Media propagandists become more brazen as the midterms approach
Just yesterday, NBC News broadcast a report by Miguel Almaguer about the attack on Paul Pelosi.
The following are key excerpts from Almaguer’s report:
“The 82-year-old did not immediately declare an emergency or try to leave his home, but instead began walking several feet back into the foyer toward the assailant and away from police.”
“Why Pelosi didn’t try to flee or tell responding officers he was in distress is unclear.”
“According to court documents, when the officer asked what was going on, defendant smiled and said 'everything's good' but instantaneously a struggle ensued as police clearly saw David DePape strike Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer.”
BREAKING: Paul Pelosi opened the door for cops, did not flee or declare emergency, walked back to the attacker in the house, then was ATTACKED!? WHAT!? pic.twitter.com/9YfJiaJX9f
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 4, 2022
The report appears consistent with what was seen in the initial police report, cited by Deadline Hollywood here.
But within hours, the report was taken down with an editor’s note claiming that “This piece has been removed from publication because it did not meet NBC News reporting standards.”
The Deadline report stated:
According to a network insider with knowledge of the situation, the decision was made to remove the segment after it was determined, shortly after it aired, that the main source for the information was unreliable regarding the question of the circumstances that the police encountered when they arrived at the house, specifically what the police saw and how far the attacker was from the door.
The tweets about the report were also deleted:
BREAKING: The @TODAYshow has now DELETED this clip and @NBCNews has scrubbed it from their website because it “did not meet” their “reporting standards.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 4, 2022
WHAT IS GOING ON?! pic.twitter.com/SnnQY7sq6y
So what did happen?
According to a federal affidavit, David DePape broke into Pelosi’s San Francisco residence on October 28, claiming he wanted to speak with Nancy Pelosi, and eventually attacked her husband with a hammer.
In a San Francisco court filing, prosecutors claim that after police reached the residence, Pelosi walked with the attacker to the first floor of his house and opened the door for them.
The two were both holding the hammer, and then struggled over the hammer in front of the officers at the doorway before the suspect bludgeoned Pelosi, the filing said.
"One officer ordered, 'Drop the hammer!'" the filing said.
"But Mr. Pelosi could not maintain his grip on the hammer. A second later, Defendant wrenched the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi, immediately stepped back, and lunged at Mr. Pelosi, striking Mr. Pelosi in the head at full force with the hammer, which knocked Mr. Pelosi unconscious."
The filing added that Pelosi passed out briefly and started to bleed from his head before medical help arrived.
But that didn't happen?
What do we know of the attacker?
DePape is from Canada and was in the United States illegally.
DePape's last known residence was in Richmond, California, north of Berkeley, but he had resided in radical left-wing Berkeley before that. He had been known locally in Berkeley as a pro-nudity activist. a drug consumer, and for having a violent temper. He was probably a BLM supporter.
DePape faces state charges including attempted murder, burglary, and elder abuse. Federal prosecutors charged DePape with attempted kidnapping and assault with intent to retaliate against a federal official by threatening or injuring a family member.
DePape has pleaded not guilty.
Pelosi's spokesperson said that Paul was taken to a hospital where underwent "successful surgery to repair a skull fracture" and "serious injuries to his right arm and hands."
There are open questions about the attack.
U.S. Capitol Police said that the Speaker and her protective detail were in Washington, D.C. when the incident occurred.
This contradicts the claim that the Pelosi residence always has some security and police presence, irrespective of who is indoors.
My firm served a lawsuit against Paul Pelosi one time in SF after attempting to serve at other residences—Napa, Georgetown. They weren’t home, but staff were, & multiple law enforcement officers were on the perimeter. Break-in is odd given this level of security.
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) October 28, 2022
The other obvious question is why would a violent attacker accompany Pelosi to the front door where the police were knocking. It may have been a hostage situation or Mr. Pelosi attempting to reason with his attacker, which would require clarification from NBC News, but hardly a retraction.
Why did DePape smile and say ‘everything’s good’? Was he trying to fool the police to dissuade them from entering the residence? Or are Democrats trying to claim this didn't happen? Did it happen, or not happen? Again, clarification would have worked with NBC's report, a retraction simply raises more questions.
The claim made was that Paul had surgery to repair a skull fracture and other serious injuries. Yet he was released from the hospital six days after a skull fracture attack? That seems rather miraculous, especially for an 82-year-old.
These doubts and questions could be answered if the police would release their own bodycam footage or footage of security cameras at the Pelosi residence.
Despite the police saying the motive behind the attack remains unclear, the Democrats and the media rushed to blame President Trump and MAGA Republicans.
Biden baselessly claimed the attack was politically motivated and appeared to be “intended for Nancy.”
Former President Obama also suggested that the motives behind the attack were political.
Obama on Paul Pelosi: "When we don't just disagree with people but start demonizing them, that creates a dangerous climate. If elected officials don't do more to reject that kind of rhetoric or encourage supporters to stand outside voting places with guns, people can get hurt." pic.twitter.com/K3svpCS3lY
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 29, 2022
Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton blamed the Republicans and their mouthpieces for spreading hate and conspiracy theories.
The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow.https://t.co/MQor4NDFeE
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 29, 2022
Various Democrat mouthpieces such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vox, and Rolling Stone, joined the scrum and blamed the GOP.
It seems Miguel Almaguer’s report on NBC News could have disturbed the campaign narrative of Republicans being behind the attack, rather than what it was, which was an attack by a leftist drug addict, so the report was summarily removed.
This has been done before when the Democrat narrative was challenged.
A report from CBS News revealed that of the billions in aid that the U.S. dispatches to Ukraine, only 30% of it reaches its intended target.
Once again this is a violation of the Democrat narrative of the U.S. helping Ukrainians in need.
Hence, CBS deleted its report and tweets linked to the report.
So what does one make of these retractions?
Does the mainstream media have a Democrat bias?
Alleging bias assumes that the mainstream media and the Democrats are separate entities and the Democrats are influencing the media.
But this is not true.
For ages, the mainstream media has functioned as a propaganda wing of the Democrats. Despite not being officially employed by the DNC, the media is like a department within the Democrat party organization.
There is perfect synchronicity between their utterances.
They even use identical terminology while covering any given occurrence.
Loaded words such as ‘collusion’ or ‘insurrection’ didn’t catch on miraculously.
An adept Democrat wordsmith supplied these terms and the media propagandists assiduously repeated them till they became de facto terminology.
This is an echo chamber where only synchronous chimes are permitted.
Doubts, deviations, or questions are forbidden, especially now when the media is campaigning for the Democrats.
These propagandists no longer care to even pretend to be objective or fair.
Let’s look at how the mainstream media covered Joe Biden’s speech a few days back in which he implied that a vote against Democrats is a vote against democracy in the U.S. This was a ludicrous claim and should have been ridiculed by any fair-minded journalist.
But instead, the claim received complete endorsements.
This occurred on CBS News:
CBS's Norah O'Donnell, acting like she's auditioning for KJP's job: "President Biden is calling on all American stand up to protect our democracy amid the threats that election deniers pose to the voting process."
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 2, 2022
That's right. If you vote red, Norah thinks you're a thug pic.twitter.com/BCaHHcx9Ln
WH correspondent Nancy Cordes then leads off with a full report about how "democracy" is in peril because a lot of Americans have and will vote red.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 2, 2022
I couldn't think of a better example of how much too many in the liberal media are disconnected from and hate certain Americans pic.twitter.com/Ay01xQxcfj
This happened on ABC News:
ABC's David Muir also reading from Biden talking points that Republicans are national security threats: "Biden set to deliver that speech on democracy in our country, preserving it in the wake of the attack on Pelosi and other threats to leaders. And the escalating rhetoric." pic.twitter.com/QaeSogcK0a
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 2, 2022
ABC's David Muir offered no pushback on the federal govt's belief that Republicans are threats: "Biden set to deliver a speech on democracy in our country, preserving democracy, in the wake of the attack on Paul Pelosi & other threats. The escalating rhetoric across the country." pic.twitter.com/L1p23hA3tT
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 2, 2022
This occurred on MSNBC:
Matthew Dowd on Biden's speech addressing democracy: "It took him a while to get to this speech, understanding reality and seeing...there isn't a Republican party that's sane in this country today." https://t.co/vsvEfkz72F pic.twitter.com/GoGexN6k8i
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 4, 2022
On CNN, Bernie Sanders compared Trump to Hitler and Anderson Cooper just allowed it:
"Clearly what Trump and the extreme right-wing are trying to do now is undermine faith in American democracy."
— CNN (@CNN) November 3, 2022
Sen. @BernieSanders (I-VT) joins CNN's @andersoncooper to react to President Joe Biden's speech emphasizing the importance of next week’s midterm elections: pic.twitter.com/wmxSc0rTHx
NBC News, surprisingly, showed some semblance of independence:
NBC's Lester Holt did, however, take Biden's bait: "Inflation, of course, a major issue in the midterms, now just six days away. President Biden giving a major campaign speech tonight, but focusing on threats to democracy." pic.twitter.com/S0x23IiAB6
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 2, 2022
NBC's Peter Alexander was barely interested in Biden: Threats to democracy is "an argument that president Biden will hammer home in a speech later tonight. But Republicans like [Catherine Cortez] Masto's opponent Laxalt are focusing on the economy and rising crime." #NVSen (9/9) pic.twitter.com/frjNMpwgko
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 2, 2022
But that was a rare display; NBC News usually parrots Democrat talking points:
Defending cashless bail, Lester Holt lectures scared Americans "crime isn't always what it appears to be."
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) November 4, 2022
He scoffs at GOPer Lee Zeldin's campaign appeals, saying the fear is "fueled, some argue, not by reality, but by videos of rampant lawlessness...some unsettling headlines." pic.twitter.com/rI5i16iTi8
He leans on a liberal extremist Alec Karakatsanis, who warns the GOP is trying to "scare people into unwinding certain VERY SMALL reforms."
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) November 4, 2022
Despite the facts, and using numbers known to be shoddy, he claims "we're at near historic lows" for crime in America. pic.twitter.com/s0lBG4NjT7
NBC reporter: "Voter ID Laws disproportionately impact trans people." pic.twitter.com/dV8iHEY56o
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) November 2, 2022
If the campaign seems coordinated and vicious, wait till the GOP retakes the House and the Senate.
The dehumanization and demonization of the GOP have already begun.
Recall how they reacted when Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 and multiply it myriad times.
When there is no scandal, these propagandists merely invent one that could give them grounds to deny the results.
They will work closely with the Biden administration and politized agencies. They may manage to initiate probes and investigations similar to the January 6 probe or the Trump-Russia probe.
The media will assume the role of political opposition and become compulsive contrarians at every stage.
The question remains: Is the GOP, tough, resolute, principled, and resourceful enough to take on these nefarious forces?
Will they be reactive or proactive or will they capitulate?
Will they be doers or spectators?
We shall know in January 2023.
Image: Screen shot from NBC video, via Twitter