Breitbart Article Debunks Previous Breitbart Articles On Gun Control Conspiracies

The notoriously dimwitted hacks at Breitbart News practice a form of pseudo-journalism that reeks of ultra-rightist propaganda (or just plain reeks). They rarely bother to fact check their stories as was demonstrated recently when they published a false item about Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel receiving donations from an organization that, it turns out, doesn’t exist. Likewise, they posted a story as “news” that they sourced to site that produces satirical articles. And to make matters worse, they had previously mocked the Washington Post for falling for an article from the same site.

Today, however, the BreitBrats deserve credit for an article that accurately and comprehensively takes apart a collection of conspiracy theories revolving around a perfectly ordinary transaction by the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS has provided a reasonable and verifiable explanation for a purchase order that allows the department to buy ammunition at discounted prices over a five year period:

“Federal solicitations to buy the bullets are known as ‘strategic sourcing contracts,’ which help the government get a low price for a big purchase, says Peggy Dixon, spokeswoman for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga . The training center and others like it run by the Homeland Security Department use as many as 15 million rounds every year, mostly on shooting ranges and in training exercises.”

Breitbart’s debunking methodically stepped through eight components of the myths that have been circulating in the right-wing media about this paranoid fantasy, and countered it with facts to offset them. What they didn’t disclose is that they were among the most flagrant disseminators of the phony horror stories in the first place.

Breitbart

On at least four prior occasions, the BreitBrats posted apocalyptic warnings of a federal government intent on massacring its own citizens. But in this new piece they begin by saying…

“There are dozens of articles hyping government purchases of ammunition over the last nine months. After spending weeks researching this topic, this is a collection of commonly held myths that are based more on panic than fact.

“With the recent release of a letter from the Department of Homeland Security to Senator Coburn, the numbers we calculated independently seem to corroborate the narrative coming from DHS. The concerns surrounding DHS stockpiling ammunition are nothing but more fear-mongering and largely unwarranted.”

So all of a sudden the frightful government plot that the BreitBrats have been pushing is dismissed with a wave of the hand. How convenient. For good measure, Fox News re-posted the Breitbart debunking, and similarly neglected to note their role in creating the faux panic.

Fox News

This is rather atypical behavior for right-wing media that generally avoids ever admitting they were wrong. In this case they have shot down their prior implausible claims because they have been shown to be the ravings of lunatics. Then they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge their previous support and just hope that nobody notices the spine-jostling flipping and flopping that has taken place. While it’s good to see them recognize that the fear mongering about tyrannical government agencies plotting genocide is the product of sheer delusion, it would be even better if they confessed that the delusion was of their own making and apologized. And for the record, Sarah Palin has not yet corrected her statements regarding Ammo-Gate.

Srah Palin

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3 thoughts on “Breitbart Article Debunks Previous Breitbart Articles On Gun Control Conspiracies

  1. I smell a feud between Breitbart and some other ultra conservative group. Usually, when a fine talking point is debunked by one conservative group it’s because that talking point is popular with a group they are feuding with. Maybe some high placed member of a conservative conspiracy group insulted the Brats, and the Brats decided to expose this conspiracy in retaliation. I imagine the Brats already knew it was bunk.

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