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Stealth Story Evolution – MSNBC
We judge Joe’s stats to be 96% incorrect.
On “Morning Joe,” Mr. Scarborough was attempting to pimp for Gavin Newsom by highlighting what the governor was bloviating about with murder rates in cities. Newsom’s Twitter account was trying to tie the high-crime cities of the country to the fact that they are found in red states, needing to ignore the local mayors, police chiefs, and district attorneys are almost exclusively Democrats.
But Scar-Joe, in trying to sell Gavin’s fractured interpretation, declared that in Louisiana (as an example), you are 400 times more likely to be murdered than in California.
It seems @JoeNBC Scarborough is criminally bad at murder statistics.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 26, 2025
He says you are “400 times more likely to be killed in Louisianna.”
The actual numbers: About 3.75 times higher.
Joe also needs to avoid these are all cities run by Democrats. pic.twitter.com/835bdh2EBd
The problem is with Joe misreading percentages and likelihood. The actual number is around 3.74 times. Apparently, somebody got around to informing him of his numerical error, as he later posted something closer to the statistical reality.
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Speaker Johnson represents the area around Monroe, LA. Monroe is 4.5 times more violent than San Francisco per-capita. Residents of Johnson’s home state face some of the highest odds of experiencing violent crime in the nation. https://t.co/X3WtHYGhL4
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) August 24, 2025
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – AXIOS
We still need to visit this mystical land he speaks of.
Ever since the news broke that John Bolton saw his home and office raided by the FBI for classified documents possession, the Left and the media have been virulently angry over the move. Now we hear of a ludicrous claim.
Despite the overwhelming approval from many on the Right, declaring this a justified dose of compensatory justice, we receive a serving of severe wishcasting from Axios co-founder Mike Allen. He was on MSNBC and made a rather dubious claim. Allen must have gotten his passport stamped, as he says he spoke to people from “MAGA Land”, and they are uncomfortable with this example of lawfare revenge.
Call us skeptical that Allen took any kind of worthwhile sample of people on the Right.
🚨JUST IN: AXIOS co-founder Mike Allen claims that the FBI raid on John Bolton's home made Donald Trump Republicans[MAGA] "Uncomfortable" pic.twitter.com/BVeyirP1Dh
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) August 25, 2025
Both Kinds of Standards – SEMAFOR
Now, was there an announcement that this tactic was no longer valid?
Recall over time how we have often been treated to the media practice of a reporter badgering a Republican politician to answer for or to disavow the comments made by anonymous others, as their form of racism-sexism-violent rhetoric is brought up and held as an example as the opinion of everyone on the Right. Say, for example, someone at a Trump rally held up a racist sign, it would not be uncommon to hear “Senator, do you agree with the comments seen today about…” as a common refrain.
Well, Dave Weigel is here to let us know that it is now inappropriate for people on the right to engage in this same practice. This springs from the patently racist sign seen being held by a supporter of her political opponent.
Ah, so NOW this is an unacceptable practice. Got it.
@daveweigel on Democrats "anonymous liberal problem" https://t.co/ywPwYPuq9p
— Ben Smith (@semaforben) August 25, 2025
Reporting on the Mirror – VANITY FAIR
Fairly certain there are editors quietly happy with this result.
Apparently, there is a bit of upheaval taking place at Vanity Fair Magazine. The New York Post reports that a number of staff at the publication are deeply upset and are threatening to walk away, for good.
While no one will see their life affected in any significant way if Melania appears in the magazine, the real amusement is any journo or editor thinking that quitting in a snit would have any impact on, well, anything at all.
Vanity Fair employees lash out over proposed Melania Trump cover: ‘I will walk out the motherf—ing door’ https://t.co/rqoqF5sJAw pic.twitter.com/al3nZc9nC9
— New York Post (@nypost) August 26, 2025
Anti-Social Media – REDDIT
When good news is banished for the sole reason of who is behind it.
We frequently comment on how the press tends to default to opposition mode when covering President Trump, often placing them on the wrong side of most issues. The latest has been in Washington, D.C., and involves setting up on the side opposing the fight against crime.
This tendency also creeps into social media, as seen on Reddit, where a benign comment on the aftermath of Trump's effort to clean up the city has led to silencing tactics. One user's comment merely states how much better the city appears today, yet a moderator saw fit to have his post removed from the feed.
Because…???
"I finally feel safe in DC now"
— Reddit Lies (@reddit_lies) August 26, 2025
[This post has been deleted by the moderators of r/washingtondc] pic.twitter.com/ix1W0CDuMT
