When I posted a quick item last month about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez standing in front of a chain-link fence and weeping at an empty strip of pavement on the other side, I didn’t think much of it. I just thought it was amusing that AOC posed for the cameras, got the publicity she wanted, and then was embarrassed when other photos taken at the scene revealed what she was actually looking at:
So AOC was really just trying to get some stock border crisis images for Getty. The “crying at the border” pics were just crying at cars behind a fence 🤷🏼♀️ pic.twitter.com/AHGd7B7Jx2
— Paige Sullivan (@PaigeSully88) June 26, 2019
2/2. Found by @tomselliott pic.twitter.com/UQEv4dLXed
— Paige Sullivan (@PaigeSully88) June 26, 2019
Searched Grabien’s PhotoBank and found these alternate angle pics of @AOC where her sad-face pics were shot. Apparently she was crying about the lack of migrant children for her photo op. pic.twitter.com/8FMB8OQR6K
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 26, 2019
AOC wasn’t looking at immigrants being abused. She wasn’t looking at immigrants at all. And this was reflected in my headline: “AOC Weeps Over Empty Parking Lot.” Then I forgot all about it for the better part of a month.
But as I told you yesterday, our good friends over at PolitiFact took issue with that assessment. Because, you see, it wasn’t an empty parking lot at all. It was an empty road. Besides, from where AOC was standing, she could actually see some tents. Hundreds of yards away.
And so the pronouncement came from on high: FALSE.
Once PolitiFact says so, that’s it. Who checks the fact-checkers? Not you, pal.
Now that PolitiFact has decided to “fact-check” that blog post in order to protect AOC, it’s being flagged by Facebook. Here’s the pop-up you get when you try to share it:
“Pages and websites that repeatedly publish or share false news will see their overall distribution reduced and restricted in other ways.” My goodness. That certainly sounds ominous, doesn’t it?
Well, never let it be said that I’m unreasonable. I have now updated that post with the following headline and correction:
It’s ridiculous that I’m being forced to do this to appease Democratic partisans in Silicon Valley, but I guess that’s how it goes in 2019.
This is how Facebook and PolitiFact punish us for criticizing people we’re not supposed to criticize. They’ve picked a side, and we’re not on it. If we don’t give them an excuse to silence us, they’ll just make one up.
What’s the alternative, letting you see the evidence and decide for yourself? Can’t have that. You might make the wrong decision.
Update: Even that wasn’t good enough for Facebook, and the post has been updated further. They demand submission.
