If you're not familiar with Justice with Judge Jeanine, it is a show on the FOX News Network starring Jeanine Pirro. She is known for her over-the-top rants where she serves up gobs of fresh red meat for her largely hard right wing audience. While it's not unusual for her to be a little fast and loose with the facts, she has been known to occasionally return from the break with a correction from her producers. Last night, however, there was no such correction to an outright lie she told on the show, and the matter being discussed should have (at the very least) contained a disclaimer from the host. I would cut her some slack, but as a former prosecutor and judge, she should be well aware of what proper protocol should have been here.

In the lead up to the 2016 Presidential Election we heard a lot about fake news. Stories like "Pizzagate" were getting their play on Facebook and other social media sites much to the frustration of legitimate journalists. It got so bad that Facebook was supposed to introduce a "Fake News" alert to pop up on stories that aren't legitimate, although I've seen no evidence of them having done that. Since President Trump was elected, we've heard even more about fake news, but it seems to be an entirely different type of thing which he is referencing. Last week the President spoke at CPAC and he gave us a glimpse into what he is talking about when he makes the "Fake News" claim, and it might not be what you think it is. Let's take a look at what Trump had to say about fake news, and then we will take a look at what fake news actually is.

We're not dealing with cakes and pies here. You did not read that wrong, and I didn't misspell it. Am I suggesting that liberals don't know what a desert is? Yes I am, and I can prove it. Some of them may even come from a State like Arizona or New Mexico where they live in a desert and don't know what it is. I was completely unaware of this situation until First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on Mike Huckabee's show on FOX News to talk about her nutrition programs. When I first heard her say it, I thought I must have misunderstood. Michelle is widely regarded as a very intelligent woman. Could she have possible said what I thought she just said? She had. And this was how I was first introduced to the "Food Desert."