Washington Post

Facebook And Social Media In General A Deleterious Force: A Need For Regulation!

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This author and blogger can recall the “good old days”, when there was no Facebook and other social media companies, obsessed by profit, and unconcerned about dividing America into opposing forces that see those who disagree with them as dire enemies.

The expose by a whistle blower of what many have sensed was reality has led this author and blogger to decide not to spend time on social media, and instead to back off and focus more on the major news sources to keep up with the constant flow of events.

Despite the criticism of reputable journalism sources–including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times–the record of their reliability over the long haul makes them the best source of information. They are more reliable than even electronic media on cable networks.

Clearly, there needs to be some kind of government regulation to overcome the reality that social media helped to inspire the January 6 Insurrection, and is a danger to the future of American democracy. Also, it is clear that the COVID-19 Pandemic and resistance to vaccination and masking is due to the influence of Facebook in particular, and that Instagram, owned by Facebook, has had a horrific event on self image, particularly of teenage girls.

Social Media has gone out of control, of any sense of responsibility to America, only centered on profits!

Happy 25th Anniversary For MSNBC: A True Treasure!

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Today marks a quarter century of an exceptional news source, MSNBC, which began on July 15, 1996.

It started as a partnership between Microsoft and NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation).

It is one of the two major cable channels, alongside CNN (Cable News Network) to be committed to promote facts and truth, and the battle for facts and truth is a constantly evolving battle, due to the rivalry of Fox News Channel, which has spent its entire history since October 1996 to promote distortion, lies, and evade the truth.

It is hard to imagine news coverage in 2021 without appreciating the people and the coverage of news that MSNBC offers. It has enriched all viewers and readers, and is an indispensable source alongside CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the NY Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other online sources listed on this website, all on the right side of the page!

So congratulations to MSNBC in its constant battle against the forces of evil that are out there in the media world!

Journalism Essential Protection To Preserve American And Foreign Democracy From Authoritarianism

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Journalism is an honorable profession, and the promotion and protection of the institution and the people who spend their lives promoting truth and facts is essential, in order to preserve American and foreign democracies from authoritarianism.

Of course, there are those journalism sites and individuals who choose to use their influence to peddle lies and mistruths, (such as Fox News Channel, Newsmax, One America Network), but it will not take away the validity and reality that major news sites ARE reliable, no matter how much naysayers claim otherwise.

All human beings make mistakes, and no journalism source is 100 percent accurate, but history tells us that reliable journalism sites are correct more than 90 percent of the time.

When one sees the shutdown of the Hong Kong democracy newspaper, and the crackdown on all expressions of truth, facts, and democracy in many nations around the world, it makes the defense of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right to vote ever more urgent into the future.

So the struggle against authoritarianism requires recognition in America of such news sources that have proved their value and accuracy over the long haul, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and a multitude of other news sources!

The News Media And Public Opinion Polls On Trial On Election Day: Are They Reliable?

Ronald 6 Comments

Today, Election Day 2020, it is clear that the news media, particularly the establishment media–the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC–need to be demonstrated to be reliable and accurate in their coverage of the 2020 election campaign.

Or will they have “egg in their faces” again, as in 2016, when there was total shock at the result of the election, the victory of Donald Trump?

And the same goes even more with the multitude of public opinion polls, which misjudged what was about to happen, and also the prognosticators, many well known, and some like this author and blogger, NOT well known, who all believed Hillary Clinton would win the Presidency!

A one time blunder, or error, can be explained, as it was in 1948 when no one thought Harry Truman would defeat Thomas E. Dewey!

A second time, when all evidence is that Joe Biden will likely win a landslide victory over Donald Trump, would be fatal in many ways, making Americans unwilling to believe the major news media and public opinion polls in the future!

Hopefully, the right wing news media, notorious for lies and deception, most notably Fox News Channel, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal, all Rupert Murdoch owned and operated, will be repudiated beyond any redemption! The same applies to right wing talk show radio hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, and a host of other extremists who exploit the American people on a regular basis!

Hopefully, we will know sometime tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4!

Another Opportunity To Salute The New York Times, Today 169 Years Old, A True National Treasure To Freedom Of The Press!

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This author and blogger has hailed the New York Times numerous times over its courage and principle in always seeking the truth, and has celebrated its birthday many times, and it is time to do so again, on its 169th Anniversary!

The New York Times is a true national treasure to freedom of the press, the best guardian against dictatorship and authoritarianism.

The paper has won 130 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, and has saved America with its investigations and revelations on government and its leaders since the middle of the 19th century, along with the best, most thorough discussion of foreign affairs, as well as culture and finance.

It was responsible for exposing Watergate, along with its “sister” competitor, the Washington Post, which has won 69 Pulitzer Prizes, the second most of any newspaper, and founded on December 6, 1877, so almost 143 years old.

The fact that both newspapers are seen as the enemy of Donald Trump and crooked Republicans in 2020 is a badge of honor.

The New York Times–“All the News That’s Fit to Print”–will survive Donald Trump, and will report on all authoritarian regimes around the globe, as it has done through the years.

It is not a perfect newspaper, and neither is the Washington Post, and they have both admitted shortcomings over the years.

But to be well informed and understand public affairs, one MUST read the New York Times and Washington Post, or give up a claim to being knowledgeable on all kinds of public issues!

Joe Biden Is A Role Model For Young People, While Donald Trump Is NOT A Role Model For Anyone!

Ronald 1 Comment

The greatest tragedy long term of the horrible person we have in the White House now is that he is NOT a role model for anyone!

Getting away from his policies for a minute, Donald Trump is a person who clearly is a massive liar, more than 20,000 times in office in three and a half years, by count of the Washington Post.

Trump is also a racist big time, since the 1970s with housing in Queens County, New York, and labeling the “Central Park Five” guilty before trial, and unwilling to concede after DNA investigation years later that the five young men who went to prison were innocent, even after they left prison. He continues to promote that all black men are hoodlums and dangerous to white suburbia.

Trump also labels all Latinos in a negative manner since he began his campaign against Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and has separated innocent children and babies at the border through the abusive ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) agencies. He has also talked about “S hole nations” in Africa, and attacked Asian Americans, and the land rights of native Americans. Only a racist would not see this to be so, that Trump is a racist and a nativist, in a manner and intensity of no other American President!

Trump is also a misogynist, who has had a love life of cheating and abuse of women much greater than any other American President, including those we know had scandalous love lives. He is the only President to have had three wives and two divorces, and even cheated on his third wife right after his son was born, by affairs with two porn stars. So his morality is zilch!

So Donald Trump is a disgrace, and no role model for children, as he encourages young boys and men to be abusive and reckless with young girls and women. This is a matter that affects the psyches of young girls and women, that they are supposed to be, according to the Trump viewpoint, taken advantage of and abused by boys and men!

This is a tremendous tragedy for the nation, to have such a man in the White House!

We have the alternative of Joe Biden, who has led a life of responsibility, morality, ethics, decency, compassion, and empathy, and as a great parent and husband. While no person is perfect in every action and utterance, Joe Biden is indeed a great role model for young men and women, and will grace the office of the Presidency in a way in which we can again believe the Presidency is a role model for the nation!

Mary Trump Informs Us That Her Uncle Donald Is A White Supremacist And Anti Semite: Is Anyone Surprised?

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The niece of Donald Trump, Mary Trump, in her blockbuster best seller, informs us that her uncle is mentally unstable and has been a nasty person his entire life, and that he learned his behavior from his father, and that Donald Trump has passed on the horrible traits to his children.

Also, Donald Trump is a white supremacist and an antisemite, and the fact that he claims to be Pro Israel has nothing to do with it, because antisemites are Pro Israel, because they see it as the Holy Land, and think they can convert Jews to their sick brand of Christianity!

And the fact that Trump uses the N word regarding African Americans is not only true based on what Mary Trump has witnessed, but also truth based on this author and blogger knowing a young man, now 40, a friend of his older son, who witnessed Trump uttering the N word 20 years ago.

Trump and a businessman were playing golf, and this person I know was a caddy for the businessman, and Trump had an African American caddy. Trump hit the ball, and then said to the caddy, “Go get that ball, Nigger!”

I was informed of this a few years ago, and this is proof of Trump again lying, as he has as President nearly 20,000 times in three and a half years, according to the tally of the Washington Post.

So there are no virtues to Donald Trump, a truly despicable disgrace, who should never have been allowed to do what he has been doing— the total destruction of a century of domestic reform and of 75 years of world leadership in foreign policy since World War II!

It will take years to undo the damage Donald Trump has wrought!

The Best African American Female Vice Presidential Choice For Joe Biden

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The African American Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart today published a piece, in which he discussed four prominent African American female contenders to be Joe Biden’s Vice Presidential running mate.

Capehart wrote about Georgia former state legislator Stacey Abrams; Orlando, Florida Congresswoman Val Demings; former National Security Adviser and United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice; and California Senator Kamala Harris.

Capehart made the case for all four women, and concluded that he believed that while all four are qualified to be Vice President, and potentially succeed to the Presidency, that Kamala Harris was his choice.

This blogger and author wishes to say that Capehart is correct, that Kamala Harris is the best qualified, and in my mind, the only other one of this group who is ready to take over the Presidency on a moment’s notice is Susan Rice with her foreign policy experience, but no elective experience.

Abrams is interesting, but has never been a leader on the state executive level, and Demings has her police chief background, but has only been a Congresswoman since 2017.

So assuming that Joe Biden decides to pick a woman of color, it makes the most sense to select Kamala Harris.

If however, he decides to avoid race as a factor, then his best choice is Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

The odds seem good one of these Senators will be the ultimate Vice Presidential choice for Joe Biden.

The Death Of Truth: Facts Are Facts, Despite Right Wing Attacks

Ronald 2 Comments

America is in a sad time, when we have extremist Right Wing Talk Radio, Right Wing websites, and Fox News Channel creating fiction as truth.

If left up to them, we would have the death of truth, but facts are facts, despite the right wing constant barrage of propaganda, worthy of a dictatorship, not a democracy.

Errors are made by the major news media, but most of the time, what they report is factual and accurate.

When someone says do not trust the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN, along with lesser sources of mostly accurate news, the response must be to act vehemently in the face of those who wish to manipulate and lie and distort and divide America, and undermine its Constitution and Bill of Rights.

If not for the Washington Post and New York Times in particular, back in the era of Richard Nixon, Watergate would never have resulted in his resignation.

So hopefully, the readers of this blog are intelligent and educated enough to dismiss the right wing media, as pure propaganda and lies, and not to be trusted or believed.

New York Times: 168th Anniversary Worthy Of Celebration

Ronald 28 Comments

Today, September 18, is the 168th anniversary of the New York Times, the best newspaper in America, and maybe in the world at large.

Founded in 1851, it became famous as the newspaper with the slogan: “All the News That’s Fit to Print”.

The newspaper has had its ups and downs, and has made mistakes, and been controversial, as they are presently for their revelation about Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and sexual harassment, based on a lack of clear cut reporting on a new book on the Justice.

But despite that, there is still a recognition in the journalism profession that the New York Times has been in the forefront of so much important news in detail, and revelations that might not have occurred otherwise.

Despite its lack of perfection, the New York Times is still more to be trusted and revered than any politician, who does not like the willingness of the New York Times to be attacked for mostly telling the truth.

So Donald Trump attacks the news media, and particularly the New York Times and Washington Post, the two best newspapers who have held his administration to the fire in an appropriate manner to preserve our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

No President, no Senator, no Congressman, no public personality in any endeavor can rest, knowing that the New York Times will do what it must do to preserve freedom and democracy for the long run.

So when one might occasionally be angry or irritated by some article in the New York Times, remember they are not here to be popular, but to be our guardian, and so one should always be glad that the New York Times does well, because to imagine the paper’s demise would be a sign of the downfall of the American Republic,

And every scholar, including this one, is indebted to the New York Times, for having been of great assistance in the publication of books and articles. My two books could not have been published without using the New York Times Index, and being amazed at the unbelievable depth of reporting provided in the pages of the New York Times for so long a time frame.

The New York Times has survived many demagogues in the world, and will survive Donald Trump, for certain!