Mediaboss Marketing

The Babylon Bee has had nearly 100 joke headlines turn into prophecies after the stories eventually came true, the CEO of Americas largest right-leaning satire website told Fox News.

"The problem isn't that our satire is too close to reality," Seth Dillon told Fox News. "Its that reality is too close to satire, so our jokes keep coming true."

The Bee maintains a running list of its satirical headlines that became real or at least partially real stories after publication. The fulfilled prophecies include a wide range of topics and include jokes about Democrats and Republicans alike.

WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE

"So we have a spreadsheet of nearly 100 jokes now that we've tracked," he said. "They were fulfilled like prophecies instead of punch lines."

The Bee published one article, "To Improve Public Perception, Kamala Harris Taking Likability Lessons From Hillary Clinton," in July 2021. A month later, Axios reported that a former Clinton advisor hosted a dinner with prominent Democratic women including Clinton's former spokeswoman to discuss how to defend Vice President Kamala Harris from bad press.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

THE BABYLON BEES TWITTER ACCOUNT REINSTATED BY ELON MUSK AFTER SUSPENSION FOR TRANSGENDER JOKE: 'WE'RE BACK'

"Who would take likability lessons from Hillary Clinton?" Dillon asked. "But then a month later, there's a real story that [Harris'] staff reached out to Hillarys staff to make her more likable."

"We even did one about how Trump had claimed to have done more for Christianity than Jesus himself and that one went crazy viral," Dillon said.

In 2021, then-President Trump said during an interview that "nobody has done more for Christianity or for evangelicals or for religion itself than I have."

Dillon said the Bee's 2019 article, "Trump: 'I Have Done More For Christianity Than Jesus,'" was fact-checked and rated false.

Story continues

"And then two years later, he actually said it," Dillon told Fox News. "He said he's done more for Christianity than anyone else in history. In fact, he's done more for religion than anyone else in history."

In September 2022, the Bee joked about the economy with the headline, "9 Reasons Not To Worry About The Tanking Economy." Just two days later, the Washington Post published the headline "7 ways a recession could be good for you financially."

Dillon added that sometimes it's hard for his writers to come up with satire because the real news headlines already read like jokes.

"There are all the time stories that come across the screen that are just incredibly outrageous," he said "You know you wouldn't believe that they're true, and we have to do a double take and see, is this parody, is this a real story?"

BABYLON BEE CEO SETH DILLON ROASTS PRE-MUSK TWITTER: 'COMPLETELY ANTI-TRUTH ENVIRONMENT FOR FREE SPEECH'

"We're living in really crazy, insane times," he added. "So, yes, there are plenty of times where we pull up a headline, and we're just baffled by it."

On Feb. 3, 2023, the Bee posted the headline "Biden Says Hell Shoot Down Chinese Spy Balloon As Soon As Hes Done Letting It Spy." One day later, Biden announced that the balloon was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean after it finished crossing the United States, arguing that he waited so debris wouldn't fall on civilians.

TWITTER'S FORMER SAFETY CHIEF DEFENDS SUSPENDING BABYLON BEE: POLICIES PROHIBIT MISGENDERING, FULL STOP

"We did show a joke during the pandemic about how pants sales were plummeting because everyone was working from home," Dillon said, citing a March 2020 example. "And it was this picture of a guy sitting there in his pink boxers, but he's got a nice dress shirt on, like at his desk."

"The very next day, there was a story about how Walmart was seeing increased sales of tops, but not bottoms," he continued.

Dillon bought the Bee in 2018 when it was a small blog. He first encountered it two years earlier when a friend shared the headline "Holy Spirit Unable To Move Through Congregation As Fog Machine Breaks."

"It was a funny inside joke that you get if you know the church world, which I did because my dad is a pastor," he said. "They were inside jokes that were funny and witty, and it wasn't cheesy comedy."

According to Dillon, the Bee gets 25 million page views a month, has tens of thousands of paid subscribers and over a million YouTube subscribers.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Dillon said Bee fans often share non-satirical, outrageous headlines on Twitter with the hashtag "#NotTheBee." It sparked an idea to launch a new website in 2020 that covers real news that reads like satire called "Not the Bee."

"You know, there needed to be a site dedicated to just covering these specific insane stories that should be satire but somehow aren't," he said.

Click here to learn more about Babylon Bee's fulfilled prophecies.

View original post here:
When satire becomes reality: Nearly 100 Babylon Bee joke stories have come true - Yahoo News

Hey! Hey!

Dead and gone. The legend lives on.

Cant vote.

Cant reign.

Cant deign.

Who cares? The late, great Cubs announcer Harry Caray, who died 25 years ago, is at bat again!

Since word of a hep-hep, ho-ho campaign to reelect Caray the Mayor of Rush Street surfaced weeks ago to honor the legendary tippler, heavy hitters are dialing into the Harry hoopla.

But, Harry, I AM the mayor of the REST of the city!

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, former Mayor (now U.S. ambassador to Japan) Rahm Emanuel, and former Mayor Richard M. Daley have hopped aboard the Caray bandwagon.

Oopah! Sneed is also told mayoral candidate Paul Vallas paused for a pix with Harry Carays restaurant statue on Kinzie Street last month before he made the mayoral runoff.

When I told him about all of Harrys major endorsements, Vallas joked he was glad he wasnt running against Harry, said PR guru Grant DePorter, who manages the Harry Caray restaurant chain.

Vallas then jokingly declared he was endorsing Harry for Mayor of Rush Street as well, added DePorter, a sports memorabilia collector who also successfully bid on the legendary Bartman Ball at auction and blew it up to stave off future bad Cubs juju.

Just recently, Hillary Clinton, a Cubs fan who grew up in Park Ridge, joined the Caray re-election parade.

Then Hillary asked Harry if she could sing with him during the game, which resulted in a big kiss from Harry, who later gave her a Cubs beanie baby at her 50th birthday party in Chicago, he added.

Just to be clear, Harry has re-election opponents, who are infamous Chicago rascals of unquenchable thirst: Captain Streeter, the original self-named Mayor of Streeterville; Mayor Big Bill Thompson, a buddy of Al Capone; and Ald. John Bathhouse Coughlin, whose name describes his liquid requirement.

Harrys re-election will take place Wednesday at Harry Carays Tavern at Navy Pier and set amid the 25th annual Worldwide Toast engineered by DePorter to honor the annual anniversary of Carays death.

Hmmm.

Will actor Jim Belushi, a huge Harry fan who now lives in Chicago, show up in person Wednesday to celebrate Harrys win?

Will Chicago bred Cubbie fan Bill Murray also make an entry into Caray land?

Will former Gov. Pat Quinn show up to spend time with Harrys widow, Dutchie, who was a close friend of his late mother?

Is Sneed smoking posies?

Consider: Cook County Board President Toni The Tiger Preckwinkle, the power behind Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxxs selection and election who is now steering the mayoral campaign of Brandon Johnson could ostensibly become the most powerful woman in the state of Illinois if Johnson is elected.

Pick your click: Brit newspaper photographer Arthur Edwards, who has covered the royal family for The Sun newspaper (and sidekick of my late friend, legendary Royal watcher James Whitaker), has just published a book of royal family photographs titled Behind the Crown.

Once an Englishman, always an Englishman

Slither on! Just when the world seems to be topsy turvycomes news of the slithery salamander.

It seems up in Michigans Upper Peninsula hundreds of blue-spotted salamanders are now migrating across a road specifically reserved for them during their annual trek from woods to wetlands.

Skirting Presque Isle Park in Marquette, a roadway bend is now closed to evening traffic until the end of April to ensure the safety of the moist lizard-like, slender-bodied, blunt-snouted, short-limbed amphibians.

Look, but dont touch, advised a salamander safety guru after it was discovered cars had been killing 400 salamanders a year.

Good move.

Please note: This column incorrectly noted Cubs Joe Pepitone joined the club in 1971. It was in 1970. Stories come; stories go: But heroism and critical thinking in the midst of agony weeks ago by Chicago fireman WalterStewart, who chose to donate the organs of his beloved wife and three children killed in a fire in his home to save the lives of others was extraordinary. Its a story that stays with you. Saturday birthdays: basketball player Kyle Lowry, 37; actor Sarah Jessica Parker, 58, and singer Elton John, 76. Sunday birthdays football player Von Miller, 34; actress Keira Knightley, 38, and singer Diana Ross, 79.

See more here:
Holy cow! Bid to make Harry Caray the mayor of Rush Street is back ... - Chicago Sun-Times

Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Brandon Bell/Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump's jabs at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a rally in Waco, Texas, on Saturday were met with a muted response from his usually adoring audience.

During his speech, Trump said DeSantis begged him for an endorsement with "tears in his eyes" when running for Florida governor in 2018. Trump first made the unsubstantiated claim about DeSantis in February.

Trump then segued into a comedy bit where he pretended to be a sobbing DeSantis, saying: "Sir if you'll endorse me I'll win, please, please sir, endorse me."

The crowd, which had been cheering up until that point, was subdued when Trump made these comments, per a Fox News livestream and social media videos of the rally seen by Insider. The audience continued to be silent while Trump bragged about helping to get DeSantis elected and railed against the possibility that DeSantis may run against him in 2024.

"I'm not a big fan," Trump said of DeSantis, calling the governor a "disciple" of former Speaker Paul Ryan, a vocal Trump critic.

In contrast, Trump's rally crowd jeered loudly when he trash-talked other people. These included Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who alleges that Trump paid her hush money to keep her quiet about an affair; Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg; and Trump's 2016 rival, former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Although DeSantis has not officially announced a 2024 presidential bid, he will be Trump's biggest rival if he does choose to run.

Trump's comments come as he is neck-deep in an investigation led by Bragg over his potential involvement in hush money payments to Daniels. Trump could face up to four years in prison if convicted.

Representatives for Trump and DeSantis did not immediately reply to Insider's requests for comment made outside regular business hours.

Follow this link:
Trump's jabs at Ron DeSantis fell flat with his rally crowd in Texas - Business Insider

Semafor has obtained a document showing that the Tucker Carlson-founded conservative outlet Daily Caller has provided donors the opportunity to propose topics for coverage and establish news beats for reporters in exchange for financial contributions. The memo seems to confirm, as we have long suspected, that the Daily Caller had a pay-to-play beat aimed at education issues, in a period when, as we reported at the time, the outlet repeatedly published articles leveling specious attacks against critics for for-profit colleges.

The pitch memo to prospective donors, which Semafor said dates from 2016 or 2017, promised, News or policy beats that you care about can be the focus of a new project. Together, we can decide on a specific area that you want to see covered. The memo added, investors can decide in advance of funding which topics of news coverage that their contribution can support. And, during the project, investors can recommend topics of interest for our editors consideration.

The memo continued: The cost of a journalist is dependent on the scope of the project. For example, we currently have an education reporting program that includes support for one reporter, editors and general operating expenses at a cost of $200,000 per year. According to the memo, One reporter is expected to write 60 stories per month. This quota can be adjusted by working with the editors to decide on an appropriate number of stories for the project at hand.

The memo said the Daily Caller had a similar program on energy issues.

The memo does insist that the Daily Caller maintains complete editorial control over site content.

In the years 2010-11, when the Obama Administration first sought to issue a gainful employment rule aimed at targeting federal money to effective career colleges, and away from schools that were consistently leaving students deep in debt, the Daily Caller, which was founded in 2010, persistently attacked reform advocates, echoing the arguments of for-profit colleges and their lobbyists.

In June 2010 theDaily Callerran apiece by DC lobbyist Lanny Davis defending the performance of for-profit colleges and criticizing Wall Street short-seller Steven Eisman, a persistent critic of the industry, for not disclosing possible financial interests in the issue. Davis soon after signed on to run the Coalition for Educational Success, a for-profit college trade group seeking to derail the gainful employment rule. Similar efforts to attack reforms by linking them to Eisman were then being made by another for-profit college industry trade group and by consultants tied to the industry.

TheDaily Caller also published regular reports by its own staff reporters covering this line of attack. When the advocacy group CREW, which was itself receiving funding tied to the for-profit college industry, called on federal authorities to investigate possible manipulation of the for-profit college market by Eisman, then-Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) responded by claiming that the U.S. Department of Education engaged in very significant inappropriate behavior in tipping hedge funds on short selling private education. He added, Utilization of facts in the Department of Education in advantaging investors in one segment to make significant dollars over something the governments thinking about doing is highly unethical and if proven to be the case, some people ought to be going to jail in the Department of Education. All of this was dutifully reportedby theDaily Caller(and a few times theWall Street Journal), and practically no other outlet.

TheDaily Caller alsoattacked the chief Capitol Hill critic of for-profit colleges, then-Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), claiming his staff might have engaged in witness tampering for a hearing on the industry. The Daily Callerattackedthe well-publicized Government Accountability Office investigation that exposed industry abuses. TheDaily Caller questioned the ethics of the organization I ran at the time, Campus Progress (part of the Center for American Progress), because we horrors both engaged in public advocacy on the issue of for-profit colleges and published advocacy journalism on the same subject. The ethics expert that the publication chose to cite for this charge was then-CREW executive director Melanie Sloan.

When Campus Progress spent $4000 to produce and air briefly on cable TV in Washington an ad to counter the massive television advocacy campaign by the for-profit college industry, a political consultant named Natasha Mayer, writing in theDaily Caller,falsely accused us of taking money from traders like Eisman for a million-dollar campaign on the exact same side of the issue as the wealthy short-sellers. Echoing the arguments of Mayer wasMelanie Sloan,writinginPolitico, who said of the Campus Progress ad, produced by our intern and run a handful of times at cheap rates, major ad campaigns require major donors, with a link there to MayersDaily Callerpiece.

The Daily Callers relentless and sometimes scurrilous attacks on critics of for-profit colleges raised questions at the time about why this publication was so obsessed with these matters at a time when the for-profit college industry was seeking to take the focus off its own ethical and legal problems and avoid reforms that might imperil the torrent of $33 billion a year in taxpayer money into its coffers.

Semafor reports that Daily Caller co-founder and publisher Neil Patel suggested to Semafor that the pitch document was fabricated, but that after Semafor authenticated it, Patel didnt respond to a follow-up request for comment.

The Daily Caller, a popular right-wing site, is operated by a for-profit business, but much of its content has long been produced by a related non-profit organization, The Daily Caller News Foundation, which is the operation that produced the pitch document to donors. The legality of the arrangement, which allows a for-profit business to benefit from a charitable non-profit, has been questioned by tax law experts and advocates.

To be fair, the Daily Caller hasnt always said kind things about for-profit colleges. Casting aside years of defending the schools, the Daily Caller departed from its approach in 2014 with a piece attacking one of the biggest companies in the industry, Laureate Education as seedy, for lowering its admissions standards and making obscene expenditures on advertising. According to this article, bylined by Daily Caller editor Eric Owens, at for-profit colleges, Most students never get a degree. Many drop out within a couple months. The bluntly altered assessment of the industry in the article may have related to the fact that, as it noted, Former President Bill Clinton and presumed 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton have deep ties to Laureate; Bill Clinton was the companys paid honorary chairman and, under Secretary Hillary Clinton, the State Department made Laureate a partner in one of its initiatives.

Tucker Carlson sold his ownership share in the Daily Caller in 2020, leaving Patel as majority owner. Conservative donor Foster Friess was also a major investor; he died in 2021.

Link:
Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller Had Pay-to-Play Education Beat - Republic Report

By Frank MieleRealClearWirehttps://www.realclearwire.com/

The Democrats say that Jan. 6 was the worst attack on American democracy since the Civil War. They call it an insurrection, but if it was indeed the worst since 1865, no one but a fool would dare claim it even remotely approached the scale of the bloody war between the states.

And if you werent a fool, you might conclude that Jan. 6 was nothing like an insurrection. It wasnt violent in the sense of an armed rebellion. It wasnt organized. And it didnt seek to overthrow the government, but to protect the Constitution. In more ways than not, it was a defense of American democracy, not an attack on it.

In every particular, Jan. 6 was a pale shadow compared to the Civil War. To start with, it lasted less than six hours, whereas the Civil War lasted four long years. The war between the North and South cost the lives of 620,000 soldiers and another 50,000 civilians. The Jan. 6 incursion at the U.S. Capitol, on the other hand, claimed the lives of just two women protesters, Ashli Babbitt and Roseanne Boyland. Among the defenders of the Capitol, police officer Brian Sicknick died after suffering two strokes the next day, but without a direct known connection to the riot. Two other protesters died of natural causes during the siege, and four law officers died by suicide in the months following the attack. If you count all of those as legitimate casualties of Jan. 6, then the total comes to nine compared to a minimum of 670,000 in the Civil War.

It would be impossible to exaggerate the stark differences between Jan. 6 and the Civil War.

Yet somehow, the Democrats (yes, members of the same Democratic Party that instigated the Civil War) were able to use the Jan. 6 incursion of the Capitol as a means to terrorize their political enemies and to punish those who used their rights of free speech and free thought to question the legitimacy of the Biden presidency.

As of March 6, 2023, more than 1,000 people have been charged with crimes stemming from the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. But the Biden administration is not done seeking its pound of flesh from Trump supporters. Last week, we learned that the Department of Justice (hereinafter the Department of Retaliation) had sent a letter to the chief judge of the D.C. federal court warning that between 700 and 1,200 more people will be charged with Jan. 6 crimes. More than two years after the fact! That brings the total of citizens likely to be charged to approximately 2,000, and according to the White House these are all domestic terrorists.

Now, to be clear, there was at least one instance of terrorism on Jan. 6, 2021, when pipe bombs were planted at the national headquarters of both the Republican and Democratic parties. But the perpetrator of that failed attack has never been identified, let alone charged. Instead, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the House Jan. 6 select committee and the White House have focused on making examples out of American citizens who believed that a corrupt election had been held in 2020.

By insisting that U.S. elections are always beyond reproach, the Democrats and their allies in the media have de facto criminalized the formerly protected speech of millions of Americans who have lost confidence in the electoral system. And the Justice Department, on behalf of President Biden, has decided to make an example of the Jan. 6 protesters in order to quell dissent among Republicans who might otherwise be tempted to carry a Trump flag to the Capitol.

If you dont think that the prosecution, and accompanying lengthy jail sentences, of 2,000 protesters for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 is excessive, consider this:

Following the real insurrection, the Civil War, hardly any of the 1 million men who fought on behalf of the Confederacy were charged with any crimes, let alone treason. Thats because President Abraham Lincoln, and President Andrew Johnson after him, recognized the importance of binding the nation together following the tumultuous war years. Instead of seeking retaliation, and humiliation of former enemies, they (and most Northerners) sought reconciliation and understanding. Forgiveness, not punishment, was the watchword.

In a Christmas Day proclamation in 1868, Johnson granted a full pardon and amnesty to all persons engaged in the late rebellion. He wrote, in part:

[A] universal amnesty and pardon for participation in said rebellion extended to all who have borne any part therein will tend to secure permanent peace, order, and prosperity throughout the land, and to renew and fully restore confidence and fraternal feeling among the whole people, and their respect for and attachment to the National Government, designed by its patriotic founders for the general good.

Further, Johnson declared:

unconditionally, and without reservation, to all and to every person who directly or indirectly participated in the late insurrection or rebellion, a full pardon and amnesty for the offence of treason against the United States, or of adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with restoration of all rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constitution and the laws which have been made in pursuance thereof.Now compare that to the zealous and unyielding pursuit by Merrick Garlands Department of Justice of the Jan. 6 protesters, the vast majority of whom neither waged war, nor committed treason, but only trespassed in an effort to assure that their grievances were heard. Unbelievably, many of those protesters remain in jail 26 months after the riot without ever having received the speedy trial they are promised by the Constitution, and others once convicted face lengthy prison terms in unfathomable conditions.

What does the DOJ say about its mission? Heres an excerpt from the departments March 6 update:

[T]he investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the attack continues to move forward at an unprecedented speed and scale. The Department of Justices resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on January 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane.

As I said before, its the Department of Retaliation, and theres no reason to think it will end there. The special counsel appointed to investigate Donald Trumps possession of classified documents and his actions and words on Jan. 6 represents a new low in American politics. No matter how Merrick Garland or Joe Biden spin it, this is not about justice, but about eliminating the biggest threat to Bidens reelection.

Where is James Comey when you need him? Remember when the former FBI director recited the not insubstantial case against Hillary Clinton for possession of classified information on an illegal server, and then declared no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case? That is exactly how most nonpartisan people feel about the case against Trump, who, unlike Hillary, was president and actually had the power to declassify any documents in his possession.

Even more outrageous is claiming that Trump was guilty of treason or inciting a riot because he asked his supporters to walk from the Ellipse to the Capitol on Jan. 6 to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. Thats not incitement; its First Amendment-protected political speech. And when Trump said, We fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore, he wasnt talking about invading the Capitol; he was specifically talking about fighting against election fraud. Any other interpretation is disingenuous.

Yet, the Department of Retaliation continues its relentless assault on Trump supporters like a bureaucratic version of Inspector Javert from Les Miserables. Instead of showing the magnanimity of President Johnson following the Civil War, the Democratic administration of Joe Biden insists on fracturing our society even more than it was at the end of the Trump administration.

Remember Andrew Johnsons words? He said that a pardon will tend to secure permanent peace, order, and prosperity throughout the land, and to renew and fully restore confidence and fraternal feeling among the whole people. Why cant the Democrats and their sympathizers like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger see that their obdurate persecution of Trump voters will have the opposite effect? Instead of bringing their opponents to heel, they will just foment greater hatred and distrust among those who already feel abandoned and rejected by their government.

Or maybe the Democrats do know exactly what they are doing. Spanish-born and American-educated philosopher George Santayana said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, but maybe even more dangerous are those who distort the past. They condemn the rest of us to a legacy of permanent chaos, lies, and animosity, and of course they expect us to shut up and take it. There was no insurrection on Jan. 6, but that doesnt mean the people will be patient forever.

Frank Miele, the retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His newest book, What Matters Most: God, Country, Family and Friends, is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him at HeartlandDiaryUSA.com or follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA or on Twitter or Gettr @HeartlandDiary.

Continued here:
The real insurrection and the dirty politics of Jan. 6 - The Highland County Press