We told you a little about this story last week, where Mike Rowe commented on a story from clickbait tabloid "Raw Story." They responded with the following headline...

TV’s Mike Rowe trashes Ohio girl’s ‘character’ after she’s stripped of prize in contest he helps run

They ended up changing that headline to "TV’s Mike Rowe questions teen’s decision to keep medal after contest controversy." Why? Rowe completely dissected their entire article paragraph by paragraph, and gave it a much needed rewrite...

The Raw Story: Clifford’s place in the local competition was downgraded to third based upon the correction in the scores, but she was still allowed to keep the first place gold medal after the controversy embarrassed all involved. For some reason this annoyed Rowe who, after explaining the errors involved, pushed the teen to return the medal to prove that she is a person of good character while playing the “everybody gets a trophy” card.

The Real Story: Rowe, a longtime critic of so called “participation trophies,” was troubled by the fact that so many uninformed observers would rush to sign a petition demanding Shania be rewarded on the basis of a clerical error. He encouraged Shania not to allow anyone to define her as a victim of gender discrimination if such a claim was untrue - which it clearly was in this case. Rowe also pointed out that those demanding “justice for Shania” were not acting in her best interest. In fact, Rowe went so far as to imply that those who signed the petition were insulting all women in the most insidious way possible - by demanding special treatment based on nothing but gender. Rowe then asked, “Would anyone be demanding “justice for Shania,” if she were a boy? How in the world is it good for women to benefit from a clerical error? When Steve Harvey mistakenly awarded the title of Ms. Universe to Ms. Colombia instead of Ms. Philippines, should the mistake have gone uncorrected? Should Ms. Colombia be Ms. Universe today, simply because Steve Harvey screwed up?”

The Raw Story: After the uproar over the SkillsUSA competition went viral, Clifford was given an invitation to compete in the Mason Contractors Association of America’s convention next year.

The Real Story: After the uproar over the SkillsUSA competition went viral, a dubious assortment of hysterical activists masquerading as journalists continued to look for a story that simply wasn’t there, and encourage people with no real knowledge of the facts to sign a bogus petition. The Raw Story actually accused Rowe of “trashing Shania’s character,” when in fact, he did nothing but point out how important character actually is. Even now - after the Columbus Dispatch clarified their original story - The Raw Story continues to fan the flames of confusion and self-righteous indignation, driving many of their nearly two dozen readers to clutter up Rowe’s Facebook Wall with the kind of insults most often associated with a petulant eight-year old.

Thanks for playing, RAW Story. Maybe next time.

This is what's so great about Mike Rowe. He's not a politician. Hell, he's not even all that political. He's just a no-nonsense, head-screwed-on-right American who isn't afraid to speak up. I don't know that he's ever endorsed a candidate. I don't think he's ever even taken a serious stand on social issues. Yet the left absolutely despises him.

The entire purpose of his career is to encourage people to work hard and achieve the American dream. Not only does he inspire them that it's alive and well, but he provides clear-cut, tangible paths to making it happen. I have no doubt that because of Mike Rowe, and Mike Rowe alone, tens of thousands of once hopeless young Americans have found themselves productive members of the American workforce.

... but I guess that makes it a whole lot harder for liberals to cut a check and promise "free stuff." Ah. Now I get it. Well played, Mike Rowe. Well played.

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