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American Thinker
| You gotta spin it to win it Media |
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| Stop the presses! |
| We want pictures of Spider-Man! |
| Extra! Extra! |
“”Social democracy is Marxist political entrepreneurship. Gay marriage, eco-terrorism, white guilt, Black Panthers, gays in the military, academic leftism, global warming, carbon offsets, marijuana, veganism, transsexuals, organics, anti-globalization protests, porn, anti-genetic modification, multiculturalism, abortion, animal rights, embryonic stem cell research, new age cults, tribal casinos, affirmative action, political correctness, the Akaka Bill, reparations, apologies... These products of the 40-year rise of social democratic political entrepreneurship are the foundations of the ‘consciousness nations' which now make up the Democrats' voter base.
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| —The site in a nutshell[1] |
American Thinker (affectionately nicknamed "American Stinker" by its fans) is an online wingnut publication that's more or less the poor man's WND or Newsmax. They've published articles by such conservative luminaries as Noel Sheppard (NewsBusters) and Pamela Geller and such climate "experts" as S. Fred Singer and Christopher Monckton, as well as an interview with (and hagiography of) white nationalist Jared Taylor.[2][3][4]
The webshite, of course, is chock-full of right-wing conspiracy theories, woo, and pseudoscience. On the conspiracy side, they promote birtherism, "creeping sharia," red-baiting, and still occasionally prattle on about Vince Foster. On the science side, they concentrate on creationism and global warming denialism. The site's wingnut credentials are commemorated with an "extreme" bias rating from Media Bias/Fact Check.[5]
To no one's surprise, the site is an exuberant cheerleader of Donald Trump, and regularly regurgitates right wing blather in the snotty, pretentious style of a typical conservative talk radio host.[6]
Interesting articles
| Time for Congress to Declare War on Obama | Obama is destroying 'Murica; Congress should declare war! |
| Is This the End Game for Liberal Racism? | Liberals are the true racist, sexist, homophobic bigots. |
| Giving thanks to a brave congresswoman whose life is now in danger | Poor Michelle Bachmann has been the sole voice of reason when it comes to the Muslim Brotherhood's "infiltration" of the US government. |
| A Suicidal Collapse of Western Civilization? | Islamo-Fascist immigrants and attempts to stop global warming will destroy civilization!!1! Only Russia can save us! |
| Learning from Russia's Return to Its Historical Roots | Fascist LGBT activists are destroying the West!!1!one1! Only learning from Putin and Islamic Jihadists can save us! |
| If the Birther Issue Comes Up in Debate | Could you imagine how AWESOME it would be if Mitt Romney disproved Barack Obama's citizenship during a presidential debate? NO?! That's OK -- I have the whole thing scripted here![note 1] |
| Who Wrote Dreams Of My Father | Bill Ayers probably wrote Dreams Of My Father because Obama's too dumb to write so well, plus they have, like, a lot in common[7][8] |
| We Are All George Zimmerman Now | George Zimmerman attempts to, err, defend, why he's suing the family of the kid he murdered |
| RationalWiki: American Thinker is Wingnut Publication | The Thinker (or, sorry, Paul Austin Murphy, who was apparently on break from rambling about Muslims, Marxists, and Wikipedia articles[9]) is upset that RationalWiki labelled it "wingnut" and attacks RationalWiki's article for not having "a single argument of any kind", while in no way disproving the wingnuttiness of the Thinker. The Thinker claims that RationalWiki would not be willing to cite "good" conservatives and that RationalWiki doesn't ever attack leftists or left-wing conspiracy theories. When whining about being labeled conspiracy and pseudoscience prone they leave out their strong history of global warming denialism (though Murphy himself is something of a raving denialist) and apparently ignore the external links below, nor do they even deny being birthers. They also attack "rational" in the name. To the taps! And, in a few days, we got a response to our response.[10] |
| An Introduction to Q | A fawning overview of the Qanon conspiracy theory, where Deborah Franklin, the author of this shitpost,[note 2] states rather incredibly: "I’ve followed Q since the first drop, and I’ve grown increasingly impressed by the accuracy, breadth and depth of Q’s messages." |
External links
- The site itself
- "Ready-made Propaganda for the Ditto-head Conservative", Babble On Babylon
- The Birthers' New Momentum, The Week
- "Idiocy from the American Thinker", Evolutionblog
- Have American Thinker disproven global warming?, Skeptical Science
- The most wonderfully insane Obama conspiracy theory of, say, the month, Gawker
See also
Notes
- ↑ This one's worth a read because it's so over-the-top that it goes into self-parody levels. For instance, during the scripted exchange, Mitt is also doing battle with the librul media, represented here by Candy Crowley.
- ↑ The author is obviously embarrassed at using their real name, as the article includes the note:
Deborah Franklin is the pen name of a writer who fears professional retribution.
References
- ↑ Marijuana is a consciousness nation apparently. Also Obama's a commie
- ↑ They overtly sympathize with him in this piece
- ↑ Heidi Beirich, American Thinker needs to start thinking. Southern Poverty Law Center, 24 April 2014.
- ↑ Miranda Blue, The Five Most Racist, Anti-Semitic Claims From The American Thinker’s Puff Piece On White Nationalist Jared Taylor. Right Wing Watch, 24 April 2014.
- ↑ American Thinker at Media Bias/Fact Check. 18 July 2016, last updated on 24 October 2019.
Overall, we rate the American Thinker, Questionable based on extreme right wing bias, promotion of conspiracy theories/pseudoscience, use of poor sources and failed fact checks.
- ↑ For example, consider Another Victory: Trump cures the That-Time-Of-Year syndrome afflicting leftist women, The Trump Grabbed Schrodinger's Pussy Theory, and Confronting Trump Derangement Syndrome from the site's offerings in January 2020.
- ↑ Known leftist publication The Daily Telegraph responds
- ↑ How Ultra-Conservative Vermin at “American Thinker” Propaganda Blog Started the Rumor that Bill Ayers Ghostwrote Obama’s Autobiography. constantinereport.com, 8 January 2015.
- ↑ Why all the references to Uncyclopedia?
- ↑ RationalWiki: American Thinker is a Wingnut Publication. Archived from the original at paulaustinmurphyseverythinganything.blogspot.de, 20 November 2014.