ABOUT FAITH & FREEDOM

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

CBS's 60 Minutes: Blatant Manipulation

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On April 4, CBS's 60 Minutes maliciously edited comments made by Florida Governor Republican Ron DeSantis to create a news story suggesting that Gov. DeSantis monetarily rewarded companies that had donated to his campaign.

DeSantis is a rising star among conservatives and Republicans because of his straightforward integrity, his personal skills, and his deep commitment to Christian, conservative principles. Some are urging him to consider running for president. Clearly, he's qualified.

That's why CBS and their news show "60 Minutes" tried to discredit him.

Here's how they tried to manipulate your perception of Gov. Desantis. 

Be informed, not misled.

CBS News aired their 60 Minutes show attacking DeSantis on their usual Sunday night airing schedule.

By Monday, April 5, watchful conservative eyes and ears had caught CBS in the act. 

The act.

Over Easter weekend, 60 Minutes released a clip of correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi basically heckling the governor with an already debunked conspiracy theory during a March press conference.

However, the clip they released had been maliciously edited to make it look like DeSantis had dodged her question---like Biden always does, refusing to answer it.

Angrily, Alfonsi began, "Publix, as you know, donated $100,000 to your campaign. And then you rewarded them with the exclusive rights to distribute the vaccine in Palm Beach."

Publix is a large grocery store chain in the east. The vaccine is, of course, the COVID vaccine.

DeSantis responds on camera, "First of all what you're saying is wrong!"

Alfonsi shouts back: "How is that not pay for play?"

DeSantis explains: 

"That's a fake narrative. I met with the county mayor, I met with the administrator. I met with all the folks at Palm Beach county and I said, 'Here are some options: We can do drive-thru sites, we can give more to hospitals, we can do the Publix.' And they said, 'We think that would be the easiest thing for our residents."

Alfonsi then shouts back that Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay says DeSantis "never met with her about the Publix deal."

Continuing, she shouts, "The criticism here is that, 'that' is pay for play, Governor."

He responds, "And it's wrong, it's wrong," once again explaining he had laid it all out for her before in a way that is irrefutable.

However, the way they edited the clip, DeSantis looks ridiculous, while claiming a victory he didn't earn. He appears to merely be throwing out words that have no meaning in the false context 60 Minutes had created.

Fox News summarized DeSantis' full answer. Bottom line, elected officials wanted Publix, and they were the first to raise their hand and say they were ready to distribute the vaccine.

After being called out publicly, CBS and their 60 Minutes continue to double down.

Even the former head of Florida's emergency management agency---who is a Democrat---says "none from the governor's office suggested Publix. They were ready to start and the others were not."

A Publix spokesperson told Fox,

"The irresponsible suggestion that there was a connection between campaign contributions made to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state's vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false and offensive. We are proud of our pharmacy associates for administering more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine to date and for joining other retailers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to do our part to help communities emerge from the pandemic."

CBS has a history of doing this.

Back in 2006, the New York Times began with this: 

"An independent panel convened to investigate a discredited broadcast about President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service has concluded that the network's news division rushed the report onto their air in September in a frenetic dash to beat its competitors. The report also says the network failed to seriously consider contradictory information raised not only before the segment was aired but for nearly two weeks afterward."

At that time CBS was trying to discredit George W. Bush. Now, 16 years later, they are trying to take out a successful Republican governor of a large, politically important state, who may run for president in 2024.

During that episode, Dan Rather stepped down from his position with CBS. CBS assured the public his stepping down had nothing to do with the fact that CBS was, as now, caught in an absolute lie in their attempt to manipulate the public and destroy George W Bush.

Apparently, CBS is so humiliated by the way the general public has dismissed them on their attempt to smear DeSantis, they made one last attempt Sunday.

They made reference to the story, then said, "Some viewers, including a retired newsman, applauded the story."

Translated: "Some viewers liked our attempt to smear Gov. DeSantis." 

This is more about CBS's manipulation than about Gov. DeSantis.

Takeaway.

The Bible has much to say about manipulation. Through examples, principles, and direct commands, Scripture warns us against manipulating others and against allowing others and ourselves to be manipulated.

Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). We could also say he is the master of manipulation.

He manipulated Eve, using half-truths while appealing to her desire for wisdom, to deceive her into disobeying God.

Sampson comes to my mind.

He was the victim of manipulation at least a couple of times. At his wedding celebration, he posed a riddle to the Philistine attendees; if they could answer him correctly, he would give them "thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes" (Judges 14:12). The Philistines were stumped, so they resorted to asking Sampson's wife to coax the answer out of him---then tell them.

She agreed. And in verses 16 and 17 we read, "She threw herself on him sobbing, 'You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer...in fact, she cried the whole 7 days of the feast," (vs. 16-17). Finally, Sampson allowed himself to be manipulated into giving her the answer, which she promptly relayed to her townspeople.

Later, Sampson fell victim to the manipulative Delilah, which ultimately cost him his life (Judges 16).

There are reasons why America does not trust the press. Nor should we.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.