Ted Lieu/MSNBC: Fighting "fake" with fake

During a 3/18 MSNBC appearance, Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA), decried "fake news." 

"The best way to oppose fake news is for people to watch outlets like MSNBC, where you report real news, all the time," Lieu told host Ali Velshi. "Keep in mind, the president is scared that people will watch MSNBC. So, you must be doing something right."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ytIDxpv3e8

Two problems.

One, barring Trump having confessed to being so "scared," Lieu couldn't possibly know such a thing. He just pulled that one out of the partisan ether he wheezes. 

(Irony: Fake news critic Lieu churned some, himself.) 

But, there's a larger issue: Lieu had co-sponsored a congressional expression against allegedly fake news. Who doesn't find troubling the concept of government bureaucrats deciding which reportorial speech is 'real news' and which illegitimate? 

Are such judgments even the proper province of Washington, DC officials? Shouldn't citizens have access to a broad range of perspectives and ideological analyses? 

Do not discount that this attempted delegitimazation of contrary information sources can do duty as a self-protection tactic for shadowy, secretive officials engaged in unethical practices. 

The more information we voters can consider, the better we can chart the course of our own government according to our own interests -- not Washington's, and not mainstream media's.

And the more easily we can detect the sort of fake news offered by Lieu and MSNBC.

(I first read of this in a Saturday post sent out by Louder With Crowder  host Steven Crowder.)