WaPo headline linking anger at Sri Lanka terrorist attacks to ‘far right’ draws Twitter’s ire
The Washington Post is under fire for printing a story with a contentious headline, implying that anger over the recent spate of bombings in Sri Lanka is unique to the “far right.”
Titled “Christianity under attack? Sri Lanka church bombings stoke far-right anger in the West,” the piece drew outrage online far and wide for its recklessly phrased headline.
In its story, the Post cites right-wing leaders and activists across the US and Europe – such as Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s National Rally party – who view the bombings in Sri Lanka as part of a greater attack on Christianity.
While the Post does acknowledge that “Christian minorities are targeted around the world,” some took the piece itself to be a religious slight.
“If you [need] any further proof that the Washington Post is anti-Christian, check out this asinine headline,” one user said on Twitter.
BBC News On Sri Lanka Attack: ‘Muslims Left Nervous And Afraid’
By Chris Menahan
Won’t somebody think of the Muslims?
From BBC News:
Muslims left nervous and afraid
The BBC’s Anbarasan Ethirajan writes from the capital, Colombo:
Sri Lankans are yet to come to terms with this wave of unprecedented bomb attacks.
It is believed some Muslim youths were radicalised after clashes between the majority Sinhala Buddhists and Muslims last year in the central district of Kandy.
There have been videos on social media showing hardline Islamists and Sinhala hardliners promoting hatred after that violence.
But very few expected such massive attacks a year later. And why were Christians targeted? They are also a minority in Sri Lanka.
It’s an eternal mystery, folks.
The country experienced suicide attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels during the civil war that ended in 2009.
But the ruthlessness with which the latest attacks were carried out show that the country’s task this time will be challenging.
It is a different kind of battle. In the meantime, Sri Lankan Muslims are left nervous and afraid.
Nolte: Top 51 Fake News ‘Bombshells’ the Media Spread About RussiaGate Collusion Hoax Hall of Shame
By John Nolte
Here are the top 51 pieces of fake news the establishment media spread about the Russia Collusion Hoax over the past two years, and I describe this list as the Top 51 because there is a behemoth of an iceberg lurking below.
Since the release of the Mueller Report last week, which — despite two years, $30 million, and a team of rabidly partisan left-wing investigators — found exactly zero crimes of Russia collusion or obstruction associated with President Trump and his campaign, one of the most bizarre results has been watching the media pat themselves on the back for the stories they believe they got correct.
Imagine that. Imagine your industry is so broken and corrupt that all you have left is to point to what you believe you did right. This is like watching an airline pilot brag about the times he didn’t crash, a district attorney point to the people he prosecuted who were not innocent — or in the words of comedian Chris Rock, a parent boast about taking care of his kids.
You’re supposed to take care of your kids!
And the media are supposed to get stories correct.
But here is the media forced to brag on when they didn’t crash the plane, when they did take care of the kids, which tells you something is horribly, terribly, ridiculously wrong.
Hey, here are some examples of when we didn’t mislead the country with disinformation!
Check out this one below. Here you have a reporter forced to focus on the “highlights” of her outlet’s reporting because the Washington Post got so much wrong she was able to quickly cobble together a list of those times the Post did not mislead its readers:
While a list of what the media might have gotten correct is fairly easy to put together, no one will ever be able to grasp the tsunami of fake news Americans were buried under for over two years.
The list below of 51 might sound like a lot, but it is a drop in the ocean when you recall the thousands and thousands of hours CNN, MSNBC, Meet the Press, This Week, PBS NewsHour, State of the Union, Good Morning America, Reliable Sources, and the Today Show devoted to anchors and pundits pushing the hoax that Trump colluded with Russia.
Not to mention, millions and millions of establishment media tweets and Facebook posts.
Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Shepard Smith, Andrew Napolitano, Joe Scarborough, Chris Hayes, Chuck Todd, Joy Reid, Chris Matthews, Jake Tapper, Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo, Brian Stelter, Erin Burnett, et al., are alone responsible for thousands and thousands and thousands of hours of lies and conspiracy-mongering.
This list of 51 doesn’t count the half-million — half-MILLION — Russia collusion stories published over the past two years, almost all of which were premised on the idea that Trump did, indeed, collude with a foreign power to steal the 2016 presidential election.
This list cannot begin to count the countless times these 51 fake stories were repeated as fact throughout other news outlets, social media, and thousands upon thousands of cumulative broadcast hours.
What’s more, this list of 51 can’t begin to count the countless examples of fake news launched against Trump that have nothing to do with Russia — desperate and deliberate lies involving fish food and ice cream scoops…
Before we begin, credit where it’s due. This list would not have been possible without the lists already compiled by Sharyl Attkisson, Glenn Greenwald, and Sohrab Ahmari.
Michael Cohen went to Prague.
Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie, and Mueller has emails proving it.
Paul Manafort passed polling information to Kremlin.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein forced out.
Federal investigators wiretapped Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, have recordings of Trump.
Phony Russia dossier was initially funded by Republican group.
Donald Trump directed Flynn to make contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign
Russian social media company provided documents to Senate about communications with Trump official.
- CNN:
Donald Trump Jr. conspired with WikiLeaks.
Robert Mueller subpoenaed Trump’s Deutsche Bank records.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort worked with Russia intelligence-connected official as late as December 2017.
Trump Deputy National Security adviser K.T. McFarland lied about another official’s contacts with Russians.
- CNN:
Trump’s campaign was never wiretapped.
Manafort notes from Russian meeting refer to political contributions.
Seventeen intelligence agencies concur Russia hacked the 2016 presidential race.
- CNN:
Congress investigating Russian investment fund with ties to Trump officials.
Former FBI Director James Comey says Attorney General Jeff Sessions told him not to call Russia probe an investigation but “a matter.”
- CNN:
James Comey will testify he never told Trump he was not under investigation.
Putin admits he has compromising information about Trump.
Trump fired Comey after Comey asked for additional resources for the Russia investigation.
Numerous contacts between Trump campaign staff and “senior Russian intelligence officials.”
Among others, a Trump family member will be indicted on February 8.
Paul Manafort visited WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange on three occasions.
Trump campaign changed GOP platform on Ukraine.
Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Michael Cohen really did visit Prague.
- CNN:
Trump is lying when he calls Russia dossier “phony.”
RT had hacked into and taken over C-SPAN and C-SPAN “confirmed” it had been hacked.
Russia’s hacked the election systems of 21 American states.
Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid through a utility in Vermont.
“More than 200 websites” were “routine peddlers of Russian propaganda during the election season.”
Russia is the main suspect in the sonic attacks that sickened 26 U.S. diplomats.
Trump created a secret Internet server to covertly communicate with a Russian bank.
- CNN:
Donald Trump knew in advance of the Trump Tower meeting.
- CNN:
Mueller Report will show Trump “has helped” Putin “destabilize” the United States.
- NBC:
Russia supports Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI).
-
- CNN:
Sessions failed to disclose meetings he had with the Russian ambassador.
“There’s actually lots of evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.”
Trump revealed classified information to Russians.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Russia paid Trump.
Mueller can show Trump campaign “had a connection to Russian intelligence.”
“Rudy Giuliani just told America that Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia.”
Evidence suggests Trump could be a Russian “asset.”
- NBC:
Russians began hacking Hillary Clinton’s emails on the day Donald Trump joked about it in July 2016.
Russia spy visited Trump’s Oval Office.
- CNN:
Phony Russia dossier has been “corroborated.”
- NPR:
Donald Trump Jr. lied under oath about Trump Tower deal in Moscow.
Russia successfully hacked voting systems in a number of states.
- CNN:
Trump is “bonkers” for claiming Hillary Clinton behind Russia dossier.
- CNN:
“Every intelligence expert, both under the Obama administration and under the Trump administration,” agrees with the assessment that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
- BBC:
Ukrainian president “authorized” an illegal payment of $400,000 to Michael Cohen for additional face time during a June 2017 meeting with President Trump.
Twitterati pounce on MSNBC for sending reporter to pester Mueller near church on Easter Sunday
Russiagate-obsessed news network MSNBC sent one of its journalists to talk to the one person in a position to feed the dying hopes that the now-public Mueller report still holds the key to ousting President Donald Trump.
MSNBC’s Mike Viqueira ambushed Robert Mueller as he and his wife were leaving St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Washington after an Easter service. In what he probably believed to be an act of adversarial journalism, Viqueira pelted the special counsel with questions to which every Russiagater hopes to hear the right answers.
“Will you testify before the Congress, sir? If it were anybody but the president, would Mr Trump be indicted, sir? Sir, why didn’t you make a recommendation to the Congress one way or the other? Did the attorney general accurately characterize your positions on conspiracy and obstruction, sir?”
Mueller responded with “no comment.” But Viqueira simply wouldn’t take that for an answer. Speaking to anchor Alex Witt in the studio about the encounter, he later joked that Mueller was “tight-lipped” with him.
Many commenters on Twitter didn’t find it as amusing as he did though. “Bad form to harass him on Easter Sunday guys!” one person said. “MSNBC stalked and harassed [Mueller],” another commenter remarked. The general message to the network seems to be: Leave the man alone, he deserves a break after digging into Trump for two years.
US politicians and media personalities, who were hoping that Mueller’s report would be the downfall of Donald Trump’s presidency, are grasping at straws after the 400-page document stated that Trump’s campaign didn’t collude with Russia and refrained from saying if it was involved in any obstruction of justice. AG William Barr decided negatively on the latter, since there was no underlying crime to cover up in the first place.
Now the people who were feeding their audience the collusion narrative for over two years are resorting to new tactics, like accusing Barr of maliciously misleading the public to protect the president, implying that the redacted parts of the publicly available report are still hiding some smoking gun, or claiming that the Mueller investigation was too narrow to begin with.
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