NewsBusters Podcast: Denying There's Any Crime Problem In DC Isn't Facts First

President Trump's temporary takeover of law enforcement in DC caused an outburst of media protest, that somehow crime was at a "historic low" -- if you use bogus numbers. Plus to celebrate the 20th anniversary of NewsBusters, we remember some of the most outrageous examples of network nonsense with Geoffrey Dickens.

Anyone who's lived in or around the nation's capital is aware that it's had a crime problem for decades. The body count may go up and down, but the danger on the streets seems omnipresent. Nobody is thrilled when you suggest the annual number of murders has gone down from 274 to 200.

So every liberal who touted "historic lows" isn't paying attention to the story on how a police official manipulated statistics to get to that claim, or how the locals feel. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough cited a recent Washington Post poll indicating that 91% of DC residents see crime as a problem, with 51% saying it is an extremely serious problem. Moreover, it is in particular black and low-income residents who are most concerned about it.

Then, on a somewhat lighter note, we run through some of the lowlights over the last 20 years from the NewsBusters archives. One of the first memories we have is then-MSNBC host Chris Matthews in 2008 touting how he got "a thrill up his leg" over a Barack Obama speech. Keith Olbermann insisted "Steady!"

CNN anchor Carol Costello touted audio of Bristol Palin being involved in a violent brawl, where a man shoved her, dragged her on the ground and repeatedly cursed at her. Costello gushed: "This is quite possibly the best minute and a half of audio we’ve ever come across — well, come across in a long time anyway. A massive brawl in Anchorage, Alaska, reportedly involving Sarah Palin’s kids and her husband....So sit back and enjoy.”

If someone asked you to "enjoy" Obama's daughter being shoved and dragged around on the ground, they would be thoroughly attacked. 

Former MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry made the list multiple times, including a 2013 advertisement where she complained your kids aren't yours: "We’ve always had kind of a private notion of children....We have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents, or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to whole communities.”

Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.