On Feb 5th Dan Bongine of Fox News ran a piece about the 10 most unhealthy U.S. cities. They are all Democrat run and mostly West Coast. If indeed they really are the unhealthiest, then he would be raising some valid criticism.
The fact that I’m opening with this perhaps gives you a clue about where this is going.
His narrative had just one small flaw.
The 10 cities Bongino singled out as the “most unhealthy” are actually the 10 healthiest places to live in the U.S. according to the source that he himself cites.
Is this true, did he really do this?
Yep, via Politifact who checked, he really really did look his viewers in the eye and boldly lie. But hey, this is Fox News, so no real surprise.
He also mixed up Irvine, California, a city southeast of Los Angeles, with Irving, Texas, a large Dallas suburb. The WalletHub analysis concluded that Irvine, not Irving, is the eighth healthiest place to live.
PolitFact reached out to Dan Bongino for comment. He simply attacked fact-checkers in an emailed response and blocked the reporter from Twitter who was asking about this.
As for who the bottom 10 really are, well no real surprises here. The source he cites actually lists these – Brownsville, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Gulfport, Mississippi; Shreveport, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Montgomery, Alabama; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Jackson, Mississippi; Huntington, West Virginia; and Lubbock, Texas.
Moving on, below you will find my usual selection of some truly bizarre claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary. With my usual hat tip to my main source, Right Wing Watch, let’s dive in.
Enjoy.
COVID-19
Joe Jervis: MO GOP Forces Out Health Official For Being Pro-Vax.
- Who says the GOP don’t have any policies, they clearly do. Their stance is that they are opposed to science and medicine.
- What is equally astonishing is their complete lack of any embarrassment about this new reality.
Joe Jervis (yes again, he has good tips): Anti-Vax “COVID Hoax” Televangelist Dies Of Something.
- It is Paul Oebel. He is the founder and the CEO of the Faith Unveiled TV Network, as well as the host of a show called “Truth Unveiled”. There he promoted anti-vaxxer and anti-hospital messages
- He has now died from an illness that he claimed was a hoax and could have been saved by the vaccine that he refused. He might indeed sincerely believe COVID was not real. Unfortunately COVID disagreed.
- Actual cause of death? COVID, but they are now striving to keep that fact hidden. In reality it was not COVID but stupidity that got him. It is now a very familiar story.
Dave Kubal warns that “the COVID pandemic is the perfect scenario for mass hypnosis, for people across the globe to come under the spell of a grand illusion.”
- There is indeed a “grand illusion” in play. His nearest mirror will quickly reveal an example.
The Big Lie
Despite the fact that Laura Loomer lost her bid for Congress in 2020 by 80,000 votes in a district that President Joe Biden won by 17 points, she still insists “they stole my election.”
- That’s exactly right Laura, they did indeed conspire to “steal” your win by … not voting for you.
QANON
- He is now indeed half right.
- He simply needs to take the next step and grasp that this was true for the other half.
QAnon conspiracy theorist Cirsten Weldon died of COVID-19 in January and now other QAnon conspiracy theorists are claiming she faked her own death, forcing Weldon’s friends to tell them to knock it off: “Can you imagine what that sharing of disinformation is doing to her family?”
- Yes, you are indeed correct, that “disinformation” quip did indeed just break your industrial strength irony meter.
David Gilbert @ Vice News: A QAnon Grifter Who Claims She Can Time Travel Is Running for Office in Ohio.
- convicted grifter
- claims she can time travel
- You might think nobody would be stupid enough to vote for a nutter, but remember, we already have Marjorie Taylor Greene elected to the House.
Truly Bizarre
Joshua Feuerstein smashed a television with a sledgehammer during a church service for some reason.
- Not exactly sure I grasp what point this makes. Many cut that cord a long time ago and instead consume from streaming platforms and YouTube.
- Looking at the TV he smashedt, it looks rather ancient, I’d guess it is broken anyway.
- Irony-1: He uses the catchphrase “Homey don’t play that” as he builds up to smashing it … which is a phase that became popular via a TV show.
- Irony-2: Guy decrying media consumption does so by creating media content to be consumed.
- Irony-3: After smashing the TV … says, “Let’s watch …”
- Observation-1: It is very cultish behaviour to isolate yourself from the wider world.
- Observation-2: Says he is doing this to drive divorce and drug addiction out of his home … “er …Joshua, what exactly is going on at home?“
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene complains about “Nancy Pelosi’s gazpacho police” spying on members of Congress
- For the MAGA folks reading this, Gazpacho is a vegetable-based Spanish cold soup.
- Ah yes, The Gazpacho Police: The most refreshing, but filling law enforcement agency ever.
Laura Loomer declares that there is no reason to allow “‘practicing Muslims’ to serve in Congress” and vows to draft legislation explicitly stating “you shouldn’t be allowed to hold elected office in the US if you weren’t born here” if she is elected to Congress.
- This might come as a bit of a shock to her, but there are people in the US who are Muslim and have also been born in the US.
- This is also the same lady who famously tweeted that she was unable to get a “non Muslim cab or @Uber @lyft driver” and demanded the creation of a ride sharing company that only employed non-muslims. Both Uber and Lyft noticed her twitter rant and promptly banned her from their service forever.
- Nobody need worry too much about her being elected to congress, the last time this raging zealot stood for election she lost by 17 points.
Scott Lively knows what we can look forward to: “What is certain is increasing pain, suffering and tyranny of various kinds under King JoeBama and the rest of the global elites until such time as we oust them from power, or the Lord returns to deal with them all Himself.”
- Sorry Scott, but your Lord and Saviour, Trump, is not coming back. No second coming.
David Barton Misrepresents the Bible and American History at a talk last week
- He has a well-established reputation for lying and has always done this. The link above very robustly debunks what he claimed with solid evidence that establishes his claims during that talk are completely false.
- SPLC, with solid evidence, label him as an extremest who … “still retains some influence, but only in the most extreme and uneducated segments of the Christian Right. Virtually all serious conservatives have repudiated him“
- He is a published author of “history” books. In 2012, readers of the History News Network voted Barton’s book on Jefferson the “least credible history book in print.”.
After Rep. Thomas Massie asserted that American citizens must possess weapons powerful enough to overthrow the government should 30 to 40 percent agree it’s necessary, Tim Pool declared that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own nuclear and biological weapons.
- The MAGA folks and GOP are in fact literally deploying a biological weapon against the rest of us – anti-mask, anti-vaccine, etc…
- Private ownership of nuclear and biological weapons places them rather firmly within a demographic labelled “Bond Villain”
Josh Bernstein urges Trump to lead a convoy of truckers to shut down the Super Bowl and demand that President Joe Biden resign.
- Not going to happen, Trump has an urgent appointment with a golf course that day.
The False Profit$
Pastor Greg Locke held a book burning last week, which he defended by declaring that nobody complains when the Taliban does it.
- Greg lied. When the Taliban do it, they get roasted in the press, see here, and here, and here.
- Wikipedia keeps a list of notable book buring incidents. Greg makes the list … section 9, entry 23.
- The fact that Greg is not aware of any of this is not exactly a surprise because he only ever reads just one book.
- Welcome to Gregs world, a place where “Fahrenheit 451” is literally an instruction manual.
Pastor Curt Landry Says Criticizing False Prophets Is ‘Cancel Culture’
- He means any criticism directed at him. He is one of the many “prophets” who predicted Trump would win
- He also said, there was no way that God would allow prophets such as himself to be mocked by critics and unbelievers for being wrong. The one flaw here is that the voice in his head turned out to not be God.
- His latest stance does not in any way alter reality; Yesterday, today, forever, Landry is the same, All may change, but Landry never! he is now and ever will be forever wrong.
The only way that self-proclaimed “prophet” Hank Kunneman can explain away his multiple false prophecies that former President Donald Trump would win reelection in 2020 is if he keeps repeating the Big Lie. As such, he is growing increasingly strident in doing so.
- He is literally trapped by his own failure, if he backs down now then his stream of donations will dry up.
- There is being utterly detached from all reality, then there is the next level up – that’s where Hank is right now.
- If indeed Trump won in 2020, and all these people truly believe that, then that means that he is not legally eligible to stand in 2024.
Bianca Garcia Says Christians Who Don’t Vote for Her Will Be Held Accountable by God
- She is already claiming victory in the Republican primary, which doesn’t occur until next month.
- Quote, “I have been appointed and assigned for this position and God is testing you all” … yes indeed, this really is a test, a gullibility test. If you vote for her, then you fail.
Pastor Shane Vaughn declares that “Mike Pence is worse than Judas Iscariot” for failing to help Trump steal the election: “[Judas] went and killed himself. That’s how bad he felt for what he did. But Mike Pence, you’re not as good as Judas Iscariot.”
- Shane’s weekly rants have been a tad dull for that past few weeks and so did not merit a mention. Clearly he realised this and so he upped his game this past week.
- In his case it is all about clicks and $$ on his YouTube channel. Those buttons don’t click themselves.
- Reminder: Shane is a convicted fraudster. He went to jail, not before he “found Jesus”, but long after. He has literally decades of experience conning people.
Interesting Articles
Here are links to a few insightful articles that I found interesting.
- Roger Sollenberger and William Bredderman @ The Daily Beast: The Tragic Story of Mike Lindell’s Quack COVID ‘Cure.’
- Jon Skolnik @ Salon: What’s behind the right-wing book-ban frenzy? Big money, and a long-term plan.
- Andy Kroll @ Rolling Stone: Wisconsin Is Ground Zero for the MAGA Effort to Steal the Next Election.
- Freedom From Religion Foundation: Christian nationalism key force behind Jan. 6 Capitol attack, asserts new report.