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Part of the special report, The Rhodes To HuffPost
Contents:
Bias/omissions during the debate over the Iran deal, through September 2015:
(3) Ignoring Biden’s admission that Iran was already on the cusp of finishing its first nuclear weapon
Bias/omissions after September 2015, when the Iran deal was implemented:
(9) Virtually ignoring the Ben Rhodes scandal
(11) Ignoring Hezbollah’s boasts that Iran is now providing all it needs to attack Israel
“It’s like when a toddler looks right at you and slowly and deliberately spills a glass of milk. The child wants to see the reaction. It’s a test of boundaries. If there’s no reaction, then the message is that it’s OK… There is an objective reality, and it is the media’s job to present it unequivocally.”
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(1) Neither correcting nor retracting its false attacks on critics of the Iran deal, after they were proven true
On September 15, 2015, HuffPost published this story, attacking critics of the deal on its front page:
The story was based on a Reuters article that claimed that contrary to critics’ claims, Iran will not be allowed to “self-inspect” its sites that are suspected of being used to produce nuclear weapons, or related material. Deep in the cop of its own story however, HuffPost acknowledged that “it is impossible to verify whether the (Reuters) story is correct.”
Six days later, though, on September 21, 2015, a veteran CIA analyst Fred Fleitz revealed at National Review that the Reuters story upon which HuffPost based its article was false. That in fact, under the deal, Iran will be allowed to “self-inspect” its suspect sites:
Reuters Gets the Iranian Self-Inspection Story Wrong, by Fred Fleitz, National Review, September 21, 2015. Excerpt:
Supporters of the Iran deal cited the Reuters report as disproving this criticism of the nuclear agreement. I thought the Reuters story was fishy, since it contradicted briefings by the Obama administration to Congress on the side deals as well as the Associated Press, which published a transcript of one of the side deals. (The Obama administration and its supporters tried to discredit the AP story, including the claim that it was based on a forgery.) It now turns out the Reuters report was false. Iranians collected samples at Parchin over the weekend with no IAEA officials present.
One day later, on September 22, the Washington Examiner published this story, which further demonstrated that the Reuters story was false:
Reuters, NYT confirm disputed AP report on Iran inspections, by T. Becket Adams, The Washington Examiner, September 22, 2015. Excerpt:
A hotly disputed report by the Associated Press claiming the White House’s nuclear deal with Iran would allow Tehran to self-inspect a key nuclear facility has been corroborated by Reuters and the New York Times, likely putting to rest earlier criticisms that the AP got its facts wrong. […] The Times reported that, “A compromise reached in July in Vienna, a day before Iran signed its broad nuclear accord with six world powers, allowed the Iranians to collect the material themselves so that they could make the case that no foreigners were allowed into their military bases.”
HuffPost, however, never never updated its story, or published a retraction to it. It simply let the public continue believing the myth in the Reuters claims stand, as if it was true.
Here is a sampling of the “news” items that HuffPost published on its front page in the following three days, from September 22-24, 2015, instead of anything about the debunking of its story:
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(2) Ignoring Vice President Biden’s admission that critics’ and opponents’ concerns about the Iran deal were “totally legitimate”
On September 3, 2015, just before the final showdown in the Senate to stop the Iran deal, the Washington Free Beacon published an article and video that showed Vice President Biden addressing an audience in Florida that morning. At this event, Biden openly admitted that concerns voiced by critics and opponents of the deal –that giving Iran everything the U.S. was planning to, under the deal, we could be empowering it to engage in even more terrorism, or worse — are “totally legitimate.” Key quote:
[Biden speaking] “People say, ‘Well, Joe, even if I believed you were able to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, you’re going to give them a whole lot of money, Joe Boy!’ Biden said with a laugh. ‘And they’re going to go out and do more of the bad things they’re doing now, do it more efficiently and threaten our friends in an existential way because they’ll have so much more money and capacity.’ Totally legitimate argument and concern.”
So what kinds of “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
HuffPost, however, completely ignored Biden’s statement. Instead, the following is a sampling of “news” stories that HuffPost decided to put on its front page from Sept. 3-5, instead (several of which it left on its front page for 2, 3 or more days straight):
Pravda-like glowing PR stories about Obama:
Various other “news” items:
- ‘The Real’ Hosts Receive Sex Toys Live On-Air, Hilarity Ensues: “Mine is a vibrating ring! It’s phenomenal! Oh, it’s vibrating!”
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(3) Ignoring Biden’s admission that Iran was already on the cusp of finishing its first nuclear weapon
From Ed Morrisey at HotAir.com:
Biden: Let’s face it, Iran can build a bomb whenever it wants, by Ed Morrissey, HotAir.com, May 1, 2015. Excerpt (emphasis added):
Joe Biden’s defense of the Obama administration’s policy for appeasement of Iran is most notable for its parallels to the strategies being employed by Congress to stop it. Last night, the Vice President told the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that the P5+1 has no real way to stop Iran from building at least eight nuclear weapons in the short term.[…]
“Let’s get something straight so we don’t kid each other,” Biden said. “They already have paved a path to a bomb’s worth of material. Iran could get there now if they walked away in two to three months without a deal.”
So what kinds of “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
HuffPost, however, completely ignored this story. Instead, it decided that “news” stories such as these were more deserving of appearing on its front page, from May 1-3, 2015:
- Definitive Proof That Floyd Mayweather Is A Dick (2 days on front page)
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(4) Ignoring numerous reports that Iran had repeatedly violated the terms of the “interim agreement,” and previous “deals”
Critics pointed to evidence throughout public discussion of the Iran deal that its leaders had a long history of breaking agreements with the international community and the U.N. and that in fact they were breaking the terms of the “interim agreement.” Here is a small sampling of articles that provide substantive proof of this allegation, all of which HuffPost ignored:
During negotiations over this deal:
- Iran Violates Past Nuclear Promises on Eve of Deal, by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, July 2, 2015.
- 5 Ways Iran Is Cheating on the Interim Nuclear Deal, by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart News, January 25, 2015.
- Iran’s long list of broken promises: Rouhani’s pledge to defend human rights should have been delivered with a cynical snicker, by Ilan Berman and Mollie Adatto, The Washington Times, December 5, 2013.
Violations of previous agreements:
- U.S. Says Iran Broke Nuke Treaty, by Dan Collins, CBS News, September 12, 2003.
- Promises Before and Results After Khomeini’s Islamists Took Over, by Elmer Swenson, Gems of Islamism, June 27, 2005.
So what kinds of “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
In regards to the first item above, Iran Violates Past Nuclear Promises on Eve of Deal, which was published shortly before the final climax of debates within the U.S. Congress, here is a sampling of the “news” stories that HuffPost decided to publish on its front page instead, in the following three days (July 3-4-5, 2015):
HuffPost focused its “journalists” on writing stories about “news” items of similar value, in the days following other reports about Iran violating the terms of its agreements, as well.
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(5) Ignoring substantive allegations – including from Iran’s rulers – that President Obama was lying to the American people about vital aspects of the nuclear deal
Throughout the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, critics and Iran’s rules made public claimed that President Obama was lying to the American people. A sampling:
Iran: Obama Admin Lying About Nuclear Deal for ‘Domestic Consumption’: U.S. downplays Iranian victory to ‘soothe’ fear over deal, by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, July 30, 2015.
There Is No Fatwa Condemning Nuclear Weapons by Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei, by Andrew C. McCarthy, PJ Media, March 16, 2015.
Text of Iran-IAEA Agreement Proves Inspection is a Farce, by Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary, August 21, 2015.
HuffPost published none of these stories.
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(6) Ignoring the proof, in August 2015, that Iran was funding Hamas’s preparations to instigate a new war against Israel – then whitewashing the Third Intifada
On August 11, 2015, one month before the climax of the Congressional debate over the Iran deal, Commentary magazine published this story:
Iran Funding Hamas Preparations for War, by Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary, August 11, 2015. Excerpt, citing a report the day earlier from Ha’aretz (a left-leaning Israeli newspaper that HuffPost routinely cites, when its stories can be used to attack Israel):
During his interrogation, [Hamas operative Ibrahim] Sha’er also told of the links between Iran and Hamas, under which Iran has transferred military support into the Gaza Strip to strengthen the organization. The Iranians provide funds, advanced weaponry and electronic equipment such as equipment for disrupting radio communications to bring down Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles over Gaza, Sha’er told the Shin Bet. Iran has also trained Gaza fighters in the use of hang gliders for the purpose of penetrating into Israel, he said.
HuffPost, however, completely ignored this discovery. More, as shown in SaveTheWest’s recent documentary, “HuffPost’s Anti-Semitic Bias and Incitement During the Third Intifada,” when Palestinians began daily attacks on Jews one month later – many of which were organized and funded by Hamas – HuffPost ignored the victims, and chronically evoked sympathy only for Palestinians.
At the peak of the Third Intifada, HuffPost gave top coverage to the following editorial that explicitly justified Palestinian terrorist attacks on Jews, claiming that Israel was “reaping what it had sown.” And Huffpost left it posted on its World page for six straight days.
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(7) Ignoring letter to Congress from nearly 800 U.S. rabbis who oppose the Iran deal, but giving front-page coverage to less than half that who support it
On August 17, 2015 HuffPost posted this item on its front page, which seemed to indicate that a huge number of American rabbis were supporting the Iran deal (note the Iranian flags – at a rally by U.S. rabbis). In reality, as the article said, it was only 340 rabbis:
Hundreds Of Rabbis Urge Congress To Approve Iran Nuclear Deal, August 17, 2015.
(RNS) Rebuffing a campaign among Jewish organizations to scuttle the Iran nuclear deal, 340 rabbis sent a letter to Congress Monday (Aug. 17) supporting the agreement and rejecting the notion that most American Jews oppose it.
“Most especially, we are deeply concerned with the impression that the leadership of the American Jewish community is united in opposition to the agreement,” the letter states. “We, along with many other Jewish leaders, fully support this historic nuclear accord.”
Two days later, on August 19, 2015, the Zionist Organization of America revealed that the majority of the rabbis that signed that letter are from far-left, ant-Israel congregations. HuffPost ignored that revelation.
Then, seven days later, on August 24, 2015, a group of 781 rabbis – more than twice the size of the group to which HuffPost gave a front-page story – signed a letter urging Congress to reject the Iran deal. HuffPost ignored that revelation, too.
Rabbis Petition Against Iran Nuke Deal, by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, August 24, 2015.
Nearly 800 rabbis across the nation are petitioning the Obama administration to abandon the current Iran nuclear agreement and go back to the negotiating table in pursuit of a better deal, according to an online petition circulating in the religious community.
As of Monday afternoon, 781 rabbis had lent their name to the petition, which collectively expressed how “deeply troubled by the proposed deal” the religious leaders are.
So what kinds of “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
Instead of publishing anything about the latter rabbis’ letter, from Augut 25-27, HuffPost published the following items as “news” on its front page:
Meet The Powerful Women Directors Working In Porn
Chelsea Handler Ditches Underwear, Poses With Apple
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(8) Ignoring the discovery that Iran never signed the deal, and according to the State Dept., “it is not legally binding”
On November 24-25, 2015, after the deal had gone into effect, National Review and the Daily Mail (UK) provided documentation of the Obama administration officially admitting that (a) Iran never signed the agreement and (b) it is “not legally binding.” Here is the Daily Mail version of the story:
State Department says Iran NEVER SIGNED nuclear deal and it’s not ‘legally binding’ as it tells Congress to butt out of Obama’s ‘political commitments’, by J. Taylor Rushing, DailyMail.com, November 25, 2015. Excerpt (emphasis added):
The Obama administration has disclosed to Congress that this summer’s controversial nuclear arms agreement with Iran was never signed and is not legally binding, according to a new report this week.
The State Department made the disclosures in a letter to Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo, a Republican, who had written the department to inquire why the agreement as submitted to Congress in July did not bear the signature of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
‘The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not a treaty or an executive agreement, and is not a signed document,’ Julia Frifield, an assistant secretary for legislative affairs wrote Pompeo last Thursday. […]
‘The success of the JCPOA will depend not on whether it is legally binding or signed, but rather on the extensive verification measures we have put in place, as well as Iran’s understanding that we have the capacity to re-impose — and ramp up — our sanctions if Iran does not meet its commitments,’ she wrote.
[July 2, 2016 update: Many of the vital “verification measures” described above have been revealed as inoperable, as a devastating new report from the Foreign Policy Initiative announced.]
So what kinds of “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
Instead of publishing anything about the revelation that Iran had not signed the deal, from November 25-27, HuffPost published the following items as “news” on its front page:
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(9) Virtually ignoring the Ben Rhodes scandal
The Ben Rhodes scandal broke at 5:00am on May 6, via this article in the Washington Free Beacon. HuffPost published nothing about it on its front page or World page on May 6, 7 or 8, despite the dozens of substantive analyses that appeared in the hours and days after it broke.
Finally, just before 2:00pm on May 9, HuffPost published the following article, mid-way down its front page. This is the only “news” article HuffPost has published about this scandal since it broke, as of the time of this writing, June 28. Note also that it assigned its “Senior Media Reporter” (screencap), Michael Calderone, to write this story, instead of one of its news or political “reporters.”
These facts set the stage to appreciate the fact that the opening of the article sets the tone for the rest of it – rather than exploring the substance of this official betrayal, and its implications for U.S., Israeli and global security, HuffPost’s “news” article focuses primarily on journalistic squabbling:
Journalists Dispute Claim They Helped Sell White House Iran Deal, by Michael Calderone, The Huffington Post, May 9, 2016, 1:56 pm ET.
NEW YORK — Two prominent foreign policy journalists are pushing back at The New York Times Magazine for what they described as a “defamatory” characterization in a much-discussed article. The article, a nearly 10,000-word profile of Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes by David Samuels, suggested that the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and Al Monitor’s Laura Rozen “helped retail” the Obama administration’s argument for a nuclear deal with Iran. Both Goldberg and Rozen described the description as false, even slanderous, and criticized the paper for failing to seek comment ahead of time.
“This is an unsupported, defamatory allegation that somehow slipped into The New York Times Magazine by a guy, it should be pointed out, who has had a grudge against me for several years,” Goldberg told HuffPost. (He later wrote of once accepting, then declining, a position at Tablet, where Samuels was a senior editor and Samuels’ wife is editor).
HuffPost then removed this article less than 18 hours later. This rapid deletion stands in sharp contrast to how HuffPost routinely leaves “news” articles about the latest doings regarding the Kardashians on its front page for two, three or even four days in a row.
Then, on May 18, HuffPost published the following op-ed (as a sidebar item) by Rep. Jan Shakowsky (D-IL), a reliable ally of the Obama administration, on its front page, where it remained for four days:
Ben Rhodes and the ‘Echo Chamber’ of Facts On Iran, by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, The Huffington Post, May 18, 2016. Excerpt:
[The NYT’s profile] accuses the Obama Administration with using the Iran deal to “effectively begin the process of a large-scale disengagement from the Middle East.” What the American people saw was the truth of the message that Ben Rhodes and an entire community of experts articulated, a “choice between peace and war” and an opportunity to “disengage” from the real possibility of yet another in the region, this time, nuclear war. Ben Rhodes acknowledges that he did “create an echo chamber,” but far from the fiction Samuels crafted, it was an echo chamber of facts.
So what kinds of “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
Here is a sampling of the “news” stories did HuffPost decided its global audience should be made aware of, from May 6-31, rather than anything substantive concerning this scandal of potentially world-changing importance:
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Addendum: Contrast HuffPost’s silence on the Ben Rhodes scandal, to how it acts when it goes on a “headline jihad”
HuffPost’s first mission, according to its banner, is to “inform” its readers (in a nonpartisan way, according to its public statements):
When HuffPost discovers a story/scandal that it believes its global audience should be “informed” of, it effectively goes on a “headline jihad,” often from multiple angles, and with regular updates. The slide show below contains dozens of examples of HuffPost’s “headline jihads” of the past:
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(10) Ignoring State Dept. efforts to remove evidence of its spokeswoman lying about when discussions began with Iran’s leaders
In May 2016, after the Ben Rhodes scandal erupted, several journalists discovered that a key passage from a State Department video were missing. The passage confirmed that spokeswoman Jen Psaki admitting to a journalist that contrary to President Obama’s absolute denial that any discussions with Iran had been ongoing, that discussions with Iran had begun years earlier. Initially, the State Dept. falsely claimed that the video passage’s removal was due to a “glitch”:
State Dept. blames ‘glitch’ for missing Iran video, by Pete Kasperowicz, The Washington Examiner, May 10, 2016. Excerpt:
The State Department said Tuesday that a “glitch” led a video on its website to be altered in such a way that it removed comments from a spokeswoman who seemed to admit in 2013 that the government lied about when the Iran nuclear talks started. “There was a glitch in the State Department video,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters.
Three weeks later, on June 1, 2016 the State Department admitted that this was no “glitch,” but rather, was a deliberate action by an employee, at the request of an unknown employee – and that it would not be investigating the matter any further:
State Dept. admits intentionally altering video of Iran press conference, by Pete Kasperowicz, The Washington Examiner, June 1, 2016. Excerpt:
The State Department admitted Wednesday that a 2013 press briefing video was purposefully altered to remove a portion of a discussion about the Iran nuclear talks, after an unknown State Department official asked that it be edited out. […]
Kirby said he asked the Office of the Legal Adviser to look into the issue, and that officials “learned that a specific request was made to excise that portion of the briefing. We do not know who made the request to edit the video, or why it was made.”
Kirby insisted that the person who made the edit only remembers that he or she got a call from someone at the State Department, who was passing on a request from the departments’ Public Affairs Bureau. But he said the person who received the call didn’t remember who the caller was, and doesn’t know who in that bureau made the request.
HuffPost completely ignored this latest scandal concerning vital aspects of the Iran deal scandal.
So what did “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
Instead of publishing anything about this latest scandal, here is a sampling of the “news” items that HuffPost decided to publish on its front page, in the three days following the second revelation, from June 2-4:
Ariannas’ Advice to Hunter College Grads
15 Life Tips From A Slightly Mad Midlife Sex Goddess
Artist’s Beautiful Tribute To His Dead Cat Will Melt Your Heart
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(11) Ignoring Hezbollah’s boasts that Iran is providing all it needs to attack Israel
On June 24, 2016, Hezbollah’s chief terrorist, Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed on video that no matter how many sanctions the U.S. and other Western countries put on his terror group, it will still be flush with money, weapons and other necessities, thanks to Iran being flush with cash:
Hezbollah brushes off US sanctions, says money comes via Iran, by AFP, June 24, 2016. Excerpt (emphasis added):
Beirut (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said his group would not be affected by fresh US sanctions because it receives its money directly from Iran, not via Lebanese banks.
In a speech broadcast by the Shiite party’s Al-Manar station, Nasrallah brushed off assertions that Hezbollah would be hurt by US sanctions on Lebanese financial institutions that work with the group.
“We do not have any business projects or investments via banks,” Nasrallah said, insisting the group “will not be affected. We are open about the fact that Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, are from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.
This was confirmed several weeks later, by Iran itself:
Iranian military official: We have 100,000 missiles in Lebanon ready to hit Israel, by Ariel Ben Solomon, Jerusalem Post, July 3, 2016. Excerpts (emphasis added)
President Hassan Rouhani said the last year’s nuclear deal “was the cheapest way to achieve Iran’s goals and interests.” Speaking in Tehran on Saturday at an iftar meal breaking the Ramadan fast, Rouhani said the pre-Iran nuclear-deal era is past and Iran now needs to take advantage of the new atmosphere to pursue its “national interests more than before,” Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency reported. […]
On a similar note, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brig.-Gen. Hossein Salami, said on Friday “more than 100,000 missiles are ready to fly from Lebanon,” according to Tasnim. “Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are [present] more than ever,” he declared, saying there are “tens of thousands of destructive long-range missiles” from Islamic territories aiming at all of “occupied” Israel.
“If the Zionists make a wrong move, all the occupied territories will come under attack from dedicated fighters and, God willing, the territories will be liberated,” Salami warned.
As a reminder, with Iran’s backing, Hezbollah:
- Openly threatened to murder all Jews in the world: “If the Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”
- Openly threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, using both conventional weapons, and WMDs.
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(12) Ignoring the discovery that key terms of the deal are unenforceable, and Iran is fully exploiting them
From the time the Iran deal was implemented in September 2015, up to and beyond the disclosure of the Ben Rhodes scandal in May 2016, a steady stream of articles emerged that indicated how many ways the American people were deceived by those whose mission was to “sell” the deal.
On July 2, 2016, however, the New York Post published excerpts of a new report by the Foreign Policy Institute, that made a number of shocking allegations:
The Iran deal at one year: Reality vs. the promises,NY Post Editorial Board, July 2, 2016. Excerpts:
Under the deal, Obama said, “We will, for the first time, be in a position to verify all of [Iran’s] commitments.”
A year later, we have less information about Iran’s nuclear activities than we did before the pact.
Washington will get full access to any military and “suspicious” location; Iran’s failure to allow it would result in a “snap back” of sanctions, said Kerry. Huh:
The deal turns out to include an unprecedented arrangement that relies on Iran to “self-inspect” its Parchin military complex. Iran continues to deny access to Parchin and other key sites, citing the agreement to let it self-inspect.
Kerry insisted the deal contained “the exact same language” as UN resolutions prohibiting ballistic-missile development.
Iran has since revealed a loophole that allows such development — which it’s been exploiting, while Team Obama now says it isn’t a violation. Kerry says he wants a “new arrangement” on the issue but agrees Washington is “powerless” to stop the missile program.
You can read the entire FPI report here:
FPI Analysis: What They Said Then, What We Know Now about the Iran Nuclear Deal, by Tzvi Kahn, Foreign Policy Initiative, June 30, 2016.
HuffPost, however, published nothing about the NY Post article, or the FPI report.
So what did “news” items did HuffPost publish on its front page, instead?
Instead of publishing anything about this, here is a sampling of the “news” items that HuffPost decided to publish on its front page*, in the two days following the NY Post article, on July 3-4:
These Sexy Swimsuit Ads Prove ‘Thigh Gap’ Is Not A Thing (3 days straight)
Khloe Kardashian Says She Feels ‘Empty’ After Hearing Rob’s Baby News
Kim K Douses Herself In Milk For Fergie’s ‘M.I.L.F. $’ Video
*Note: On June 19, 2016 HuffPost redesigned its front page, which is why the above screencap looks different from all the others cited in this report; see new format here, versus old format here.
“In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one listens.”
― Judith Lewis Herman, psychiatrist, in “Trauma and Self”
Also see:
5.1: HuffPost’s use of lies to help “sell” the Iran deal
5.2: HuffPost’s use of deception to help “sell” the Iran deal
5.4: HuffPost’s use of anti-Semitic bias and incitement to help “sell” the Iran deal
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