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Why Satire Unhinges the Left
American Thinker ^ | 29 Jul, 2022 | Richard McDonough

Posted on 07/29/2022 4:11:07 AM PDT by MtnClimber

The Babylon Bee: Fake News You Can Trust.

-The Babylon Bee’s Self-Description

The satirical site, the Babylon Bee (the Bee) has been fact-checked, criticized and and/or censored by Facebook, Twitter, Mailchimp, Snopes, Politifact, the New York Times and Slate on numerous occasions. This is literally incomprehensible since the Bee explicitly represents itself as a satirical “fake news” site. One cannot “fact-check” a joke. Why then do so many “liberal” sites insist on fact-checking explicit non-factual satire?

One might think the answer is simple: Liberals, like everyone else, just don’t like to be made the butt of humor. However, this cannot be the whole story. First, conservatives may not like it either, but do not tend to react in the same unhinged way to humor.

Second, liberals do not merely dislike satire. As the liberal reaction shows, they are so distressed that they cannot even recognize satire as satire. The liberal overreaction is not therefore just that they, like everybody else, do not like being criticized. There is something deeper, and quite illuminating, going on here.

In March 2018, The Bee published an article suggesting that CNN uses an industrial-sized washing machine to "spin" the news. Snopes fact-checked the article and rated it “false.” Facebook cited the Snopes’ fact-check in a warning message to The Bee and threatened to limit their content distribution and monetization. Adam Ford, who created the Bee, tweeted a screenshot of Facebook’s warning message to his followers, exposing Facebook’s overreaction. Facebook apologized and admitted that "there's a difference between false news and satire. This was a mistake and should not have been rated false in our system. It's … won't count against the domain in any way". Snopes also admitted that "it should have been obvious that the Bee piece was just a spoof."

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Humor; Society
KEYWORDS: snowflake
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1 posted on 07/29/2022 4:11:07 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

In October 2020, The Bee posted a story on Facebook with a link to a story about the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court titled “Senator Hirono Demands ACB be Weighed Against a Duck to See If She Is a Witch.” This is a reference to a bizarre Medieval-style test to determine if someone is a witch from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

In response, Facebook removed the post and demonetized The Bee’s page, citing their policies against incitement to violence.


2 posted on 07/29/2022 4:12:27 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own.

Jonathan Swift

Nuff said.

3 posted on 07/29/2022 4:17:11 AM PDT by mewzilla (We need to repeal RCV wherever it's in use and go back to dumb voting machines.)
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To: MtnClimber

Sophistry sounds pretty good until you analyze it. The Bee makes a lot of people say “Wait a minute....” It also fools a lot of people because some of its headlines are plausible, these days.


4 posted on 07/29/2022 4:20:25 AM PDT by gundog ( It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: MtnClimber

I remember sending a Coulter article to a lib friend years ago. In it, she suggested invading Muslim countries, killing the adult males and enslaving their women and children.
He was furious at such a statement, having taken it literally. I tried to explain that it was satirical reversal of the liberal acceptance of the Muslim doctrine, but he was gone off the deep end, never to return.
Libs aren’t humorless.. they just laugh at different things than conservatives do.


5 posted on 07/29/2022 4:26:47 AM PDT by ArtDodger
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To: MtnClimber

I was just thinking about Chevy Chase on SNL portraying Gerald Ford by falling down a lot. Such a laugh riot.

Can you imagine a TV comedian today trying to get laughs by portraying Joe Biden falling on stairs, falling off a bike, tripping over a dog, etc.? That would be a crime against the state.


6 posted on 07/29/2022 4:27:02 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (We are already in a revolutionary period, and the Rule of Law means nothing. It's "whatever".)
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To: gundog

Now that Rush has gone to his reward, his torch has been passed to others. They spluttered over Rush all the time. Now they splutter over Babylon Bee, Greg Guttfeld, and some of the comedians (Yes! There are funny comedians!!!) on Dry Bar. The golden age of conservative satire is just beginning. The chakra has reopened for laughter.


7 posted on 07/29/2022 4:28:49 AM PDT by ToxicMasculinity (At this point, what difference does it make.)
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To: MtnClimber

The Devil cannot stand ridicule


8 posted on 07/29/2022 4:35:56 AM PDT by frogjerk (I will not do business with fascists)
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To: MtnClimber

To be fair, it is sometimes difficult to tell if the Bee’s satire on dems is real or not.


9 posted on 07/29/2022 4:35:58 AM PDT by pas
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To: ArtDodger

The girlie boy Jonah Goldberg at NRO fired Coulter for that column. She lost a close friend who was on the plane that hit the Pentagon. I don’t think Anne’s column was satire. It was a demand for revenge.


10 posted on 07/29/2022 4:36:33 AM PDT by DeplorablePaul ("..)
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To: ClearCase_guy
From the Washington Examiner:

The location of President Joe Biden’s bicycle fall last month in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, has been listed as a historical landmark on Google Maps named “Brandon Falls.”

The name is a reference to the “Let’s Go Brandon” chant that is often used to mock the president.

Go ahead, do a Google map search for Brandon Falls Delaware. pic.twitter.com/vrpZNUCv8b

11 posted on 07/29/2022 4:37:07 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Liberals think that they are gods

Galatians 6:7

King James Bible
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.


12 posted on 07/29/2022 4:37:40 AM PDT by DeplorablePaul ("..)
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To: MtnClimber

“The Bee posted a story on Facebook with a link to a story about the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court titled “Senator Hirono Demands ACB be Weighed Against a Duck to See If She Is a Witch.”

That is freakin’ HYSTERICAL right there.
Whatever The Bee is paying their writers it ain’t enough. LoL!

Also, obama couldn’t stand to be made sport of......liberals truly are thin-skinned......that comes from never having to deal with real life trials and difficulties.


13 posted on 07/29/2022 4:45:59 AM PDT by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave)
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To: DeplorablePaul

Didn’t know she was fired by Goldberg because of it.

Despised the guy before I heard that. POS.


14 posted on 07/29/2022 4:56:43 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA (You can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way out.)
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To: MtnClimber

P.J. O’Rourke once wrote something to the effect of “a liberal will tell you that you can’t make fun of something (disabled people, maybe), while a conservative will tell you that while maybe you shouldn’t, you most certainly can.”

The Left can’t meme.


15 posted on 07/29/2022 5:01:52 AM PDT by cdcdawg (Hoes mad! LOL! )
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To: MtnClimber

16 posted on 07/29/2022 5:08:37 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: MtnClimber

Because they’re humorless pr*cks?

CC


17 posted on 07/29/2022 5:18:13 AM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: MtnClimber

The left has no sense of humor. The left is bitterly angry and obsessed with destroying this country. There is no room for humor in that.


18 posted on 07/29/2022 5:21:50 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Damn it! We need Trump! America First!)
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To: I want the USA back

The Left’s idea of comedy is saying things like “Republicans are so stupid!”


19 posted on 07/29/2022 5:25:09 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Chevy Chase looks a lot more like Biden these days, too.


20 posted on 07/29/2022 5:33:50 AM PDT by Cooter (The media opts for narrative over news)
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