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Grapevine: Cable news host compares Gaza to 9/11
Published May 10, 2017
And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
Apples and Oranges?
An analogy by a cable news host -- between Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza -- and the 9/11 terror attacks -- has both statisticians and ethicists shaking their heads.
MSNBC's Joy Reid says the 1,800 Palestinians killed -- is quote -- "the population equivalent of 100 9/11s."
Politifact noted that Reid's napkin math is straight-forward -- but the notion is misleading for a host of reasons.
The major ones:
-9/11s are of course not a unit of measure.
-There are measurable and moral differences between the terror attacks and the Israeli-Palestinian war.
-And while looking at deaths as a percentage of population can be useful -- the numbers here are too small to be meaningful.
Politifact's ruling?
Quote -- "Reid's statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate her claim Mostly False."
The Setup
Who says Democrats and Republicans can't get along?
Everybody.
Bipartisanship is not just a punch line in the Senate.
Even raising the specter of cooperation now merits scorn.
Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has sent a cease-and-desist letter to her Democratic counterpart -- Mark Begich -- over this image in a campaign ad -- that shows the two smiling together -- and highlights the fact that they've voted the same 80 percent of the time.
Mediaite points out that the image is legal -- as it's from the Associated Press -- and the Alaska Senators do cross party lines more than most mixed delegations.
Murkowski contends the ad is factually incorrect -- and implies her support over her objections.
Wait for It
Finally -- a Friday follow -- we've told you before that President Obama is often late.
It is worth noting that last night -- he was actually perfectly on-time -- for his brief statement on Iraq.
In general -- though -- the president's tardiness has approached legendary status.
The Washington Post felt compelled to run the numbers after waiting more than an an hour for an event Wednesday.
It says -- President Obama has kept the media and others waiting for 35 hours -- 21 minutes -- almost a day and a half -- so far in 2014.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/grapevine-cable-news-host-compares-gaza-to-9-11