CNN Melts Down on Ice Cream Day

America’s age-old love affair with ice cream appears to be winding down. In 1986, the average American ate 18 pounds of regular ice cream, according to the USDA. By 2021, the most recent year of the data, that was down a third to just 12 pounds per person.

So, what could be leading to people walking away from the Blizzard station like this? Well, this is CNN, after all – we need to have socio-activist reasons for these moves, after all:

Over the years, concerns about sugar (and sustainability) have become more common. But like full-fat milk, soda, red meat and other former heroes of the American diet, ice cream has been scrutinized for its impact on health and the environment. 

But then we see a very significant detail swirled deep in the layers of this serving. We are not spending less on ice cream, just differently. As the unit figures are dropping, the other frozen dessert categories – non-fat, low-fat, sherbert, frozen yogurt, and gelato – have seen growth, and ultimately, sales by dollars have gone up. This is due to people choosing more expensive premium options, or inflation is a contributing factor.

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America’s age-old love affair with ice cream appears to be winding down.https://t.co/vrAKU5dBfm

— CNN (@CNN) July 16, 2023

Both Kinds of Standards – SLATE

• The anti-misogynists strike again.

Most everyone is familiar with leftists and the media lashing out at anyone who would make a caustic comment about a woman's appearance. In telling fashion, however, we have been watching as these same social scolds have felt completely emboldened to lash out at Casey DeSantis and her appearance since her husband announced his candidacy. (Recall the Daily Beast shrew who called her a "Wal-Mart Melania"?) 

The latest comes from Slate, where writer Heather Schwedel had to go there, impugning Florida's first lady for her appearance, and implying her eyebrows are somehow politically important, in typical catty "Mean Girls" fashion. 

Let’s step back and recall that the left and the media snap instantly at any attack on a female they favor.
Yet Casey DeSantis has been routinely attacked since her husband announced his candidacy.
Does Heather Schwedel now approve slamming women’s appearances? @Heathertwit pic.twitter.com/7gnIaGRWkq

— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) July 15, 2023

Gilded Reframe – WASHINGTON POST

• Well, at least the question of whether or not she has an editor has been answered.

Could this possibly represent a dawning moment at WaPo? The paper's "conservative" columnist Jennifer Rubin came out with her latest, and it was bad enough that it sent the weekend editors into working overtime. Jenn offered up a hit piece slamming Governor Ron DeSantis and his followers in his home state, supposedly mocking the people here as we are supposedly running off residents by the truckload. There was only one problem with Rubin's piece: It was entirely incorrect.

Jenny relied on a piece from Business Insider that we covered here last week, the one that announced Floridians were fleeing the state in mobs. Rubin clearly did not read the census tables that supplied the data, and she obviously did not read the wholesale correction Business Insider made stating the data was 180 degrees the opposite, that Florida was leading the nation in people moving into it. That Rubin refers to the "know-nothing" Floridians while getting something glaringly wrong is just precious. 

This led to Washington Post having to issue their own wholesale correction, one that completely invalidated Rubin's entire column. 

Florida has become not where “woke” died but rather where empathy, decency and kindness go to die. And it also is killing their economic future https://t.co/snTIg0QDFF

— Jennifer Now at Threads Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 14, 2023

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – CNN

• The deceptively edited segment you missed while ignoring Chris Wallace.

This one took a bit to evolve. Last week, CNN ran promos for an interview Chris Wallace conducted with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. The segment ran on Friday, and it was only after the broadcast did people realize that the network that always loves to lash out at Fox News for lying and fakery conducted its own version. It turns out the network had clipped McDaniel's comments in the preview in order to make her appear as an election denialist. 

The previews put out have Ronna saying, "I am saying there were lots of problems with the 2020 election, and we need to fix it going forward." The larger point in the segment was McDaniel discussing the Hunter Biden laptop and how the press burying the story meant voters were denied all the information ahead of the election.

CNN 'Deceptively' Edits What RNC Head Ronna McDaniel Said About Hunter Biden Laptop, 2020 Election https://t.co/36oGksI48k

— RedState (@RedState) July 15, 2023

Matching Media Memorandum – VARIOUS OUTLETS

• "Who needs the full interview? We'll just run with the deceptively-edited promo clip."

After CNN ran the edited promotional clip of McDaniel's comments, a number of other news figures and outlets pounced on the claim she was denying the election. Chris Hayes claimed she could not give a straightforward answer. Ali Vitali pulled the same move. Philip Bump at WaPo also had to misrepresent her words. At the Huffington Post, they grudgingly admitted what Ronna actually said but had to dredge up any and all reference to denialism as possible. 

It is lame how we saw lies spewed by @alivitali, @ChrisHayes, @HuffingtonPost, @WashingtonPost, @Mediaite and more outlets calling Rona McDaniel an election denier. They know @CNN deceptively edited the promo clip.
She referred to the Hunter laptop story being hidden from voters. pic.twitter.com/oVAbmxsUzG

— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) July 17, 2023

Race to the Bottom – WASHINGTON POST

• The racism of famous music artists not conquering every chart.

Currently, country star Luke Combs has a smash hit single going this summer, his remake of the Tracy Chapman classic "Fast Car." It was not initially released as a single, but streaming plays made it more popular, and then it dominated the charts, hitting #1 in country music and sticking around in the top five on the all-genre national chart. But this is a racial problem.

"Combs's remake of Chapman's 1988 hit now dominates the country charts, renewing difficult conversations about diversity in Nashville," claims Emily Yahr of the Washington Post. The problem? The country music charts have not been welcoming – and possibly hostile – to artists like Tracy Chapman:

Although many are thrilled to see “Fast Car” back in the spotlight and a new generation discovering Chapman’s work, it’s clouded by the fact that, as a Black queer woman, Chapman, 59, would have almost zero chance of that achievement herself in country music.

Ms. Yahr cites statistics showing that a minuscule number of POC-LGBT𝜋 artists have ever appeared on the country charts…and this is somehow problematic. Of course, we do not get any indication of how many POC-LGBT𝜋 country music artists are out there being spurned by the industry.

And for the record, Chapman – who won 3 Grammys and sold millions of copies of her original song – has supported this new release, and as the lone writer of "Fast Car," with the publishing rights, she is pocketing a good fortune right now off of Combs' success with her song.

As Luke Combs's hit cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" dominates the country charts, it’s bringing up some complicated emotions in fans & singers who know that Chapman, as a queer Black woman, would have an almost zero chance at that achievement herself: https://t.co/7pCIMW5F0N

— Emily Yahr (@EmilyYahr) July 13, 2023

Low Octane Gas Lighting – MSNBC

• Okay, if his audience is not made of conspiracy nutters, then why does he spew so many himself on the air?

It was with grand amusement that this weekend we heard Ali Velshi covering the Ray Epps developments, what with him suing Fox News over claims he helped lead the charge into the Capitol in 2021 (while seen on video doing exactly that) and then claiming he is about to be charged for January 6 himself. Velshi then made a staggering announcement: "My audience doesn't have conspiracy theorists in it, right?"

Again, this is Ali Velshi saying this, the man known for standing in front of a 2020 riot conflagration and insisting the protest was a mostly calm affair. Also, to add to the amusement, as he said this on screen, his guest for the segment was none other than Nina Jankowicz, the former Disinformation Czar, who was chased away from the job for her history of…supporting disinformation narratives.

Newsbusters delivered a rather trite paragraph with a rundown of some of Velshi's greatest conspiracy theory hits – which apparently were not spoken for the sake of his viewers…?:

In addition to denying what was right in front of his face, Velshi was a big proponent of the Trump-Russia Collusion narrative. Velshi has also accused conservatives of creating an environment for terrorism, suggested high gas prices were a Saudi plot to help Republicans in the 2022 midterms, warned of theocracy, defended Stacey Abrams from accusations of conspiracy theories, and allowed his guests to suggest a President Ron DeSantis may lead to coups in the United States.

MSNBC Host Claims 'My Audience Doesn't Have Conspiracy Theorists' https://t.co/JTkIzJuJ74

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 16, 2023

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