Important media headlines for October 6th:
Bottom Line: These are the stories you don't want to miss (but probably would if I didn't find them for you).
Liberal, Anti-Trump Media Taking Us All for 'Morons' Bill O'Reilly, The Hill
Excerpt: The utter disintegration of journalism in America is a huge, untold story. The case of Rex Tillerson demonstrates this perfectly. This week, NBC News, using the now very common anonymous sourcing, reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson threatened to resign and called President Trump a "moron." Instantly, the anti-Trump press decided the anonymous allegation was true. On CNN, news anchor Kate Bolduan, among others, proclaimed the accuracy of the report even though Tillerson himself denied any resignation threat and refused to even address the moron thing. Later his spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, did deny that Tillerson used the term. But the NBC reporters did not hear Secretary Tillerson threaten to resign nor did they hear the alleged moron remark. Someone apparently told them. Was any verification supplied by the anonymous person to back up the allegation? If so, it did not show up in the NBC report. We don't know. And many so-called journalists don't care. If the allegation is sensational, it gets reported — verification and perspective be damned.
This is the very reason I felt compelled earlier this year to add the Hysterical Media Headlines series as a daily feature. The ship sailed on any pretense of objectivity for most of the news media. This example is the latest and greatest example. Every last one of these posers would be fired in my newsroom on the spot for this slanderous BS.
Come and Take Them, Bret Stephens David Harsanyi, The Federalist
Excerpt: The idea that gun-control advocates don’t want to confiscate your weapons is, of course, laughable. They can’t confiscate your weapons, so they support whatever feasible incremental steps inch further towards that goal. Some folks are more considerate and get right to the point.
“I have never understood the conservative fetish for the Second Amendment,” writes The New York Times’ new-ish conservative columnist Bret Stephens today. Referring as a fetish to an inalienable right that has a longer and deeper history among English-speaking people than the right to free speech or the right to freedom of religion is an excellent indicator that someone probably hasn’t given the issue serious thought. Or maybe he’s just looking for hits.
“Repealing the Amendment may seem like political Mission Impossible today,” writes Stephens, “but in the era of same-sex marriage it’s worth recalling that most great causes begin as improbable ones.” As an American and a Jew descended from people who came here escaping both Nazism and communism, I’m okay with fetishizing the Second Amendment.
This hits right back at the single most important points. 1. The gun control crowd isn't generally being honest. They really do want to abolish your 2nd Amendment rights. 2. The reason why the right to bear arms is the 2nd Amendment, or the 2nd highest priority of the founders, is pretty straight forward. They had just won a revolution. They literally through force, over-through the government. Yes, they used guns - a ton of them to kill scores of British until they gave up. They were all too aware that governments can become tyrannous and may need to be one day fought against by the people they govern. That's it. Period. And you're damn straight they they'd have to come and get them from all of us who understand our history and freedoms.
Hurricane Response Belies Critics' Hit Job on Trump Steve Cortes, RealClearPolitics
Excerpt: The mainstream media commenced on a rather predictable, yet ghoulish, mission to fashion this Puerto Rican tragedy as “Trump’s Katrina.” Instead of assessing the actual challenges of delivering massive humanitarian aid at rapid pace to an island that already lacks basic road and electrical infrastructure commensurate with an American territory, the anti-Trump media blame-game found a poster woman in Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz of San Juan.
Never mind her 24 percent approval rating among constituents or her obnoxious support for convicted anti-American terrorist Oscar Lopez Rivera, Mayor Cruz’s anti-Trump tirades and strange T-shirts claiming Puerto Ricans are literally dying because of our president were enough to endear her to most media.
The reality on the ground belies such shameful grandstanding. Despite a calamitous storm, over two-thirds of all gas stations are operational on the island, along with the majority of grocery stores and big box retailers. More than 12,000 federal employees are providing aid, more than half of it from the U.S. military. Things are far from normal in Puerto Rico, but the response from the Trump administration has been massive and swift. Don’t take my word for it. As the Democratic Gov. Ricardo Rossello told Fox Business Channel host Maria Bartiromo, “The president and the administration, every time we’ve asked them to execute, they’ve executed quickly.” Similar praise emanated from U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp, who told Trump directly: “Because of your commitment, Mr. President, we’re talking about opening schools and welcoming cruise ships back.”
What else is there to say? My favorite this week was the AP pushing out a breaking news poll they'd conducted citing that most Americans don't approve of Trump's handling of Puerto Rico recovery. You're f'ing kidding me right? Someone in LA is in touch with the administration's response on the ground in Puerto Rico? And it's worth polling on...Gee I wonder what the motivation behind that was. There is no shame left. And I guess they think they've dumbed down the public enough to buy in.