[Peace-discuss] Liberal embarrassment (II)

[C. G. Estabrook]

[The interesting thing here - after the jokes - is that the premier liberal 
cable show is defending US imperial policy in the Mideast - notably "Obama's 
Egypt policies" - which is essentially the same under this administration as it 
was under the last. --CGE]

The Atlantic Wire
Rachel Maddow and NBC Struggle With Satire
John Hudson

WASHINGTON, DC – The Internet's finest satirists hooked a big fish in the media 
world last night. In an embarrassing segment on her MSNBC show, Rachel Maddow 
slammed conservatives for attacking President Obama's Egypt policies. Her 
targets included Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former ambassador to the UN John 
Bolton and Stephenson Billings at ChristWire.org. Only problem is Stephenson 
Billings is not a real person. He's a fictional byproduct of a website that also 
warns readers that the Xbox Kinect is a terrorist training tool and the Japanese 
have created scary robot babies which "threaten humanity."

The article that caught Maddow's eye called for an "American-led invasion" into 
Egypt and begged former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to lead the war cry.

"The escalating crisis in Egypt could become a defining moment for Sarah Palin," 
Billings wrote. "Governor Palin needs to speak out publicly and forcibly for an 
American-led invasion to protect our interests in North Africa."

In the following clip (which MSNBC scrubbed from its website) Maddow falls for 
the article hook, line and sinker:

The fact that ChristWire isn't a sincere Christian web forum has been a 
difficult lesson for the mainstream media to learn—especially NBC and its 
affiliates. The Atlantic Wire first outed ChristWire last July, when NBC's New 
York and Los Angeles affiliates published an article about the Christian right 
boycotting actor Bill Murray. NBC's Drew Magary linked to a ChristWire article 
calling Murray a "murderer of lambs" and a "fatal disease" to America's 
children. The article's author? Stephenson Billings. Maybe the company should 
flag this guy in its employee handbook.

Now to Maddow's credit, her blog acknowledged the mistake quickly after the 
broadcast aired. Last night, the Maddow Blog tweeted:

The bad news about a free and open internet? Sometimes you get had by brilliant 
satirists. Christwire: 1 TRMS: 0less than a minute ago via webMaddow Blog
MaddowBlog


Maddow's humility sparkles in comparison to The Huffington Post's, which upon 
being duped by ChristWire last August, simply erased parts of the article that 
showed they weren't in on the joke. In that instance, ChristWire had published 
an advice guide for women on how to tell if their husbands are gay. The mistake 
caught the attention of The New York Times which pressed the website on the 
issue and finally elicited a concession. “We did get hoodwinked,” Huffington 
Post spokesperson Mario Ruiz admitted.

C'mon people. Google searches! They're not that hard.