These past few days have served as just about the best (and most shameless) examples of how a narrative goes from the DNC drawing board into the mainstream media ecosystem quickly and easily.
For the sake of brevity, I'll focus mostly on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's Appeal to Heaven flag that was spotted on display at his vacation home (the other was an upside-down American flag at Alito's main residence that was apparently the result of a spat with a vulgar lefty neighbor).
As @JerylBier noticed, the Appeal to Heaven flag hasn't been an issue until the Democrats and their media lackeys decided it should be. It wasn't even mentioned in the NY Times' "visual investigation" of January 6th published over three years ago:
On January 13, 2021, the @NYtimes published a "Visual Investigation" headlined "Decoding the Far-Right Symbols at the Capitol Riot" including flags and banners.
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) May 25, 2024
Guess what isn't mentioned in the article (even though one is briefly visible in a video clip)? pic.twitter.com/1GRQbqwvJh
But ever since Alito's flags were made public, the Dems decided they could force a fake narrative to delegitimize the court that now has too many conservative members for the Left's liking, all because Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate who never went to Wisconsin. That is now, of course, a "threat to democracy."
The real Alito story isn’t the flag. It’s that the media coordinated with the left to try to convince people that the flag is provocative or controversial. The press really is playing into Trump’s hand as the enemy of the people.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) May 25, 2024
Exactly.
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One of the biggest dirtbags in Congress (and that's a high bar to clear) is Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who hadn't made a peep previously about the pine tree flag, but now that's one of the "MAGA battle flags":
When a Supreme Court justice is caught flying MAGA battle flags at his houses, it’s a pretty dazzling transgression. 🧵
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) May 24, 2024
Then that angle took off like wildfire in the media. MSNBC's Chris Hayes supported the Left's effort to delegitimize the Supreme Court while ironically saying Alito's the one who threatens "American constitutional order":
Alito flying those flags "suggests a disturbing readiness to keep pushing past any boundaries as the movement that Alito is clearly a member of looks to destroy the current American constitutional order," says @chrislhayes. pic.twitter.com/ipyRzi7s7X
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) May 24, 2024
Wikipedia looks like the DNC did some recent editing:
Wikipedia edits on the Pine Tree Flag page are fascinating.
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) May 24, 2024
On Wednesday, it was just a normal flag.
On Friday, it's a now a symbol of Christian nationalism and right-wing extremism.
And the Popular Culture section on the HBO miniseries has been completely removed. pic.twitter.com/vIadtsCiyZ
The MSM is also in on the act.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is facing new calls to recuse himself from cases tied to former Pres. Trump and the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 23, 2024
The New York Times reports a flag used by Jan. 6 protesters was seen flying at his NJ vacation home. @MacFarlaneNews explains. pic.twitter.com/W9F86ic8B8
The Associated Press might be the worst of the bunch (as usual):
The 'Appeal to Heaven' flag evolves from Revolutionary War symbol to banner of the far right https://t.co/eEabGgPSXy
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 24, 2024
"Banner of the far right"? Really?
According to liberals who only just found out about the “an appeal to heaven” flag because the media is trying to cancel Alito, the flag is worse than the ISIS flag. pic.twitter.com/8EcRRgYspd
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 25, 2024
Dems and the media didn't say a word when that was happening. As the saying goes, no matter how much you think you hate the media, it isn't enough.
The San Francisco Chronicle says the pine tree flag is "now linked with the Christian right":
A Revolutionary War flag now linked with the Christian right and Jan. 6 rioters appeared over a building downtown after a conservative Supreme Court justice flew the same flag at his home.https://t.co/ry70mNgKiL
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) May 24, 2024
It's "now linked," reports the media that's helping do the linking. Amazing how this hackery works.
By the way, this won't stop at the Appeal to Heaven flag. You know what else was also seen on January 6th at the Capitol? The American flag! That will be the next to be "linked to the Christian right and Jan. 6 rioters." It already has been in some whacko prog circles.
Does Nancy Pelosi know a "MAGA battle flag" was flown outside San Francisco City Hall?
FLAGS: Is it weird that San Francisco flies the “An Appeal to Heaven” flag over city hall? Should we get Congress involved? Have the insurrectionists taken over? pic.twitter.com/PvcqjOzVrq
— @amuse (@amuse) May 24, 2024
lest you think this was just 2019, the Appeal To Heaven flag was flying outside San Francisco City Hall in 2023 as well — the same time frame as at Alito’s beach house
— Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) May 25, 2024
Dastardly insurrectionists everywhere pic.twitter.com/x7oNSx2hct
Can somebody ask Pelosi why her city was flying a MAGA battle flag?
All this is proof that the only thing faster than the speed of light is the swiftness of how a narrative can go from the Dem drawing board to media circulation.