"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.
11.11.22
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – PLAYBOY
- That guy revolutionizing space travel is a recall cipher for the government.
As Jose Biden ramps up his antagonism against Elon Musk for his purchase of Twitter, the press seems to feel this is a wise move. They do not think it through, however. Brian Karem asked the president a follow-up question on the matter, and he patted himself on the back for supposedly sending a jolt of fear through the industry titan.
I wonder if Elon Musk soiled himself when I asked POTUS "How" the U.S. government could investigate Musk's foreign business dealings?
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) November 10, 2022
"Oh, we have lots of ways," Biden said with a wry smile.
Karem wants to believe he nailed the businessman with his question. Of course, this means he needs to bypass the years of Musk working with the space program sending up classified satellites and other sensitive projects, which require governmental oversight looking into who they are dealing with on such projects.
Presentation Paradox – MSNBC
- Yeah, the guy who crap-hammered your conqueror is a real loser.
The revisionism on the Florida election continues in the press, as on "Morning Joe," they began the work of tearing down Ron DeSantis following his historic victory in that state. They brought on as an analyst David Jolly to assess the prospects of DeSantis going forward.
'Morning Joe' joins Donald Trump in hammering Ron DeSantis via former Republican-turned-liberal David Jolly: "Ron DeSantis famously has a glass jaw, fragile ego. You get him on the ropes & you start to see a Ron DeSantis that is not the manufactured package you see today." pic.twitter.com/AswurFkMBx
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 11, 2022
The man acting dismissive about DeSantis defeating Charlie Crist by 20% and a 1.5 million vote advantage is the same David Jolly who lost the House race to…the same Charlie Crist.
Blue-Anon – ABC NEWS
- Anyone giving a voice about incompetence is the real problem!
Terry Moran is going against the tide of journalists slamming the elections where Republicans were victorious, telling us that questioning the vote count in Arizona is acting in a conspiratorial fashion.
With states like Texas and Florida getting their votes recorded in a matter of hours after polls closed, we're forbidden from asking why Arizona is taking a week to accomplish the same feat with a fraction of the population.
ABC's Terry Moran wants all of you to stop complaining about how long it's taking to count votes in Arizona because doing so makes you a conspiracy theorist #AZGov #AZSen pic.twitter.com/M5zVaolrwp
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 11, 2022
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – POLITIFACT
Getting in on the protection racket for Arizona is PolitiFact. They leap at the chance to say Tucker Carlson is incorrect when he stated people in Arizona were prevented from casting ballots when the voting machines did not operate correctly.
The problem with their FALSE rating on the matter is I was sure I saw this story reported on the machines not working – at PolitiFact.
Vote counting machines at about 60 vote centers in Maricopa County, Arizona, stopped processing ballots. The problem was due to a printing error. Ballots placed instead in a secure box remained under full chain of custody control. https://t.co/lCAJcliWIK
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) November 11, 2022
Pounce of Prevention – WASHINGTON POST
It appears a rather consistent issue that as Arizona drags on with getting the ballots correctly counted that those on the right are questioning the veracity of the process while those in the press are consistently defensive over the time period. As a result, we get the expected summation of what is taking place – those darned Republicans are seizing again!
Arizona election officials, who long expected the vote count to take as many as 12 days, say ballot printer issues are not slowing results. https://t.co/hXVqSMxMZi
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 11, 2022
First Amendment Strike Force – APPLE
We think back to the times when companies like Apple and Facebook delivered scorn about supposed human rights abuses, like voting for their abortion laws or revamping their voting legislation. Meanwhile, abroad these same companies feel perfectly at ease appeasing totalitarian regimes.
Vice News details that in China, Apple has been willing to disable the AirDrop function on its iPhones because citizens wanting to protest the government use this feature to organize without government approval. So Apple is willing to cater to the censorship efforts of the Chi-Coms.
The feature is one of the few relatively untraceable ways of sharing digital files in China. https://t.co/UWwSzC0Uxl
— VICE (@VICE) November 10, 2022
