It’s been next to impossible to write about politics this week. I started to, a number of times, but they all ended with me tearing my hair out, and screaming into the void.
I began the day before Election Day in a flurry of anxiety and excitement for Tuesday, and then the Blue Wave hit. I started keeping tabs on races, and began an excited post that I planned on posting sometime late on Wednesday.
Then the President had his news conference, and he was quite nasty to some journalists, including Yamiche Alcindor, Jim Acosta, and Peter Alexander, not to mention April Ryan.
Then Jim Acosta had his credentials revoked.
Jeff Sessions, Matt Whittaker, Robert Mueller, Tucker Carlson’s lunacy, which I’ve just discovered doesn’t match up to the police report, but wait, there’s more.
Then the President attacked journalist, Abby Phillips.
Then he backed out of the Veteran’s Day visit to the American Cemetery in France during the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the end of World War I.
Then he was two hours late to dinner with the other leaders.
I’ve been offline for most of today, and I have to say it’s been a blessing.
I need to catch up, but I think I’m waiting for tomorrow’s podcasts to catch me up. I especially like MSNBC’s Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace.
So, what I’ve decided to do is to write a short piece on my feelings on Jim Acosta’s credentials, a slightly longer one for Tuesday, the one week anniversary of the Blue Wave about the Blue Wave, and completely ignore the disgrace of the man in the White House as he manages to embarrass this country once again with his petty, selfish, unAmerican conduct.
In his place, many others have stepped into the open space, and added their messages of honor to the veterans, all of them, but especially those we remember from one hundred years ago as they defeated the enemy, and brought the world together in peace.
I’ll leave you with these words from Laurence Binyon‘s poem, For the Fallen, published 21 Sept 1914:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Yesterday was Halloween, and for those of us with children this is second in planning and importance only to Christmas. I’ve always loved Halloween. I like getting dressed up, I like decorating, I like theme desserts and meals, and the specialness of the different time of the year.
I have been somewhat lazy in the last couple of years, and my daughter discovered my holiday boxes. She has taken it upon herself to drag them up from the basement, and make the house, inside and out, look magical and perfectly balanced for the holidays, especially Halloween and Christmas. And I hate to admit, because I was really good at it, but she is better. She’s faster, she’s creative, she thinks outside the box, and it’s just a beautiful display.
Outside lights and pumpkins, decorated for Halloween. (c)2018
This year, her costume was the the 13th Doctor as portrayed by Jodie Whittaker. There were some things that she wanted, and needed to buy, but there were others that I just refused – no to $20 yellow suspenders (“but I’ll wear them more than once,” and she probably would) and I said no to the $30 new sonic screwdriver, and she borrowed my boots that coincidentally are almost exactly the same at the Doctor’s. For the sonic screwdriver, she spent $2 on orange sparkly lights from Target and used aluminum foil and built herself a sonic screwdriver, pictured below.
Handmade/homemade Sonic Screwdriver (belonging to the 13th Doctor). (c)2018
The Doctor. (c)2018
My son grabbed his Flash t-shirt and ring, and went to school as Barry Allen, the Flash’s alter-ego. He has his own wonderful way of being creative and creating costumes and decorations from what he already has. I’m glad that they’re both so independent minded and creative.
Barry Allen (The Flash). (c)2018
(c)2018
My cosplay was a riff on the one I did in 2016. In 2016, I saw an everwidening chasm towards the vilification of journalists, and it concerned me. I’m a strong proponent of free speech and a free press. They are so important to our country, to our ideals, to our democracy. This Halloween I had intended to be a professor from the Harry Potter world, a Hufflepuff, of course. And then the President continued with the enemy of the people rhetoric, Gianforte is running for re-election (google Ben Jacobs, journalist), Bob Woodward published a very frightening look at the Trump White House (and he and Carl Bernstein are personal heroes of mine), and then The Washington Post’s Jamal Khashoggi walked into a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, and never walkied out. He was murdered, assassinated, but not just that, the level of response from the White House and from the Republican side of Congress appalled me, so I thought it was important to take a stand, especially this week before Election Day.
Use this chart to help you determine if the news you’re getting is accurate and free of bias. That doesn’t mean that some sources shouldn’t be opinionated, but they do need to be clear on the difference between their opinion and reporting the facts as well as the tools they use for their analysis. MediaBiastChart (c)2018
Today is World Free Press Day. Many of us know that included in the First Amendment is our sacred freedom of the press, but because this document is two hundred thirty-one years old we don’t always give it the respect and attention it deserves. In fact, a free press in the United States is something that i think many of us take for granted. We assume that if we need to know it, CNN or MSNBC or The Washington Post, etc. will let us know in big twenty point headlines and short, pithy, decible-breaking sound bites.
For Halloween in 2016, I dressed as a journalist with a notebook, 1940s hat, and press pass. I quoted Thomas Jefferson. I got a few nods and nice costumes, but it wasn’t just a cosplay or costume. I had been watching the 2016 election for more than a year, and what was happening from the Trump campaign was was distressing to me.
I can’t have been the only one to see what was happening in this country, but I felt as though I was screaming into the void.
After two years of this Administration’s trampling of journalists and the press, they’ve erased mention of a free press in the Department of Justice’s internal manual. This country was founded on basic tenets, none more basic than the First Amendment, and a free press to keep the government accountable.
Now, Trump’s Justice Department was chipping away at those basic tenets with a sledgehammer.
There are journalists around the world, trying to get the truth out, who are kidnapped, tortured, and killed. We need to shine a light on this epidemic, and the United States needs to go back to leading the way for the press to be free.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is one organization who shines the light and keeps the rest of us aware of what’s happening around the world.
Looking back on 2017 and how much I’ve advanced in my writing and motivation needs to start before the year even began. For Halloween 2016, I dressed as a journalist, complete with reporter’s notebook and 1950s fedora. The election year had been a difficult one for journalists and the press in general, moreso than the usual kidnappings and murders that they face yearly all across the globe. Theirs is not an easy job, but where would we be as a society without them? The maligning they received at the hands of Candidate Trump, and continues with him as President is horrifying, not only to this country’s First Amendment, but also to this country’s value we put on knowledge and information; checks and balances.
I have always been a fan of journalists and news reporters, and my choice for two Halloweens ago was a reminder of that love, but also of what was at stake at the following week’s election. We can see how prescient that choice was.
It’s been a long year. L–O–N–G.
I’ve had a few missteps and missed deadlines on the blog, but I’m happy with how far i’ve come, the changes I’ve made, and confident in the changes still to come in the new year.
I’m grateful and appreciative for every follower, every like, and every comment. Each one helps me to grow just a little bit more as a writer.
I now also consider my attempts at art and photography as part of my writing and my writing life.
I participated in Nanowrimo, and I was very satisfied with how much was written in those thirty days: over 35,000 words. As I’ve said before, I didn’t make it to the 50,000 word goal, but I do have 35,000+ words more than I had on November 1st. I’m looking forward to creating outlines and editing and more research in the early parts of the new year to get my book on its way.
I have also decided to send a letter of intent to a local continuing education department and teach a six week class on writing. The workshops, and my contributions to them, not to mention this blog, have given me the confidence to believe that this is a next step in my writing life.
In reading too many books that I feel I could have written, not so much better, but differently and valued, I believe I have another book in me, this one specifically on journaling. Or writing. Or inspiration. It’s still in flux.
This looking back will have me looking forward by the end of the week. Stay tuned.
I first saw Ezra Klein giving analysis on MSNBC. I knew that seeing him on screen that I would be in for an insightful discussion of that day’s headline news. I have always found him honest and engaging; able to get to the heart of the matter, and show depth to both (or more) sides of an issue.
When he formed his new website, Vox, I followed. I have never been disappointed. They are both opinionated and educatonal. Their opinions are clearly laid out as are their explanations of the complicated facts and news of the day.
He, and his team, have a way of taking a huge issue and breaking it down into bite-sized, easier to understand pieces. He and Vox use whatever media isw at their disposal from videos and charts to photos and humor.
Ezra Klein is a great example of what it is to be a journalist in today’s media world.
With this year’s uproar over fake news and the President’s disregard for the profession of journalism and the journalist, it is more important than ever to have reliable news sources. Ezra Klein is a reliable news source.
Fake news is not a new concept. Remember Bat Boy from Weekly World News? Elvis is alive and working at a car wash in Indiana? The difference between that and the current political climate of fake news is that most of it isn’t fake, at least not what the left talks about; it’s more disagreeable news.
I saw it recently on CNN, and have to give host Don Lemon his due. Stopping the claim in the moment from Paris Dennard and cutting his platform off was the right thing to do, and I hope others begin to follow his and colleague Jake Tapper’s leads.
Talking about how much money the President is spending on his weekend jaunts to Florida is valid, especially considering he spent the last eight years bitching about President Obama’s “vacations” and especially since President Trump is close to exceeding Obama’s one-year spending in three weeks.
So, what is fake news?
For the most part, the right uses it as a red herring to try and silence the left and center. Now that we’ve found our voices through protest and other legal avenues, they don’t like it. They don’t like being called out on their hypocrisy.
It is not fake news to call out the President when he says something that needs clarification or that sounds, and is, ridiculous.
They believed Republican politicians on ObamaCare and were so deceived didn’t even realize it was the same thing as the ACA which they love and saves theirs and their children’s lives.
Just last week, they believed a story of a terrorist attack in Sweden, and two weeks before followed the Bowling Green Massacre which didn’t only never happened, what did happen or almost happen in Kentucky was misrepresented.
Oversight Committee Chairman Chaffetz is still investigating Clinton’s emails (newly investigating) while ignoring the Russian interference and General Flynn’s involvement is incompetence. Or malfeasance. He’s complaining about a national park 0office adding a space for a brochure for a monument that the national park wants as part of its system because he thinks they have prior knowledge. Has this guy ever heard of wishful thinking or dream/mood boards or visualization techniques?
They’re going out of their way to ignore Trump’s behavior when they went out of their way to obstruct Obama. Currently, the Dems are just trying to do their jobs, which is something the Republicans have ignored (and should be docked pay for) for eight years.
Racism much?
So, how do we protect ourselves and get the right information?
Use reputable news sources and journalists.
Journalists are not enemies of the people. They are right there in the First Amendment, the one that makes the others possible.
If you’re a conservative, check out Bill Kristol and David Frum. They are strong conservatives and consistent in their opinions. I personally don’t agree with them for the most part, but they are real news.
Check out my page, We The People. I will continue updating throughout this Administration as I find new reliable sources. If you have any suggestions on how to combat this fake news phenomenon, please comment here so I can vet them and add them to the page
I spent half an hour on Sunday night writing about a free press. It was a little bit ranty, but it was a first draft. Before book and bed, I went to Facebook to catch up on my friends, and my entire feed was filled with Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes.
As a writer, it pains me to say that sometimes others can say what you are trying to say better than you could possibly, and that happened Sunday night. Meryl Streep was right on track with what I wanted to say, only much more eloquently than I could say it. I will still try my hand, and I will include a video of Meryl and a transcript of what she said.
Before anything else, I would like to note that the President-Elect responded exactly how predicted, on Twitter, in the early hours of the morning, and with name-calling. It is easy to dismiss this simply as a child’s ravings, but unfortunately, this man is not a child; in a few short days he will be the President of the United States.
His response to any kind of criticism is through mocking, name-calling, and falsehood. This needs to stop, and if it doesn’t stop, it needs to be called out at every turn where it affects our rights, most especially our Bill of Rights, and our First Amendment, the one that makes all the other ones possible.
The First acknowledges and legally supports our speech, our gatherings, our independent and free press, and our religion. There is no minimum age or maximum age on it. It is there for everyone, with few, very few, exceptions.
Benjamin Franklin was a member of the press. As was Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Matthew Brady, and in our modern days, Edward R. Murrow and Woodward and Bernstein. Without the Press, there may have never been a Revolution or Constitution at all, beginning with Broadsheets to Weeklies to Dailies to Television News. Without the Press, there would have been no Nixon resignation, no disclosure of Iraq’s lack of weapons or the change from the Soviet Union back to Russia.
The Press must stand alone and independent.
Yes, ther eis a place for pundits and punditry, opinions, and editorials, but in all of that, the truth must be adhered to.
Post-truth simply means untruths.
Facts are not negotiable. You can agree or not, but you can’t change them. We can’t pretend that they don’t exist.
Since becoming President-Elect, Mr. Trump has tweeted, his primary source of communication, and in tweeting, he has caused three multibillion dollar American companies to lose more than two billion dollars because of impulsive and untrue things he’s said. He’s caused a rift with China, and through his words encouraged them to take one of our technological properties in international waters. They’ve lodged a formal complaint. He’s taken the sides of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and Alex Jones (a crackpot if ever I saw one, but of course that’s only my opinion) over the NSA and the Intelligence community that the rest of us understand to be professionals and nonpartisan. He’s continued his personal attacks on television programs and personalities, last night’s being the last egregious. He called Meryl Streep overrated. Now, I can guarantee, ven not knowing her that this does not bother her. She’s been called worse by better, I’m sure, and certainly overratedness is an opinion, but really? Meryl Streep? Overrated? I’m not sure that’s an accurate assessment of not only her acting ability, but her personal decorum and behavior.
We, as citizens of this country, and the Press need to call it out when their hypocrisy takes over.
On The Walking Dead, the character of Rick was admonishing his barely a teenager son by telling him, “Don’t Talk. Think.” I made it into an art project actually. Perhaps someone should tell the President-Elect, “Don’t Tweet. Think.” It would help the rest of us who just want to survive the next four years intact.
Supporting the Press isn’t just reading and taking sides. It’s also promoting their investigative journalism even when it goes against our own opinions. It is also donating to groups like the one Meryl Streep suggested, the Committee to Protect Journalists as well, I would suggest as the ACLU. It is also subscribing to news organizations, print newspapers and magazines like The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic.
The Free Press needs to remain independent in order to be free.
Note: Before inauguration day, I will have a new page with links that will highlight news sources, journalists, and organizations meant to keep the checks and balance on the new Administration and the GOP led Congress. Most are nonpartisan. If there is an opinion/editorial writer or organization, I hope to label it as such.
Transcript of Meryl Streep’s Acceptance Speech (provided by Entertainment Weekly):
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 