11.16.23
Both Kinds of Standards – THE LATE SHOW
- Decrying someone for doing the very thing you are doing in the same sentence.
There was not shortage of irony when two people who were on the frontlines of vaccine mandates – Rachel Maddow and Stephen Colbert – have a discussion about the merits of accusing fascism in others. The MSNBC hostess has a book out on this very topic, so she and Steve had a verbal pretzel serving about how to impugn Donald Trump for using the term "fascist" while at the same time needing to use the term themselves, suggesting he has diluted the definition of the very word they want to toss around at others like rice at a wedding:
“Well, I think that he is inviting us to call him a fascist and he's doing these things. I mean, the thing-- you can't ignore it, right? You don't have a choice. He is yanking our chain. He does want to be talked about in these terms, but also, it’s important that you pointed out that he, in that speech, also called his critics fascist. He wants fascist just to become a random political epithet, just an insult that everybody uses that means nothing.”
These are the same people who referred to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a "fascist" when he gave people the choice on whether or not to wear a mask. Now, they are mad that after years of calling any opponent a fascist, their opponent is doing the same thing.
A "fascist curious" Donald Trump is indicative of an "ascendent anti-democratic movement" according to @maddow, who explores the timely topic of fascism in America in her new book "Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism." #Colbert pic.twitter.com/zyL9jjWPKT
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) November 15, 2023
Stealth Story Evolution – CNN
- Denial leads to delusion, and leads us to delete the CNN app from our phones.
The death of Paul Kessler after he was attacked at a protest by a pro-Palestinian has been a case of media denial for weeks. Even after Moorpark College professor Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji was formally charged for the death, we see the press refusing to openly state there was a murder charge.
Making this all the more unacceptable is this softening of the event in the final paragraph:
The cause of death was determined to be blunt force head trauma and the manner of death a homicide, Young said. The latter, he noted, is a medical determination meaning the death occurred at the hands of another person, and it does not mean a crime has been committed.
Even as @CNN fixed the egregious headline, its repair job is no better.
— Brad Slager: Flips On The Highbeams In Fog Of War (@MartiniShark) November 16, 2023
The abject refusal to note there was a murder charge for Paul Kessler's death - something authorities were alleging on the day of the attack - shows how the press shies away from ANY anti-jewish controversy. pic.twitter.com/jpzUAipoHL
Legalized Press-titution – ASSOCIATED PRESS
- We are waiting to hear when the terror group does anything objectionable.
It has been a regular approach in the press to the Israel-Hamas war that Israel is only performing objectionable and inhumane activities while Hamas is held blameless. Look at this approach to the story of the al-Sharif hospital: Israel is storming it, the babies and patients are suffering a loss of electricity, and supplies coming in are woefully less than needed.
No criticism of Hamas is to be heard, no recognition of Israel bringing in supplies is given, and there is passing mention of the terror group being situated at the hospital.
Israeli troops on Wednesday stormed into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, searching for traces of Hamas inside and beneath the facility, where newborns and hundreds of other patients have suffered for days without electricity and other basic necessities as fighting raged outside. pic.twitter.com/Lzo9eXPWzL
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 16, 2023
Pre-Written Field Reports – 'CBS THIS MORNING'
- As you endure unspeakable horror, could you please think of others?!
Channeling her best Andrea Mitchell impression, on the morning program, Gayle King went off the rails as she was interviewing Thomas Hand, an Irish father whose 8-year-old daughter has been kidnapped by Hamas and taken to Gaza. King saw a need to address the problem of politics becoming injected into these stories – and then she promptly injected politics into the story, trying to get Hand to address that Palestinian children were perishing in the conflict:
"But now, this seems to be all about politics. What do you say about that? You know, you have innocent children, Palestinians who are dying, innocent Israeli children who are dying, and no one seems to be able to say enough, stop that."
WATCH: CBS's Gayle King LECTURES the father of a eight-year-old Israeli girl being held hostage by Hamas that "innocent children in Pales --Palestinians...are dying" too just as "innocent Israeli children" and, b/c of "politics," "no one seems to be able to say enough, stop" pic.twitter.com/5qkg2QUMNn
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 15, 2023
Low Octane Gas Lighting – ROLLING STONE
Mike Johnson – the politician few in the press even knew about one manth ago – continues to have the press working overtime to impugn his character. In the latest example, Rolling Stone writer Bradley Onishi declares that the new Speaker "flies a symbol of insurrection and violence outside his office."
What has Onishi breaking out in hives is the flag with the words "An Appeal To Heaven" that unsurprisingly has been adapted by – get this – religious groups. However, it was also seen in the crowds during the January 6 uprising, so therefore, it is reportedly a sign of Onishi's fears. This flag has been flown since the American Revolution, when George Washington was inspiring violence and insurrections against the British crown.
Meanwhile, you'll note Rolling Stone harbors no such outrage for another representative flying a flag symbolizing violence outside her office, at the very same time.
Johnson's flag was flown by the government during the Revolutionary War.
— Brad Slager: Flips On The Highbeams In Fog Of War (@MartiniShark) November 16, 2023
Looking forward to Onishi's report condemning Rashida Tlaib for flying a Palestinian flag outside her office, considering they actually committed "chaos and violence" on October 7, killing 1,400 Israelis. https://t.co/WH37OXD6R7 pic.twitter.com/5id2jk1Je2
Presentation Paradox – NBC NEWS
Where to even begin with this hysteria. We get the dire news that there will be a severe increase in warming-related deaths if action is not taken immediately. What action, exactly, can be taken to control the weather? Well, it involves us doling out fortunes toward the cause, of course. Actual applied science and technology need not be considered.
NBC bases all of this on a study by The Lancet that decided an increase of 370%(!) in deaths from the heat will be realized.
HOWEVER...
That same source has compiled data that shows over nine times as many people perish from the cold than the heat.
So how many fewer will die from the cold? FYI: pic.twitter.com/Sy46FWq4Jc
— Kevin Williams (@wxbywilliams) November 15, 2023
"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation, where Brad Slager looks to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.
