The Destructive Lunacy of the News Media

I do not much care about the outcome of the Supreme Court Nominee. These things come and go and, most always, the opposition party acts like a bunch of buffoons. I expected no more nor no less than what is happening.
What is a disaster is the news coverage. On all news broadcasts, you are hearing pundits, commentators and reporters going on and on, over and over again about the facts of the issue. Guess what? None of them, not a single one, knows what happened at those parties.They were not there. I was not there and you were not there. Yet those in the media ramble on about the issue. The White House is throwing in random comments. A variety of Congress people (is that how we now phrase it?) are offering opinions and none of it means a thing. Commentary by Elmo and Big Bird are of equal worth. Let me say it again. None of us know what happened because we were not there.
The proper response to all of these accusations is, "Hey, here are some accusations. Let's have them investigated by the proper authorities and we'll let you know what they find. Stay tuned." Instead, the media goes on and on, just picking at sores and keeping everything on edge. They drag out all sorts of so-called experts, including some in Government on, nit a day by day, but hour by hour basis. Those idiots go along because it's and election year and this gets them on TV. And it makes things worse.
It is ironic that all of this is over a Judicial appointment and, instead of letting Judicial processes run the investigation, we have turned it over to the news media
The whole display, on both sides is sickening. My advice. Forget the whole mess. Go to work enjoy your day, go home, have some fun and get some rest. This stuff is lunacy and the news media, Congress, the White House and everyone else involved should hang their heads in utter disgust at a display that makes childish tantrums look like fine behavior. The whole mess is sickening and , ultimately is doing irreparable harm to the USA. As Jack Nicholson's character in Easy Rider said, "This used to be a damn good Country."
Hang on folks, it is going to get worse. The mid-terms are only a month and a half away and this will not be fun.

Obama - the Media - and the Truth

Today, we have post-Christmas mall riots, cop shootings, the Syrian debacle, China threatening, Putin threatening, and the fat kid who runs Korea threatening. So what's the big news?

The death of George Michaels. Okay, it's sad when anyone dies of a heart attack at 53, but why is the death of a moderately talented pop star more tragic that the death of anyone else at a premature age. Countless mothers and fathers and children die every day, and we don't go into deep mourning. Because someone made some semi-decent records hardly justifies the intense coverage of his passing.

The other big story is Obama's blame of conservatives in general and Fox news specifically for the Democratic defeat in the recent election. He actually named Fox in his statement, thus setting a new low standard for tackiness.

Sorry, Obama, the fault lies in the Democratic Party itself and it is twofold. First, you and the Party have long overlooked the remaining power of those who love traditional America. That is ironic since, at one time, that's who the Democrats represented. Now, the Party has shifted so far to the left, that it represents only minorities. You cannot win an election when your base is almost strictly just Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, gays and lesbians, over the top feminists, and students. Heck, you didn't even get all of their votes and many of them, seemingly just sat the election out.

And that brings us to the second problem your party had, Hillary Clinton. The woman was a terrible candidate. She didn't speak, she brayed (perhaps that was fitting give the Party symbol, the donkey) The alternately bellowed belligerently and whined childishly. She lied herself into a corner Houdini could not have escaped from and showed a complete lack of respect for traditional Americans, us deplorables. The only reason she has not been tried and convicted of several crimes is that, like her husband, good old Slick Willie, is that she knows many of the skeletons hanging in the closets of the powerful.

As far as Fox goes, they did successfully balance CNN and The New York Times, otherwise known as the media wing of the Democratic Party, but it might interest you, CNN and Fox to  know that no one trusts the big time Media outlets. Many, many people get their news from the internet, including something all politicians dread, the alternative media. The folks who run those sights definitely get some things wrong, but no more that the standard media and at least they get news out that the guys in your pocket, or for that matter, in Trumps pocket, ignore, calling it fake news.

We have no. big time media that really give us news. All network and cable news runs by a formula, give the headlines, then have a bunch of talking heads sit around and argue politics. Gone are the days when someone like Walter Cronkite would tour Vietnam to find the facts. Gone are the days when Edward R. Murrow would go to Oklahoma and spend days with the Okies to learn about their devastating circumstance. Instead the same old tired faces show up, day after day, to drag out numbers and pseudo-fact to spin the news in the way they see fit. Not a one of them should be allowed on Sesame Street, much less on the air explain important events to us.

So, President Barak Obama, suck it up and face the facts. The Democratic Party got its ass kicked because people are tired of the utter crap that people like you and Hillary and Wolf Blitzer and Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove and Thomas Freidman and every other conventional politician and pundit have been feeding us. Trump is a wild card. Maybe, he will change things. Let me amend that. He will change things, the question is for good or ill. I think, maybe, for the most part, for the good, but at least it will change.

My Dad, when face with people who could not make a decision, use to say, "for Gods. sake, do something , even if it's wrong." Well, face it Barak, we, the traditional heart of America, did something.

American Politics and the Media

I have sworn off politics. I cannot watch another minute of those 2 idiots, Trump and Clinton, carrying on like lunatics and promising things they will never deliver. I can watch no more of experts who's opinions are worth no more than this mornings toilet paper.

I will not sit and watch another minute of mindless arguments. The last several days of news coverage has been little but angry black folks and angry cops yelling at each other. Surely, there are other things going on in the news. I am quite positive that somewhere in this vast Cosmos, something else is happeneing.

If yelling the same things over and over would do some good, I'd be all for it but, it just makes things worse. And the numbskulls running these shows just egg people on. What was once news programming is on the verge of becoming like the old Jerry Springer Show. I've been half expecting to see someone take a swing at Chris Cuomo or Wolf Blitzer. I truly belive that they ought to bring back Geraldo, at least he could handle fights.

 In the meantime, Korea is threatening, we're upping the troop levels in Afghanistan (didn't Obama promise to have them all out of there years ago?), and immigrants are still flooding Europe, and all of that gets but a brief mention between the arguments. Roller Derby has more class than our so-called News Media.

America - The Media Just Keep Picking at Scabs

We have all done it, especially when we were kids. We would get a cut or a scrape and, once it scabbed over, we would start picking at it. It looked ugly, sometimes it itched and we would just start picking at it, Generally, when we got it off, it would just scab over again, we would pick it some more, and eventually, it would heal. Every once and awhile, we would succeed in getting it infected, then the folks would carry on a bit, and sometimes, it would leave a scar.

The News Media in Country are like kids picking at a scab. We have long been scarred by racial tension. I'll not enumerate the causes and history. Most of us know at least the basics and, really, what good does it do to drag it all back up again. But, they pick and pick, until everyone is on edge, then something happens and we find that old scar ripped open. It scabs over, and they rip it open, until now it's infected. And they will keep at it again and again.

I am not saying that these tensions should be ignored but what the hell good does it do to go on and on with it, dragging out all of these experts and community leaders and sociologist and psychologists, the same ones over and over again.

Einstein said that if you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results, you are, by definition, insane, psychotic. Yet, they trot out the experts and politicians and old film footage and, it would seem that they expect that somehow, magically, this time it will work.

It won't and really all they are doing is preying on people's fears and old prejudices in a never ending search for a bigger audience. They are vultures preying on the dead flesh of those poor souls, both police and those the police have needlessly and stupidly shot. The National Media should be ashamed of their behavior.

The only way any of this will change is if we, as individuals, can learn tolerance. We are all different and we must learn to accept this and allow each other to be different. Neither the media, nor the government, nor the churches nor the so-called experts can solve this. Only we, individual human beings can do this. It will be slow and painful, but it is the only way. Individual human beings must take responsibility for their own behaviors and stop looking for some authority to step in and fix things. I'll let you in on a secret; the folks really running things don't give a damn if we kill each other off, as long as they keep the cash rolling in. We are the ones suffering and we must fix things.

America - The Majority

I want to make something clear. I love America, both the idea of it and the majority of its citizens. I have taken to task the media, the government and the big corporations, for good reason, but the vast majority of folks are decent, good people. and the structure that made the Nation great is still in place, sort of.

The media is dominated, in fact, owned by, big, big corporations. I have little doubt that the on air news people are basically decent people, for the most part, so I do not really fault them. They, like most of us, are just trying to make a living, and, like most of us, have to play by the boss' rules. I will say that in times of emergencies, they do a pretty good job, at least until the crisis passes and they have to start spinning the information again. It is the giant corporations that are to blame for the focus most broadcasts choose. Certain events are covered, others ignored, and always, those favored by CEOs are given smooth passage.

I am also sure that many public officials are, at heart, decent people. I doubt that few of them go home and kick the dog or make their kids live on gruel. I am sure many of them would love to actually help people and, every now and then, they manage to push through a piece of legislation or two that does help. The problem is this. To get elected, and keep getting elected, costs a bunch of money and, always, there are business representatives, lobbyists, PAC funders, etc., who are just waiting with big checks, provided you do as they wish. Power, which does come with elected office, is perhaps the most insidious of drugs, and the lust to obtain and keep that power clouds the minds of even those with the best intentions. In the Lord of the Rings, even the great elves, even Gandalf, had no desire to take the ring from Frodo, lest they be tempted by all of that power. So, government grows more and more corrupt and less and less concerned with the welfare of the vast majority of its citizens.

Even amongst corporate leaders, I am confident that many, if not most, are reasonably honest men and women who simply want to put out a good product at a decent price and who try to treat their employees fairly. It is when we get into the upper reaches of business, the mega-corporations and the mega-banks that we begin to detect the truly rotten apples that spoil the business world. These are the manipulators, the men and women who are always trying to steer the world in the direction they want, no matter what the cost to others. In the board rooms of these ridiculously large institutions, the most despicable lust for power is put on display. These giants of business have polluted the environment, released a mind boggling array of pharmaceuticals, crushed smaller businesses in the drive to own the World, have manipulated economies in ways that have enslaved most of the Earth's population, and are looking for more.

The majority of American citizens are, at heart, or so I fervently hope, still as ornery and cranky as ever. Likewise, they are still the hardest working and most creative people around and also, the most fun loving. But, right now, they seem to be slumbering, sleepwalking through the beginning years of this millennium. Understandable, since, as I have previously explained, we have been bombarded with change at a furious rate over the course of the last century. But, unfortunately, we cannot yet rest. There are countless troubles on the horizon and we must face them or this great experiment, The United States, will be nothing but a fond memory. Forget troubles abroad, we must solve our problems here. Walt Kelly's wonderful old comic strip Pogo had the wonderful line, "we have met the enemy and he is us." That is the truth.

The structures that made this Nation great are still in tact and we need to reclaim their use. The elections we are seeing unfold are nothing but a farce. I urge you to vote, but not for either of the 2 parties. Vote for any 3rd party candidate you can find. They will not win, but it will send a message that you wish to participate in elections but refuse to put up with the current dog and pony show of Trump, Clinton, Bush and the rest of the confederacy of dunces ( not an original line. A Confederacy of Dunces is a wonderfully funny novel by John Kennedy Toole. I just love the phrase). If there are no 3rd Party candidates, write in Homer Simpson or SpongeBob Squarepants. Just let the ruling elite know that you are wise to their game and you have had about all you can take.

Will that work? Who knows, but right now, it seems to me to be the only palatable response; if mockery does not get their attention, then, as was done in the 60s, it might be necessary to get in the streets, to start demonstrating. I sure hope not because, trust me, that is not pleasant. In the meantime, simplify your lives, avoid debt like the plague, learn as much as you can about everything and take care of yourself, your friends and your families. Remember, you are the physical and spiritual descendent of the brave and brilliant people who created and built this Nation.

 

America has Lost Focus

Today, I turn on the news and find that the stock market is dropping like a rock, China's economy is tanking, Iran and the Saudis are at each others throats, Obama is about to unilaterally impose restrictions on gun sales, and a semi-militia group has taken over a building in Oregon. So, what is the news focused on? You guessed it. The Iowa Caucuses.

Now, with no offense intended toward the good folks of Iowa, who cares? This is a small state, without enough votes to sway an election one way or another. Their caucuses are a confusing sort of polling whose outcome largely depends on how heavy its snowing on the night they are held. They represent a demographic that is outside the mainstream and, again, they are just not a major player in National politics.

We have a month until those caucuses are held, yet we are getting almost hourly reports in the campaigning there. Just think, folks, this is just the start. Then we will go through the same lunacy in the tiny state of New Hampshire. By the time we hit the big states I expect we will have bulletins every 15 minutes, with special reports on how often Hillary sneezed and what Trump had for breakfast, and these are only the primaries. Then, God help us all, we have the actual campaigns, when I expect the coverage to be round the clock, with updates on how often the candidates are going to the bathroom.

In other countries, election campaigns are restricted to short periods, which saves money and forces candidates to get right to the issues. I do not care if Bill is going to campaign for Hillary and if the Donald is going to attack his aggressive sexual behavior. I will say that Trump should do so very carefully, lest someone dig up some skeletons in his closet.

But, as so often, the money is the issue. By having these terminally long campaigns, not just for President, but for all political offices, we are insuring that money is doing the talking. Candidates, to keep up, have to raise fortunes and the guys footing the bill are the guys calling the tune. To win, you have to become indebted to big money capitalists and that means, you will be doing their bidding. That is the interesting thing about Trump, he is the big money. What that means for his potential Presidency is beyond me.

I have no idea how this will all play out, but I do know one thing. Covering every slight change in the polls in tiny states, while ignoring potentially world changing events, is a bad idea and everyone connected with the National media should hang their heads in shame.

America on the Edge of a Strange Future

 America stands on the edge. Of what? Who knows, but that is what I am going to try to figure out. We are now far enough into the 21st Century that a few patterns should be developing, but that just does not seem to be the case. Instead, the fractiousness of the last Millennia seems to be deepening.                                                                                                                           

What we half laughingly, half mournfully refer to as the news media has become an inane parade of semi-intelligent talking heads, spewing disinformation interspersed with celebrity gossip and mind-numbing analysis of trivial nonsense. With the election over a year off, we are faced each day with new poll numbers and detailed discussion of the implications of these trends, only to be told the next day of conflicting numbers and new trends. On and on it goes and we have not even reached the actual election year.                                                                                                                            

In the meantime, Russia is flexing its considerable muscle all over the world, China is openly declaring its ownership of the China Sea by building island bases in International waters, journalists are being held hostage throughout the Middle East, and the European Union is being swamped with fleeing refugees. These issues are mentioned only in passing and when there is actual discussion of them, the same tired old men and women who staffed the  Clinton, Bush and Obama  administrations, the same ones whose policies set the stage for these potential disasters, are trotted out, spouting rhetoric that will do nothing but exacerbate the situation.                                                                                                                                        

As I write this, Israel is going at it with the Palestinians again, and we of course are sending our top diplomat, John Kerry, to broker a deal. We have been at this for 70 years with no success, and any deal he makes will last for a very short time, yet we keep sticking our nose where it does not belong. This, by the way, is the same John Kerry who made the Iranian nuclear deal in which we gained nothing. He did not even get an agreement to get the  journalists that are being held captive, out.                                                                                                                                        

Closer to home, the media recently went hysterical as a massive hurricane headed toward the East Coast. The storm stalled over the Bahama's where it sat with 135mph winds and torrential rains for 36 hours. The storm then went out to sea. Okay, we were fortunate, but I found it very odd that we were given no reports, none, about what must have been the devastation of one of our closest neighbors, a favorite vacation spot of many Americans. On the other hand, we have received in depth coverage of an ex-basketball player's idiotic decision to hunker down in a whorehouse and eat a handful of a Viagra-like substance on top of cocaine and alcohol. We are still receiving reports of his reconciliation with his ex-wife who just happens to have her own TV reality show.                                                                                                                                      

The Pope recently visited and the services were truly beautiful and were, rightly, covered extensively. However, as well meaning as I am sure he is, he still has not done anywhere near enough to remove the stain of the vast and unthinkably horrible issue of kids being abused by priests. He has also scarcely touched the Vatican banking scandal. Yes, he has fired some Vatican officials but he really needs to come clean and tell us why the Church was allowing their investments to be used as a way of laundering vast sums of money tainted with heroin. He might also find it a good idea to really address the whole issue of poverty in the world. Oh sure he talks of the need to help the poor but never addresses the hypocrisy of a small group of  men, many of whom have taken vows of poverty, and who control more money than most countries, lecturing the rest of us about helping the poor. If the Church liquidated its holdings and gave the wealth to those who need it, then maybe, his words would mean something. As a side issue, how can the Church, in good conscience, continue to forbid dirt poor followers the right to use birth control. Oh well, no big deal. Polls show that most American Catholics pay little attention to anything the Church says, they just like to turn out for a big show.                                                                                                                                    

 We have a President who lies repeatedly . In this, he is no different from all the Presidents within my memory (that would go back to Eisenhower) and yet, when interviewed, is never called on those lies. When will any journalist push him to explain himself. We are told that you have to respect the Office of the Presidency. Well, when the hell is the President going to show some respect for the American people, when will we be dealt with straight up? We are not children, we can take it.                                                                                                                                                            

As I write that last line, I realize that maybe I am wrong. Maybe we have become a Nation of overgrown kids who just want to watch football and the Kardashians, who cannot handle anything more taxing than beer, video gaming and porn. Oh well, maybe there are a few left who can think, who can look at the situation without batting an eye and say, "okay, let's fix it." That is what Americans have always done.             

To see where we are going, we must look at the past, not just the facts of history and politics, that is boring. We must look at the culture, books, movies, TV, music and at beliefs, philosophical and religious. Then we need to look at where we are, the current cultural climate. Not everything is doom and gloom. A lot of good things still go on and they need to be highlighted and applauded.                                             

I want to hear from people, to know what you are thinking. I want to know what you like and dislike. Heck, I even want to know your favorite recipes, what you grow in your gardens and any good home improvement tips. If you are part of what you consider a real community, I especially want to hear from you, to find out how your community developed and how you stay close.. And if you feel isolated, alone  and frustrated, I want to hear from you. You are as important as anyone else  and I want to know your story.                                                              

It may not seem like it from my opening tirade, but I want this site to be a place where we can have some fun, but we also have to be honest and, on occasion, serious. Somehow, the American people have let control of the Nation slip from their grasp but, by working together, we can take back our land and prosper, so let's get to it.