11.17.23
Matching Media Memorandum – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- Nazi is used so much it is meaningless – so the press will now overuse it.
You might have noticed a bit of an outbreak of the use of the term "Nazi" in reference to Donald Trump this week. Not to say this is anything new, mind you, but the sheer volume is what is notable. Washington Post, MSNBC, Forbes, The Hill, and numerous others all jumped on board. Why?
In a speech last week, Trump invoked the word "vermin," and this was said to "echo" the words of Hitler. Ergo, Trump is a fascist Nazi. Small detail that goes under-reported in all of this: He was referring to the very groups they are accusing him of appealing to in his speech. How is that?
In all the reports you mainly see it said that Trump used that term in reference to his political enemies. What you rarely see reported is the actual quote the word appears in. Why? Because he used it in reference to those anti-American factions affecting this country. Behold:
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We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.
So, to summarize: The press is telling us that when Trump refers to Fascists and Marxists as "vermin," that effectively makes him a Fascist and a Marxist.
Spokesman denies that Trump rhetoric echoes that of dictators like Hitler and Mussolini and declares that those who say it does will find "their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House." @marianne_levine https://t.co/yYLZbxNnv6
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) November 13, 2023
Presentation Paradox – MSNBC
- Denying saying it in the sentence you are saying it is just a masterclass in punditry.
Joining in on the Nazi dogpile (a German Sheperds pile, we have to assume) is Jen Psaki, who was interviewing ABC News fixture Jon Karl who has, helpfully enough, a new book explaining how Donald Trump is a fascist, or some such related topic. In this exchange, Jenny alludes to the above quote and then makes the impossible contortion. See, she is not calling him a Nazi, just saying that he is Hitler. Nothing at all similar!
“It is about retribution. It's about seeking out his enemies. That quote you just cited about vermin… I mean, that is Nazi imagery. Now I'm not saying that Donald Trump is a Nazi, but that is the language used by Adolph Hitler.”@jonkarl on Trump calling his opponents "vermin" pic.twitter.com/yQ6dyykrnW
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) November 14, 2023
Anti-Social Media – LOS ANGELES TIMES
It is turning out there is some more fallout from the actions of those who are openly displaying anti-Semitic positions and affecting them professionally. We're supposed to have sympathy for those college students who were openly campaigning to see Israel destroyed and having that lead to promised jobs being rescinded. Now, we see reporters suffering a similar fate, but maybe less dire.
Recently, hundreds of journalists signed a letter calling to cover the Israel conflict with loaded terms such as calling their actions "apartheid," "ethnic cleansing," and "genocide." Basically, it was an open admission they would cover things in a deeply slanted fashion, and the LA Times decided this was a potential problem. Nearly a dozen of its writers who cleverly put their names on that public letter have now been stripped from covering any aspect of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
New: Reporters at the LA Times who signed an open letter criticizing Israel have been told that they cannot write about the Israel/Gaza conflict for three months https://t.co/fbc7lhvOsg
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) November 16, 2023
Reporting on the Mirror – THE NEW YORK TIMES
In what might just be the most neutered reaction of protest to the Israel conflict, it was announced that Anne Boyer, The New York Times Poetry Editor, was stepping down from her position due to opposing the paper's stance on the conflict. At least, we think this is why.
Although her open resignation letter lends support to Palestinians (and accuses the desire to confiscate oil reserves as a motivation?), Ms. Boyer does not exactly explain what her resignation is meant to do. Nor to address. Nor to accomplish in any discernable fashion. But she sounds firm in her resolve about her decision – we think:
Because our status quo is self-expression, sometimes the most effective mode of protest for artists is to refuse. I can’t write about poetry amidst the "reasonable" tones of those who aim to acclimatize us to this unreasonable suffering. No more ghoulish euphemisms. No more verbally sanitized hellscapes. No more warmongering lies.
If this resignation leaves a hole in the news the size of poetry, then that is the true shape of the present.
Collateral Damage in the Israel-Hamas Conflict: The NY Times Poetry Editor Resigns Over…Well, Somethinghttps://t.co/9FPLP1ueeJ
— RedState (@RedState) November 17, 2023
Pounce of Prevention – WIRED MAGAZINE / GADGET LAB
Because everything is unhinged these days, over on TikTok, the kids have been really busy recirculating Osama Bin Laden's "Letter To America," and they are praising elements from the infamous terrorist's infamous screed insulting this country.
Once this began being reported, the geeks at WIRED looked over the situation and saw the problem. When it comes to people hostile to the country praising a terrorist manifesto targeting the US, and doing so on a Chinese Communist-owned social platform, the real issue to take exception with is these conservatives who are weaponizing this occurrence by pointing out what is happening:
Far-right lawmakers and influencers have used the renewed interest in bin Laden to spread conspiracy theories about 9/11 and push their own anti-China agenda.
The Bin Laden Letter Is Being Weaponized by the Far-Right https://t.co/gXm0kefigP
— WIRED Gadget Lab (@gadgetlab) November 17, 2023
Pre-Written (on)Field Reports – FOX SPORTS
For reasons never made clear, over the years it has become required that college football games have a sideline reporter who will corner a head coach and ask inane questions. These usually will deliver one of two types of responses: An avoidance of explaining strategy (What will you tell your team in the locker room? / We need to fix our mistakes and take care of turnovers!), or explaining things that are painfully obvious (We simply need to stop them offensively, and we need to start scoring more!).
Current hostess for "Prime Sports Thursday Night Football," Charissa Thompson has come out to admit that in her days as a sideline reporter, she has made up interviews. She has gone on the air and claimed a coach has told her things when in fact she never actually spoke with him:
I would make up the report sometimes because A., the coach wouldn’t come out at halftime or it was too late and I was like, I didn’t want to screw up the report, so I was like, ‘I’m just gonna make this up.’ Because, first of all, no coach is gonna get mad if I say, ‘Hey, we need to stop hurting ourselves, we need to be better on third down, we need to stop turning the ball over . . . and do a better job of getting off the field. Like, they’re not gonna correct me on that.”
In one respect, you have to completely agree with her on this fact.
"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.
