Some logos lose their currency after a history of clownishness and/or misbehavior. Some examples might be “lawyer”, “college-educated”, “journalist”, “systemic racism”, and “fact checker”.
USAToday’s indomitable fact checker, Chelsey Cox, on her editor’s insistence, looked into a story on the website Babylon Bee, a satirizing website in the mold of SNL down to its marrow, on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to vacate the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Really, I kid you not (on the media’s gullibility, that is).
Here’s a part of Babylon Bee’s story. It’s a hoot.
[Headline] “Ninth Circuit Court Overturns Death Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
“SAN FRANCISCO, CA—In a landmark ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. . . .’ Death, at its core, is a construct designed to subvert the rule of law by taking pro-choice liberal judges away from us too soon . . . We hereby rule any attempt by President Trump to appoint a replacement to be unconstitutional. We will block any attempt until we figure out a way to resurrect her or maybe clone her and restore her to her already ‘legally alive’ state. We’re still figuring that part out.”
Our fearless fact checker, after a week of inquiry, concluded that it was “satire”. Without a hint of self-awareness, Cox writes,
“We rate this claim SATIRE, based on our research. A satirical article about the 9th Circuit “overturning” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has no basis in fact. It is true that the 9th Circuit has ruled against many Trump-era policies.”
She writes well, but the content was …..
RogerG
(also on my Facebook page)