Armando Simón
Just when I think that I cannot possibly hate the media hivemind more, something happens that I realize that I cannot hate the media enough.
Last night’s debate between Harris and Biden was just such an occasion. Harris came prepared better than I expected, her poses and her facial expressions well-rehearsed.
But she lied, lied, lied, lied, lied, lied. And, on top of the lies, she brought up old Democratic salivating points that have proven to be more lies (the Charlottesville out-of-context remark, Trump’s actions and words during January 6, his bloodbath comment). Most people have moved on from those things, but to Democrats they serve as mental masturbation.
The debate was a 3 vs 1 affair. Moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir did not correct Harris’ lies, not even the most blatant ones, but repeatedly quibbled with Trump in what he said.
For example, when Trump mentioned that illegal immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s cats and ducks from a pond where people feed them (including protected Canadian geese, a detail not brought up), Muir stated that the city manager had refuted it—a typical tactic of leftists of insisting everyone must ignore the evidence of their eyes and ears, since the residents are insisting the Haitian savages are doing just that, have photographed/videoed them, including a woman on her knees eating a raw cat at night, bringing to mind one of the zombie apocalypse movies. Another time, when Trump pointed out that Democrats want to “abort” a baby come to full term, Davis remarked that it was not true, that it was illegal to do so, then pivoted to Harris (later on, Trump repeated his assertion—which is true in six states). Another one was when Trump said that crime has skyrocketed, Muir stated that FBI statistics have shown that crime has gone down. However, Trump instantly pivoted and pointed out that in those statistics, large cities had not been included.
If that was not enough, if Trump stated something Harris disagreed with, she was allowed to refute, but when the reverse occurred Trump had to insist—and persist—in being allowed to refute. And even when not allowed, he went ahead to do so above the objections of the moderators.
Harris stated that Trump has only insults to offer, then went on to repeatedly insult him.
Trump became angry a third of the way in and stayed that way and this went to her advantage. She baited him several times and he took the bait (like size of their respective rallies). He also rambled off several times, as did she but had he stayed focused on target, he could have brought up devastating facts about his record and about hers. Instead, his ego got in the way and, as a result, several golden opportunities slipped through his fingers.
This is not to say that it was a defeat for him. At worst, it was a draw. He repeatedly hammered at her over illegal immigration. And, as for the closing statements, whereas she offered lachrymose generalities, he shot an arrow straight at her, repeating twice that if she wanted to carry out reforms, all she had to do was to go back to the White House and do it, including closing the border, which does not require legislation.
Afterwards, a collection of ABC pundits echoed back and forth how wonderful Harris’ performance had been.
This morning, I checked my TikTok account and people—black and white—were absolutely livid over the unfair 3 vs 1 scenario.
Armando Simón is the author of This That and the Other.
- Like
- Digg
- Del
- Tumblr
- VKontakte
- Buffer
- Love This
- Odnoklassniki
- Meneame
- Blogger
- Amazon
- Yahoo Mail
- Gmail
- AOL
- Newsvine
- HackerNews
- Evernote
- MySpace
- Mail.ru
- Viadeo
- Line
- Comments
- Yummly
- SMS
- Viber
- Telegram
- Subscribe
- Skype
- Facebook Messenger
- Kakao
- LiveJournal
- Yammer
- Edgar
- Fintel
- Mix
- Instapaper
- Copy Link
8 Responses
Reuters – No evidence of Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets in Ohio
A viral narrative suggesting Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are stealing residents’ pets or taking wildlife from parks for food surfaced on social media this week without any credible evidence.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump amplified the unsubstantiated assertion during Tuesday night’s debate.
However, Springfield police and officials have said there were no credible reports of Haitian immigrants stealing pets to eat them.
In a statement on Tuesday, a Springfield police spokesperson said, “In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
The Associated Press – Trump Falsely Accuses Immigrants in Ohio of Abducting and Eating Pets
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets, repeating during a televised debate the type of inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric he has promoted throughout his campaigns.
There is no evidence that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio community are doing that, officials say. But during the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump specifically mentioned Springfield, Ohio, the town at the center of the claims, saying that immigrants were taking over the city.
“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he said.
Harris called Trump “extreme” and laughed after his comment. Debate moderators pointed out that city officials have said the claims are not true.
Officials have said there have been no credible or detailed reports about the claims, even as Trump and his allies use them to amplify racist stereotypes about Black and brown immigrants.
How did this get started?
On Friday September 6th, a post surfaced on X that shared what looked like a screengrab of a social media post apparently out of Springfield. The retweeted post talked about the person’s “neighbor’s daughter’s friend” seeing a cat hanging from a tree to be butchered and eaten, claiming without evidence that Haitians lived at the house. The accompanying photo showed a Black man carrying what appeared to be a Canada goose by its feet. That post continued to get shared on social media.
On Monday September 9th, Vance posted on X. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” he said. The next day, Vance posted again about Springfield, saying his office had received inquires from residents who said “their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”
Other Republicans shared similar posts. Among them was Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who posted a photo of kittens with a caption that said to vote for Trump “So Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.”
A billboard campaign launched by the Republican Party of Arizona at 12 sites in metropolitan Phoenix plays off the false rumors. The billboard image resembles a Chick-fil-A ad, portraying four kittens and urging people to “Vote Republican!” and “Eat Less Kittens.”
Springfield police on Monday told the Springfield News-Sun that they had received no reports of stolen or eaten pets.
An entirely unrelated incident that occurred last month in Canton, Ohio, quickly and erroneously conflated into the discussion. On August 26th, Canton police charged a 27-year-old woman with animal cruelty and disorderly conduct after she “did torture, kill, and eat a cat in a residential area in front (of) multiple people,” according to a police report.
But Allexis Ferrell is not Haitian. She was born in Ohio and graduated from Canton’s McKinley High School in 2015, according to public records and newspaper reports. Court records show she has been in and out of trouble with the law since at least 2017.
You dump 15,000 Haitians into a city of 90,000, and everything is actually fine, I’d suppose. Don’t believe what you hear.
I’d like to offer you the same advice.
I go by what the RESIDENTS are saying, what the local CITIZENS are saying, what the videos and the pictures by the CITIZENS AND THE LOCAL POLICE display. Others prefer to rely on the statement of the Democrats who dumped the illegal aliens there to start with, which is, “Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.”
The flaw in your argument (actually, quotes) is that you are quoting the media and if by now you don’t know that the media lies—deliberately lies—then please contact me and I would like to sell you beachfront property in Kansas, real cheap. An extra bonus is that penguins and dolphins come up to people and play with them.
I just realized I should have documented the citizens’ testimony. Here are some:
https://notthebee.com/article/let-me-use-memes-to-explain-whats-happening-with-haitian-migrants-who-are-eating-this-ohio-towns-cats-and-geese
https://notthebee.com/article/this-youtuber-is-on-the-ground-in-springfield-and-the-things-hes-discovering-about-the-haitian-migrant-crisis-is-unreal?utm_source=Not+The+Bee+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=09122024
I also realize this will make no impact to those obsessed with hating Trump.
And here is an excellent example of the fanatical mindset. It is truly fascinating:
https://notthebee.com/article/the-father-of-a-boy-killed-by-a-haitian-immigrant-says-he-wishes-his-boy-was-killed-by-a-white-man-so-that-people-would-leave-immigrants-alone?utm_source=Not+The+Bee+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=09122024
Dear Armando,
Your petty rumors and gossip published by a no-name website nobody has ever heard of have no value and convince no one. As for trusting the police, the statement above IS from the local police department, you ninny. Let me guess, they’re also liars and can’t be trusted too, now that you realize they’ve said something you don’t like.
If I wanted to be sucked into a fantasy reality created by fanatics who dig tirelessly for unremarkable and irrelevant information and blow it up into Mount Everest falling, I’d go hang out on reddit.com’s r/gamestop.
Thanks moron, and have a nice day.
Wowwwwwwww.