On Monday, “journalist” April Ryan asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg how the infrastructure bill (what Biden has yet to sign) will “deconstruct the racism that was built into the roadways.” Buttigieg answered this way:
Transportation Sec Buttigieg says part of the Infrastructure plan helps address potential racial issues related to roads and bridges. Story: https://t.co/jws9O4v1KK pic.twitter.com/7CZZtKveTJ
— Dave Bondy (@DaveBondyTV) November 9, 2021
Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler was asked for comment on what Buttigieg said:
Is it possible to get a @GlennKesslerWP fact check that structural engineers purposefully built racist overpasses? @redsteeze @ComfortablySmug https://t.co/H3j9QcE44f
— I Might Be Donna (@Crypsis12) November 8, 2021
On Monday, Kessler responded to the request with these tweets:
This is detailed at length in Robert Caro's Pulitzer Prize-winning book on Robert Moses, "The Power Broker." See especially pages 318-319: "He began to limit access by buses; he instructed Shapiro to build the bridges across his new parkways low — too low for buses to pass."… https://t.co/QmgpxU6Lag
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) November 8, 2021
…"Bus trips therefore had to be made on local roads, making the trips discouraging long and arduous. For Negroes, who he considered inherently 'dirty,' there were further measures. Buses needed permits to enter state parks; buses chartered by Negro groups …."
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) November 8, 2021
"…found it very difficult to obtain permits, especially to Moses's beloved Jones Beach; most were shunted off to parks many miles further on Long Island." There's much, much more. Easily one of the best nonfiction books ever written. https://t.co/vV0MWKxJRX
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) November 8, 2021
via @pbump –> https://t.co/XmHYI99Ujq
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) November 8, 2021
Wednesday Kessler added this important reminder along with a link to a new analysis:
ADDENDUM: Experts increasingly doubt this story. https://t.co/Q1JtaNSN7F
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) November 10, 2021
ICYMI -> We were too quick to cite Caro's work as definitive. Experts increasingly doubt the story …. Robert Moses and the saga of the racist parkway bridges https://t.co/xJxshDUKXC
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) November 10, 2021
It seems that the “addendum” should have been the first thing mentioned.
"We were too quick to defend this story instead of fact-checking" is perfection. It' belongs in the Louvre.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 10, 2021
In other words, @PeteButtigieg legitimized a largely debunked myth to advance the narrative that everything–including bridges–is racist. That way, anybody who opposes his reckless spending to address these fake injustices can be called a "racist." (cc: @AJDelgado13) https://t.co/2m9l7YTLvj pic.twitter.com/Zd10IsUGc0
— Christian (@ChristianCamara) November 10, 2021
So you were too quick to defend the story instead of fact-checking it?
::pause::
What would you say it is that you do around here?
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) November 10, 2021
People whose kneejerk reaction is to automatically defend any Democrat position probably shouldn’t try to pass themselves off as “fact-checkers.”
Fact checking @Crypsis12 to own the libs. Hell yeah! https://t.co/SoWNXWSpx4 pic.twitter.com/5mXJw868AN
— Cox (@HOLYSMKES) November 10, 2021
I didn't realize "addendum" meant "I said it was true and only then bothered to check." https://t.co/XIjMdD0r6T
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) November 10, 2021
By the way, I heard the Robert Moses story before I ever joined Twitter. It's a thing people bring up in New York when you discuss the roads on Long Island. I'd expect the most prominent "fact checker" in the country to treat it rigorously.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) November 10, 2021
Better late than never?
Some good fact checking there Glenn. https://t.co/RBtOrXgQR0
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 10, 2021
The Washington Post crack fact checkers can go diving into Tim Scott's 23&Me but when it comes to checking Buttigieg's weird racist fable to prove the entire country is racist for bridges m, it's ADDENDUM and call it a day.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 10, 2021
It’s the same kind of “reporting” the Post did with the Steele dossier they’re now backpedaling on.
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