Tag: mainstream media

The Media Just Can’t Help Turning Iran Fighter Jet Rescue Into “Black Hawk Down”

Neither Josh Hartnett nor Ewan McGregor were there, but the way the mainstream media is telling it, they might as well have been. The Sunday morning rescue of a U.S. airman shot down over Iran launched a thousand breathless tick-tock retellings from the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, and many, many more — helpful water-carrying for an administration prosecuting a deeply unpopular war without a clear end in sight.

“The rescue had unfolded with near‑perfect precision. Under cover of darkness, U.S. commandos slipped deep into Iran, undetected, scaled a 7,000‑foot ridge and pulled a ​stranded American weapons specialist to safety, moving him toward a secret rendezvous point before dawn on Sunday,” Reuters’ report on the rescue opens. “Then everything stopped.”

The operation was a “harrowing race against time,” according to the Times. As Politico put it, citing an anonymous senior administration official, it was “the ultimate ‘needle in a haystack’” mission, made possible by a CIA “deception campaign” in the country disseminating the misinformation that the airman had already been located and was being extracted by ground to confuse the Iranians’ search.

The White House frequently hosts widely attended “background briefing” calls for large groups of reporters. Maybe that’s how Axios chimed in with the same evocative “needle in a haystack” line, which it also attributed to a senior administration official.

“This was the ultimate needle in a haystack but in this case it was a brave American soul inside a mountain crevice, invisible but for CIA’s capabilities,” the unnamed source told Axios.

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Liberal HuffPost Mocked for Article Claiming Pentagon ‘Excluded Catholics’ from Good Friday Service

Liberal Huffington Post breathlessly wrote about the Pentagon and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth allegedly “excluding Catholics” from Good Friday services.

Jennifer Bendery, a senior politics reporter at the outlet, wrote that the Pentagon “invited more than 3,500 employees to attend a Good Friday service at its in-house chapel.”

“Except it’s only for Protestants, not Catholics,” Bendery claimed.

Was there not a single Catholic Bendery could have queried about religious traditions during the period surrounding Easter and Holy Week?

And, in sharing the actual text from the Pentagon invitation, does she not understand sentence structure?

Bendery shared a memo sent to staff by Air Force leadership that read, “Just a friendly reminder: There will be a Protestant Service (No Catholic Mass) for Good Friday today at the Pentagon Chapel.”

“No Catholic Mass” does not exclude Catholics; it simply notes that a Catholic Mass is not being held. Why? Because Catholics traditionally do not attend Mass on Good Friday.

Catholic Holy Week and Easter form the most sacred period in the liturgical year in the Catholic church, which commemorates the final days of Jesus Christ’s life, his Passion (suffering), death, and Resurrection.

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday and culminates in the Easter Triduum (the “Three Days”), a single unified celebration from the evening of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday evening.

Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week, recalling Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, when crowds welcomed him with palm branches. In Catholic churches, a procession with blessed palm branches takes place at the beginning of Mass, and many families take the blessed palms home and display them, often woven into crosses. The palms are later burned to make ashes for the following year’s Ash Wednesday.

Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum. It commemorates the Last Supper, where Jesus instituted the Eucharist (the sacrament of his Body and Blood) and the priesthood, and washed the feet of his disciples as an example of humble service.

Good Friday (The Passion of the Lord) is the most solemn day of the year — a day of mourning, fasting, and penance that commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion and death on the cross.

It is a day of strict fasting and abstinence from meat for Catholics aged 14 and older, with some observing additional silence or prayer between noon and 3 p.m.

Popular devotions include the Stations of the Cross (a meditation on 14 scenes from Jesus’ Passion) and processions or reenactments in some cultures. For the first time since Pope John Paul II, Pope Leo Pope personally carried the wooden cross himself through all 14 stations.

But there is no Catholic Mass on Good Friday. The tabernacle is empty, and the altar remains bare.

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Social Media Users Respond with Facts When Writer at The Atlantic Asks Why Trust in Public Health Institutions Decreased Significantly After Covid Scam

Conor Friedersdorf, a staff writer for the far-left outlet The Atlantic, took to X to ask why there has been a precipitous drop in the people’s trust in public health institutions following the endless gaslighting and lies during the Covid era, and we was on the receiving end of a litany of truth bombs.

Friedersdorf asked, “A question for everyone: survey data suggests that by the end of the Covid-19 emergency trust in public health institutions had decreased significantly.”

“If you are among the people who reacted that way, why specifically? I’m hoping for long, diverse, individualized answers.”

One person cited the ‘massive and inexplicable” CDC failures.

The Gateway Pundit reported that a peer-reviewed study exposed that the CDC inflated Covid deaths by 1600% throughout the 2020 election cycle.

Others noted the politically motivated rules surrounding public gatherings.

“When public health officials who were insisting on extraordinary measures of isolation to include the forbidding of outdoor church services and funerals unanimously announced in May 2020 that mass BLM protests were an acceptable COVID risk because racism was worse than COVID, I learned that public health was pseudoscientific activism.”

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NASA Astronaut SHUTS DOWN Race-Baiting Reporter With EPIC Reality Check Ahead of Historic Moon Mission

NASA astronaut Victor Glover refused to play along with the identity-obsessed framing pushed by reporters ahead of America’s next mission to the Moon.

The Artemis II mission is currently in flight, having successfully launched on Wednesday.

On Thursday evening, the crew successfully completed the Translunar Injection (TLI) burn. This five-minute, 50-second engine firing accelerated the spacecraft to break free of Earth’s orbit.

According to NASA, the spacecraft is on course for its lunar flyby on April 6, where it will loop around the far side of the Moon.

The mission is led by a veteran crew of four:

  • Reid Wiseman (Commander)
  • Victor Glover (Pilot)
  • Christina Koch (Mission Specialist)
  • Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist)

Victor Glover, the U.S. Navy captain and NASA pilot, is making headlines not just for his historic role but for what he refuses to turn it into.

During an exchange ahead of the launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Glover was asked what it means to be the “first Black man” to visit the Moon.

Glover didn’t take the bait. He didn’t lean into the identity politics that have been rotting our institutions from the inside out. Instead, he reminded everyone that space exploration isn’t about the color of your skin, it’s about the spirit of the human race.

Glover:
“It is a big question, and I want to highlight, I guess, maybe one facet of this—the tension, I call it. I live in this dichotomy between happiness that a young woman can look at Christina and just physicalize her passion or her interests, or even if it’s not something she wants to do, she can just be like, “girl power,” and that’s awesome.

And that young brown boys and girls can look at me and go, “Hey, he looks like me—and he’s doing what?” And that’s great. I love that.

But I also hope we are pushing the other direction—that one day we don’t have to talk about these “firsts,” that one day this is just—and listen to this—that this is human history. It’s about human history. It’s the story of humanity, not Black history, not women’s history, but that it becomes human history.”

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Don Lemon Teases His Presidential Run Depends on God, Who He Insists is Female: ‘If She Gives Me a Sign’

Former CNN anchor and independent journalist Don Lemon’s time away from network television has exacerbated his own delusions: he could not manage a news show for CNN but now believes becoming president is possible.

Before doing that, though, he would need a sign from his god who is apparently a woman.

Lemon made an appearance on “Pod Save America” alongside host Alex Wagner where he, unsurprisingly, couldn’t help but talk about President Donald Trump, leading Lemon to opine about his own presidential aspirations.

“Do I ever think about it, yes. Could it happen?” Lemon asked. “Yeah, it could happen. If the opportunity presented itself.”

“I know people are going to think I’m crazy, this is going to be the headline, people are going to laugh about it, I think I could be president of the United States. I could definitely run this country better than Donald Trump.”

The shock of no one, Lemon, claims to be an independent, and says he would run as a Democrat.

“Am I at that point now? No, and I know people are going to say, ‘Don Lemon is crazy’ but yeah look, why can’t I think about running for office,” Lemon said.

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Associated Press runs paid PR ads for Chinese telecom Huawei as CCP seeks to influence UN agency

The Associated Press is running paid public relations advertisements on X and on the wire service’s own website on behalf of Huawei as the blacklisted Chinese telecom behemoth and the CCP seek influence over a key United Nations tech agency.

The U.S. government has long pointed to the national security threat posed by Huawei and has sought to limit the firm’s spread inside the United States and around the world. At the same time, the AP took cash from the Chinese company to promote Huawei’s efforts to burnish its image as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to influence the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and increase the penetration of Chinese telecoms and networks worldwide.

The paid tweet by the AP — sent on Mar. 12 and now boasting more than 75 million views — highlighted Huawei’s links to ITU and its efforts on the world stage, and a paid article from Huawei published by the AP promoted Huawei’s efforts in AI. The tweets are clearly marked as “Paid advertisement.”

“National Champion” firms

The U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence stated in 2021 that “national champion” firms such as Huawei help “lead development of AI technologies at home” and “advance state-directed priorities that feed military and security programs.”

“China is the most capable competitor in the AI space, and aims to displace the U.S. as the global AI leader by 2030,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed in March. “China is driving AI adoption at scale — both domestically and internationally — by using its sizable talent pool, extensive datasets, government funding, and burgeoning global partnerships.”

Michael Sobolik, a China expert and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Just the News that “the Associated Press claims to provide ‘news without an agenda,’ and says that its mission is ‘journalism, not profit margins.’ It’s hard to square those praise-worthy goals with taking money from a CCP-controlled company to boost its propaganda.”

“The AP isn’t alone in doing this either. It’s the latest in a number of American reporting outlets that willingly become propaganda conduits for Beijing,” Sobolik added. “There’s no First Amendment in China, but CCP-controlled companies can push their message in America for the right price.”

Neither Huawei nor the Associated Press responded to a request for comment from Just the News.

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White House Denies Daily Mail Claim That Bondi Was Fired for Tipping Off Swalwell About FBI’s Release of Fang Fang Files

The White House denied The Daily Mail’s claim that Pam Bondi was fired in part for tipping off Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell about the FBI’s push to release salacious Fang Fang files.

Trump fired Bondi as US Attorney General on Wednesday evening before he delivered his Iran speech.

According to reports, Trump was not happy with Bondi’s leadership at the Department of Justice.

The Daily Mail reported that Trump fired Bondi for tipping off Swalwell to Kash Patel’s push to release files on his relationship with Chinese spy and honeypot Fang Fang.

The White House denied The Daily Mail’s report.

The New York Post reported:

A senior Trump administration source has denied sensational claims Pam Bondi was fired for tipping off Rep. Eric Swalwell about FBI plans to release files tied to his links to a Chinese spy.

The source told The Post that while President Trump personally likes Bondi, he had grown dissatisfied with her performance and had been weighing her removal for some time.

“The president has been considering this change for a long time,” the source said.

Eric Swalwell is panicking as Kash Patel pushes to release salacious files related to his relationship with Chinese spy and honeypot Fang Fang.

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White House Debunks Fake News Reports of Tulsi Gabbard’s Firing

Left-wing outlet The Guardian pushed a shaky narrative suggesting that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard could be on the chopping block.

But the White House wasted no time obliterating the report, calling it fake news.

According to The Guardian, Trump had allegedly been “considering” whether to fire Gabbard, citing anonymous sources who claimed the president was frustrated over her handling of former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who resigned after criticizing the administration’s rationale for confronting Iran.

White House spokesman Steven Cheung issued a blistering statement to the press, setting the record straight:

“@POTUS has total confidence in @DNIGabbard, and any insinuation otherwise is totally fake news. The President has assembled the most talented and impactful Cabinet ever, and they have collectively delivered historic victories on behalf of the American people.”

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LAUGHABLE: Don Lemon Signals He is Open to Running for President – Says He Could Do a Better Job Than Trump

Since being fired by CNN in 2023, Don Lemon has been making a living by becoming part of the anti-Trump media, a collection of Trump-deranged liberals and bitter, former Republicans who all speak only to each other and appear on each other’s podcasts.

This week, during an appearance on the Pod Save America podcast, Lemon hilariously signaled that he is open to the idea of running for president and actually said that he would do a better job than President Trump.

It’s amazing how highly Don thinks of himself. He has such an inflated sense of self-worth.

Given his participation in the storming of a church in Minnesota this winter, he’ll be lucky to stay out of jail.

FOX News has details:

Don Lemon talks possibility of being president, says he’d be ‘a lot better than Donald Trump’

Former CNN anchor and independent journalist Don Lemon addressed whether he would ever consider running for president.

“Do I ever think about it? Yes,” Lemon said on “Pod Save America” Sunday. “Could it happen? Yeah, it could happen if the opportunity presented itself, the right opportunity presented itself. Look, if I wanted to, I know people are going to think I’m crazy. This is going to be the headline, and people are going to laugh about it. I think I could be President of the United States. I could definitely run this country better than Donald Trump.”

Lemon said that he currently doesn’t have any interest in running for office, arguing that it could “ruin” his life and pointing out that White male candidates “get away with” far more than female or minority ones. He also argued that he would have to change his party affiliation from independent to Democrat.

However, he pushed back on the idea that it was impossible for him to consider running.

“Am I at that point now? No. And I know people are going to say Don Lemon is crazy. But yeah, that’s…look, why can’t I think about running for office? Why can’t I think about being President of the United States when look at what we have?” Lemon said.

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Obama Judge Blocks Trump’s Executive Order Aimed at Ending Federal Funding For NPR, PBS

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Trump’s executive order aimed at ending federal funding for NPR and PBS.

US District Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama appointee lashed out at President Trump and said he targeted PBS and NPR for their viewpoints.

Last year, President Trump ended taxpayer subsidization of ‘biased media.

“National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) receive taxpayer funds through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options. Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence,” the Trump White House previously announced.

“At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage. No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize,” the White House said.

“The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS. Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens,” the White House said.

“I therefore instruct the CPB Board of Directors (CPB Board) and all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS,” Trump said.

On Tuesday, Judge Randolph Moss blocked President Trump’s executive order ending taxpayer subsidization to PBS and NPR.

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” Judge Moss wrote.

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