Hillary Clinton figured her next speaking gig on Capitol Hill would be her inauguration speech. That didn't work out, so she did the next best thing this week on the occasion of the retirement of Harry Reid. What made news was that she used the occasion to decry what she calls "fake news" (on social media). And she wants it stopped, mind you. Of course, that opened the door for the obvious response.
Of course, what little folks like me say on social media, be it humble blogs like this or Facebook, is not news because it has a very limited readership. But when the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, CNN, ABC, CBS, or NBC, get it wrong and do it deliberately, that is fake news. More to the point, when Hillary herself tells us some lie, that is fake news. On that note, where do I begin?
When Hillary told Matt Lauer years ago that all the commotion about her husband's relationship with a White House intern was due to a "vast right-wing conspiracy", that was fake news.
When Hillary said that she landed in Sarajevo as first lady under sniper fire, that was fake news.
When Hillary told us that the terrorist attack at Benghazi that killed four Americans was a protest over a video that got out of hand, that was fake news.
When Hillary told us (for the first time) that she never sent or received classified information on a private server, that was fake news. Every time she subsequently said it, that was fake news.
So just what is it that Hillary is complaining about on social media? Is she saying that when blogs call her a liar, that is "fake news"? No, that is truthful news. Is it "fake news" when blogs refer to the Clinton Foundation as a corrupt enterprise? No, that is truthful news. Is it "fake news" when blogs refer to her use of as private server to conduct her State Department business as being against the law? No, that is truthful news. Is it "fake news" to term her rants against Wall Street hypocrisy when we know she has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from Wall Street companies? That is truthful news. Is it "fake news" to point out the hypocrisy in her rants against the top 1% when she has collected 6-figure speaking fees from universities and that her family has enriched itself by hundreds of millions of dollars with the Clinton Foundation? Is it "fake news" to point out the dangerous position of authority she placed Huma Abedin given the latter's past history with the Muslim Brotherhood? Is it "fake news" to report on her campaign receiving debate questions in advance from CNN?
Fake news is not only the numerous lies, Hillary Clinton has told us over the years, lies too numerous to recount here. Fake news is what we have been getting from the mainstream news outlets for years, which reached a crescendo in the past election-lies which all favored the candidacy of Mrs. Clinton. Fake news is the news that the media ignored or swept under the rug, for example, the revelations about the pay for play of the Clinton Foundation.
This all makes Mrs. Clinton's remarks this week laughable and just one more example of how tone-deaf she is. She is a walking, talking caricature of herself, rich fodder for late night talk show hosts. Except that they are too busy telling jokes about Donald Trump while ignoring Hillary.
Maybe there's a pony in all of this: If the left is so outraged over fake news, to be consistent they would also have to decry the demonstrably false statements published in the media about Islam. Here's a "top ten" list (in no particular order): 1. Islam is peace, 2. Sharia law is compatible with the U.S. Constitution; 3. Allah and God are one and the same; 4. the terror attack in San Bernardino (or anywhere else) had nothing to do with Islam; 5. those who criticize Islam are racist; 6. wearing niqabs and headscarves is a "spiritual imperative"; 7. all people are equal in Islam; 8. Muhammad is the final prophet of God; 9. Islamic terrorists have misunderstood or hijacked the teachings of Islam; and 10. suicide bombers cannot be Muslims because Islam condemns taking ones own life. Perhaps I missed a few.
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