The average American, apparently, lacks the capacity to know what's important enough to warrant his attention. The stories we read in the MSM are missing that certain something, and the Washington Free Beacon (WFB) was created to fill that (self) important niche. If you watched Sunday's Reliable Sources on CNN with host Brian Stelter, you'd think that he was interviewing a journalist with the bona fides of a Walter Cronkite, but he was interviewing Matthew Continetti. Stelter effusively praised the editor of the WFB, which adheres to the same journalistic standards as The New York Times or The Washington Post.
The enormous sums of secret, dark money donations to PACs created to elect candidates shouldn't alarm you in any way. But a prominent former staffer of the Clintons who donated money to their charity should raise red flags and outrage us far more than Citizens United. The WFB's editor wants you to be downright miffed that George Stephanopoulos donated to the Clinton Global Initiative and didn't disclose this charitable donation. This is the type of "off the beaten path" reporting they do at the WFB.
[The site] states it is "dedicated to uncovering the stories that the powers that be hope will never see the light of day" and producing "in-depth investigative reporting on a wide range of issues, including public policy, government affairs, international security, and media."
By appealing to its Rambo demographic, the Free Beacon is nothing short of a parody of Team America, World Police. They have an entire subset devoted to stalking Kate Upton, because that's what titillates their neanderthal-brained readers. But Continetti, on Reliable Sources, insisted the site is as respectable as any other respected news source.
When ALEC wants an attack dog to deter progressive truth seekers from finding out just how insidious the legislative terrorist group is, they turn to the WFB. They liken themselves to a tactical military operation; very America, Fuck Yeah!
"What would happen if the media wolf pack suddenly had to worry about an aerial hunting operation? You are about to find out. The Washington Free Beacon is here to enter the arena of combat journalism. [...] At the Beacon, we follow only one commandment: Do unto them."
Today, Continetti was getting nothing but praise from Stelter.
STELTER: How exactly did you all find out this donation even happened?
CONTINETTI: Sure. Well, I mean, it's simple investigative reporting. One of my reporters had composed a spreadsheet of all the foundation's donors and another of my reporters was spending his off hours going through it. He just happened to see that George Stephanopoulos was in the list.
STELTER: (Re: the CGI) The foundation has been under such scrutiny, it seems surprising people haven't gone through the list and spotted Stephanopoulos' name.
CONTINETTI: Right, it's surprising to me, too, especially since he's connected to the Clintons in so many ways. Of course, his donation, $75,000, wasn't quite as big as some of the millions of dollars that the Clintons have received from foreign countries, for example, which is where I think most people's attention is right now.
In his usual disingenuous manner, the WFB editor alludes that the CGI is funded by subversive dictatorships, almost exclusively. Of course, Continetti fails to include the amount of money that conservatives, like Rupert Murdoch, have given the CHARITABLE CGI and he erroneously portrays the organization as being an extension of the Clinton campaign. The CGI States:
It builds "partnerships between businesses, NGOs, governments, and individuals everywhere" on "improving global health, increasing opportunity for women and girls, reducing childhood obesity and preventable diseases, creating economic opportunity and growth, or helping communities address the effects of climate change."
Of course, the Free Beacon, along with all conservatives, are looking for a way to make Hillary Clinton seem like she's a nefarious candidate, tainted with entirely too much corruption. Earlier this week, Morning Joe had a tête-à-tête with syndicated columnist Joe Conason, who wrote that
commentators are now attempting to "confidently denounce the entire operation as suspect," even though the foundation has produced "significant achievements" on programs such as combating HIV/AIDS.
Scarborough tried his damnedest and failed to make the Clintons look like the bad guys.
...in the middle of a debate about the Clintons, guest and author Joe Conason made the case that Scarborough, who has spoken several times at the Clinton Global Initiative, was hypocritical for going after the power couple for shady donations.
Of course he's going after the Clintons for this latest non-troversy. It's what all the kool konservative kids are doing.
The desperation of Continetti to earn all the credit for discovering that a former Clinton staffer donated to a charity was pretty evident throughout the interview. Because the Free Beacon notified ABC that Stephanopoulos had not disclosed his CGI donations before interviewing the author of Clinton Cash, ABC in turn went to Politico to avoid the WFB revealing the story. Little Matty's fee fees were hurt.
STELTER: How did you feel when you saw it happened?
CONTINETTI: I felt very angry, Brian.
STELTER: I would have, too, I guess.
CONTINETTI: And it's lucky in this new media age that an angry editor has outlets like Twitter to express himself. So, I went on Twitter a expressed my rage and gratifyingly --
Not only does the WFB troll its readers with photoshopped art that they created and pawned it off as authentic, the editorial "work" of Continetti has an eerie resemblance to the machinations of James O'Keefe. You remember James (who destroyed ACORN for no reason), the guy who recently sat down with Judith Miller to discuss the state of journalism today? The mind-blowing irony of that entire last sentence could make any thinking person dizzy (so take a second to recover). This type of 'journalism,' which seeks to unearth information that it deems controversial, even if it is innocuous, like George S.'s donations to a c-h-a-r-i-t-y, is nothing but conservative, desperate spin which tries to deter Democrats from voting.
How about little Jr. Bill Kristol go out and document how much money Koch Industries and their John Bircher spinoffs are donating to foreign policy geniuses like Marco Rubio or Scott Walker? That might pique my interests a helluva lot more than this kid whining that he's not getting enough props for his earth-shattering scoop. Cry us all a river Continetti and shame on you, Brian Stelter for legitimizing this hack.
