LOL! Brian Stelter thinks Dan Rather is a "reliable source"?

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A “reliable source”? …

“A truth squad” … On Sunday’s “Reliable Sources” program, CNN media critic/cheerleader Brian Stelter had disgraced former CBS anchor Dan Rather on to talk about Trump’s “fantasyland.” Yes, you read that correctly. As I described in a post last November at Conservative Review, “Rather is a disgraced journalist who was fired for an unproven, partisan hit-job against then-President George W. Bush during the 2004 presidential campaign.” Rather would be the last person anyone should have on to speak about telling the truth. Yet once again, Stelter had Rather on his program, to opine about President Donald Trump and telling the truth. Our friends at NewsBusters have the full story.

The most absurd comment by Rather? When he said that the media needs to act as a “kind of truth squad for this and every other president.”

Continuing the mental fitness trope … Rather joined Stelter at the top of his show. NewsBusters’ Nicholas Fondacaro summed up that open:

Host Brian Stelter began the show the way he almost always does: by whining about Trump and questioning his mental fitness. “We've got to provide the proper context for these ridiculous quotes that are out there. Even if President Trump prefers to live in a fantasyland, journalists have to at least try to help him see the reality,” he declared just before introducing Rather. “Joining me now is Dan Rather, former anchor of the CBS Evening News.”

So once again, Stelter is doing what he claims he doesn’t do: questioning Trump’s mental stability to be president. As I wrote over Presidents Day weekend, “CNN’s Brian Stelter, who NEVER questions Trump’s mental health, is still questioning Trump’s mental health.”

Theater of the absurd … In another segment, Stelter had Rather sit in on an interview with a student survivor of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The student has been vocal and wants to be a journalist. The student asked Dan Rather for advice. Rather said that “writing is the bedrock of the craft,” meaning journalism. That’s all well and good, but here’s the absurd part. PolitiFact editor Angie Drobnic Holan tweeted out the exchange. Let’s think about that for a moment. The person who edits a “FACT-checking” website tweeted out advice from Dan Rather, who was fired for using fabricated “facts.”

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This is bias …

“Pretty inappropriate” … While in South Korea for the final days of the Winter Olympics, Ivanka Trump sat down for an interview with NBC News. During the interview, which aired earlier today on “Today,” Peter Alexander asked Ivanka about sexual harassment claims against her father. She called the question “pretty inappropriate” and rightly claimed that NBC wouldn’t ask that same question of “many other daughters.” She’s right. Especially since the media hasn’t asked that question of Chelsea Clinton, whose father was impeached for lying about an extramarital affair with an intern. NewsBusters looks at some recent history of how the network handled Chelsea Clinton in the aftermath of the 2016 election.

Fire and scurry … Weeks ago, Michael Wolff, the author of “Fire and Fury,” made claims that President Trump was engaged in a current extramarital affair. Wolff appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Today” show for an interview, via satellite link from London, England. When the show host began to ask Wolff questions about his claims of an affair, Wolff clammed up, said he couldn’t hear the questions, and abruptly scurried off-camera. That’s a profile in courage. Here’s the segment.

The town hall … Questions remain about whether or not CNN “scripted” the gun control town hall last Wednesday night. On Friday, CNN released what it claims was an email exchange between the student and father who claimed that CNN was scripting the town hall and the CNN producer. CNN is claiming that the email exchange provided by the father and student to other networks was missing the words, “that he [the student] submitted.” While there are questions about whether or not the questions were “scripted,” there is still no question that the event was staged. NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch appeared on The Federalist Radio Hour podcast to give her side of what happened at the town hall.

Truth squad …

Dan Rather thinks the media needs to be a “truth squad” that holds the president accountable. Unluckily for Rather, those of us in the WTF MSM!? community are a real “truth squad” against media lies and bias. Could you help grow the size of our team? It’s easy and free. Just invite your friends by sending them over to the WTF MSM!? email signup page. Then send me an email at reno@conservativereview.com to share the good news of how many more people you’ve invited to get the email. As always, feel free to tell me anything questionable you see the media do. Together, we can fight back.