Ted Cruz won. Ted Cruz lost. As you know, the ultra-conservative Texas Senator racked up an impressive win in Iowa Monday, largely by convincing religious Republicans that he is their guy. He also got a huge boost when Donald Trump made an unforced error by snubbing last week's Fox News debate. Even Trump, not usually given to admitting fallibility, concedes that was a mistake.

But the Cruz campaign also took a hit this week with a nasty bit of business that led right to its doorstep. On Monday, just as Iowans were caucusing, CNN's Chris Moody tweeted some misinformation (or did he mis-tweet some information?) Moody claimed that Dr. Ben Carson was calling a halt to his campaign in New Hampshire. The clear implication was that Carson was on the ropes and, if true, the repercussions would be big. Presumably, many of Carson's evangelical supporters would decamp straight into the Cruz camp.

CNN political analyst Dana Bash went on the air and breathlessly reported that Ben Carson 'is not going to go to South Carolina, not going to go to New Hampshire.' That was flat out wrong, but the Cruz crew jumped on it, telling Iowans that a vote for Carson would be a vote wasted. Referring to the CNN report, the Cruz people urged caucus-goers to 'coalesce around the true conservative who will be in the race for the long haul.'

CNN is actually standing by its erroneous report, which is outrageous. The self-proclaimed 'worldwide leader in news' screwed up big time and apparently does not much care. Even the sonorous James Earl Jones must be hanging his voice in shame.

As The Factor has pointed out time and again, American journalism has become permeated by ideology. Honest reporting, especially about politics, is a breed that is fast nearing extinction.

CNN should apologize and Ted Cruz should demand that his campaign chiefs cut the bull. As for Ben Carson, the victim of the false reporting, he says he harbors no enmity toward Cruz, but groused about 'the culture within the Cruz campaign.' The good doctor, spanked by misinformation, is turning the other cheek.

Donald Trump, never a cheek-turner, now alleges that Ted Cruz won Iowa through fraud and says 'a new election should take place.' That's right, he wants a do-over. That's obviously not going to happen, but the Cruz team, even if not guilty of outright fraud, should be more careful going forward.

One more thing about the corrupt media. Ever desperate for a horse race, many pundits are enthusiastically peddling the fiction that Bernie Sanders is a legitimate threat to the Hillary Clinton juggernaut. Sorry, media types, but Bernie's campaign doesn't travel well and won't make it south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Sure, the old socialist did well in Iowa and may do even better in New Hampshire, but that's the end of his road. Does anyone seriously believe that black voters in South Carolina will turn out for Bernie like they did for Barack? It's just not going to happen. The only legitimate threats to Hillary Clinton's nomination are FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Summing up, the odds of Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination are mighty long. Longer than, say, correctly calling a coin flip six times in a row. Yes, stranger things have happened, but not this time around.

Bernie and his acolytes, after an appropriate period of mourning, would be well advised to study the history of socialism, up to and including the basket case called Venezuela. Perhaps they can take solace in just one thing - unlike Venezuelans and other victims of failed utopian schemes, Bernie and his pals had a lot of fun while it lasted. The end is nigh.