February 27, 2017

Will Trump’s War On The News Media Work?

With President Trump’s “fake news” crusade now turned up to eleven, we are left little choice but to assume it is part of a broader de-legitimizing strategy. And strategy is the job of Steve Bannon, Trump’s White House Chief Strategist. Bannon told the New York Times in January that the “media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Bannon was talking about how the media was wrong about the 2016 election, never mind that the polls were not all that far off from the popular vote tally. “The media here is the opposition party,” said Bannon in the Times interview. “They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.” If it is a blueprint, Trump’s anti-media bombast is a plan likely architected by Steve Bannon.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

February 24, 2017

Steve Bannon Vows ‘Deconstruction Of The Administrative State’

The shadowy figure pulling the strings within Donald Trump’s White House, Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon, appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday. He vowed the Trump administration would work toward the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” In other words, unwinding regulations that exist to protect Americans. Little things like consumer financial protection, a clean environment, and anti-discrimination, to name a few.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

August 23, 2016

This Is What Liberal Media Bias Looks Like (To The Rest Of Us)

When conservatives deliver sermons on the liberal biased mainstream media, first I wonder what exactly constitutes “mainstream.” I suppose if you aren’t mainstream, then you are what some call “new” or “alternative” media, but do conservatives really believe Fox News falls into this surrogate classification? I grant we could assign Fox News to a class of its own, but even if their brand nurtures a conservative echo chamber, I find it troublesome to view a high-rated cable news network as anything other than predominant. That makes Fox News very much part of the mainstream, never mind the radio airwaves dominated by conservative talk. And we haven’t even dived into the corporate owned news. Just how often do we apply the “liberal” label to media conglomerates? So when conservatives refer to the mainstream media, they definitely aren’t including Fox News, or conservative radio, or the corporate entities that own all media, because that might detract from their directive.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

May 6, 2016

Yes Trump Can Win. Democrats Are Deluded If They Think Hillary Is A Lock.

The normal state of mind for the average Democratic voter is despair. Democrats and liberals fear their candidate will lose, always. But as it turns out, at least in presidential years, this fear of loss is a catalyst that gets Democrats and liberals to the polls. That has led to popular vote wins for Democrats in five of the last six presidential elections. The only exception was in 2004 when George W. Bush won the popular vote, giving him a second term as president. Unfortunately that pesky electoral college (and a controversial Supreme Court ruling) led to Bush, a Republican, winning in 2000 even though he lost the popular vote to Al Gore, a Democrat. For some reason this fear of loss doesn’t fuel Democrats to the polls during non-presidential years, a topic we’ll bookmark for another day.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

July 25, 2015

Media’s Obtuse Un-Self-Aware Donald Trump Obsession

For the past few weeks, Donald Trump has dominated the news commentary shows. A common melody intoned from the mouths of hosts and guests is that Donald Trump is, well, trumping media coverage of all the other Republican candidates. The obtuseness of the media in its coverage of Donald Trump is nothing short of remarkable.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

September 1, 2014

Media, In-Group Collectivism, Feeding American Denial On Inequality, Wage Theft, And More

Denial is a powerful force, and in a representative democracy, mass denial is incredibly dangerous. Combine mass denial with in-group collectivism packaged by a handful of self-serving elites, and we call it conservative media. And leading the charge is the ideological solidarity sold by Fox News for conservative consumption, a force assisting in transmuting our representative democracy into something much more closely resembling a representative oligarchy.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

July 20, 2013

When A Case Against Liberal Media Portrayal Of Racism Goes Horribly Wrong

It is certainly possible to build a solid case that reveals a “jump-to-conclusion” style of reporting when it comes to stories about racism from the so-called liberal media. But Ann Coulter’s piece titled (“To Avoid Looking Like a Criminal, Don’t Commit a Crime“) is not one. We know the news media (less so for local news, more so for newspapers and cable news networks) is quick to add racism into the mix in a white on black crime or a black on white crime. The history of this country shows there’s good reason for suspicion of racism, and it makes for more readers or more viewers, so the mainstream media can’t help itself. So yes, a case could be made that racism is invoked more than can be proven.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

June 24, 2013

NSA Leak: David Gregory Suggests Glenn Greenwald Should Be Charged With A Crime

David Gregory - Meet the Press - image by DonkeyHoteyOn Sunday’s Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked Glenn Greenwald, “To the extent that you have aided and abetted [Edward] Snowden [NSA leaker], even in his current movements, why shouldn’t you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?” Last week I wrote about “groupthink” within the ranks of the mainstream media, and David Gregory is now Exhibit A. I believe a journalist could cross a line from reporting the news, to becoming the news, but is that what Greenwald set out to do? Is that what he’s done? Or is the mainstream media out to get him? Right now I put my money on the latter. The mainstream media coverage of the Snowden story falls under complicit reporting of government affairs, not objective reporting. It’s the kind of journalism that kept the executive branch unchecked and led us into two wars.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

February 12, 2013

Dick Cheney Approves Of Obama’s Drone Strikes

In what can be described as the only reason needed to be against Obama’s drone strikes, former vice president, and leader of the dark side, Dick Cheney, gives his endorsement of the drone program. It’s noteworthy because Cheney has voiced regular displeasure with Obama’s handling of national security. On CBS This Morning, Cheney said the drone program is “a good policy.” Cheney does not believe any extra oversight is needed, saying Obama “is getting paid to make difficult, difficult decisions.”

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •
1 2