#Biden’s arrogance, Rolling Stone’s fake news and more

Diary of disturbing disinformation and dangerous delusions:

This statement:

“The people . . . yelling that we’re interfering with free enterprise by doing something about climate change. . . .  They don’t understand.” — President Biden, after he was heckled, Sept. 8

We say: Biden wasn’t, as he says, heckled for his handling of climate change  (though he’d deserve it) but for his disastrous pullout from Afghanistan and leaving Americans and allies behind. Was it his all-too-common confusion? More likely, it’s his lofty, arrogant nature — and his refusal to acknowledge what Americans care about — that explains his whopping misstatement. 

This headline:

We say: Businesses across the state are struggling to find workers, with thousands of jobs unfilled, even as New York faced 7.6 percent unemployment in July, vs. 5.4 percent nationally. Enhanced unemployment benefits have clearly kept people out of work, yet the Times thinks stopping those perks will “upend” New York’s rebound and slash people’s “only source of income” for rent and groceries “in a city rife with inequality.” Memo to the Times: The unemployed might also take one of those unfilled jobs.

This statement:

“It certainly does not meet the test of inclusivity, and it includes people who have very challenging track records.” — Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on the makeup of the Taliban government, Sept. 8

We say: “Challenging track records?” What an understatement. Several new Taliban government officials have spent time at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, and at least one, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is wanted by the FBI. Meanwhile, the Taliban have blocked or delayed Americans and their allies from leaving, and there’ve been reports of door-to-door manhunts for US collaborators, yet Team Biden seems focused on LGBTQ representation in the Taliban bureaucracy. 

This tweet:

We say: Rolling Stone’s “updates” make clear that its original story — asserting that patients overdosing on ivermectin, as packaged for horses, were overwhelming Oklahoma hospitals — was patently false. Yet RS wasn’t the only media outlet to run with the bogus report from a local TV station: On Twitter, Drew Holden lists numerous culprits, including MSNBC, the Daily News, The Hill, Business Insider, Newsweek, The Guardian and more.

This statement:

“The Green New Deal has popular support, even among Republicans and independents.” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on CNN