January 29, 2014

Washington Free Beacon Publishes Dumbest Gotcha Story Ever

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The Washington Free Beacon is dedicated to “uncovering the stories that the professional left hopes will never see the light of day.” Today, one of those blockbuster stories is about Arkansas senator Mark Pryor, who told one TV station that he thought President Obama did a great job last night while telling another that he was disappointed. What a flip-flopper!

Except, as Dave Weigel tells us, one of the TV clips—very deliberately edited to make its origin unclear—is from last year’s SOTU. Pryor was happy with that one, but not so happy with Obama’s 2014 speech.

What a bunch of clowns. Hell, it wouldn’t even have been a very good gotcha story if it were true.

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A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

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Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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