RATIONAL RESISTANCE
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Biden is the clear choice when it comes to compassionate and decent leadership. In a battle of heart, mind, and character Joe Biden wins by a landslide. We n...
What’s The Deal With Trump Followers?
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Five years ago when Donald Trump road that escalator and announced his candidacy, everyone including most people who are now Trump-for-lifers, believed it was a stunt, and he was clearly unqualifie...February 28, 2017
Last week when Sean Spicer expelled CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and others, apart from the habitual antics of a juvenile administration, perhaps it was a harbinger of a new post-briefing era. While this administration’s anti-First Amendment frolicking is repulsive, it could just be President Trump and Sean Spicer did us all a favor. I say we end the White House press briefing.
February 27, 2017
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.
February 26, 2017
The Fox News and conservative talk radio war against the mainstream media seeded Donald Trump’s “fake news” paranoia. There is nothing new about politicians going after the news media, but Donald Trump takes this time-honored practice to an absurd level made possible by his uniquely narcissistic personality. When it comes to what people say about him, Trump has an uncontrollable obsession. And now he has a new tool for his bravado, anything less than flattery is “fake news.”
August 23, 2016
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.
July 25, 2015
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.
December 29, 2014
I guess we can call it a quest for ratings when new Meet the Press moderator Chuck “The Todd” Todd (I think I stole that from someone, maybe Stephen Colbert … R.I.P.) decided it would be a good idea to invite a panel of comedians on the show to discuss comedy and cynicism within our news and political discourse. Of course, the major conveyance here is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which was a frequent reference during this MTP segment. And I’m actually fine with the panel of comedians, which included Lewis Black, Laura Krafft, and W. Kamau Bell. Maybe I’m even fine with the premise, although I think it’s a vehicle to deflect blame away from the mainstream media, and the job it is failing to do, intentional or not.
March 11, 2014
We are becoming a rainbow nation. In 1960, our population was 85% white, by 2060, it will be 43% white. Frankly, that is freaking out a lot of older people. – Paul Taylor, author of “The Next America”
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January 19, 2014
New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie is in the middle of two scandals, the bridge lane closing, and use of Hurricane Sandy relief funds for tourism advertisements (where Christie himself was prominently featured while running for re-election). Yesterday MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki broke the news of a third scandal. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer says the Christie administration has withheld Sandy relief funds because she did not give her approval to a redevelopment plan in the city.
May 13, 2013
In case you missed it, and it’s possible you did since the media is treating this as just another day in America, well, because it is:
May 10, 2013
Fox News hosts and personalities have a long history of pumping up “news” stories they wish to see permeate the mainstream media. And regardless of the outcome, it’s a win-win situation for Fox News. If the narrative posited by Fox News is picked up and repeated by other news outlets — Win. If their narrative is ignored by other new outlets, they cry media bias — Win.