Pravda Syndrome: MSM Can’t Stop Lying About ‘Gunwalker’
“Smoking gun” emails and other recent revelations about “Operation Fast and Furious” — and other gunrunning operations by agencies of President Obama’s executive branch — have backed the mainstream media into a corner: they have been responding with silence or with outright deception.
One need look no further than CNN, where syndicated columnist (and PJMedia contributor) Ruben Navarrette Jr. delivered a whopper of a lie Thursday, claiming that the administration’s attempt to create rifle reporting requirements actually affects machine guns. He claimed:
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has decided to try to clean up Dodge City by requiring gun dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to report bulk sales of automatic weapons.
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He also wrote:
Do you remember the part of the Constitution where it says that people have the right to buy two or more automatic weapons within five days without law enforcement knowing anything about it? Me neither.
Automatic weapons were not among those being trafficked from American gun shops to Mexican cartels.
Not a single one.
They have been heavily regulated since the National Firearms Act of 1934, and in the 77 years since that became the law of the land, machine guns like those you would find in a a few specialized gun shops have been used in just two illegal homicides.
In yet another unsigned editorial, the New York Times leads with the blatant fabrication that 70 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States. This is the most recent talking point created by Democrats, released just before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard testimony from ATF whistleblowers about Operation Fast and Furious in June.
The statistical misrepresentation is a variation of the 90 percent lie that the Obama administration has been using since the president was inaugurated. In actuality, 83 percent of guns used by the cartels come from somewhere other than the United States, and of the 17 percent traced to U.S. origins, roughly 8 percent were traced to U.S. gun shops.
Plus, we now know that a substantial portion of the weapons that transited gun shops did so as a direct result of federal law enforcement agencies telling dealers to make questionable sales to suspected cartel gun runners.
A fact the Times conveniently and purposefully ignores.
In addition to using debunked statistical lies, the Times tells Americans what they think the laws are — or rather, what they wish they were:
These guns have no legitimate place in civilian life and were banned outright for 10 years until Congress and two successive administrations failed to fight for the ban’s renewal.
That, too, is a series of blatant lies. A handful of specific guns were banned by name, but so-called assault weapons were never “banned outright.” In fact, sales of these firearms actually increased during the decade-long fiasco known as the “assault weapons ban.”
Led by the New York Times, the MSM is dramatically ramping up a continuous, relentless and profoundly dishonest campaign to push America toward being a dumbed-down, brain washed, totalitarian, third world banana republic.
It is becoming more and more common place to see statements like “spending more is saving more”, “breaking the law is honoring the law”, “affirmative action reduces discrimination”, and “increasing the price of everything reduces inflation”.
What? Are the MSM “journalists” that insane, or do they think we are that profoundly stupid and ignorant?
Amen to that! Apparently they DO think we’re that stupid. Some people here in Austin, TX, apparently are brain washed, based on what I’ve seen, but you get out of the big cities, and let people breathe fresh air, and hoo-boy, they know what’s what better than the MSM could ever imagine! Have they forgotten the HUGE military and retired military presence in TX alone, never mind other border states, south and north? Military folks may be average citizens in other aspects, but they know their weapons, absolutely! I wish everyone would flush their commodes a few times and REALLY clear the airwaves. It’s inslulting that the MSM think they can treat us like it’s already “1984″!
1984, Utopia, Atlas Shrugged….etc. are all cautionary tales for the moral and sensible person. For the left it is more and more apparent that they are handbooks and guides.
Wil, those paradoxical statements you give as examples, where did you find them?
Suthenboy is more right than he knows. All of history is an accumulation of cautionary tales wherein self-anointed, compassionate geniuses decide they are the ones to set everybody else right. The story never comes out well for the people, no matter how shiny the leader given them to ‘save the world’. America’s was a different sort of story for a while–until ‘the best and the brightest’ decided they could write a better one than did the founding Americans. George Washington would be angry at what we have let happen to America, and he would advise those of us who care, “Do not give up your guns.”
“What? Are the MSM “journalists” that insane, or do they think we are that profoundly stupid and ignorant?”
They are corrupt. Not paid-off, but rotten. There is nothing worth salvaging in the profession of “journalism”, and all its infrastructure should be laid low.
Do not ascribe to malice that which can be explained by ignorance or stupidity.
Living in a city among leftists and liberals who act like meat and vegetables come from a grocery store, gasoline comes from a gas station, and water comes from a tap; one can get pretty detached from reality. These are people who think fishing is messy and disgusting, and who think that hunting is barbaric.
I’ll bet that not one of the senior editors at the New York Times has ever been fishing, let alone hunting. Yet they feel qualified to spew all sorts of nonsense regarding guns.
As more and more people live in cities and close-in suburbs, this problem will get worse. Solution: Take a kid hunting or fishing to possibly spark what could become a life-long passion. If you have relatives in the city, take them with you to the gun range. Introduce them to the people there and point out the efforts made to keep things safe. If you can drag them to a hunter safety course, that’s even better still (where they’ll learn that ultimately it is falls and hypothermia that hurt and kill far more hunters than weapon accidents).
The reason opinions like the NYT continue to happen is because these people do not understand the reality on the ground.
“MSM Can’t Stop Lying…”
Yeah, I noticed that decades ago.
Wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the situation to change.
“The administration’s apparent plan to use gun violence to spur support for gun control efforts has become…..” should be read “The administration’s apparent plan to cause gun violence to spur support for gun control efforts has become….”.
During Bill Clinton’s years in the white house over 250K felons attempted to buy guns. Of those, I think 3, were prosecuted. 3. Not 3000, just 1,2,3. The lefts ”attempts to disarm the proles” strategy has long been to not enforce existing gun laws to raise the possibility of gun crime, thus more restrictive gun laws can be justified.
It seems they have ramped up this strategy by flooding the criminal underworld with thousands of weapons purchased by strawbuyers while the atf played the role of ‘lookout’. It truly is a ‘you have to break some eggs to make an omelet’ mentality. As one PJM commenter asked yesterday on another story ” Where are all these omelets the left talks about making? I havent seen any, just broken eggs.” (I am paraphrasing)
Looking at this scandal from that view, it has been like watching someone paint by numbers right from the start. If there is diligent investigation I predict more memos and emails will surface, people will roll and more and more confirmation of this will come out. I also strongly suspect the government may have provided some money for the purchase of those guns, and that there were more operations than Phoenix and Tampa. I am betting that any number of other border towns will be named before this is over.
To give them the benefit of doubt,the MSM, like the rest of the left, rationalizes this kind of behavior as serving some higher good. A higher good which is impossible to believe in without ignoring history. It never has, does not, and never will exist. They are ‘humanitarians with a guillotine’ or as Rand put it ‘The humanitarian in theory is the terrorist in action.”. If they are willing to go this far, consider what they will do after us proles are disarmed. That consideration should chill your blood.
Just a note: “During Bill Clinton’s years in the white house over 250K felons attempted to buy guns. Of those, I think 3, were prosecuted. 3.” I just want to note that of the 250K National Instant Check System (NICS) that the great majority were rejected in error (i.e. name similar to that of a prohibited person in the same area). This is no different than people like Teddy Kennedy being thought to be on the no-fly list. Most criminals don’t buy guns from gun stores. They get them through straw purchases, buy them on the black market, or steal them. I do agree that there were few prosecutions; probably because the authorities were aware that most of the NICS rejects were erroneous and were unwilling to engage in fruitless prosecution.
The difficulty is, the MSM will tout that “250k” figure as “People denied guns”, as if they were criminals, when in fact very, very few are. I get denied every time because I have a name similar to that of a bandit. Imagine how many “John Smith’s” get denied initially, then ok’d later that day. Those all cout as “denials”, and proof that their crime-fighting tools are working because “guns are being kept off the street” and all the other cliche crap they roll out. They can’t handle the truth…..
Reuben is consistently wrong on everything. “Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence” is good advice. I don’t know, or even care, if he lies. It’s enough knowing that everything he says is suspect.
For some reason I’m reminded of the glib lightweight in the White House.
I agree. If he’s too lazy or too stupid to do some investigation into the truth, he should just shut his pie-hole. Pretending to be knowledgable without acquiring knowledge is lying.
The strategy of describing semi-autos as automatics or machine guns is an old one by the gun-control crowd. It has been pointed out, debated, debunked, and beaten to death for years. They know the difference very well. Thus it cannot be explained by incompetence. It is deliberate misinformation and there is Malice behind it.
The msm, led by the New York Slimes, Washington Composte and the alphabet networks have willingly prostituted themselves to socialist causes for well over a decade now. They are nothing more or less than shills. Everyone knows it, and they continue to wither and die because of it. Good Riddence.
Notice Navarrette didn’t bring that BS here? He knows he would have been completely debunked.
“Do you remember the part of the Constitution where it says that people have the right to buy two or more automatic weapons within five days without law enforcement knowing anything about it? Me neither.”
I’m glad you asked. I checked, and given the language in this part of the Constitution (something called the second amendment, which I’m aware they speak to only using secondary texts in J-School and might be worth your time actually reading should you wish to have an actual factual commentary that doesn’t make other readers laugh at the ineptitude of the journalist), combined with the concept of enumerated powers and the overall nature of this document being a limitation, not a prescription, for the powers and authority of government, actually makes it clear that these are the powers of the people and/or the states.
Your question did beg me to ask of a similar concern, which I’d share back to you: Do you remember the part of the Constitution (I’ll give you a hint since you apparently haven’t read it before — open up the First Amendment) that authorizes the media to assemble large corporations that operate and coordinate the fabrication, reproduction and dissemination, in collusion with, and for the purpose of enabling the anti-Democratic power of, a single political party?
As you may be quite surprised, I could not find this language. In fact, having read this primary text which you’re admittedly unaware of, as well as a set of rather boring Federalist Papers which I am quite certain you’ve never encountered, I can further advise that the interpretation of the duties and authorization of the Fourth Estate (wiki it as you probably don’t recognize the term) are clearly to remain independent from political party. The very authorization, immunities and privileges you possess is predicated on this detached objectivity.
For this reason, I (and many others) are actually engaged in recommending to our Congresspersons that they enact (with the next President, of course, who isn’t owned by a global-political machine) a Sarbanes-Oxley act to regulate and enforce political and economic objectivity, independence and ethics in the news media. Congress has made it a significant crime for a CFO, CEO and senior finance people to write a fictional narrative in his company’s financial statements — even if they politically or economically need to bend the facts “just a little bit” as is daily practice in the media. Doing so ensures hard prison time in a Federal pen.
The same will need to apply to journalists, editors and publishers to materially misstate, misrepresent, distort, slant or skew news reporting, as well as show any alignment either willfully or effectually, with specific political or economic interests.
Excellent point. Unfortunately you are wasting your breath. Guys like Reuben dont believe that that will ever be successful, and if it is that it will be warped to benefit guys like Reuben.
Sarbanes-Oxley is the wrong thing to apply to the press. RICO them.
Then Carthage them.
(It would be excessive to Ripley them — “take off and nuke the site from orbit” — despite it being the only way to be sure.)
A thought popped into my head when I read the headline for this article. A paraphrase of a popular song used in the intro to one of the police shows. And I think it applies to the demos and their sycophants. Notice what they did to Juan Williams.
“Whatcha gonna do when they turn on you?”
Sooner or later some of them will say something that makes sense and the Lamestream media will turn on that person and pravda them to oblivion.
Liberals have never understood what an automatic weapon is. I suppose they think a Winchester repeating rifle could be classified that way.
A liberal wouldn’t know a Winchester repeating rifle if you held one to his head…not that I’m advocating it…wouldn’t be “civil.” Besides Winchester rifle sounds so, ya know, like, Western. Yuck!
And those that do know the difference lie. They like to conflate “Semi-automatic with “automatic” in order to muddy the waters & confuse the uninformed. Progressives pull the same stunt while debating immigration.
And PJM readers are wondering why this closet Marxist and open racist is still a PJM contributor.
This is one of my first visits to PJM, and yes, I do wonder why, unless he’s being kept around as a good example of a bad example.
Now that you mention it, I was wondering about that. I’m fairly new to PJM, and assumed he’s around as a good example of a bad example. House rules, you know–your house, your rules.
We are all missing the point here. I just cruised the news websites for the New York Times, the Washington Post and Google. You can find all the articles you want about the debt negotiations. Our president wants tax increases now with promises for debt and expenditure cuts in the future; we have all seen that movie. There are a lot of articles about Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. While we are very lucky to have Fox news and the Wall Street Journal telling us about what is going on in Washington, we are not very likely to get it from the NYT or the Post.
From the NYT, the Washington Post and the articles on Google, I saw nothing about Fast and Furious. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody was there to hear it, was there really a noise. If the media does not report on Fast and Furious, then it will only exist for us.
It is one reason the media has decided on another shot at Murdoch.
The wheels of justice turn slowly especially when the guards are the prime suspects. The coverup definitely has the stink of Watergate.
Read the July issue of the NRA’s “Rifleman” magazine. In fact, most of the weapons used by the cartels are either stolen/purchased from the Mexican military, or from Russian arms dealers – in bulk. Why would a multi-billion dollar enterprise bother purchasing weapons from U.S. dealers when they can get them wholesale from Viktor Bout?
Correction: “American Rifleman”. The article is Fast, Furious And Deadly by James O.E.Norell.
There are two serious issues brought up by the article. Both have the potential to destroy our country. One is the alleged criminal conduct by our ATF/ DOJ. Veteran ATF agents have testified under oath that their organization purposefully facilitated the transfer of hundreds, or thousands of weapons from US control to foreign criminal elements. The unanswered question, asked by Congress, is why. Yet there is almost zero press coverage on this situation, and fundamental facts fail to be conveyed in the few reports.
The second issue is the competency, alertness, and truthfulness of our press. There has been wall to wall coverage of the poor baby in Florida, and its pretty mother’s trial. This press feeding frenzy also occurred in the O. J. Simpson, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and the Gitmo prison scandal. Yet, in the fullness of time, these criminal proceedings vanish as important decisions in our jurisdiction’s history. A similar frenzy occurred at Three Mile Island “disaster” where “experts” predicted hundreds of thousands of immediate deaths from nuclear radiation. But no head stone can link one death to this epic “disaster”.
There are only three possible responses to a problem by a professional: They can be correct, they can admit error, or they can cover up either criminal or civil failings. The media chronically errs in the third subset, they will blanket an alleged murder but ignore alleged high crimes within our government (it wholly depends on the party in power). Hence, over time, their legitimacy erodes, fewer and fewer educated people read their words, or consider them. People seeking truth, look elsewhere for valid reporting. If you only get your news from the MSM, you live in a fictitious world, and your considered ballot is dangerous.
America has bifurcated into red and blue populations depending on the “Sarah Palin slant”, basically propaganda created by George Soros, Eric Holder, or Rupert Murdoch types.
Managed news is lying. And liars can not be trusted. The cloud extends to our Justice Department.
“Automatic weapons were not among those being trafficked from American gun shops to Mexican cartels.”
Whether it’s guns or border jumpers, Ruben Navarrette, Jr. never fails to deliver the left’s lies.
People aren’t the problem, guns are. Don’t you go to the movies and see those (semi)automatic guns which blow up cars with a single shot. Or, seen those amazing six guns used in Western movies that fire 20-30 rounds without ever needing reloading. Or, hit their target (a villain) with every shot. Remember the mantra, guns are the problem, guns are the problem…….
“Do you remember the part of the Constitution where it says that people have the right to buy two or more automatic weapons within five days without law enforcement knowing anything about it?”
The feds can’t make me do anything unless they have an enumerated power in the Constitution that lets them do so (Amendment 10).
Just because a right isn’t listed in the Constitution, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist (Amendment 9).
Frankly, your argument doesn’t hold water too well. As things stand now, unless I’m buying automatic weapons across a state or national border, it’s none of the feds’ business. And, the right you imply doesn’t exist, may very well be a right.
That’s if you’re actually following the Constitution, of course.
Once before Gabriel blows his horn, i’d love to see some reference, any reference, by the anti-gun cadres to the numerous studies and reports on gun law and violent crime.
No, the 2nd Amendment haters treat the topic as if it is some safely-ignored trivial side-issue.
But actually, it IS the issue.
So, what, one wonders, if not the dimunition of violent crime, what is the left actually trying to accomplish?
The answer to this question makes a nice fundamental defense against assault on the 2nd, without having to bother with the endless exhausting and futile explanations –likely over the heads of most leftists anyway –of why robberies and shootings, stabbings, bludgeonings, stranglings, et cetera that are deterred by guns and thus never occur, can never be –no matter how numerous stats say they are –as heart-rending as a single one that does.
Such a simple principle, and yet how much rotten law is built on ignoring it!
you know they just had a giant gun battle in the middle of the streets in chicago, and then let all the guys go: “self-defense”?? a 13 year old child died.
it’s bigger than the border.
The so called Main Street Media is nothing of the sort. It has not been mainstream for a long time.
They are dying because people want to know what is going on, but must turn to alternative sources to find it. They don’t want to be lied to, scolded like children by pompous jerks, or lectured to by people who know less than they do.
On-air “reporters” get their talking points on their blackberries from the White House in real time, and dutifully report what they are told. They lie, under report, censor what is really going on, etc.
Newspapers and television “news shows” all report the same “news” with the same pejoratives.
These “reporters” belong to organizations such as Center for Public Integrity and Pro Publica and not only neglect to mention their affiliation, they certainly won’t mention Soro’s funding of these organizations.
We must understand that they no longer report the news, nor represent the mainstream in any commonly understood fashion.
The so-called MSM is now properly defined as the:
*** MoP (Ministry of Propaganda) ***
They are no more than that. Goebbels would be proud.
One cannot solve a problem unless the problem is properly defined and stated. Once everyone understands that what you see and hear from the MSM is nothing but propaganda that should be promptly and summarily dismissed, America will be on the road to recovery. I am personally surprised that anyone still watches MSM broadcasts and reads their drivel.
When dealing with the Socialist anti-american left if you think about their main operational motto “The end justifies the means” it will put in perspective why these socialist frauds can not be reasoned with. From their backing of the AGW/IPCC scam. Obama’s fraudulent birth certificate, and now the Fast and Furious boondoggle, to name a few. The left’s response to these major Frauds is to bury their heads in the sand and circle the wagons. The only way to defeat these socialist frauds that have infested the democrat party is to vote their anti american commie rear ends out of office in 2012 and then clean house at EPA, DOJ, and any other government agencies that have been taken over by Obama’s appointee’s.
Bob,
I’ve suggested it one other locale – “Walkergate” – IMHO has a very nice ring to it.
The House and Senate hearings on this can drag on to indictments? I don’t know the powers of the committees. I would presume that a special prosecutor would be assigned; this would draw more media attention. Just a thought.
Is Mr. Navarette kept around for comedic purposes? I can think of no toher reason for his presence.
the 2nd amendment states the right to bear arms shall not be infringed. it does not specify , the type of gun, guns in general, swords, knives, missles, phasers, lightsabers, spears, rocks or any weapon. WHY? because the founders wanted the people to have the abiility to defend themselves from criminals and govts period. they realized that crime and opression changes and does not staty the same, does not use the same tactics, nor the same weapons and they wanted defense against that. it says NOT INFRINGED. that means lefties and ruben, if i want a damn cannot missle launcher that fires sharks with lasers strapped to their heads I GET TO HAVE IT! i dont need a ‘legit reason’ i dont kneed your permission nor your approval. It is as simple as that. Christ its not complicated and if ruben would use his brain he could see that his precious gun control laws dont do squat and far mor harm than good.
“Do you remember the part of the Constitution where it says that people have the right to buy two or more automatic weapons within five days without law enforcement knowing anything about it? Me neither.”
Show me the part where it says we can’t.
“Show me the part where it says we can’t.”
There ain’t no such part, and if I want to buy 2 or more M16s I should be able to.
I want my $1K back for those NFA Tax Stamps too!
Nothing says I can’t have a SBR or a Suppressor either.
Come on Bob, it should be obvious that a main reason the media gets away with conflating civilian guns with military guns, is that we gun owners like to call our legal guns semi-automatic, while we all know that military guns are properly called automatic. It is time with that our blessing, our gun industry take a semantic retreat and rename our civilian guns non-automatic. No one can say that is an untrue description of civilian guns, and we should force the issue. Any one who tries to stop that definition will open the whole difference to the entire public and educate them further.
Gun owners all know the difference and will continue to purchase the correct weapons when we are ready to purchase, but it will be much harder for our enemies to conflate non-automatic with automatic. We will have lost nothing and may gain “truth in reporting”.
ROK?