Breitbart is the master of fake news
Ah yes. A new controversy begun locally by none other than the masters of fake news: Breitbart News.
By fake, I mean Breitbart, not the tweets written by a local professor. Those are real and subject to everyone’s individual interpretation.
Let’s step back a bit, though, shall we, and compare these words to some others uttered publicly.
In terms of inciting violence, are these words the same or worse than a presidential candidate telling his rally attendees to “Get them out of here”? The same or worse than “You know, these guys used to leave on stretchers”? The same or worse than offering to cover people’s legal expenses if they’re sued for punching a protester?
Breitbart never called anyone out for these words. Breitbart never took this public figure to task for any of his exhortations to do harm to others. But Breitbart, without first contacting this local educator to get clarification on his writings, begins a national vilification.
If these words do call for violence against a specific person, then he should be prosecuted under the law.
Until then, however, we would be wise to consider the history of his target’s words and how they led us here.
Joel Dyer, Fresno
This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Breitbart is the master of fake news."