Karen Cyson: Tom Emmer's questionable Facebook posts

If you live in the St. Cloud area, you are a constituent of Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District, a gerrymandered crescent that arches from the Wisconsin border east of St. Paul, up to St. Cloud and beyond, and then down around the west side of Minneapolis to Shakopee.

Our representative in Washington, D.C., is Tom Emmer, and if you don't already follow him on Facebook, I highly suggest you do so.

His posts are fascinating. Emmer has a penchant for displaying an astonishing lack of understanding of how things work. For example, one of his latest posts blames President Biden for our current gasoline prices when anyone with a modicum of education in economics knows that the oil companies control that market and are giving themselves record-high profits and compensation. Also, fuel prices were at least 20% higher in 2012. Thanks, President Biden!

Of even more concern, though, is the sources Emmer uses to inform his opinions.

Here are some of the sources he's used so far this month:

Free Beacon, a conservative publication backed by billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, it is known to finance research and then report on it, a journalistic ethics no-no. Free Beacon had been deemed "decadent and unethical."

The New York Post, a Murdoch-owned tabloid. The Columbia Journalism Review (of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism) reported that the Post is "no longer merely a journalistic problem, it is a social problem, a force for evil." Pace University rated it the "least credible in New York" with a 44% Not Credible rating on its reporting.

The Washington Examiner, a weekly tabloid specializing in anti-immigration articles and reports skeptical of climate change.

The Washington Times, a tabloid owned by the Unification Church (Moonies), known for articles contradicting scientific evidence, promoting conspiracy theories, and publishing revisionist history.

Alpha News, a publication suspiciously lacking in by-lines, a definite journalistic red flag, and known for publishing "baseless conspiracy theories, Islamophobic rhetoric, and bogus data with questionable sources, low credibility, and a far-right bias."

And finally Breitbart. "Misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist." Breitbart is known for specializing in conspiracy theories and intentionally misleading stories. Breitbart's content is some of the most widely shared on Facebook and it has a management team dedicated to "advance and market ideas of neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups and individuals."

Emmer doesn't always use these sketchy sources. He recently posted a public radio article lamenting the loss of multiple small-town newspapers in Minnesota. He followed up with a FOX News article claiming that public radio is one-sided reporting and has a blatantly biased newsroom. It's almost as if he doesn't understand irony.

This is even more evident when one compares his litany of complaints on Facebook to his voting record: complains about the decline of America, votes against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue plan, complains about high prices and votes against the Inflation Reduction Act, complains about crime, but votes against the Assault Weapons Ban.

Emmer's FB page isn't as exhausting as it sounds. He intersperses the inflammatory right-wing rhetoric with photo ops of him glad-handing law enforcement officials, athletes, small business owners, and farmers, obviously designed to convince us he is in touch with the common folk of the district.

It's almost as if we're expected to focus on the happy, happy pictures of the man and pay no attention to the manipulation and deceitful sources behind the curtain. This is Minnesota, Representative Emmer, not Oz.

— Times Writers Group member Karen Cyson is a child-care provider in Stearns County and the coordinator for Central Minnesota Mensa. Her column is published the third Sunday of the month.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Karen Cyson: Tom Emmer's questionable Facebook posts