VIDEO: Farewell then, Stephen Colbert

Winning the war against fake news and the controlled media!

CBS News Radio (previously known as CBS Radio News), historically a part of the CBS Radio network, was a radio network that at its peak provided its version of the news to more than 1000 radio stations throughout the United States. 

Note Walt's use of the past tense. Yesterday evening, the network, owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation and its predecessors, pulled the plug... hit the kill switch... on CBS News Radio. So today we have two fewer woke, anti-Trump voices to tell us not to believe what we can see with our own eyes.

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's more! Other voices of the lickspittle media are teetering on the brink. Since the beginning of 2026, along with the cuts at CBS, the Washington Post also laid off a third of its staff. The Associated Press offered buyouts to over 120 journalists. And CBS parent company Paramount has also acquired the Clinton News Network, aka CNN.

Ted Johnson, politics and media editor for entertainment trade publication Deadline. opined that "all of these news sources have been kind of overshadowed by the growth of opinion voices, whether that's in podcasts or on cable news or in streaming. He did not explain why people have simply stopped listening to "legacy" news outlets.

VIDEO: Matt Walsh exposes media lies about NYC terror attack

First, let me apologize for not  posting "'Allahu akbar!' at Gracie Mansion" on Sunday. TBH, when I first saw the story on BBC, it didn't seem like a big deal. Just a couple of Pennsylvania teenagers playing around with homemade bombs and claiming to be jihadis -- servants of the Prophet!

Here's the BBC summary, ICYMI. Two men have been charged with terror offences after police said they attempted to bomb a protest outside the New York City mayor's home in an attack allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group. 

The suspects, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, allegedly told police that they aimed for the Saturday attack to be "even larger" than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that left three dead. New York police say the pair attempted to detonate two explosives outside Gracie Mansion, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani lives. 

Authorities found a third bomb in their car. The incident happened during an anti-Islam protest. None of the explosives went off as intended. So... no biggie. Nobody hurt. Just a couple of Muslim kids from Pennsylvania horsing around. As you can see, they're now in the custody of law enforcement. Kid Balat is on the left, Kid Bayumi the right. 

No reason for alarm, eh, let alone Islamophobia. But...my Spidey senses got aroused when I saw how hard the lickspittle media -- notably the New York Times and CNN -- were trying to conceal information about the suspects' backgrounds and motivation. Here's the NYT's sanitized version of the story:

"Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather. But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs."

Enough to gag a maggot, isn't it? They don't say that Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, are legally adults. NYC police described the items they hurled not as "homemade bombs" but as "IEDs". These they tossed into a crowd of innocent people peacefully protesting against the Islamization of New York City. 

Also omitted from the Times' version were reports that Mr Balat yelled "Allahu akbar!" during the incident. Nor did they write that during a brief appearance before reporters, he flashed the single-finger gesture associated with ISIS. Even Islamist-Communist New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has grudgingly admitted the two men are charged with a "heinous act of terrorism and proclaiming their allegiance to ISIS."

Bad as the Times report was, American right-wing political commentator and podcast host Matt Walsh says CBS was worse and CNN worse still. Here's what he has to say about the mainstream media's deliberate obfuscation and egregious mendacity.

And here's the straight dope, as published belatedly by CBS News under the subhead "Investigators looking into suspects' background"

"Investigators are looking into the overseas travel for Balat and Kayumi. Balat left the U.S. for several months and traveled to Istanbul from May 6 to Aug. 26, 2025. He most recently traveled back to the US from Turkey in January of this year. Meanwhile, Kayumi traveled to Istanbul for several weeks in July and August 2024 and to Saudi Arabia in late March of that year. 

"Federal investigators have also been interviewing family members of Balat and Kayumi as part of their investigation, as well as looking at their online communications. Balat's parents were born in Turkey and were naturalized as US citizens in 2017. Balat is a US citizen and has been living with his family in a large two-story home in Pennsylvania. 

"A woman at the residence confirmed to CBS Philadelphia that Balat lived at the house. Kayumi's parents are originally from Afghanistan. They became naturalized US citizens in 2004 and 2009. It is unclear if Kayumi was living with them at the time of the incident Saturday."

If you're searching for the truth about the threat of Islamic terrorism -- coming soon to a locale not far enough from your home! -- don't listen to CNN, the NYT, Wapo, NPR and the other lickspittle media. Listen to Matt Walsh and the other commentators we feature here on WWW! We're pullin' for ya!

The solution is so obvious

Are you up to the challenge of a career in mainstream journalism?

There’s no more noble aspiration than that of one day becoming a professional journalist, but many may feel intimidated or unequipped to pursue such an impressive career. Do you think you have what it takes? Here, from our friends at the Babylon Bee, are nine qualifications needed for a career as a professional journalist. 

1. Burning desire to seek the truth: And if the truth you discover isn’t what you were hoping, just come up with something else. 

2. Have an IQ no higher than 45: Any more than that, and CNN won’t even consider you. 

3. Be OK working for peanuts: That’s not a metaphor, media companies are struggling so much they can’t compensate you with money. 

4. Possess an undying desire to rid the world of the evil that is the United States: You can’t just allow freedom and democracy to keep running roughshod over the world. 

5. Ability to pass a lie detector test while lying: It’s a skill possessed by the greatest reporters. 

6. Willingness to be verbally abused by Donald Trump: Even though most of it is probably true. 

7. Be a hot blonde woman in a tight dress: This tip is specifically for people wanting to work at Fox News. 

8. No actual training in reporting facts: You don’t want actual news to get in the way of telling your predetermined story. 

9. Be a registered Democrat: This is the most important one. 

If you check all the boxes listed above, you too could be on your way to being part of the greatest threat to America.

The Bee is Walt's favourite source of Christian satire. If you subscribe, please tell `em Walt sent ya!

VIDEOS: Fox News panelists parse the Cackler's suicidal CNN town hall

Did you watch the fragrant Ms Harris do the town hall hosted by Anderson Cooper on CNN last night? ROFL. I kinda wish I had, though, as the clips and reviews I've seen make me wonder if it was really that bad. 

However... in this video, "The Five" co-hosts Greg Gutfeld and Judge Jeanine say that indeed it was that bad... in fact, a total disaster.

Can ya stand another one?

Can't resist adding one more, from "Kudlow" panelists Katie Pavlich, Rich Lowry and Byron York.

Dissenting opinions are always welcome at WWW, although Ed. resereves the right, etc etc. Click on the headline to open this post on a separate tab, with a "Comments" window at the bottom.

VIDEO: Female politician aces CNN interview

LOL, noooo, we're definitely not talking about Cackler Harris, whose super-friendly, super-scripted, interview by the Clinton News Network's supercilious Dana Bash bombed bigtime on Thursday night.

Hock Ptui had no answer for what she would do on her first day as President on Day One. She had no answer for her supposed flip-flops on radical ideas she's held for two decades. She looked diminished, unsure of herself, and, above all, unpresidential. 

The optics of the interview -- the dark warehouse look -- was bad enough, but the soon-to-be-ex Veep looked like a little kid finally allowed at the grown-up table. Her decision to bring running mate Timmy A-walz along made her look especially weak. It didn't do anything for Mr Stolen Valour either. "Why is he there?" was the question of the evening.

No. We're talking about former Congresswoman (and ex-Democrat!) Tulsi Gabbard, who appeared this morning on CNN's "State of the Union" propaganda-fest. Here what Ms Gabbard, who is now helping President Trump prepare for the next Great Debate, had to say about the Cackler's record and why she'd rather not talk about it.   

Did you catch the play about the "secret domestic terror watchlist"? It begins around 2:50. Sounds like the the CNN's anti-Trumper got blindsided to that one as she stammers, "Oh. Uh. I'm not familiar with the "secret domestic terror watchlist". We're definitely going to follow up on that one. But I want to move on..." Yes. Nothing here to see. Move along quickly!

This is only the third time we've posted a video featuring Tulsi Gabbard. She got Walt's attention in October of 2022 when she resigned from the Dimocratic Party. In "Tulsi Gabbard... say wut?" (WWW 11/10/22) she gives her reasons for so doing.

Fast forward to this July when, in "Which twin has the Toni?" (WWW 22/7/24), she told the truth about Ms Harris' vaunted record as a prosecutor, which she demolished again today.

Walt is a big fan of J.D. Vance. If you haven't read Hillbilly Elegy, see the movie! But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking: wouldn't Tulsi Gabbard have made an even better running-mate? She's definitely in line for a top position -- Secretary of Justic, maybe? -- in President Trump's new cabinet!

Also worth watching: "It was like a wolf promising to be a vegan!", Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) reacts to the CNN interview, on Fox News, 31/8/24.

Babylon Bee leaks questions from CNN Harris-Walz interview

Ed. here. This is just too good for us too excerpt, but we can't simply repost the whole article, so here... read it for yourself. 

And while we're at `er, here's a terrific "separated at birth?" picture scraped from Blazing Cat Fur.

And yeah... Walt admits that he's too tired today to write anything. He's still recovering from that trip to the West Coast.

Babylon Bee stories on attempted assassination of President Trump

Walt loves the Babylon Bee, our trusted source of Christian satire since the beginning. Here, with key excerpts and links, are the Bee's latest posts on what the lickspittle media calls the recent unpleasantness in Pennsylvania. 

Trump Indicted For Inciting Assassination Attempt - Former President has been indicted by a federal judge in Pennsylvania for inciting an assassination attempt that nearly killed him. "Trump is clearly at fault for someone attempting to murder him with a rifle," said Judge Paul Stephenson. "He brought this on himself, and we will ensure justice is done."

Party That Called Trump 'Hitler' For 8 Years Shocked As Someone Tries To Assassinate Him - This is a video.

CNN: 'Clumsy Trump Hits Head On Bullet' - CNN announced today that in a shocking incident, former President Trump clumsily hit his head on a bullet, causing an unfortunate disturbance at a Pennsylvania rally.

FBI Wonders If Perhaps They’ve Been Investigating The Wrong People This Whole Time - After yet another deadly attack perpetrated by a deranged leftist, this time coming an inch away from killing President Trump, the FBI was left briefly wondering if maybe they had been investigating the wrong people.

Trump Safe, Leaving Only One Dead Candidate - Secret Service has reported that former President Donald Trump sustained only minor injuries in an assassination attempt, leaving the number of dead Presidential candidates at one. "We can now confirm there is only one dead Presidential candidate," announced Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham. "Praise the Lord that former President Trump is alright."

If you haven't subscribed to the Bee (highly recommended by Walt), at least bookmark their page. This stuff is too good to miss.

The Skinny Lady hasn't sung yet

Here's a FACT that Mitch McConnell, Chris Christie, David Frum, CNN, MSNBC, Chris Sununu, and all the anti-Trumpers (including, sadly, Walt's Agent 2) can't deny. President Donald J. Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary.

And the corollary... Despite having spent over $30 million in donations from big business and the Establishment, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley garnered something like 44% of the votes against 55% for Mr. Trump.

Yet somehow, Ms Haley (née Nimarata Hikki Randhawa) insisted in her un-concession speech that somehow she had won, and would follow up her triumph with a win in South Carolina in a month's time.

Let's see now. Ms Haley ran third (of the main contenders) in Iowa, and second (of two) in New Hampshire. Putting it another way, she was last in Iowa, last in New Hampshire, and now she expects to finish first in South Carolina. Really?

There hasn't been much polling in Ms Haley's home state yet, but state polls taken before the Iowa caucuses, showed her trailing President Trump by 30 percentage points, give or take. The Donald enjoys very strong support there, and has been endorsed by prominent South Carolina politicians including Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham.

Here's another FACT. If you exclude all the disaffected Republicans (including NH Governor Chris Sununu), Democrats and independents who voted for Ms Haley, President Trump's margin was at least double the 11% of the total vote. President Trump now owns the Republican Party, and has all but clinched the GOP nomination for thee 2024 presidential election.

Last night, talking of Ms Haley (although he didn't mention her by name), he said, "She's doing... a speech like she won. She didn't win. She lost." 

After last night's result, Americans can now look forward -- with anticipation or fear, take your  pick -- to a rematch of the stolen 2020 contest. The people and organizations mentioned in the first paragraph -- including Ms Haley -- insist that such a contest will be close. 

Before the NH polls closed yesterday, President Brandon puffed up his hollow chest and boasted that he was the only one who had beaten Mr Trump before, and he would do so again. The Democrats have even printed up T-shirts bearing that message. Walt sez: Oh yeah? Care to put some money on it? Lifetime pct .989.

On to New Hampshire, while CNN, MSNBC sulk

I hear there is already much soiling of shorts at the DNC HQ. My sources tell me President Brandon has been invited to come out of hiding and get into the office for a little talk.

And this is only the beginning of the end for Senile Joe and The Boy. As Nelson Muntz sez: HA-ha. 

Oh yeah... stay tuned... but NOT to CNN or MSNBC. Read: "MSNBC, CNN Refuse to Air Donald Trump's Victory Speech in Iowa but Air Haley and DeSantis Speeches", Breitbart News, 16/1/23.

BN summarizes President Brandon's "non-political" speech

Apparently Hunter's Dad gave what White House flaks called a "non-political" speech near Independende Hall in Philthydelphia yesterday. I didn't watch it. It was only carried by CNN and MSNBC which tells you all ye need to know right there.

That his "non-political" speech, supposedly on the topic of voting rights, took place right before Labour Day, the traditional kickoff time for political campaign season, also reveals Joe's real motive for coming out of his holiday home. The Democrats are shit-scared of losing control of Congress in November's midterm election, so clearly it was time to start stoking the fires of fear of a return of the Orange Man.

I'm grateful to Breitbart News for providing, on this morning's landing page, a summary of what Senile Joe's "non-political" speech was all about. Here are the headlines, with links.

* Dangerous: Joe calls on Americans to "stop" MAGA Republicans

* Repeats "democracy" 31 times while demonizing Americans

* Repeatedly stokes fears of "violent, extremist" MAGA

* Fact check: Biden claims Republican leaders "all but calling" for violence

* Even corporate media blast Biden for having military behind him during

        divisive speech

* WH desperately tries to spin speech

* Presidential historian admits advising Biden, compares moment to Civil War, WWII:

        Democracy is in danger

* CNN's Collins: Biden's speech very political, "full frontal attack on Trump Republicans

* Jeh Johnson: Biden had obligation to call out MAGA Republicans

* ABC’S Bruce: Biden didn't talk about issues key to voters, wants to make 2022

        about Trump

* WH: Pro-life movement is "semi-fascist" and "extremist"

* McCarthy: Biden should apologize for slandering millions of Americans as "fascists"

So much for Brandon's "non-political" speech. I can hardly wait for his political speech! 

As a further comment, I can't recall -- and my recollection stretches back to the Eisenhower days -- a sitting President ever slandering his predecessor in the way Mr Biden has slandered Mr Trump. The latter never excoriated the Prez (who richly deserved it) as he has been excoriated by Demented Joe, who I believe is suffering not just from incipient Alzheimer's, but from TDS.

During his speech, delivered from behind bullet-proof glass, President Brandon was continually hounded by protesters chanting "Let's go, Brandon" and "Fuck Joe Biden!" Siren noises, shouts and someone yelling on a bullhorn were audible in the background throughout the 25-minute rant.

The next couple of months should be interesting. Stay tuned.

Note from Ed.: Credit where credit is due. The image above was scraped from the Babylon Bee.

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson calls out Canada's Trudeau

Hey, it's Groundhog Day... again! Reports are that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, as did Shubenacadie Sam, so Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia are in for six more weeks of winter. But in the second-coldest national capital in the world [meaning Ottawa, Canada. Ed.], 1000s of people -- the truckers and others gathered in the Freedom Convoy -- are hoping for an early spring. 

What would that look like? An end to vaccine mandates. Opening up of bars, restaurants, gyms, and sports venues. Freedom for frostbacks to go where they want, when they want, without having to show their papers to the Mounties! Maybe even the resignation of Prime Minister Blackie McBlackface!! 

Walt wouldn't bet on that last one. The big question on the ice-encrusted lips of fed-up Canucks today is whether Mr Socks will see his shadow when... if... he emerges from his self-imposed isolation ("My kids and I have Covid!") at an "undisclosed location", rumoured to be a set in the Toronto headquarters of the CBC. 

Will M Trudeau be recognized when he appears? Tucker Carlson says, in this video, that he is a master of disguise. He could be out there right now, posing as a reasonable, freedom-loving Canadian, rather than the tin-pot dictator that he is. 

Thanks to Agent 6 for sending us the link. In spite of being triple-UNvaccinated, 6 is still UNinfected! Stay well, dear friend. 

Footnote: The first casualty of Canadians' wrath looks like being Cuckservative leader Erin O'Toole, who should be toast by noon local time, today.

Further reading: "We Are All Canadian Truckers Now!", by Dr Ron Paul, Ron Paul Liberty Report, 1/2/22.

VIDEO: Elon Musk speaks his mind to Babylon Bee - FULL INTERVIEW

Yes, really! Not a joke. Elon Musk sat down with Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, Editor-in-Chief Kyle Mann, and Creative Director Ethan Nicolle for an in-depth interview on wokeness, Elizabeth Warren, taxing the rich, the Metaverse, which superhero Elon would be, and how the left is killing comedy. 

This is the full interview with 45 additional minutes of content (total time 1:39:46). Turns out Elon Musk isn't one of the Wokesters. He can also be quite funny. 

   

Don't chide me for giving you the YouTube link. The good people at Babylon Bee (you'll see some of them during the video) will get some money from YT when you watch.

Footnote from Poor Len Canayen: Bet you didn't know Elon Musk is a Canadian citizen, and went to college in Canada! And now he's a rich American. Dat's all ye know and all  ye need to know!

Innocent question

Top 5 American sources of fake news

Here's a meme that pretty much sums things up, taken from "CNN Introduces Segment Where They Rant About What Trump Would Have Tweeted If He Hadn't Gotten Kicked Off Of Twitter"

on Babylon Bee (where else?), 21/4/21.

How about the rest of the world? In Canada, Germany and the Disunited Kingdom, the news sources you can distrust the most are those owned by the all-powerful state. They may pretend to operate at arm's length -- the CBC (Canadian Broadcorping Castration) is a so-called "independent crown corporation -- but they know who signs the paycheques.

Walt recommends (mostly for Americans): NTD News Today. And of course Breitbart... For Canadians and Americans: Blazing Cat Fur ... and keep reading WWW!

The truth is not out there. There truth is here!

Anus horribilis 2020: Walt's Newsmaker of the Year

Ed. here. 2020 is almost over, thank God, truly an Annus Horribilis if ever there was one. (I know my Latin but Walt insists on leaving the headline as he wrote it.) Sorry for the interruption yestereday evening. We return now to our yearend review, to present the coveted Wally Award to the Newsmaker of the Year. May I have the envelope please? ... And the winner is...

   

Well who did you expect? Sleepy Joe Biden, the all-but-invisible "President-elect"? Do an analysis of the amount of time and space given by the meeja to the contestants in the fraudulent election for the Presidensity between Hallowe'en and Christmas, and you'll see that Still-President Donald J. Trump is the winner, leaving Old Joe waaaay up the track.

The lamestream media has been preoccupied with The Donald for at least five years. First there was speculation over whether or not he would throw his hat in the ring. Then there was the great debate over whether to take his campaign for the Republican nomination seriously. Should they put it in the political news or the entertainment news. Still news, right?

Then Mr Trump was nominated, and the controlled media had to start taking him seriously... although not respectfully. The minute his candidacy for othe Highest Office in the Land became official, the anti-Trump campaign began. Suddenly America's media were filled with rumours, speculation, disinformation and outright lies. (Hello, Russian conspiracy!)

But the media storm of scorn didn't matter. In an election which was a model of fairness and honesty compared with V.2020, the American people chose as their leader a man after their own collective heart.

If you search YouTube, you can still find dozens of videos of the astonishment and humiliation of all those "exports", "analysts", pollsters and other pundits -- not forgetting "celebrities" -- who had to eat generous helpings of crow, live and on the air, when it became apparent that the horrible, politically incorrect "Orange Man" was going to become the 45th President of the United States. But that was only the beginning!

   

The sun hadn't even risen (out here at least) on The Morning After, when the "Resistance" began. How many times have you seen this iconic photo, or read the slogan "Not my president!" since then? 

The anti-Trumpers went... and remain... stark staring bonkers in their refusal to accept the fact that Donald Trump won the 2016 election, became President... and still is President. 

Our own Agent 17 offered to bet that President Trump wouldn't finish his term. And the Swamp -- the Democrats and the Washington establishment -- did their damndest to make it so. Remember the impeachment farce?

That didn't work either, so here we are, with just over three weeks of the Trump presidency remaining, and the same fake news media -- for that's what they are -- less concerned with predicting the shape and direction of a Biden administration than with guessing how President Trump might contrive to remain in office. 

Will Old Joe's inauguration be forestalled by another appeal to SCOTUS? A declaration of martial law? A military coup? Or some kind of divine intervention? (Remember what happened to Pope John Paul I!) Check the fake news outlets -- CNN, MSNBC, Fox, CBS, ABC, CBC, any of them! -- today and see if that's not what they're talking about. That, dear reader, is why Still-President Donald J. Trump is Walt's Newsmaker of the Year!

Further reading: "CNN: 'Our Ratings Are Only Tanking Because Trump Is Killing Off Viewers By The Millions'", Babylon Bee, 26/8/19. Satire from the pre-Covid daze!

If CNN had existed in 1941

Any comment would be superfluous. Thanks and a big salute to Agent 35. Noli illegitimi te carborundum!

Speaking of CNN...

In my previous post, I said that no-one paid attention to Michael Moore's 2018 warning that Donald Trump would win the 2020 election because it was on the Clinton News Network. My point is that no-one takes seriously the bullshit that appears on CNN (or ABC, NBC, CBS... or, in Canada, the CBC) because everyone knows they put a politically correct liberal spin on everything.

That's the point of "14 Mostly Accurate CNN Headlines From The Last 6,000 Years Of Human History", posted yesterday on the Babylon Bee, your trusted source for Christian satire. I can't resist sharing this one, which was illustrated.

Click on the link to see the other 13. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Trump's gonna win... sez Michael Moore!

It may be remembered (although liberals, pollsters and the meeja would like to forget) that frumpy filmmaker Michael Moore predicted in October of 2016 that Donald J. Trump would win that year's election and become President of the United States. That was in his one-and-one-half-man stage show called Trumpland.

We posted an an audio clip at the time, but since it has mysteriously (?) disappeared from YouTube, we'll just repost this quote: "Whether Trump means it or not is kind of irrelevant because he's saying the things to people who are hurting, and that's why every beaten-down, nameless, forgotten working stiff who used to be part of what was called the middle class loves Trump."

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's Moore! [Geddit? Ed.] Mr Moore went on to say "Trump's election is going to be the biggest 'fuck you!' ever recorded in human history, and it will feel good!" And so it did.

That was almost four years ago. Fast forward to September of 2018, when Michael Moore, while on the promotional tour for his film Fahrenheit 11/9, told CNN that President Trump is an "evil genius" who will be re-elected in 2020. Don't believe me? Click here to check out the story, which CNN cleverly buried in its Enteretainment section.

What? You'd never follow a link to the Clinton News Network. Don't blame you. Here's the best part. "Too many people in the summer of 2016 were so sure Hillary [Clinton] was going to win, saying no one is going to vote for this idiot. He could win again. I operate as if he is a two-term Trump. I have to. If you think any other way you are guaranteeing that whoever is going to run against him will lose.... I think the man is an evil genius and he was able to outsmart the smartest person ever to run for president...."

Of course no-one paid any attention to that warning because (a) it came from Michael Moore, and (b) it was on CNN. Now, with just over nine weeks to go before the 2020 election, Mr Moore has sounded the alarum again, only this time on his Facebook page. Here `tis.

Mr Moore cited a recent CNN polls showing Slow Joe Biden and Still-President Trump in a virtual tie in battleground states including Minnesota (where seven city mayors endorsed Mr Trump yesterday) and Michigan. A national CNN poll this month showed that Mr Biden's lead has narrowed, now standing at 50% to 46%. And this week a survey from the Republican-leaning Trafalgar Group found the two statistically tied at 47% in Minnesota, with Mr Trump narrowly leading Mr Biden in Michigan.

Of course the polls were famously wrong in 2016. But Michael Moore was right. Who ya gonna believe? Time to get your bets down while you can still get decent odds. Lifetime pct .982.

From the inside: Matt Taibbi explains why the media want to keep Americans perpetually at war...

...with each other!

In fact, "Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another" is the subtitle of Matt Taibbi's latest book, Hate Inc. (OR Books, 2019), which I have just finished reading and recommend highly. Mr Taibbi's political views are quite different from mine, but I always enjoy reading his accounts of what's really happening in American politics. He is a worthy successor to Dr Hunter S. Thompson.

Hate Inc. is something of a confession, a mea culpa for the part Mr Taibbi played in creating and feeding Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), both before and after the revolution of November 2016. See Walt's review of Insane Clown President, WWW 10/8/17.

The author now admits having been deceived by both the Trump and Clinton campaigns, and having deceived himself into being part of the "groupthink", the "conventional wisdom" purveyed by the lamestream media, which held that someone as worthy as Hellery Clinton couldn't possibly lose to such a patent phony as the Donald. To his credit, Mr Taibbi gives numerous examples of where he went wrong, while at the same time pointing out that he wasn't the only one.

But Hate Inc. is not an apologia for the honest mistakes of the media, because very little of the "news" they fed us was "honest". Mr Taibbi argues that what they gave us, and are still giving us, is a twisted and highly hyped form of the kind of entertainment epitomized by a WWE wrestling match! It wasn't an election, he says, but the grand finale of Wrestlemania, complete with a "babyface" (Mrs Bill) and a "heel" (Mr Trump) straight out of a reality TV show.

The "face" was supposed to win, but somehow managed to defeat herself, and that's a story already told by Mr Taibbi and countless others. The real story of Hate Inc. is why the media did it, and how they are still doing it. The answer is simple. Anger and hatred attract more viewers/readers than sweetness and light. More viewers/readers means more advertising revenue. More advertising revenue means more profit! Especially when you don't have to pay for the content! In fact, election advertising is a hyuge revenue stream for the meeja. The more elections, the more hotly contested, the more money they make.

And you, fellow "news consumers", are swallowing every drop of vitriol, every morsel of loathing, and begging for second and third helpings. In Hate Inc. you will find countless examples of the media's most egregious manipulation of your ignorance, prejudices, and fears. They whipped you into a frenzy, gentle reader, and want to keep you there so you won't log off their websites or turn off your TV, even though "some viewers may find this disturbing!"

I would like to post some excerpts, but Ed. tells me I have gone on long enough and must find just one for the conclusion of this review. Here `tis:

News consumers on both sides today behave like cultists; self-isolating intellectually, kept that way with a steady diet of terrifying stories about fellow citizens. Red-staters are told liberals are terror-sympathizers, desperate, out of white guilt, to eviscerate American cultrure from within.

Blue-staters are peppered daily with stories of fellow travelers and traitors in their midst, an incredible example being NBC's effort to paint presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard as a tool of the Kremlin.... 

This deeply paranoid view of the human experience, telling all America it lives on a violent invisible influence battlefield, is the opposite of what the news used to be.... We are trying to keep your brain locked in conflict, not just for the grubby commerical reason that it keeps people tuned in, but because it prevents them from thinking about other things.

What other things? Read the book! If doing so causes you to stop reading WWW, I won't be offended, as long as you also stop watching The View and Rachel Maddow and [That's enough biased "news" sources! Ed.]

Footnotes:
Hate Inc. doesn't have an index (tsk, tsk) but it does have an appendix entitled "Why Rachel Maddow is on the cover of this book". Enough said?

A second appendix is an interview with Noam Chomsky, co-author (with Edward S. Herman) of Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988). Walt recommends reading this appendix first, before the book itself, to understand where Matt Taibbi is coming from. In the interview, he says to Prof. Chomsky: The main idea of Manufacturing Consent is...that it looks like we have a vigorous system of independent journalists, but the debate has been artificially narrowed. Why that is so is what Hate Inc. is all about.