Far-right media poised to distort Oscars' struggles into a culture war win tonight

It is widely known that the annual Academy Awards' show has faced plummeting TV ratings in recent years, with tonight's Oscars expected to be no exception.

There is a long list of reasons for this -- as chronicled in thisNew York Times piece a week ago -- but a prominent post at Breitbart.com today shows that the wing-nut universe is only interested in one marginal factor: Viewers offended by progressive politics from the podium.

Breitbart.com displayed today just how far the Right will go to score a few Hollywood-hating points. In one of its lead items, the website had no qualms in citing the New York Times -- a source it routinely condemns as Fake News -- using one of those dreaded anonymous sources that their boy Donald Trump always complains are made up. Here's the big headline today:

"FORMER OSCARS PRODUCER: 'VAST SWATHS' OF VIEWERS TUNED OUT WHEN CELEBS TALKED POLITICS."

That's pretty good coverage for something cited in passing in the 26th paragraph of a 29-paragraph story. But a quick read of the Breitbart piece today demonstrates how low the bar has been set to twist any bad ratings result into a victory for right-wing culture warriors.

"Hollywood likes to blame the downward trajectory of Oscar ratings on changing viewer habits and the length of the show, which usually clocks in at close to four hours," Breitbart reported. "But now there's more evidence left-wing politics is at least partly responsible for the exodus of viewers."

Actually, there isn't more "evidence" other than some producer being quoted anonymously by an unreliable source, in Breitbart's worldview. Perhaps more tellingly, here's what Breitbart cited as examples of how horrific the Oscars' recipients have become.

"In recent Oscars telecasts, the stars have lined up to crack jokes or register their disapproval of Donald Trump and his presidency. When Brad Pitt won a statuette for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last year, the star used his acceptance speech to criticize Republican senators during the Trump impeachment trial.

"Controversial subjects like diversity, representation, and transgender issues have also featured prominently during Oscar night. Patricia Arquette's acceptance speech for Boyhood in 2015 concluded with a feminist rallying cry for "wage equality" and "equal rights for women."

Wow. Criticizing GOP senators during the Trump impeachment trial and calling for wage equality and equal rights for women? It shows how far these God-hating Leftist Socialists will go. What's next, some horrible propaganda about systemic racism?

How the Oscars telecast does tonight remains to be seen. But how it will be distorted by Breitbart and others on the Far Right -- in any event -- is already a done deal.