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No Outcry When Andrea Mitchell Blatantly Lies About DeSantis

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Feb 21, 2023
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

02.21.23

Low Octane Gas Lighting – MSNBC

  • "What is your reaction, Madame Vice President, to these horrific things I'm accusing that are not actually taking place?"

Recently, Andrea Mitchell sat with Kamala Harris to discuss various issues, one being how Ron DeSantis is ruling the state of Florida. Harris mentions how teachers and parents should be involved in the teaching of children, which is interesting because the whole outrage over the Parental Rights in Education law was centered on giving parents more of a say in their children's learning environment. But it was Mitchell with the disturbing comments.

She framed one question to Harris: "What does Governor DeSantis not know about black history and the black experience when he says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida school children?"

This is a flat-out lie from Mitchell. For one, Ron DeSantis has never said anything of the sort. She is merely putting words in his mouth based on the news narratives falsely describing Florida education standards. Where is anything approaching outrage, or even just corrective words, from the media types who constantly wail over misinformation? This is as blatant an example as we can see.

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The way this lie is dispelled is that Florida has laws on the books stipulating the teaching of black history and slavery must be taught. Those were signed by…Ron DeSantis.

First Amendment Strike Force – YOUTUBE

To start, one of the other consistent lies regarding Florida schools is that the Department of Education and Ron DeSantis are busy "banning books." No books are banned (go purchase any title claimed to be banned right now), but what is complained about is some books being made unavailable to younger grades due to age appropriateness. In the same way that a film rated for only adults is not in any way banned, neither are these volumes.

A curious development has now emerged, as YouTube is seen doing the very same thing, and somehow the media is not raging about the video platform censoring anyone. A documentary about the changes seen in the Disney Corporation over the past few generations has been labeled in a curious fashion. A group called the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights made the film "Walt's Disenchanted Kingdom," and the producers came to learn YouTube had placed an age restriction on the film.

This is despite their saying there is no objectionable content by YouTube's terms of service. An appeal to the platform was rejected, and the movie still carries the warning.

News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS

  • At this rate, Biden's biography will become a five-volume set.

President Biden, who has been titled "Storyteller In Chief," has come out with a new wrinkle to his formative years. We now await the dormant fact-checking battalions of our country to see if they will spring into action to look into our president's latest biographical claim. While in Poland, Biden stated that he grew up in a town with so many Polish children he had anxiety that he did not have an ethnic surname.

This is a moderate surprise to learn, as we have been made aware that Jose Biden grew up as a Puerto Rican. We were made aware of this from him, for the record.

Race To The Bottom – MSNBC

  • Using racism to allege racism is not a fantastic look.

They are still at it with the racial attacks on Nikki Haley. Notably, all the criticism from journalists over Nikki Haley announcing her presidential run concerns her race. Her name, supposed lack of pride, and other demeaning claims have all come from journalists, who, at the same time, try to call the GOP racists regarding the woman. Curious detail; the Republicans who are supposedly scared by her also vote for her, and those who are supposedly unaware of her ethnicity have been told about it for decades.

The vilest racist remarks so far have now arrived from Wajahat Ali. Just try to imagine the reaction if a white Republican were recorded saying any of these hysterical claims.

The best is when he says, "They will never love her," regarding the party that voted for her three times as a state House member and twice more as governor, all while her Indian-American heritage was never in question.

Presentation Paradox – BRITISH ACADEMY OF FILM AND TELEVISION ARTS

This weekend in England, they held the BAFTA Awards, the British version of The Academy Awards. In recent years, the British academy altered many of its operational standards in order to allow for a more diverse membership. This seemingly worked, as this year saw the field of nominees includes 40% of people from minority categories.

Except it did not work. In the end, they handed out 45 trophies Sunday night; all 45 winners were white.