Almost Too Meta

So if wrote a piece about a fact-checking site “checking facts” on a satirical story, you’d either think that the “Fact Check” site was the one being satirical, or that the satire site had gone just a tad over the top.

Neither is apparently the case in this story, in which Snopes “fact checks” Babylon Bee – which, in its own way may be America’s finest news source today, if you think about it – and a “story” it did about Jussie Smollett getting a job at CNN. Babylon Bee was (so far) being satirical, and Snopes was not.

Oh, yeah – did I say the Bee was likely America’s most reliable source of news? I’m being a little less satirical than they are:

They may do news better than the Big Three, these days.

10 thoughts on “Almost Too Meta

  1. I can see Snopes pointing out that it’s satire for the humor challenged, but when they say “false”, it sure does suggest they’re circling the wagons around CNN to prevent CNN from (justifiably) losing anything that’s left of their former reputation.

    I would go sane without the Bee, by the way. :^)

  2. The reason Smollett kept the noose around his neck until the police came was so that he could get his “closeup” via the police body cams. It was his Sunset Boulevard moment – he envisions himself as this magically tragic character – much like Gloria Swanson descending the stairs saying “I’m ready for my closeup, Mr Demille”
    Meanwhile I notice the east coast race hustlers are whining in the MSM that “Jussie has ruined Black History Month”

  3. from the bottom of the Snopes page…

    Snopes.com has long been engaged in the battle against misinformation, an effort we could not sustain without support from our audience. Producing reliable fact-checking and thorough investigative reporting requires significant resources. We pay writers, editors, web developers, and other staff who work tirelessly to provide you with an invaluable service: evidence-based, contextualized analysis of facts. Help us keep Snopes.com strong. Make a direct contribution today. Learn More.

    Yeah… I got nothing.

  4. A couple of years ago, Snopes was outed by the UK Daily Mail (not exactly a right leaning rag), for their liberal bias. They were not able to prove that they vetted their “fact checkers” to ensure their neutrality. In fact, they revealed that the founder and his wife, in the middle of a nasty divorce, were far more biased than they pretended to be.

  5. when you could see some of the same headlines on supposed “legitimate MSM news sites” you have hit gold. These writers are genius.

  6. The word “fact” has an interesting etymology. It didn’t exist with its current usage until the 17th century, and it means something very different from its Latin root. This makes sense, since you use observations to determine facts. Before the scientific age they used reason to argue their way to truth. If that was good enough for Aristotle and Aquinas, it’s good enough for me.
    Fact check: Fact checks are a sham and a farce.
    Politicians are experts at using imprecise language. They want the most people to take their words in the best, most positive sense. Trying to “fact check” anything a politician says involves imposing precision and context upon rhetoric that can’t bear that load.
    The popular culture belief that facts are objective and absolute, while truth is relative and hard to define, is wrong.

  7. Just think how much further the cause of civil rights for Blacks and gays would be if Jussie Smollet had really been lynched by racist Trump supporters!

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