if this is a willful deflection or outright obliviousness; given it is Chris Hayes we are referring to, it makes the decision tougher. Chris chose to look at yesterday's harsh economic figures, and he appears flummoxed as to what is driving some other underlying metrics.
Chris appears unable to connect the dots with a spike in inflation coinciding with the lowered poverty rate, as if the lengthy government payouts and benefits were not ultimately drivers of the very inflation he seems confused over.
Worth chewing over that a historic low in poverty coincided with a massive decline in consumer sentiment and approval of the economy. Obviously inflation is the huge confounding factor here, but still kinda dispiriting!https://t.co/j5w8H4iJlw
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 13, 2022
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – NBC NEWS
There are ginned-up controversies, to be sure, but when you are this desperate to come up with an example of scalding institutionalized corporate racism, you just look pathetic. When your claim is completely blasted into confetti with about 30 seconds of research…? Well, honestly, just hang up the keyboard and join the professional tag league.
NBC News caught wind of a few people on social media claiming the Chick-Fil-A Twitter account resorted to racism when it responded to a customer's request for a particular food item. The individual appeared to be black, and the account used the term "your community." Already, if you see this as a racist remark, one might dare suggest the one with a racial issue is you. But if you do a basic search of the Chick-Fil-A account with that phrase, you will see an endless stream of replies, as it is a preset company term when referring to any customer's location.
Somehow the fried chicken aspect did not even enter this particular racial uproar.
Chick-fil-A is under fire for a tweet that social media users said called out a Twitter user’s race. https://t.co/eKhc2qnUag
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 13, 2022
Legalized Press-titution – USA TODAY
The desperate need to shield Biden from the positively dismal economy means acrobatics are needed in reporting on the latest inflation news. USA Today resorts to the tired attempt of saying gas prices are something to cheer about when compared to the record highs seen a couple of months ago.
Consumer prices rose 8.3% in August as lower gas costs helped ease the sting of inflation https://t.co/8GX3ecFEY2
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 13, 2022
This weak, it could be worse attempt is not helping, especially when you get realistic and note that the 8.3% CPI over one year ago is hardly balanced out by today's gas prices, which are roughly 20% higher than a year ago.
Anti-Social Media – DISNEY CORPORATION
- Who hired the guy from PornHub to be on the marketing team?
This week Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and along with the rollout on Friday of a slew of new trailers and announcements, there are also a number of new products for fans and consumers. One in particular, however, raises all sorts of questions.
The company offered up mouse ears supposedly dipped in platinum, but the effect they displayed brought forth a variety of other impressions. The company might have been able to get away with saying it was an unintentional effect, except for the fact that its ad copy for the product only made the crude suggestiveness even worse.
Consider how many layers of executive approval this had to go through at the Tragic Kingdom. After adjusting some of the wording following a backlash, the company decided to go all the way and pull the product from sale entirely.
