The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog leave their readers in no doubt as to their opinion of New Left Media outlets: for The Great Guido, these are A Very Bad Thing. And one such outlet has perhaps incurred the displeasure of the Fawkes massive more than most - the Skwawkbox.
Indeed, the Fawkes folks have been most reluctant to pass up an opportunity to put the boot in on Skwawkbox, denouncing it as a “fake news site” which “deliberately peddles knowing untruths with the aim of going viral and misleading its audience” (the thought that this is exactly what the Fawkes blog does with stories such as the totally untrue “Corbyn Stasi File” claim is not allowed to enter). And there is more. Much more.
Skwawkbox was later categorised as one of several “Cranks and conspiracy theorists”, then “Nutjob Corbynista frontbencher Chris Williamson plumbs new depths by promoting a mad Skwawkbox conspiracy theory … proper tin foil hat stuff”. Following this came the obligatory mental health smear: “mental Corbynista website Skwawkbox”. The site was then described as “Corbynista fake news merchants”.
So it’s clear that The Great Guido has no truck with anything that Skwawkbox runs. They wouldn’t be seen dead going anywhere near a Skwawkbox story, because it’s a “fake news site” dealing in “conspiracy theories” and “real tin foil hat stuff”. But the Fawkes rabble is nothing if not flexible in its principles, so flexible that when they’re desperate enough for stories to peddle, they’re quite prepared to … recycle stuff from Skwawkbox.
You think I jest? Today, the Fawkes massive has run a post titled “Pro-Jewish MPs Targeted With ‘Deselection Express’”, the faux outrage continuing with “Pro-Jewish Labour MPs Joan Ryan and Gavin Shuker have been targeted with menacing farewell cards outside their parliamentary offices, from anonymous self described ‘Trots, Stalinists, Commies, and assorted hard-left.’” But this had been run elsewhere yesterday.
The take was different, of course: Skwawkbox told readers “‘Deselection express’ - some genius had a little fun with Ryan and Shuker in Parliament … [the MPs’] moods may not have been helped by a Commons prankster who appears to have had a little fun at their expense by placing leaving- or moving-cards at what is alleged to have been their doors”.
After adding “Both cards appear to be in the same handwriting. Both MPs have been contacted for comment” [the Fawkes blog appears not to have done so - so much for journalism, eh lads?], the post comments “It seems spirits are high on the parliamentary left this week”. But not chez Fawkes, they aren’t.
Not only does The Great Guido employ the old anti-Semitic trope of conflating “Jews” and “Israel” (old habits seemingly die hard), there is the small matter of recycling a day old story from a site that they have systematically slagged off as a Fake News outlet.
And that’s after Skwawkbox scooped them earlier this year. Another fine mess.
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