"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.
01.11.23
Pre-Written Field Reports – MSNBC
- Maybe we should be grateful she did not call Byron Donalds a black-white supremacist.
Last night Joy Reid had on Representative Byron Donalds and it was a lesson in how to deal with the unhinged ramblings of hyper-leftists. Reid clearly sat down with preconceived notions in her head of the Republican and she was ready to run with her filibuster talking points, all while not actually listening to what Donalds was saying.
Reid wanted to do battle over Democrats booted off committees, she made sweeping assumptions on what the GOP will enforce as Donalds explained what needed to be investigated, and she complained about his claim of Social Security going insolvent.
But this is Joy Reid we are referencing, after all, so OF COURSE, at some point race had to come into play. She seems rather upset that the Republicans had nominated Donalds to be the first black Speaker of the House.
Joy Reid insinuates to Byron Donalds he's a token Black man being used by a white party: "It definitely looked like they were looking for a response to Hakeem Jeffries...[Democrats] are more diverse...Do you not believe...the idea was to make a diversity statement" with "you?" pic.twitter.com/LSSJ1RlwxK
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 11, 2023
Pounce Of Prevention – CNN
In looking at the emerging story of Jose Biden being found to have been sitting on classified and Top Secret documents for years since he was Vice President, the press is facing a challenging dilemma; how do they excuse away the story after harping on how dire Trump’s retention of the documents had been, for half a year?!
- Biden held docs over 6 years / Trump had docs for less than 2 years
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) January 11, 2023
- As VP Biden not able to declassify docs / As President Trump was able to declassify
- News outlets sat on the acquisition of Biden documents for two months / News outlets reported on the Trump raid live https://t.co/Qbb7gwogZN
The wise minds at CNN have hit upon using a trusted method when dealing with a reality that is uncomfortable for Democrats. Instead of covering the severity of the news story, they turn the focus on how horrible it is that the Republicans are reacting to it. There! Problem solved!
As House Republicans take over Congress and clamor to investigate the Biden administration, a new line of attack fell into their laps: classified documents recovered from one of President Joe Biden’s private offices when he served as vice president https://t.co/heRnrPYLnJ
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 10, 2023
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – WASHINGTON POST
There has been a Glenn Kessler sighting! After spending time dodging President Biden’s numerous legends, his factual errors on January 6, or the repeated inaccuracies he spews on policy matters, Glenn saw that some Republicans said some things, and he bolted into action!
Those dastardly GOPers were out there spouting off about how they will defund the hiring of 87,000 IRS agents, and Glenn was having none of it. He explains that this is a hiring based more on attrition, from retirements and other departures.
- One major problem is that the IRS does not have enough experienced revenue agents who can tackle complex tax returns. The IRS has about 79,000 employees, down from about 95,000 in fiscal year 2012. But the new hiring does not mean the agency’s staff will double, as some Republicans claimed. IRS staffing would keep falling to about 60,000 in 10 years, so the funding would allow a doubling from that base, or an increase of 50 percent from today’s levels.
One major issue with Glenn’s claim here. If the bulk of these hirings is replacing departures then there should be a shifting of salaries, and those new payouts should actually be smaller than the salary of those departing, factoring in that veteran employees would be earning more than entry-level replacements.
ICYMI --> ‘87,000 IRS agents’ is the zombie falsehood setting the House agenda https://t.co/rOpszgbGtQ
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) January 10, 2023
Stealth Story Evolution – ESPN
- The hidden costs of boasting on the air during live games.
On Monday night the NCAA held its Football Championship, and the dominating throttling Georgia delivered to Texas Christian led to a rating disaster for ESPN. As Georgia had built up an overpowering lead midway through the second quarter the audience checked out, delivering the worst overall ratings in the college playoff format history.
One bright spot was on ESPN 2, where podcaster and football personality Pat McAfee was giving his own live broadcast with a team of others on the field throughout the game. McAfee drew a 200% increase from last year’s Mega Cast on the same network. However, as much as McAfee enjoyed the time on the filed with his crew, it is going to cost him.
At one stage of the game, he pledged a significant payout to a charity if Georgia managed to hit 60 points in the game, and at another, he pledged money to a charity of the punter if his kick managed to get inside the 20, which he accomplished. One other moment was spent with Tim Tebow on camera, and McAfee sang “Happy Birthday” to the former college star. That carries with it a royalty payout, meaning that the host is now looking at something to the tune of well over $100,000 he is about to write checks for in the coming weeks.
Turns out you can't sing Happy Birthday to @TimTebow on live TV 😂😂#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Hw2XwdfPLu
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 10, 2023
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – NEW YORK POST
Outrage flared across social media when it was reported that YouTube “star” Logan Paul’s pet pig was found abandoned and starving. This deeply important news item of course has evolved, and it is now been learned that the pig may have broken free from a farm where Paul had the pig relocated prior to his moving to Puerto Rico.
These details have been thoroughly vetted, but we still cannot learn who leaked the SCOTUS draft letter last year.
Logan Paul has responded to his pig rumors, saying Pearl was rehomed before he moved to Puerto Rico
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) January 10, 2023
And that the farmer taking care of Pearl called Gentle Barn to pick her up, and there was no dead pig. I've reached out to Gentle Barn for comment. pic.twitter.com/P9LliQrr3j
