I’ll never trust the liberal media again
Well, if there were any.
Seriously, several days ago I posted about reports that CNN footage of Palestinians celebrating in the wake of the WTC disaster was *actually* footage of Palestinians dancing and cheering at some sort of sock hop back in 1991. I picked up this story from CounterPunch which I had believed to be a reputable left-wing nutter news source. Well, maybe it is. But some days later (and once again, the Lucubus is the very last site ever in the world to jump on this story), the fellow filing the article was challenged to provide evidence for his claim and it turns out, ahem, that he hadn’t actually watched the footage and had gotten the information from someone who hadn’t watched the footage recently EITHER.
From http://uk.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=11546:
| Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 07:52:49 -0300 Subject: CNN Dear all, Last September 13, I’ve sent an email to this list in which I provided some information about the falsity of the images of Palestinian celebration for the terrorism in USA, information given to me by a teacher. I spent the last day looking for that teacher, and, unfortunately, when I found her, she DENIED having access to such images. She said that she was sure she had seen the images back in 1991, but SHE CAN’T PROVE. She was not willing to provide further information, DENYING what she had said before to a full class of students. I sincerely apologize for this uncertain information; unfortunately I can’t prove the information contained in my last post; IT’S ONLY A CONJECTURE, THAT THOSE IMAGES OF PALESTINIANS CELEBRATING IS FALSE. I bought the idea myself, and reproduced it for you because of the importance of it, in the case it was to be confirmed. Whatever news I get I’ll pass to you. Best regards Márcio A. V. Carvalho |
As a result of this, I have made a decision: every time I decide to run a news tip, no matter what the subject, I will clarify it with the phrase “if you can believe this asshole”. CNN, Drudge, Mike Wallace, whoever: if it is purported to be hard news, I will say “if you can believe this asshole”. No offense to the actual reporter is intended, unless he or she is actually an asshole.
Example: If you can believe this asshole, Russia is providing a financial boost to the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
Thank you and good day.