Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a firm deadline for Iran to halt its nuclear program, using a simple drawing to warn the UN that Iran will soon reach the point of no return in its development of nuclear weapons. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
An Iranian news agency issued a bizarre apology on Monday for citing a spoof story about President Barack Obama from satirical newspaper, The Onion, as fact.
Fars, the state-backed news source linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), admitted mistakenly republishing an article that claimed rural Americans preferred Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Obama.
The spoof article mentioned a supposed opinion poll finding that 77 percent of rural Caucasian voters "would rather go to a baseball game or have a beer with Ahmadinejad, a man who has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and has had numerous political prisoners executed, than spend time with Obama."
Fars reproduced the article on its website on Friday alongside its usual stories about advances in Iranian military technology and condemnation of Israel. The Iranian version omitted The Onion's description of Ahmadinejad as "a man who has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and has had numerous political prisoners executed." Fars appeared to have taken the story down by about 1 p.m. ET on Friday.
In a statement on its website on Monday, Fars acknowledged the error – but also listed a string of blunders by Western media outlets including the New York Times and the BBC.
"All media, at least those you know like the BBC, CNN, etc., have had many goofs," the statement said.
It also said that it still believed the Onion story was true.
"Although it does not justify our mistake, we do believe that if a free opinion poll is conducted in the US, a majority of Americans would prefer anyone outside the US political system to President Barack Obama and American statesmen," it quoted its own un-named editor-in-chief as saying.
Iran news agency cites Onion story as fact
The statement added: "[Fars] makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of its reports, however very occasionally mistakes do happen."
The statement cited an April 2011 error by the New York Times in which it accidentally republished a spoof image from The Onion in an article about teen magazine, Tiger Beat.
It also cited other "embarrassing blunders over the years" by the BBC, reproducing a list -- originally published by the Daily Telegraph – including an incident in which a weather forecaster was caught on-air flipping the bird to a producer.
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No way that number is 77%. More like 60%. ;)
I'm a rural Caucasian male and I wouldn't mind catching a ball game with either Obama or Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad might be better to watch the game with because Obama is pro designated hitter. However, Ahmadinejad may not be as good to drink a beer with because I don't believe his religion allows it.
For the record I'm joking. DH is dumb though.
I would rather spend my time with someone I like.
How awesome is it for The Onion to have Punked an entire country?
Death to the Designated Hitter!
I think that Onion poll might be closer to the truth than a lot of people would like to believe.
OK, a major difference between FARS and FOX News is that FARS apologizes when it makes a mistake (don't they know they should always blame the Democrats?).
Captain Hammers, Are you seriously wishing death on the President of the USA?! You do realize that death threats against the US President are taken very seriously and all threats are investigated? In any case your post has been forwarded to the United States Secret Service. NBCNews.com has a record of your IP address & they will gladly give that to the Secret Service. Maybe you should prepare yourself for a call or possibly visitors in black suv's soon.
That's pretty sad if you true. That says most Americans, partriotic lot that we are, would rather have someone who denies the Holocaust, has complete disdain for women, and executes prisoners at will (mainly because they don't agree with him, not because of Iran's great due-process).
Seriously, Obama's got more guts (as does Romney, by the way) than a vast majority of Americans simply because he has put himself out there to lead a bunch of morons who, by the posts on this board, would rather elect a dictator that takes away ALL of their rights and freedoms than bear another 4 years of a president that is pushing policies that don't sit well with a lot of folks.
I wish Obama or Romney well for the next four years, because I'd damn sure rather have either one of them than Ahminidinijad. And I give them both credit for going after a job where on the very first day you start, half the world will hate you, no matter what side you stand on.
Be careful what you wish for. Because you WILL get it.
While Iran realized its error, many democrats are still citing the article as fact in order to discredit flyover country residents aka republican red states.
DaveLSD are you being sarcastic or are you really that stupid? Where did he threaten obama?
Judging from the posts, as well as my own thoughts, the lesser of the two evils would be Ahmedinejad.
Obama gets more Americans killed, and hates Israel too. Obama has been supporting terrorism abroad as he ousts non Sunni Muslims around the middle east from power enabling more radical Sunni Muslims to invoke the full wrath of radical Islam on its citizens.
Somebody needs to tell Obama to stop supporting Al Qaeda and the Taliban. They are in bed with the Muslim Brotherhood. Assad was tolerant of all sects of Islam, as well as the Kurds, Jews, and Christians there. Under the Muslim Brotherhood, all will be in great peril as sharia law becomes instituted.
As much as I despise Ahmadinejad, I'm not so sure he is any worse than Obama.
Iranian theocratic dictators never had their facts staright before, why start now. They make up their own facts as they go.
sort of like MSNBC, CBS, ABC and the NYT.
Don't for get FOX, CNN, BBC and all the other written media outlets. FYI, it is no longer MSNBC, it is now NBC News and has been for a while.
Well "The Onion" is "America's Finest News Source!" I would say it is definitely a good place for Amanajihada (or whatever) to get his information.
It should take long for Fox News to pick up the Onion/Fars poll and present it as political data. After all, they are no stranger to farce.
You forgot Fox.
What's sad is that The Onion satire has become almost indistinguishable from some of the actual nuttery out there.
I got an email from an old rwnj Navy buddy of mine, and it had some quotes in it that didn't sound right. On further inspection, I discovered that the quotes and claims came from this article:
Obama: 'Help Us Destroy Jesus And Start A New Age Of Liberal Darkness'
What's sad (and scary) that even after I showed him the source and that it was all satire... he still held fast to his beliefs that the potus was out to destroy Xtianity blah blah.
You'd think that after exposing someone's sources as pure satire, and pointing to the fact that someone obviously cannot trust the nonsense that comes through chain-emails.... that instead of questioning and rethinking that just maybe he's being routinely misinformed - he instead doubles-down on it.
Can you say "projection"? Seems like FARS and the Iranian Government would get along fine with the GOP.
The Onion stories are satire? Oh, please, say it isn't so.
hmm Caligula the GOP are Israel supporters and are typically not bigots towards jews so i think Iran and the GOP would clash like Nitroglycerin and an the Baja 500. The majority of the US population that does not like Israel is the liberals. Just go see the comments on such liberal news outlets like the Huffpost and others. You will be shocked and disgusted
As for Iran getting its news from the Onion hahaha! I love the Onion some of the stories are so funny. Like the one about the 911 conspiracy made LOL for a long time.
@shuklack - unfortunately, it's been shown that most people will believe something even more firmly after being shown its untrue; studies have shown that rather than search for valid information, most people will search for something that confirms what they already believe. Most people also think that lies come only from the "other" side and that only their side tells the truth, which is why you see so many here making excuses or rationalizations when something "their" side said is exposed as a big fat fib. Sadly, admitting you're wrong, particularly about a topic you believe is vitally important, is difficult or impossible for many. Explains why your buddy doubled down instead of accepting he was duped.
Makes it kind of hard to educate people with the truth and combat the political fairy tales on either side. Gotta love motivated reasoning and cognitive dissonance!
Shuklack, you really can't sure Willful Ignorance when the person is unwilling to change even when faced with FACTS. 99.9999% of Faux "News" viewers are like that (I have allowed for the 0.00001% that watch just to get a laugh). FACTS are the kryptonite of the GOP, and that is why less than a month back the RNC and Romney Campaign stated that “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.,” (Mittens' Pollster, Neil Newhouse, actually said this!)
proudamericanveteran, if you really feel that way, I only have one question. Why the hell are you here? If you think they lie, then WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE MORON?
I know Certainly Not News (CNN) is like that, but if I don't GO to CNN's site, so WHY DO YOU COME HERE????
You know Johngis...it doesn't get any further right-wing than neo-nazis...and they just love Jews. You just have to go far enough right...which anymore is becoming main-stream Republican.
The Iranians are like the GOP. Say something outrageous, hope it sticks, but if you get called out, retract it days later.
I'd be tempted to say April Fool's to Fars, but there are so many Americans who believe John Stewart and Bill Maher are news journalists. So which is worse?
@1POV: Check out the site Literally Unbelievable. You'll want to laugh and cry at the same time.
http://literallyunbelievable.org/
If you scroll down to September 30, this story makes it on there. Awesomeness!
"Iranian theocratic dictators never had their facts staright before, why start now. They make up their own facts as they go."
That's true for any theocratic leader of any theocracy.
@shuk....I agree with you. I am amazed at the number of emails with twisted "facts" I get from people who don't like obama. You would think they would do some fact checking before sending that crap on.
There is a difference between obama and Ahmadinehab? Hard to tell, they look and act like brothers.
Racist.
Yeah, there's a difference. One of them ordered the kill on Osama Bin Laden. Something George "I don't know where Bin Laden is" Bush could only dream of.
I always wonder why so many nationalities want Americans dead...then I read what ProudAmericanVet has to say and understand why they would want to kill us. What a shameful representative of an otherwise honorable group of people you are PAV.
Ahmadinejad 2012!
Running mate: Todd Atkin
Campaign slogan: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
Election goals: Will finally have nuclear weapons, and people won't care; shutting down that annoying "free speech" thing westerners are always shoving in people's faces; executing Congress for disobedience
It's telling that you know how to spell Ahmadinejad, but not Akin.
Afternoon Bill
He could have cut and pasted Ahmidinejad's name but "knew" how to spell the other fellow's name!
PS: they are out early today.
Hi jack. (Oops ..... Note to TSA: I didn't mean it.)
Just don't greet me that way if we are in line to board a plane! LoL Think they, TSA would believe you?
Well I'm from the U.S. and I'm pretty sure I'd rather shoot the moron than have a beer with him!
@Dgamin
Why don't you do the world the favor and point it at yourself first? Show some respect for the office!
The office of the president of Iran?
I suppose that's the reason there is the epithet "ugly American" said about some of my fellow countrymen when traveling abroad. How embarrassing for us that we have a goodly number of people like this.
He is obviously talking about the genocidal nutjob of Iran.
Trolls on the vine can go either way. But sorry, I was talking about respect for the President of the united states. no matter if you agree with the current person or not. Once elected, who ever is our leader. That's democracy. And people need to respect those who fought for it.
Actually, we're not a democracy, we're a Republic :-)
And it's United States, JPinMN.
Actually we're not just a Republic...we're a democratic Republic.
Brokinarrow, How dare you use My EGA as an avatar. The EGA and the Corps are above petty political snobbery. There are those of us who earned our EGA and do not agree with your small view of our America. Please change your Avatar to something else. Too many of my brothers along with me gave our blood for our right to wear the EGA.
Henry Exhaust - Go pound sand devil dog, I earned this EGA just like all my other brothers and sisters in the Corps. You got a problem with someone having a different opinion than you on politics? Too bad, that's what we FIGHT for, the FREEDOM of people to think whatever the heck we want!!
So how dare YOU try to repress my right to free speech just because you think you're somehow better than me!
Henry, there is a saying that you need to take to heart here:
I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Geeze...they should have stepped up and admitted the error without bringing up mistakes by other news organizations in the past. If you're going to man-up...then do it right. Oh, wait. We're talking about the Iranians here.........
I thought that was rather childish too.
The story is about Obama and ahmadinejad, I am just wondering what is Natanyahu picture doing in there? lack of file photo nbc?
The sad truth about America today is that the satirical "Onion" article is probably close to fact. Racism is rampant and "Bubba" just can't deal with the fact that President Obama has the audacity to govern while Black. Does kinda make one question the veracity of the theory of evolution. Ol' Bubba sure hasn't evolved very much---still a knuckle dragging, mouth breathing Neanderthal---my apoligies to Neanderthals. OBAMA/BIDEN 2012!
Ignore the fact O won last election.......... yet still the liberals cry racism... LOL.
Enjoy the run, Obama's term will end in Jan. He will be voted out in November.
Oh, and for the record, America is ready for a black (or partially so) president, voted one in and will again..... but mark my words, the next one male or female won't be a bankrupting, socialist, Constitution hating, class warfare, race baiting, divisive president. (Allen West comes to mind - vote for him in a second).
Romney and Ryan.... for our kids sake / for America's future (so we have one in which the official language isn't Chinese).
It's funny, if someone said Obama "hasn't evolved much--still a knuckle dragging, mouth breathing Neanderthal" can you just see the blasts of racism, prejudice, collapsed comments, blaming the right, etc. And yet this person does the same thing, just towards a white person, and no outrage?
Why does it always have to be about race? If someone doesn't like Obama it's because he's black, yet others vote for him JUST because he's black. Can't it be about what he has or has not done for our country and its people of all colors. I am so tired of this tripe. All I hear is "If you don't like him and this Administration, you are a racist." Why? Couldn't it be that maybe I can't stand where he's taking us as a nation regardless of his skin? Couldn't it be that I have not seen him act as our Commander in Chief and stand up for our country when our Embassies were attacked? Couldn't it be that I didn't see any indignation on his face when the terrorist acts took place against our country and one of his personal representatives, Ambassador Stevens, was killed in the ensuing battle? Couldn't it be that I feel that I work hard and would like to keep a good chink of the income I make to support my own family instead of having to pay for others who have kids they can't afford to raise? Why is it that this election, just like the 2008, comes down to a color?
Believe it or not, I am on the fence about who I will vote for this year because I can list just as many things against the current Republican candidate as I have here, but one thing I can tell you, I will not vote for or against anyone based simply on the color of their skin, gender, or ethnicity for that matter.
BHatfield/KY
The only "Bubba" I ahve heard of recently was former Prez Clinton AKA "Bubba", even your party refers to him as that - why the name calling? or was it a backhanded comment about the former resident?
Bjackass/ky stop being so hard on your mother.
@ Just_D_Facts - lol, wow, do you write for the Onion? Sorry, your post was so hypocritical I assumed it HAD to be satire! If you really think Romney and Ryan are less divisive than Obama, you need to pull your head out of the sand.
Brokinarrow---It's not the sand Just-D-Facts head is stuck in! God, I love to stir the old teapot.
You are right, racism is still rampant. 96% of blacks voted for Obama in 2008, 43% of whites (the same number that voted for Clinton, a white Democrat, in 1996 and only eclipsed by Jimmy Carter's, also a white Democrat, 1976 catch of 47% of white voters, in recent history). So what do those numbers tell you about racism in America?
As soon as the neo-conservatives and Teabaggers quit making racist comments, we'll quit accusing you of racism.
Sorry I just don't see it in the cards. Hell, even Ryan is starting to act apologetic about Romney.
Of course you'd vote for Allen West. He is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries. Besides that, I'm sure he would do exactly what neo-conservatives what him to do (you know, like the Texas Village Idiot).
Just
You would vote for Allen West? The guy who said 80% of everyone in Congress was a communist??? That guy is a certifiable nut case!
What's sad is that you pick him just to prove you're not racist.
B Hatfield/KY
Your comment is nearly the most idiotic posted. Obama won the last election. If anything, the "white" vote is divided and the "black" vote is 96% Obama. That would make the "Blacks" more racist by your definition. The far left liberal knee-jerk response to voting for a "white guy" is the claim of "racism" or "sexism".
I have nothing against Obama-Biden-Clinton. In many ways they are doing a decent job. But voting for Romney isn't racist.
Sounds like its time for you to evolve.
I agree that voting for Romney isn't racist. Demanding to see President Obama's birth certificate and college records is racist. No other president in American history has been hounded to do either and no other President in American history has been depicted by prominent members of the "loyal opposition" as a monkey or witchdoctor. No other President has had his religion questioned or been accused of being anti-American...so you tell me, what makes Obama different? The only other President to be accused of being a socialist or communist was FDR, and he was accused by Republicans...go figure.
When an article written by the Onion is taken for truth.....well that's just a good job Onion. Readers though...fail.
Not much different than simple minded (usually younger) libs getting their political "news" from the Daily Show.
I'd guess most Daily Show viewers couldn't pass a quiz on polictics / civics if their life depended on it.
Or even pass a spelling test on it-- apparently. ;)
At least the Daily Show makes no bones about being entertainment. But it's still got more factual information than you'll ever see on Fox News, where the network pretends it's entertainment when accused of bias or blatant inaccuracies but still makes a great effort to pretend they're both "fair and balanced" and "news", both of which are clearly blatant lies.
That's funny JustD...as it turns out the Daily show, though satire is considered one of the better sources of news today...certainly better than FOX News.
survey by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds:
"People who watch MSNBC and CNN exclusively can answer more questions about domestic events than people who watch no news at all. People who only watch Fox did much worse. NPR listeners answered more questions correctly than people in any other category."
FOX viewers aren't just low information voters...they are low information humans.
Ahadinejad is more like a scared little boy always looking over his shoulder. There are dozens of hit men waiting to poisen him or use the bullet in the brain. He rants, pouts, and raves on TV and it is laughable to that he thinks one or two nukes will make Iran a superpower.
He leads his nation to certain death. There are at least 5 Nulcear Boomer subs parked off Irans porch at any given time. Ahamd and his followers are too stupid to see that death is so very close.
You'd be somewhat "scared" too if people outside your house had wmds, guns, missiles, etc., to make sure you don't get the "same". "Death" is only close if fascists start another Crime Against Peace and mass kill others to insanely prove their overwhelming hypocrisy.
Yeah, I hate Hezbollah too.
Then you hate the innocent deaths in Iraq, Vietnam and elsewhere, and all the innocent Palestinians murdered. And you hate hypocrisy.
I didn't realize Hezbollah was in Vietnam. I always thought it was the Viet Cong and the NVA.
It's a pity you don't seem to extend your sympathies to those killed by those organizations.
You don't evidently realize a lot of things. In "your" world, "'we' and "allies" can do no wrong". All killing is wrong.
In that case, would you please tell the Iranian government that?
I am and also the government that caused the deaths of a hundred or hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in a Crime Against Peace, and the government that caused the deaths of over a million innocent Vietnamese (2 million died), and the government that supported a "brutal" dictator using wmds, poisonous gas, against Iran, where a million people died, and the government that killed or maimed 5,000 Palestinians, including innocent men, women and children, in a massacre, and massacres and killings in Lebanon, losing 14 military vs. 5,000 Palesinians, several because of "friendly" fire, causes a society to be locked in apartheid, demeans them along with Romney, and wants to start another Crime Against Peace manufactured in hypocrisy and the chances of more mass killing resulting from such atrocity.
Also, look up the word PERSPECTIVE
So you're pissed at Iran, North Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, the former Soviet Union, Russia, Huessein-era Iraq, Hezbollah, and Hamas? It takes two to tango, stopbs.
I've got plenty of perspective. Am I denying we've made mistakes? Absolutely not.
I just wish that people like you would get out of this Manichean mindset where the United States (and, while we're at it, Israel) is this cartoonish supervillain that is the one and only source of all the evil in the world and everybody else on the planet are these perfectly tolerant, enlightened, lily-white saints who have absolutely, positively done no wrong.
stopbs, very bizzare post as it is a puzzle. Are you Lucifer, can I guess your name? Is their sympathy for the Devil? Do you have courtesy and wealth? I would like to read the word perspective once I get high.
No one's saying anyone's perfect, just that your analysis is skewed in favor of mass killings as "mistakes" while holding all others "accountable". "Am I denying we made mistakes? Absolutely not" You don't kill millions by mistake. Now get a perspective of the whole world or get high with IXLR8, so you can get "perspective" as your "mind" sees it.
The "devil" is one that preaches respect for life as life until they want to kill. Also, the devil is one who is hypocritical and doesn't want truth, but propaganda. You aren't changing, that is your perogative, but I'm not buying it, never will, unless I become a "lemming."
So you're saying it was deliberate? Is mass murder stated American policy? Can we get some cites for this?
BTW, Infowars, Alternet, and their ilk don't count.
Iraq wasn't a mistake, it was deliberate; Vietnam was a deliberate lie in its continuance (Gulf of Tonkin); supporting S. Hussein was not a mistake, it was deliberate. Read historical facts, not Fox "news" or fascist "commentators" ala Beck or Lim. If you fire into a sovereign government or country deliberately, don't claim it was a "mistake".
Where are the memos that say that it is policy for us to kill as many civilians as possible?
You made the claim. Ergo, it's your responsibility to back it up.
It doesn't have to say "kill as many civilians as possible". It's the actual killing of civilians that is deliberate by the actions taken. Crimes Against Peace start, and then there are the consequences, either expected in total or not. The right-wing was saying the Iraqi people will treat us as "liberators", not, and that it will be over in a couple of weeks, not, and they're still on the networks today spreading their hate, bigotry and stupidity.
And where do you think such a "memo" would be. Did you find any "memos" from 9/11 stating that was the intention. It doesn't matter if there is a "memo" or not.
StopBs
I see a bit of a thread in your comments. It leads all the way back to some Mulla in a bathrobe poking a little boy.

farideh,
LOL, I have to admit that is a little puzzling...
I'm not surprised there are a bunch of GOP/TP bottom feeders eating away at this one. As a former Republican, I can only say that looking at the conduct of the GOP during the Clinton administration, ie., redirecting the Starr Commissions efforts from Whitewater to Monika Lewinski (because they couldn't substantiate the charges brought against Clinton in an HONEST investigation) Now, seeing the reaction to a Black Democtrat, should set the real tenor of the GOP/TP. Pathetic.
As for the article, I am laughing my fool butt off that the Iranian political machine would quote the "Onion"! This is the best thing I've read in months! Talk about a bunch of self-serving idiots stepping in their own refuse. AND, they still insist the article is TRUE! Apology not withstanding.
They do have one thing right, The New York Times is definately guilty of serious Gaffs, they spent years getting propoganda off the Islamic press and reporting it as facts. Quoting venues like Al Jeseera, Al Iraqi and others. Using these as sources is one thing, not supporting it with others is complete irresponsibility. I was monitoring stories for the division in Baghdad in 2009, as soon as a story was aired on an Islamic source, NYT took it and ran it, with no validation or disclaimer.
I have seen other western media gaffs, none quite as blatant as FOX News, who has been caught on numerous occasions broadcasting rumor as fact. They have also spun facts into opinion and reporting them as "News".
CNN and MSNBC have done this also, but to a much lesser extent. None of our "News" networks are exempt from this. Case in point, Dan Rather reporting the letters form GWB's former commander as the "real" thing, when it was his secretary who "recreated" them.
My long-time favorite article from The Onion, which as far as I'm concerned turned out to be prescient:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/bush-our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-pros,464/
Absolutely perfect, and a more than a little sad. Hard to imagine it was written just after the election.
That was greatness! Thanks for posting it, I missed it the first time.
Wow, that IS scary accurate!
Stephen,
Thanks for posting that link. Goes to show you how satire is often more truthful than the news (hear that Daily Show haters?)
On the other hand, that spoof depressed the crap out of me, and frankly it was creepy in its accuracy.
I know, right? I bookmarked that over 11 years ago when it was just a joke, and still go back to reread it once in a while to confirm it really was as precognitive as I recall. Every time it hits me once again how dead-on accurate it was about almost everything. And makes me sad that it was supposed to be a joke but every dire prediction in there proved right on the money.
The scary part is that the GOP/TP want to give it all back to the Neo-conservatives. Look at who is advising Romney! Funny, up until about 6 months ago they wouldn't even admit Bush was a conservative. Does anyone remember his keynote address during this year's Republican Convention? ... oh, that's right, he wasn't invited. Now they want his advisers back playing puppet master. With this and trickle-down economics I have to ask the question, are they genetically incapable of learn from their own mistakes?
When will people finally wake up and realize it's not the citizens of these countries that hate us, it's the leadership!!!!!!!
Yes, there are some radicals that will always want to hate someone, however most of the citizens of Iran DO NOT hate americans,,,,,the ones you see carrying the signs are the people that the government has organized to make it look like we are hated by all Iranians,,,,this is simply not true,,,It's the leaders of these countries that are our enemies.
That's all,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
At least The Onion takes the time to actually think about it's stories. American media has devolved to running every poll it can find as the lead story every day. One would think the middle east was not actually burning, our ambassador was not actually murdered, iran did not actually have an atomic bomb, our president did not actually ignore world leaders, our pres. really attended daily briefings.
YOU , ROBERT ARE the MEDIA...!
Surprised ?
IF it is NEWS, OPINION, on the web, broadcast of printed...IT is THE MEDIA..
you respond here in print so YOU are part of the problem ....
one could assume that because you are here that you are educated...
and that is the problem with the media... STUPIDITY, IGNORANCE or outright LYING is THE problem
and you are a fine example of the at failure !
..or maybe you are having EXPECTATIONS of a perfect world with perfect human writers who never make mistakes or have preferences ??
You LCM's are so funny!
Actually, the Onion got it wrong. It was pres. obama, when he was running against hillary who said he'd be glad to have a beer with amidinijhad, but now can't seem to find time to even talk to our allies, unless you count joy and whoopi.
There is a suggestion here in this article that Ahmadinejad has had political prisoners killed. Ahmadinejad does not have power over Iran's judiciary or intelligence services. Whoever wrote the article did not bother to research the matter. How embarrassing for NBC.
On the other hand Obama has had people tortured and killed. Face it, it is not Iran that has "extraordinary rendition" and secret prisons in Eastern Europe. No, that honor is ours entirely. Hypocrisy is an awful disease! Furthermore I have read many reports that assert that the drone program has killed many more civilians than previously thought, especially in Yemen and Pakistan, two countries with which we are not even at war!
Perhaps Ahmadinejad ought to be more popular than Obama! Hah!
Another error....
The country, Iran, has not apologized, merely an Iranian news service.
Perhaps the day will come when there will not need to be a 34 year effort to vilify a country that has done us no harm.
"a country that has done us no harm."
?????????????
I was there when they attacked the US embassy and took hostages. Where were you?
the Iranian news service is part of the Iranian government. It is 100% controlled by the government it is a state news agency.
That is total and complete bull@!$%#.
Yes, when theocratic, terrorist-supporting, racist, sexist, homophobic, and Holocaust-denying government of Iran finally collapses.
Racist, etc., unlike you who has hatred of all to spare except your fascist ideas. No one died in the Embassy situation, unlike the overthrow of the democratic government in Iran in 1953, where a dictator and torture resulted so the "government" could get their oil. As a result of that, the embassy overthrow. Then in the 80's the "government" supported the brutal dictator S. Hussein, their friend at the time, as this person used wmds, poisonous gas, in which 1,000,000 people died.
Your reasoning for your "ideas" is absolutely underwhelming.
So you're for a theocratic, terrorist-supporting, racist, sexist, homophobic, and Holocaust-denying government because to be against such is, for some bizarre reason, fascist? Did I miss that memo? 'Cuz I think Neda Agha-Soltan didn't get that memo either.
I'd say you're the posterboy for doublethink.
Now that's what I call "damning with faint praise".
It was botched, but the alternative was allowing Iran to eventually become a Soviet satellite.
Here's a breakdown of international military aid given to Iraq from 1973 to 1990. Our support was about par with Libya's, accounting for about 1% of the total. Who were the major providers of support for Saddam? Why, the Soviet Union (57%), France (13%), and China (12%)!
And you know what? I honestly can't take people like you seriously. You guys only really concerned about human rights abuses when you can somehow trace them to the United States. Everybody else gets a free ride.
You're "analysis" is pure bs. You're fascist because you hate others and would kill them because they don't fit your image of yourself or those you "know". Not killing others is great praise. What was botched was the "Desert One" not the overthrow of the Iranian democratic government.
Who the he-- are you to determine that another democratic sovereign country can or should be overthrown and what course in history that country would have had without terrorism. And your idea of history, let's have the facts on that. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, "U.S. support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War." "against post-revolutionary Iran, included several billion dollars worth of economic aid, the sale of dual-use technology, non-U.S. origin weaponry, military intelligence, Special Operations training, and direct involvment in warfare against Iran." and a quote from Ted Koppel, who was not Muslim, I believe he was Jewish, reported on ABC's NITGHTLINE on June 9, 1992 , "It is becoming increasingly clear that George Bush, operating largely behind the scenes throughout the 1980s initiated and supported much of the financing, intelligence, and military help that built Saddam's Iraq into the power it became", and "Reagan/Bush administrations permitted - and frequently encouraged - the flow of money, agricultural credits, dual-use technology, chemicals and weapons to Iraq."
Nobody's getting a free ride and with your jingoism and facism, you aren't either. And my "idea" of the U.S. is one based on dignity for all humans, truth and non-hypocrisy in foreign policy, and a better course, not fascism and imperialism and killing where might makes right in so many blinded and mislead people's eyes.
I'm fascist because I hate theocrats, terrorists, racists, sexists, homophobes, and Holocaust deniers wherever they may be? Nice to know that. The wonders of the Leftist mind never cease.
For crying out loud, if Iran had a stated policy of killing a kitten every time they caught somebody masturbating, and I said that I'd like to see that stop, by your standard, I'd be fascist.
What does Koppel's religion have to do with anything?
That's the thing. By focusing exclusively on the sins of the United States, you are giving everyone else a free ride. Did I, in any way, deny that we provided aid to Saddam? All I did was put the amount of aid we gave them in perspective. I gave you the breakdown of military aid to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, and instead of going after the Soviet Union, France, or the PRC (in total, 82% of the military aid given to Iraq from 1973 to 1990), you focused entirely on the US.
You don't think your analysis may come off as a little, uh, myopic?
Let's make one thing clear: you are tacitly supporting a regime that denies women education, denies the Holocaust (while planning a second Holocaust, this time nuclear), supports terrorism around the world through Hezbollah, the IRGC, and the Quds Force, and executes homosexuals merely for being homosexual. Excuse me if I tend to look askance at that sort of thing. (incidentally, you do know that there was Soviet interest in Iran in 1953, right? What would you have said if the Soviets turned Iran into a satellite? Incidentally, you may be interested in this analysis of Operation Ajax written by someone who, like me, does not support an attack on Iran at this time).
Well, as they're both Muslims, it's quite believable.
ahhh Rachel another bigot heard from. Even your own party leadership has given up on the lame lie that Obama is now or has ever been Muslim. Really...time to grow up and stop the hating.
Jagoff,
Fact: Obama went to a muslim school as a child in indonesia. Fact: This is a school that did not allow anyone of any other faith to attend and still doesn't to this day. So yes, he was a muslim then and he still is a muslim. Want proof? Islam says that any muslim who converts to a different religion should be killed. Obama now claims he is a christian. That means he had to convert from being muslim yet many radical islamist claim he never did convert out of islam and therefore a fatwah can not be exercised for him on those basis. Otherwise he would have never been able to go to Libya way back then on his Indonesian passport.
I guess the Iranian media must be hiring the Fox rejects.
Quote: "Fars, the state-backed news source linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), admitted mistakenly republishing an article that claimed rural Americans preferred Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Obama."
I was once taken in by an Onion article for a while. Their satire is usually very plausible stuff that could happen. It just didn't happen before the Onion article appeared.
But this particular claim might be true, even if it did appear in Onion. For example, I'm a rural American (the hills of West Virginia), and I do prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama. Neither of them is a US citizen, and, given a choice about which ineligible fellow would occupy the office of US president, I'd pick Ahmadinejad every time.
And this is why you got taken in by the Onion. You're gullible and incapable of opening your mind to see truth backed by evidence in the face of your own belief system. You want something to be wrong with Obama so because he's "different" and someone planted a seed that he's not a natural-born citizen (which is clearly false--even the birthers don't claim he's not a citizen, btw, so you're not even a good birther), and the GOP and Fox News and company did their damnedest to nurse that seed along to a good strong paranoia and aversion. And now here you are, a product of lies who'd rather believe them than consider you might just dislike him because your politics differ from his. A perfect self-defeating Republican.
Jenab: Question: Is ignorance really bliss? Because here you are not only acknowledging your ignorance--you double down and brag about it to the rest of us? Pathetic!
Jenab - be careful what you wish for. While Obama may not have a single policy you agree with, I'm sure that when Ahmadinijad's troops are raping your daughters, wife, sisters and mother while they summarily execute your sons, brothers and father for finding that disagreeable, you'll find yourself thinking that Obama wasn't so bad after all.
As for Obama not being an American, that argument played out long ago. That's like me saying that since you're from rural Virginia, your sister must be your wife and your daughter must be your mistress and your pig is your best friend.
Mahmoud would welcome you in Iran. I'll buy your ticket there.
(1) Humor is hard to translate.
(2) Some people don't have a sense of humor, anyway.
(3) = (1) + (2)
Iran doesnt have humor. Just like when dinnerjacket said they dont have gay people. And by 'gay', he meant 'happy.' ;)
Iran is a nation, peanut. How would you define the sense of humor of a collection of many people of differing views and opinions? As for the people of Iran, speaking of the Daily Show, just before things went to hell a few years ago they were actually in Iran talking to the people there and there were Iranians who knew and could do Jon Stewart's Bush impersonation. In general the people there seemed very down-to-earth and interested in the West, but the theocratic "revolutionary" leadership, of course, run things.
There IS a cultural mentality that is representative of the average member of any given culture. This is true of larger cultures and sub-cultures as well. If someone says "the average American believe this; that; or the other thing", that doesn't mean that the people in California and the people in Georgia will see eye to eye on the issue.
In a repressed society like I believe Iran to be, I would think anyone who thinks other than how their "supreme" leadership states they should think would be very careful about disagreeing. Thank God I live in a country where everyone can speak their mind ever if some don't use their minds very much before they speak.
I am going to go read the Onion now.
Looks like Iran hired some Progressives to run their news stations just like every news source in America except for Fox.
It's a far bigger problem when the state-run news agency reports a false story than when the free press gets it wrong. I would think that FARS should be able to spot a phony story from a mile away, seeing how often they report them internally.
Because FOX doesn't have any room left
any more Idiots & moron fake news people
who run stories of people COMMITTING SUICIDE on TV LIVE....eh?
(SEVERE JOURNALISM)
or
CUTS OFF ALL CONSERVATIVE readers comments.... like they did to YOU
Fox is to news what puke is to a meal
and puke eaters are not the type of people Liberal AMERICANS desire to live with !
Thank you for making me puke.. now shut up & go take your acid.
CNN and MSNBC are to journalism what wrestling is to professional sports.
pgulrich: "CNN and MSNBC are to journalism what wrestling is to professional sports"
You must enjoy wrestling? Because here you are on NBC reading and commenting!
Well, you know what they say about a train wreck...
Everyone relax. What happened here - NBC News has mistakenly repeated an article in the The Onion which was about the Iranian media mistakenly repeating an article in The Onion. Inception.