Friday, November 22, 2019
Headlines for Nov. 22, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Nov. 22, 2019
From the NYT, the paper that brought us “What, Exactly, Is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?” and “Tulsi Gabbard Thinks We’re Doomed”, comes the latest gem:
*Tulsi Gabbard’s White Pantsuit Isn’t Winning
Really NYT? All your other smears against Tulsi Gabbard aren’t succeeding? And no, this isn’t just a silly (and sexist) fashion article about not wearing white after Labor Day or whatever. No, this is quite serious. From the article:
“Gabbard herself doesn’t seem particularly interested in connecting with the suffragists, but rather is using her white suits to tap into another tradition, latent in the public memory: the mythical white knight, riding in to save us all from yet another “regime change war.””
“they are the white of avenging angels and flaming swords, of somewhat combative righteousness (also cult leaders). And that kind of association…sets someone apart, rather than joining others together. It has connotations of the fringe, rather than the center.”
Compare to this article, by the same author, in 2016:
*Why Hillary Wore White
“In her white suit, with her white crew neck underneath, Mrs. Clinton looked supremely unflappable: perfectly tailored and in control. Not a hair out of place (but some hair nicely waved). The kind of person who could carry the nuclear codes with aplomb. That suit, quietly yet clearly, made reference to history, specifically the history of the women’s movement.”
*Russian web trolls boo Biden, often boost Gabbard, report finds
[An article written by who else but Ken Dilanian?] “Mentions of Gabbard, a Hawaii congresswoman, by English-language Russian propaganda outlets [Sputnik and RT] were 46 percent favorable and 44 percent unfavorable.” Really? That's how they "boost" her? Well, I guess it beats the 99% unfavorable (and general lack of coverage) in the US corporate media.
*Americans Steal Kremlin’s Playbook, for Clicks and Profit
A) Clickbait was hardly a Russian invention, and hardly invented in 2016.
B) If you read the article, the headline really should be “American steals Macedonian playbook”, and there’s no evidence the Macedonians stole that “playbook” from the IRA.
“Among Mr. LaCorte’s network was one writer who helped peddle a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton had ties to a pedophile ring.” That, of course, is Pizzagate, which was basically the origin of the term “fake news”, which, as this article makes clear, originated with Macedonian teenagers out to make money, not with “the Kremlin”.
*25 times Trump was soft on Russia
Of the 25 times, 19 are things Trump has said, not done, e.g., "Trump has repeatedly praised Putin". And most are like this: "Trump mulled giving spy compounds to Russia". Except the only evidence he did so is a Washington Post anonymously sourced story, not a Trump tweet, and it never happened. By the way, that WaPo story was headlined "Trump administration moves to return Russian compounds in Maryland and New York", as if the action was in progress and pretty much a fait accompli.
To contrast with the CNN article, Caitlin Johnstone has written an article entitled 25 times Trump was dangerously hawkish on Russia, filled with things that the U.S. *actually did*.
*At Odds With Labour, Britain’s Jews Are Feeling Politically Homeless
The headline doesn’t say “some British Jews”, just “Britain’s Jews”, which implies that all British Jews, or at least the vast majority, are abandoning Labour. You might expect an actual poll to back that up, but all you get are a handful of anecdotal examples. A story trying to make the news instead of reporting it.
Bolivia’s crisis turns deadly again as 5 killed in clash
Compare headline to the lede: “Bolivia’s political crisis turned deadly after security forces opened fire on supporters of Evo Morales in a central town, killing at least five people.” THAT IS NOT A “CLASH”, IT’S A MASSACRE. And if anyone thinks “massacre” is too strong a word, I remind you that one of the most famous “massacres” of the American Revolution, the Boston Massacre, involved the death of…five people. The essence of a massacre isn’t the number of people killed, it’s the one-sided nature of the event. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the famous mob murder in Chicago, also involved “only” seven victims. But, like Boston and like Bolivia, it was a one-sided “clash”.
Mainland Chinese Soldiers Take to Hong Kong Streets for First Time During Protests
Ooh, scary! The war has started, right? Not quite. “mainland Chinese soldiers in black shorts and olive drab T-shirts jogged out of a barracks here to clear streets of bricks, metal bars and other debris left by demonstrators.”
‘Absolutely No Mercy’: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims
Just like last week, here we have a quote with no attribution or context. It was said by China’s President Xi, but he was talking about the “struggle against terrorism”, not Muslims in general.
Hong Kong police move on university campus, threaten live rounds, retreat before growing flames
The students are shooting arrows, hurling molotov cocktails, and throwing bricks, all of which are deadly weapons, but the police *threatening* live rounds is what makes the headline.
Esper: ‘We’re not the ones looking for a Cold War’ with China
First sentence: The Chinese government is undermining the international system and trying to alter it through coercion and malign influence, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper [said].
New U.S. Policy, Same Old Bind for Israeli Settlers and Palestinians
Subhead: Israeli and Palestinian residents of the West Bank say the new American stance toward settlement does nothing to change their fundamental insecurity.
Unbelievable false equivalence between the problems of illegal Israeli settlers and Palestinians. Weirdly, the original headline (still shown in the thumbnail), was much better: US Reversal on Settlements Shows Pro-Israel Bias, Palestinians Say