Another example of just how good Democrats got it in the mainstream media arrived Sunday morning when no less than the Washington Post published a high-profile fact-check of a “Saturday Night Live” skit blasting Obama over his granting of amnesty to millions of illegal aliens through an unprecedented executive action. Needless to say, the Washington Post found the “SNL” skit dishonest:
This skit got a couple of things right, and a couple of things wrong. For starters, Obama didn’t sign an executive order. He is taking executive action, in particular by directing the Department of Homeland Security to expand programs that defer deportation for classes of undocumented immigrants — parents of U.S. citizens or permanent-resident children, as well as undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. …
As to whether the executive action is unconstitutional? That’s a matter of debate, of course.
As you can see, in order to attack “SNL” as getting things wrong, the Washington Post highlights a distinction without a difference (signing vs. taking executive action) and a matter of opinion over the legality of the move.
The Washington Post isn’t looking to clarify anything, the left-wing outlet is just looking for an excuse to launch into the ether a narrative that claims the skit is dishonest. Simply put, the Washington Post is doing what it can to protect Obama from satire. It’s a smart move, too. Once the skit is labeled dishonest, news outlets have an excuse to not talk about or broadcast it.
The left-leaning “SNL” doesn’t go hard after Obama very often, but when they do the objective, unbiased, not-at-all liberal media is always right there to push back.
If you recall, CNN fact-checked a “SNL’ skit in 2009.
As unprecedented as Obama’s amnesty is, even more so is the idea of a media that poses as serious and objective fact-checking political satire — something I have never seen done to Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, despite their serial dishonesty. In fact, the Washington Post is a big fan of Stewart and Colbert and frequently aggregates the left-wing’s duos attacks against conservatives and conservative ideas.
Despites “SNL’s” frequent skewering of Republicans, a good faith search shows no record of either the Washington Post or CNN ever fact-checking those skits. The Washington Post and CNN do, though, love to re-broadcast those skits.
The mainstream media is well-aware of the power of satire. This is why, despite their marginal ratings, Stewart and Colbert are treated as gods among a media elite that loves to promote their work.
But God help “SNL” when they dare treat Obama like they do conservatives. Stepping off the liberal plantation has a price — being branded a liar.
The Washington Post didn’t fact-check “SNL,” they punished “SNL,” and also sent out a warning to anyone else thinking about doing the same.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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