This is Fake News Pope Francis

This.  The Gray Lady released a story based on anonymous sources providing evidence they can't cite.  And what does it say? That Donald Trump considered removing Mueller from the investigation.  Of course headlines were variations of "Trump tried to fire Mueller, White House Counsel Intervened!"

What happened?  Apparently, based on the anonymous sources, Trump suggested there were three points of conflict of interest with Mueller and considered removing him - which, I believe, is his legal right.  White House counsel, however, did what White House counsel does. It advised Trump not to go through with it.  And this is the crazy part: He didn't!  He said OK, and moved on.  Contrary to late night comedy memes, he listened to his advisers.

In other words, it's no big deal.  I realize we live in an era where the postmodern Left is working overtime to turn accusations into proof.  It seeks to convince us that all it takes is to say someone is guilty and, depending on the person and the convenience at the moment, that's enough to convict.

But the whole story is one giant insinuation.  It plays to the base.  It also helps deflect from Trump's immigration deal which, while angering diehards on the anti-Immigration side, will likely be hard for everyone else to reject, if they actually care about immigrants.  It keeps alive the 'he's guilty, now all we need is the evidence' movement that yearns to remove Trump from office.

The point of this is that the story is nothing news.  It is, to coin the phrase, "Fake News.'"  In that it is not news, but an attempt to make not news look like serious news.  There is nothing newsworthy about it.  This is what Presidents do.  "Hey, I think we should do this."  "No Mr. President, here is why."  "OK, we won't."

But its point isn't to inform, it's to attack.  I'd like to think this is what Pope Francis was talking about when he spoke of Fake News being an evil.  I really would.