By Mike Huckabee
November 23, 2021
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THE MORNING EDITION By Mike Huckabee
Good morning! Here are some stories from me that I think you will want to read. Topics include:
- "Fact-checkers"
- NBC
- DC Musical Chairs
- A Message From President Trump
- Prayer Tree
- And Much More
DAILY BIBLE VERSE
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45 NIV
Today's Bible verse was recommended by Tommy W.
If you have a Bible verse you want to see in our newsletter, please email [email protected].
THE LATEST NEWS
1. BEWARE: "THE INVASION OF THE FACT-CHECKERS":
When we talk here about so-called fact-checkers, such as PolitiFact, we typically put quotations around the word “fact.” That’s because when it comes to politics, these websites often select their “facts” carefully, leaving out or shading information that is inconvenient, and sometimes even manufacturing it as needed –- all while accusing others of doing just that –- to “debunk” a claim and support a different narrative. When they can’t make that happen, they’ll sometimes borrow a skill often used in court or on the debate stage: change the original assertion so they can argue against their preferred one instead.
The people who work this way are not fact-checkers but advocates, or, to use the vernacular, hacks.
PolitiFact, created in 2008 to cover that year’s presidential election, became part of the Poynter Institute in 2018. The Poynter Institute trains journalists –- yes, believe it or not, they get training! –- and we would venture to say that the state of journalism today does not speak well of their performance in this area. The line between news reporting and opinion writing is now as meaningless as the border between Mexico and Texas.
The Poynter Institute also includes the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which is “dedicated to bringing together fact-checkers worldwide.”
More than 60 fact-checking organizations on six continents participate in IFCN’s work and sharing of “best practices,” and more than 30 organizations have passed the vetting process to become signatories to its Code of Principles for Fact-Checkers. Given some of the fact-checks we’ve seen from PolitiFact, that is indeed a scary thought.
Oh, but wait –- they’ve won the Pulitzer. Yes, and so did The New York Times and the Washington Post for their wildly inaccurate coverage of Trump-Russian “collusion” fantasies. I guess if those newspapers can win a Pulitzer for their misreporting and the Academy Award for Best Original Song can go to “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp,” then this bunch can have a Pulitzer, too.
“Each year, Poynter trains over 100,000 journalists from more than 70 countries in person and online...in virtually every country in the world.” That should keep you up at night. They’re very proud of their reputation, they say. A few of the news organizations that hire Poynter include National Public Radio, NBC News, Newsweek, and the Washington Post.
Click on “Support for Content & Training to Strengthen Media Literacy,” and you’ll find such groups as The Democracy Fund, Facebook (“Helping MediaWise and PolitiFact in the fight against mis- and disinformation to help people sort fact from fiction online”), Google, Microsoft, and TikTok (“Helping PolitiFact continue to fact-check elected officials and hold government officials accountable”).
https://www.poynter.org/poynter-thought-leader/
“Founded in 1975,” their website says, “Poynter is an inspirational place but also a practical one, connecting the varied crafts of journalism to its higher mission and purpose. From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers.” They “explore the intersection of journalism, technology and the public interest.”
The reason why we wanted to examine this is that Dan Bongino called attention to a so-called fact-check from Politifact that is really quite shameful, supposedly debunking something President Trump said in a media briefing on August 31, 2020, soon after Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested for killing two and injuring one in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Their verdict: “Trump paints false picture of Kyle Rittenhouse shootings ahead of Kenosha visit.”
Trump had said the video showed Rittenhouse “was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like...fell, and then they very violently attacked him.”
Now, if you watched the trial this month, you saw that video over and over, many times. It showed that Rittenhouse was trying to get away from them, fell, and then they very violently attacked him.
Yes, PolitiFact said, Rittenhouse “tripped and fell as a group of people pursued him on the night he allegedly killed two protesters and injured a third.” But, they said, Trump left out “vital context”: that “Rittenhouse ran away after PROSECUTORS SAY [emphasis mine] he had already shot and killed someone.”
“The President correctly describes some minor details about that night,” PolitiFact said. “But, overall, his comments grossly mischaracterize what happened –- leaving out that by the time of the events he described, prosecutors say Rittenhouse had already shot and killed a man.”
What??
PolitiFact also concluded that since Rittenhouse had already been arrested and charged with homicide, Trump was wrong to say the matter was “under investigation.” Note: an incident doesn’t stop being investigated just because charges have been filed.
“Rittenhouse did fall as a crowd followed him, but Trump’s comments leave an incendiary and false picture,” PolitiFact said. “By the time he fell, according to criminal charges, Rittenhouse had already shot and killed one man that night. We rate [Trump’s] claim FALSE.”
Well, because they accepted as true the prosecutor’s version of events, which turned out to be false, we rate PolitiFact’s fact-checking FALSE, and it’s not the first time. How wonderful that the Poynter Institute is training fact-checkers all over the world, with the help of Facebook and TikTok.
Derek Hunter at Townhall has a great opinion piece --- notice we say “opinion” --- about the outrageous media misconduct concerning the Rittenhouse case.
As a palate-cleanser, we’d like to show you a case in which a conservative site got the fact-checking right in debunking a story, even though that story might have fed a more conservative narrative.
A video on Facebook had showed what appeared to be a woman being kicked out of a Wichita Thunder hockey game on November 5 for wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt.
“Check Your Fact” at Conservative Review looked into this and learned that the woman was escorted out of the arena by security after “she was using extremely profane language and gestures toward our staff and those around her,” according to a statement from the team. She was part of a group who were all wearing “Brandon” shirts, and she was the only one who had to leave.
This fact-check was objective, reasonable, non-political, “just the facts.” Maybe contributor Mecca Fowler, who wrote it, should be the one training all those legions of fact-checkers around the world, This example shows that at least somebody knows how to do it right.
LEAVE ME A COMMENT HERE, I READ THEM>>>
2. GIVE IT BACK NBC:
The helpful handmaid media are trying desperately to cover for the inflation and shortages under the Biden Administration with helpful Thanksgiving tips, like NBC’s “Consider not buying a turkey.” Or their radical cousin-home-from-Berkeley MSNBC’s claim that Thanksgiving is about “white settlers who brought genocide and violence” to what was assuredly a Disneyesque paradise before they arrived, so we shouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving until there’s “freedom, justice, equality, reparations” and we “return the land,” and “only then can we be thankful.”
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/486939/
I have a compromise: let’s take all of the land containing offices and studios of NBC and MSNBC and give that back to the Native Americans. Then we can all be truly thankful.
That story also includes a link to a story from the Babylon Bee about something else we would all be thankful to see.
3. PRESIDENT TRUMP'S MESSAGE TO WAUKESHA:
"The whole world is watching the tragedy which just took place in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It is devastating, horrible, and very very sick! My heart goes out to the people of this great, beautiful, and hardworking community. We must find the answers to this terrible crime, and stop these violent and depraved acts from happening again. I am with you Waukesha, and always will be!"
4. MUSICAL CHAIRS:
Normally, I don’t place much importance on the musical chairs game of people switching jobs in Washington. I figure it would only be real news if they left Washington and took a job in the private sector. But it is interesting that in light of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ record-low approval numbers of 38% and 28% respectively – and all the stories about infighting and turmoil over Harris inside the White House – that two top people quit within a day of each other, and they're both in charge of communicating the image of those two to the public.
Thursday, it was announced that Harris’ communications director Ashley Etienne will leave next month. Then on Friday, the White House director of communications Emma Riley announced that she’s quitting to move to the Labor Department.
This seems to imply that the Democrats believe, as usual, that a “messaging problem” is responsible for those record-low approval numbers, and that Americans just don’t know about their great policies. Ironically, I think the opposite is true. I think Americans know only too well about this Administration’s policies and their effects, and that’s precisely why they have record-low approval numbers. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic wouldn't have helped, nor would replacing the activities director.
5. OUTGOING, THANKFULLY:
The outgoing head of the National Institutes of Health thinks there’s too much free speech going on in America and that spreaders of “misinformation” (as defined by government authorities) should be “brought to justice.”
I already told you the good news in this story: he’s the OUTGOING director of the NIH. And that doesn’t mean he’s sociable.
6. CHANGING THE LANGUAGE:
The left never lets up in their Orwellian efforts to win arguments by redefining words and changing the language because…well, let’s face it, how else are they ever going to win an argument? But this one is particularly screwy.
The Colorado Sex Offender Management Board voted 10-6 to replace the term “sex offender” when referencing criminals who have been convicted of sex offenses with “adults who commit sexual offenses.” That seems pretty similar, only with a lot more syllables to make it more gaseous.
Apparently, we're supposed to feel sorry for these poor folks, having to carry the unfair burden of being known by such a “negative” term as “sex offender.” And we wouldn’t want to do anything to undermine the self-esteem of convicted sex offenders, now would we?
Incidentally, the term “sex offender” itself was a softened euphemism for what they really are. We used to call them more specific terms fitting their crimes, such as “rapist” or “child molester.” I guess we should be glad leftists don’t want us to call them “heroes.” That is, unless they were shot by Kyle Rittenhouse.
7. RITTENHOUSE GOFUNDME REINSTATED:
The GoFundMe.com fundraising website has lifted its ban on fundraisers to help pay for Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense. The site was under fire from Rittenhouse’s supporters, but they claim that they didn't single him out; they just don’t allow any fundraisers for people accused of violent crimes and have removed hundreds of others unrelated to Rittenhouse. However, an acquittal can lift the ban. Noted.
8. THIS MESS TAKES A PARTICULAR KIND OF TALENT:
I expect CNN to get stories wrong, but it takes a special kind of anti-journalistic talent mixed with rank sycophantic bias to get two stories on the same subject wrong in completely contradictory ways because you’re simultaneously trying to let President Biden off the hook for something he did do and give him credit for something he didn’t do. Man, being the court jester is hard!
9. QUICK TELL THE PRESIDENT:
Wait, you mean Americans CAN’T afford to fire millions of essential workers just because they don’t want to get vaccinated? Someone should definitely mention this to the President.
10. I JUST WANTED TO SAY:
Thank you for reading today's newsletter.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
This feature returns with images of America's cities, landscapes and people.
HYMNAL: WONDERFUL GRACE OF JESUS
Listen: https://youtu.be/Rq_acjLFKUI
Today's hymn was recommended by Jim V.
1 Wonderful grace of Jesus,
greater than all my sin;
how shall my tongue describe it,
where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden,
setting my spirit free,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Refrain:
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
deeper than the mighty rolling sea,
higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
all sufficient grace for even me;
broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it!
greater far than all my sin and shame.
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name!
2 Wonderful grace of Jesus,
reaching to all the lost,
by it I have been pardoned,
saved to the uttermost.
Chains have been torn asunder,
giving me liberty,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. [Refrain]
3 Wonderful grace of Jesus,
reaching the most reviled,
by its transforming power
making me God’s dear child,
purchasing peace and heaven
for all eternity,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. [Refrain]
Author: Haldor Lillenas
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