I don't know anything about Brian Bakst. I've never taken note of his name before today. But as soon as I read the first paragraph of today's article by Bakst about Al Franken's senate seat I knew I was in the presence of the work of a right-wing tool. Here's how Bakst starts his article:
Al Franken refused his rival's calls for an election night concession last November, choosing instead to begin vote counting and courtroom haggling that stretched almost eight months and ultimately landed him a seat in the U.S. Senate.
This is completely false, something the tool du jour proves in his own article. But he waits a leisurely ten paragraphs to make the correction and admit that the recount was triggered by Minnesota state law and every subsequent lawsuit was filed by Colemen. He was sure to get the lie in at the top where it would show up in the headline summaries.
Why does it matter? Because it perpetuates the perception that Fox, O'Reilly and hacks like Bakst love to put out there that Democrats are sneaky, litigious liars who can only win elections by fraud and deceit. They cannot fairly and accurately report the facts that, after months of fighting Coleman's relentless legal actions, Franken will finally be placed in the Senate seat that he won fair and square. That's how the opening of this article should have read.
But Bakst had to put his spin on it. Way to go, tool.
