Here at Twitchy, we're old enough to remember when The Washington Post embarrassed themselves and got dragged all over Twitter when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the murderous leader of the Islamic State, killed himself with a suicide vest and the Post referred to him as an 'austere religious scholar.'
Even worse, that wasn't the original headline the Post used when al-Baghdadi ended his horrific time on Earth. They CHANGED the headline to that. When they got called out on it, they then changed the headline again.
You would think the media would have learned its lesson. You, of course, would be wrong.
After 'The Butcher of Tehran' Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter accident this week (prompting some hilarious memes, but also a disgraceful statement from the U.S. State Department, here is how the BBC decided to refer to the man who, for decades, murdered thousands and terrorized even more than that.
President Ebrahim Raisi's mixed legacy in Iran https://t.co/RyOfmI3ciB
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 20, 2024
Yes, a 'mixed legacy.' As in, his villainous remains were 'mixed' with motor oil and helicopter parts.
No, that's not what the BBC meant, of course. Here is their justification for that insane headline (emphasis theirs):
Ebrahim Raisi was loved by hardliners of the Islamic Republic of Iran for his loyalty and obedience to Iran’s supreme leader.
However, he was equally hated by many Iranians for his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in the 1980s, and his more than four-decade involvement in the security and judicial systems which suppress opponents and critics of the Islamic regime.
The BBC put that in bold text and led with it. Let that sink in.
Somehow, we feel that the second paragraph is more important and more indicative of his 'legacy.'
We're weird that way.
And, sure enough, the BBC soon got the same treatment for their headline as The Washington Post did. Who could have seen that coming?
Mostly peaceful austere scholar dies in helicopter crash. https://t.co/eswije0Ymm
— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) May 20, 2024
The only surprising thing here is that the BBC did not also claim that American Republicans were 'pouncing' on his death.
The media will write a hit piece about a Republican enacting conservative policies that were passed by a duly elected legislature, but they’ll both-sides an article on the president of a terrorist state. https://t.co/ayDMA7f5CM
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) May 20, 2024
The media shares more in common with Raisi than they do with any Republican, so that tracks.
Visual representation of Raisi being mixed: https://t.co/Rd0gLvXOU3 pic.twitter.com/TQd2bl0kbl
— Sunny (@sunnyright) May 21, 2024
Frankly, what the BBC printed is beyond words, so we're just going to let Twitter drag them for a while.
Do your headline writers actually read your own articles, or nah? pic.twitter.com/Fko5wpitif
— You say Lincoln, I say Laken (@OverpaidA) May 20, 2024
Raisi’s legacy is that he is currently mixed with dirt
— Magills (@magills_) May 20, 2024
So what's the part of the "mixed" you consider good?
— U.S. Ministry of Truth (@USMiniTru) May 20, 2024
Yeah, he mixed up the bodies of the 30,000 people he had executed in 1988.
— Damin Toell (@damintoell) May 21, 2024
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) May 20, 2024
This one was a little TOO easy for the Frog of Shame. But his presence was required anyway.
You don’t hate the press enough. https://t.co/6lvrUQYRYQ
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 20, 2024
Not nearly enough. But we're working on it.
“Mixed” as in he helped murder both Jews and Muslims. https://t.co/375GAg9hM0
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) May 21, 2024
He was an equal-opportunity butcher, that's for sure.
But was he “austere”?!?!
— Brad Slager - Scrubbing Down In a Bloodbath (@MartiniShark) May 21, 2024
Help us out @BBC, we need to know how much to revere “The Butcher of Iran”! https://t.co/hj23cso3pA
There's nothing more revealing of the media's corruption than the stories they choose to play the 'both sides' game with.
According to the article, he led the mass execution of political prisoners, oversaw an economic downturn, imposed harsh restrictions on speech, policed the dress code for women, and spent billions on terrorism abroad.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 20, 2024
But he did expedite some court cases.
“Mixed legacy” https://t.co/eMZN7ezOVI
Setting aside (just for a moment, don't worry) his record of bloody murder and state-sanctioned rape, the 'court backlog' praise the BBC gives him is even more laughable when you consider that he ALSO failed the Iranian people in terms of the nation's economy, which he promised to improve when he became president.
But mostly, yeah, it was the murders and the terrorism.
There is no mixed legacy, only a brutal, murderous, tyrannical one. https://t.co/YbS7SoXuBs
— J.R. Holmsted (@JHolmsted) May 20, 2024
Some people he murdered, some he didn't https://t.co/YUWC6dKKz6
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) May 21, 2024
Sure, he killed tens of thousands, but there are 88 million people in Iran, so that's 'mixed.'
The BBC, where they won’t refer to Hamas as terrorists but will refer to the legacy of a man responsible for the torture and death of thousands of innocent people as “mixed”. https://t.co/fUNxpyczIk
— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) May 20, 2024
The BBC has declared its loyalties. It seems only reasonable that we declare to them that they are a sick joke.
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) May 20, 2024
Yep. Just like that.
Counterpoint: Ebrahim Raisi sent so many political prisoners to be executed that they had to be loaded into forklift trucks in groups & hung from cranes. He relentlessly & violently targeted dissidents. That is his legacy. Thanks. https://t.co/TJiEZ8uHYu
— Billy Binion (@billybinion) May 20, 2024
There are actual photos of this. Many people posted them on Twitter, but they are quite gruesome and horrible, so we did not include them in this article.
Here's a different photo that we will share:
Mixed huh? pic.twitter.com/kk6QlUwqKH
— kyle (@Bonkhead_actual) May 21, 2024
Abominable. There's your 'mixed legacy' right there.
‘Hitlers mixed legacy in Germany’
— Dom Quilici (@DQuilici1) May 20, 2024
‘Stalins mixed legacy is Russia’
Absolutely ridiculous
BBC 1945 “ Adolf Hitler’s mixed legacy in Germany” pic.twitter.com/hdgmMFMtfr
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) May 21, 2024
It took The New York Times a VERY long time to acknowledge Hitler's atrocities during World War II. Today, we're not sure they or many other major news organizations in the West ever would.
‘On one hand, there was the brutal repression and mass murder. On the other hand, he hated Israel almost as much as we do.’ #MixedLegacy https://t.co/2PxZqQgDQh
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 20, 2024
BINGO. Guy Benson nailed it. There's no question anymore how much antisemitism is rampant in Western media. And there's very little question that this antisemitism colors everything they write about what happens in the Middle East.
Even when The Butcher of Tehran meets his end, they just can't help themselves.
We may not hate them enough, but we can hate them plenty. Almost all of the time, they deserve it.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member