Quick Takes (v69): The Wrong Apology

Hmm... 

Some of the folks at Fox News seemed surprised that the newly-released videos of Paul Pelosi being attacked with a hammer showed, um, Paul Pelosi being attacked with a hammer.  

Here's the scoop from the folks at Mediaite:

Harris Faulkner, the host of Outnumbered, apologized after the footage aired without a 'graphic content' warning.

"The producers are apologizing to me, but I want to apologize to you,” Faulkner said immediately after airing the footage. “We had no idea what that was going to look like and that should have had a warning and a graphic warning before we showed it and then on screen.”

"We had no idea what that was going to look like." Seriously? 

Pelosi's attack and injuries were widely reported; Faulkner's network covered it, from every conceivable angle (and a few inconceivable ones), for days after it happened, with its usual level of seriousness and respect. Of course, I'm kidding about that last part; I'm sure you can imagine how the coverage went. 

Not only that, but before Faulkner's show aired, the network had already shared the video under this headline.  

If that wasn't enough of a clue, the article states that the video is "of the" attack, and it included commentary on what the footage included. There was also a little back-patting.

Fox News was among the news organizations pushing for the release of the videos.

Clearly, the video should never have been shown without a strongly worded warning'  -Faulkner was right to apologize for that. I think Fox should apologize for showing it at all - there's no 'news value' in it. Unless, of course, the intention was to prove how wrong the network's earlier coverage was. 

And by earlier, I mean as recently as just a couple of days ago.  

That would be an apology worth hearing.  

Wondering on Wednesday, 6/15/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

So, what's wonder-full tonight? 

The folks over at Fox Entertainment continue beating the drum about the 'assassination attempt' on Justice Bret Kavanaugh and how, if he were a liberal instead of a conservative, the Dems and the media would be apoplectic over the whole thing. That was one of the featured topics of a Fox News Sunday interview this week., in case you missed it.

That got me wondering how the network covered the 'workup' on Justice Sonia Sotomayor the FBI found when investigating Roy Den Hollander, the man who killed the son of a federal judge in New Jersey a while back in 2020. 

Would you be surprised that I found only one article about that threat, which is the same number of articles as there were about Justice Sotomayor's children's book, and about her mangled pronunciation of the vice president's name? You shouldn't be. 

We've got another January 6th Committee hearing tomorrow; it was postponed from today to allow the team to get the multi-media presentation ready. Rep Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said the postponement "is not a big deal. It's just technical issues." and that's fine. I mean, it's not like someone was having a baby or anything; that happened with Monday's hearing, when former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien had to miss his in-person testimony when his wife went into labor. 

We did get to hear from fired Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt, who was in on the decision on election night, when Fox was first to call Arizona for Donald Trump. "We were able to make a call early. We were able to beat the competition" he testified. Not only that, but as Deadline reported, 

After Nov. 7, when networks called the race for Biden, Stirewalt said, Trump’s chances of winning were “none,” barring something totally unexpected from happening. He said that Trump was “better off to play the Powerball” than betting he would win the election.

And, there's this 

Stirewalt said that they “knew it would be significant” calling the state, but “we already knew Trump’s chances were very small and getting smaller” based on the data they saw. 

So, what's the wondering on this? First, did anyone get Trump a Powerball ticket? Did he win anything? And finally, is anyone surprised that the guy from Fox was bragging about beating the competition?

What else? Well, there were some primaries yesterday, and there were some Trump-endorsed candidates who lost (but not many) and some who won, including all the races in Nevada where Trump made an endorsement. And, Sarah Palin will be one of four candidates moving ahead to the special election to finish the term of the late Rep. Don Young, who passed away in March. 

What's fascinating about the Alaska votes this year? It's not Palin; it's that Alaska moved to ranked choice voting this year. And if you're wondering, here's what it means: 

The special primary, where voters chose one of 48 candidates on the ballot, was Saturday; the special general, where voters will rank the top four candidates from the primary, is set for Aug. 16. 

Simultaneously, two more elections — a regular primary and general — are scheduled to elect Alaska’s member of Congress for the next full two-year term, which starts in January. The regular primary election is scheduled for Aug. 16, on the same day and same ballot as the special general. That means voters will be asked to rank the four candidates in the special election, then pick one of 31 candidates in the regular primary. 

The regular general election, where voters will rank the top four of the 31 candidates, is Nov. 8.

Now, I'm a fan of ranked choice voting; it was used in the NYC elections last year, but the rest of our state doesn't have the option, and I wish we did. I don't relish having to choose from over 30, or over 40 candidates for a single race, but being able to send someone to office who earns at least 50% of the vote would be a treat. I wonder, how do the rest of you feel about ranked choice voting? Have you used it? Do you want to? Drop me a message or leave a comment.

Finally, on tonight's broadcast of ABC's World News Tonight, David Muir repeatedly mentioned that Dolly Parton had done something newsworthy. He had it in his opening 'here's what we're talking about tonight" segment, and teased it at every break. When it was finally the last minute of the broadcast, we got the scoop: Parton had donated $1M to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "I love children..." Parton said; and we love you, Muir said, to close the show.  

Parton's great, Muir's the host of "the most watched show on all of television" so, what's to wonder about on this? Going back to the first story in the post, and the "fanboy" comment about Kimmel, I can't help asking, is there any more "fanboy" news anchor than Muir?

What's got you wondering tonight?

Wondering on Wednesday 4/13/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Do you think, if people ever got their heads out of Hunter Biden's laptop, they might wonder how on earth Jared Kushner managed to get his hands on $2,000,000,000 of sovereign money from Saudi Arabia for his new private equity fund, called Affinity Partners?

Do you think wonder how Kushner got the investment, against the better judgment of the panel that screens investment opportunities for the Saudi billions, and why that panel was overruled by Jared's WhatsApp messaging friend, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, given these issues:

the "inexperience of the Affinity Fund management"; the possibility that the kingdom would be responsible for “the bulk of the investment and risk”; due diligence on the fledgling firm’s operations that found them “unsatisfactory in all aspects”; a proposed asset management fee that “seems excessive”; and “public relations risks” from Mr. Kushner’s prior role as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, former President Donald J. Trump...

I wonder if any of them ever think about why they're so quick to find fault with inexperienced, unqualified oh-what-a-jerk-he-is Hunter Biden currying favor with other countries while his father was a senator or even when he was vice president, and don't give a MAGA-hat's worth of crap about what Jared is doing now? And may have done before, in his role as an official representative of the United States? 

I wonder why the jerks who get in fights on airplanes because oh-the-horror-they-have-to-wear-a-mask don't just pack their families and their freedom into the SUV and drive to wherever the heck they want to be, instead of getting on a plane in the first place?

I wonder if Mark Meadows regrets saying his official residence was a rusty trailer on Scaly Mountain? He's been removed from the voter rolls in NC, the state where "his" trailer lives, while an investigation is conducted into potential voter fraud. Or, if he at least regrets the 'Scaly Mountain' part?

Lauren Boebert, who represents a couple of people somewhere, I guess, wondered out loud about the recent election in France.

The socialist nation of France held elections today.

In that election there was no mail-in voting, early voting, or use of voting machines.

There was a mandatory proof of ID to vote.

Why can’t we get that basic election security here?

I wonder if she's figured out yet that we can't do here what they do there, because (a) we're not a socialist nation, (b) we don't have one set of election rules that everyone must follow, (c) we don't have automatic voter registration, and (d) she doesn't want us to be or have any of those things?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bused illegal immigrants to Fox News in Washington DC so their 'coming to America' moment could be memorialized for eternity. He also set up state inspections of commercial vehicles crossing the Texas/Mexico border through legal checkpoints in another stunt to draw attention to the border, immigration, and how effective he is as governor, or something. 

He's so effective, he's causing his own set of supply chain issues, much to the dismay of truckers, the Customs and Border Protection folks, the Mexican government and, you know, consumers everywhere. 

Oh - did I mention the truckers blocking the Mexican side, in protest of Abbott's initiative? I wonder if Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Cancun) will go visit the truckers and share their 'Freedom from Stupid Texas Mandates' message with right-wing media outlets? Or was that only good for his home country of Canada?

What are you wondering about tonight?

TGIF 3/12/21

Let's flip things around today, and put the good week stuff on top, shall we?

If you're a fan of nature, pretty colors, cardinals, or things that you'll never see with your own two eyes, this story's for you. Folks in Illinois have spotted a "super-rare" yellow cardinal. How rare, you might be wondering? Well, there are only about a dozen of the gorgeous birds in the entire Eastern US and Canada. You can see the gorgeous bird in the link above. 

Have you ever done something for someone else, every day for 591 days? I can honestly say I haven't. But this guy has: he's been picking up trash on a popular hiking trail in California's Eaton Canyon, a couple of buckets full at a time. And what else is cool? He's going to keep picking up trash, on other trails, until he goes to college - and finds a park there to clean up.

And, there's this: last night, as part of his address marking the anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden strongly condemned hate crimes against Asian-Americans. After saying they've been "attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated" during the pandemic, he said

They've been forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It's wrong. It's un-American, and it must stop.

This is in marked contrast, of course, to Former Guy.

One last bit of good week-iness? Rep. Marcia Fudge was confirmed as HUD Secretary; Judge Merrick Garland was confirmed as Attorney General, and Michael Regan was confirmed as EPA Administrator.

On the bad week side of the ledger?

Florida's Rep. Matt "where's Nestor?" Gaetz and Ohio's Rep. Gym Jordan had a bad week, I think. The American people don't agree with their position on the American Rescue Plan, and neither do Dems in the House majority, who ignored them and passed it anyway. And then - and then - the two of them decided to climb aboard the #FreeBritney movement and ask for an investigation into conservatorships. But then, to make matters worse, an attorney for Britney's father's, (he's the conservator) fired back at the two goofballs in a statement to Fox News, suggesting they don't know what they're talking about. 

My Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, continues to refuse to resign, as calls for him to do that escalate. He called that cancel culture, which I think is a bad idea. Him calling it that, I mean. The latest to pile on? Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. They issued a joint statement calling for him to step down.

Former Guy is in the news again, for the wrong reason again: his acting Secretary of Defense, Chris Miller, said Trump's speech on January 6th was responsible for the insurrection. In an interview with VICE on Showtime, Miller said

Would anybody have marched on the Capitol, and tried to overrun the Capitol, without the president’s speech? I think it’s pretty much definitive that wouldn’t have happened.

Not only that, but he described his tenure as a "constant drumbeat...of potential illegal, immoral, and unethical activities causing him to "closely examine his ethical, moral and legal red lines." 

Geraldo Rivera toyed with the idea of running for office this week. He was exploring a bid for the US Senate seat held by Rob Portman - he's not running for re-election next year. After a whole 36 hours of what he called a "pondering whirlwind" he decided against it, without giving reason on Twitter. However, on TV, he blamed folks at Fox News who challenged him to decide if he's a journalist or a politician. 'None of the above' wasn't a choice, I guess. 

Actor Matthew McConaughey is sorta maybe kinda seriously considering running for governor of Texas next year, and some folks think that's ridiculous. Like this guy, offering his opinion to CNN.

Let me offer him some friendly advice from someone who has spent decades reporting on my state's government: stay out of Texas politics. McConaughey is exactly what the state does not need — someone with great talent in his chosen profession and no known experience in public office or politics. 

Finally, lots of folks in Jackson Mississippi are entering their fourth consecutive bad week. Remember the storm that froze the Texas windmills? Well, that same storm caused millions of folks in Mississippi's capital to lose power, deal with freezing pipes, and, still, broken water mains. From this NPR piece we learn that

Hundreds of residents in Jackson, Miss., are now in week four of a water crisis. Some in the majority-Black capital city still don't have water after last month's winter storm. Others have to boil their water first. 

When's the water coming back on? No one seems to have the answer.

TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday 3/3/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

So, are you wondering about the agreement between President Biden and moderate Dems in the Senate, the one that'll tighten the income requirements for the next stimulus? Honestly, I think it's a good idea, and I don't care if that puts me in the minority. 

The House bill would give the full $1400 payment to individuals who make up to $75K and married couples making up to $150K, a lesser amount for folks earning between $75K -$100K and couples earning between $150K-$200K, and nothing for folks over those higher thresholds. The new plan for the Senate version is the same as the House, except that individuals earning over $80K and couples over $160K wouldn't get anything.

To me, that's progress - and it bodes well for them taking a closer look at other parts of the bill that seem excessive, or that have a razor-thin tie to COVID. 

Also not really drawing wonder from me? Comments by AOC, of the Squad of progressives in the House. Here's what she said, according to the same article above

I don't understand the political or economic wisdom in allowing Trump to give more people relief checks than a Democratic administration. People went far too long without relief last year - if anything, we should be more generous, not more stingy. It's also an insensitive compromise for the roughly 80% of Americans that live in urban areas, which are known for higher costs of living.

Here's the thing I do wonder about, now that AOC is on record with concerns about being sensitive to people in high cost of living areas. How can she be such a proponent of a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour? If you want to talk about being "insensitive," imagine convincing yourself and countless millions of others that it's acceptable to have the same minimum wage in Mississippi, where the 2021 cost of living is 86.1; Arizona, where it's 97; and in New York, where it's 139.1?

Sticking with sensitive people, the poor people at Fox are beside themselves with the insensitivity of Dr. Seuss Enterprises in deciding to stop publishing six books. Here's a chart from the Media Matters gang showing the absurd imbalance in the network's coverage yesterday of three topics: Seuss, COVID vaccines, and testimony about the insurrection on January 6th. 

Now, we know exactly why they're doing this - it's to get our attention away from things that are, you know, actually important - including the ongoing pandemic and anything that might put the network and their conspiracy theories in a bad light - which is exactly what FBI Director  Christopher Wray did.

We have not to date seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th," he said. "That doesn't mean we're not looking, and we'll continue to look, but at the moment we have not seen that.

Wray also noted that there was no evidence that there were "fake Trump supporters" in the mob that stormed the Capitol, as Johnson and others have insinuated.

Now, back to the folks at Dr. Seuss Enterprises; the reason they're choosing to stop publishing the books is because they "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong."  

In And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, for example, a character described as Chinese has two lines for eyes, carries chopsticks and a bowl of rice, and wears traditional Japanese-style shoes. In If I Ran the Zoo, two men said to be from Africa are shown shirtless, shoeless and wearing grass skirts as they carry an exotic animal. Outside of his books, the author's personal legacy has come into question, too — Seuss wrote an entire minstrel show in high school and performed as the main character in full blackface."

Oh - in case you're wondering, it's not "cancel culture" when a company, after a couple of years of review and reconciliation, decides to do something like this. It would be cancel culture if I were a million times more famous than I am, and I called on my millions of followers to, say, stop shopping at Macy's, like Dear Leader did.

Finally tonight, here's the official statement from my Sonofa Gov's website on the recent allegations that he sexually harassed three women, and here is the statement he gave in person today at his COVID press conference.  The second one - the live version, if you will - started out this way:

Now, the lawyers say I shouldn’t say anything when you have a pending review, until that review is over. I understand that; I’m a lawyer too. But I want New Yorkers to hear from me directly on this.

I'm wondering if Gov. Cuomo talked with his daughters about how they would feel if someone his age talked to or acted towards them the way it's alleged he spoke or acted.

If he didn't, I hope he does.

What are you wondering about tonight?

TGIF 2/5/21

What's on tap in today's good week - bad week recap? It's kind of a mixed bag, I'd say. 

Last night, or maybe it was early this morning, the plan to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 that had been included in the Biden administration COVID relief plan was scrapped by the Senate. It happened via voice vote after Iowa's Sen. Joni Ernst (of the 'make them squeal' campaign commercial) put forward a proposal to hold off any increases during the pandemic. That Guy from Vermont, Sen. Bernie Sanders, was OK with the vote, saying he had never sought to raise it during the pandemic anyway. This will undoubtedly make progressives unhappy, which is a hit for the Biden team, but to me it makes sense. 

We got some jobs numbers this week. First, we learned that there were 779,000 new unemployment claims  filed  last week, below projections and more than 30K fewer than the week before, and the lowest week since November. There are now 17.8M people collecting benefits. We also learned that the economy added 49,000 jobs in January, and that the unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, a four-tenths-of-a-percent decrease. These numbers are always tough, and a decoder ring is often necessary to figure out whether it's good news or bad news. I'm choosing to think it's better than bad, and better than December, but less than stellar. 

In the 'who's suing who?' category this week, we've got voting machine technology company Smartmatic dropping a $2.7B lawsuit on Fox News, squawkers Lou Dobbs, Maria "I used to be a respected reporter" Bartiromo, and Judge Jeanine Pirro, as well as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Like the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit (but twice as big), it's all about defamation and lies and unbridled support and promotion of twice impeached former president Donald Trump's claims about the 'stolen' 2020 election. Good week for Smartmatic, maybe, but surely not for the rest of them.

Let's see, what else... Oh, this was eye-opening, and worth giving some attention. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips took to the floor of the House to apologize to people of color - his colleagues, and everyone else - for never really having understood white privilege until the attack on the Capitol last month. I know, that sounds kind of odd, but I encourage you to spend fewer than two minutes listening to what he said, and as much time as needed to contemplate what he said, and to check your own understanding of white privilege.

Moving on to some indisputably good news, how about the ten-year-old Rhode Island boy who, with help from a friend, cleared snow off some 70 cars in the parking lot of the local hospital - because the folks who work there are helping people, so why not help them? Why not, indeed?

Or, how about the 92-year-old Vassar alum who has written her first novella? Sue (Fruchtbaum) Buyer entered college during the polio epidemic, spent her first year in quarantine, and later, after attending journalism school, spent 25 years at the Buffalo News. She started writing after giving up skiing - at age 85!

And, since it's Super Bowl Weekend, I want to leave you with a funny commercial, courtesy of T-Mobile and former-now-current teammates Rob Gronkowski and the GOAT, Tom Brady, 'explaining' how Brady (and Gronk) came to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now, before you get all snarky with me, I'm a Joe Montana fan from way, way back and the Niners are still 'my' team. Last year, they lost to that Mahomes kid and the KC Chiefs, after being outscored 21-0 in the 4th quarter. There's no way I'm going to root for them, no matter who they were playing! 

I d0 have a soft spot for Brady - long story - and I've got to say, I'm incredibly impressed that he's going to be playing in his 10th Super Bowl, and with a whole new team. Sunday, we've got two great quarterbacks, one old enough to be the other one's dad. I'm rooting for the old guy, I am - and for a game as good as this one looks like it could be. We can talk on Monday and see if I'm smiling or not.

TGIF, everyone - hope your week was a good one!

Wondering on Wednesday 1/27/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Where to start the wondering tonight? 

Well, there's that happy little domestic terrorism bulletin today, from the Department of Homeland Security. 

The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin due to a heightened threat environment across the United States, which DHS believes will persist in the weeks following the successful Presidential Inauguration. Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.

Now, DHS goes on to say that a 'bulletin' only "describes current developments or general trends," so there's no new credible threat - but if anyone doesn't believe there is a general trend here,  I wonder where they've been for the past several months, or if they were paying attention today when one of the guys charged in the plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer turned on his co-conspirators and will testify against them.

Ty Garbin, 25, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the kidnapping conspiracy, marking the first conviction in the bizarre case that made national headlines in October. Fourteen men were accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer and discussing plans to attack the state Capitol building and a police facility, and possibly take out Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, too. Prosecutors allege the group, which included several militia group members, were frustrated over strict COVID-19 lockdown orders in Democrat-run states

I wonder how many more of these we'll learn about, through the investigations into the insurrection in DC?

And speaking of the insurrection, yesterday members of the Senate were sworn in to do "impartial justice" as jurors in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. One of them, Kentucky's Sen. Rand Paul, led a failed procedural vote, which is alternately described as a vote to immediately debate the constitutionality of impeaching a president that's already out of office, or declaring that the impeachment is unconstitutional. Either way, 45 Republicans voted with Paul, who declared victory even though his vote failed.  

Also wonder-full was that Mitch McConnell voted with the other Rs on Paul's motion. And, of course, that McConnell was the one who set the schedule for the Senate that precluded them from doing anything with the impeachment until after President Biden's inauguration. I wonder how seriously he wants us to take him for his comments the day before the inauguration. Let's reminisce, shall we? 

The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like. But we pressed on.

"We pressed on." So, let's move on? I guess that what his vote means?

I wonder what House Minority leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy and the #IMPOTUS are going to chat about tomorrow at Mar-a-Lago? Trump is not a Bakersfield, CA resident and so is not one of McCarthy's constituents. And, of course, the former president is just a regular private citizen now, according to Republicans, so what's the need to go and hang with him? 

McCarthy made the news for something else, let's see.  Oh - I remember - an appearance on Fox News - shocking, I know - in which he said that Biden's first week in office (that would be three days, but who's counting) he had done more to benefit Russia and China than the United States. And that 'unity' is what the Rs are working on. Now, there's really nothing there to wonder about - he's being true to form, and Judge Jeannine is also being true to form. 

But the next day, also on Fox, we learn that Biden might be 'upsetting China.'

"Now by putting these more restrictive 'Buy American' policies in place, we are further exacerbating some of the trade problems that we've had," (Brandon Arnold) opined. "It's annoying people to the north, it's annoying other countries."

"We have to tread lightly here," ((host Ainsley) Earhardt agreed. "Because we want companies in America to do well but, also, we need [personal protective equipment] from other countries. Then we don't want to do anything to upset that relationship, maybe with China or someone else -- even though China is such a big threat."

I wonder which one of the shows I should believe? I'm so confused.

The Irony Board: The 'Silenced' on FNC

I can't help laughing at all of the folks on the right who are up in arms about social media companies restricting their 'free speech' and complaining that they are being 'silenced' by Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and others. 

Why laugh, you ask? I only know they're complaining about being silenced because they're going on Fox News and telling everyone about it. 

For example, here's California farmer and Medal of Freedom recipient Rep. Devin Nunes, speaking on Sunday Morning Futures, hosted by Maria Bartiromo on Fox News (emphasis added).

But it's more than the just the financial aspect of that. Republicans have no way to communicate. It doesn't even matter if you're Republican or conservative, if you don't want to be regulated by left-wingers that are at Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, where you get shadow-banned and nobody gets to see you and they get to decide what's violent or not violent, it's preposterous.

Yep - this is Devin 'frivolous lawsuit-filer' Nunes, the guy who sued Twitter because a parody account said mean things about him. But censorship is bad... and he gets to decide what's mean or not... Got it. 

And, the part about having no way to communicate? Saying that on a Fox News Channel (FNC) show, on not just the most-watched conservative network, but on the network that "crushed records and delivered the largest total day and primetime audience among total viewers in cable news history" in 2020, according to the Nielsen folks? Some irony there, right? 

And now, we've got this guy, Rep. Tom Kading, a state legislator from North Dakota, who is following in Nunes' footsteps. Speaking on Fox and Friends earlier today, Kading said he had drafted a bill back in December stating that

social media sites would be liable in a civil lawsuit for damages to a North Dakota resident "whose speech is restricted, censored, or suppressed," as long as it is not "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable."

And, since he introduced the bill, "things have only gotten worse," he said.

I'm frankly shocked at what's happening to our country and censoring does not create unity, it does not help the situation of division in our country, and it does not de-escalate the situation. All it really does is make those who have been silenced dig in deeper and be more suspicious of what's going on.

He's right: censoring doesn't create unity, or de-escalate the situation. Neither does tweeting relentlessly and untruthfully about a stolen election, or that the media are the enemy of the people and everything they report that is not to your liking is fake news, or that everything is beautiful and perfect when the entire universe knows it's not, or that the pandemic is under control, or that those who disagree with you is not a real American, or that people who don't do your bidding deserve to be driven out of office, and so on.  

I'd suggest that suing social media companies also doesn't create unity, or de-escalate things -and, Kading notably doesn't offer anything that does do those things. Not only that, but are social media companies or traditional media companies, including FNC in the unity-creating business anyway

Kading also talked about some other risks.

If a website comes out and selectively publishes information or manipulates true information in order to create a certain desired narrative, this restrictive action can essentially amount to defamation.

And, there's the real irony - the selective publishing, the manipulation of the truth, the defamation he mentions. 

Kading, remember, was talking on Sunday Morning Futures, just one of the FNC shows that had to run a tasty disclaimer - excuse me, a 'fact checking story,' correcting each show's lies.

In a three-minute segment aired on three shows that previously played host to some of the more zany election fraud claims coming from Trump’s advocates—Fox Business’ “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” and Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo’s “Sunday Morning Futures” and Jeanine Pirro’s “Justice with Judge Jeanine”—Fox News appeared to retract allegations made against Smartmatic.

Dominion Voting Systems is not done yet, either; the company also warned Fox and others back in December that legal action is coming. 

Dominion Voting Systems, one of the targets of President Donald Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories about the election that he lost, has warned Fox News, major Fox personalities, other conservative media outlets, radio host Rush Limbaugh and conservative lawyers that defamation litigation against them is “imminent.”

The voting machine company this week has sent 21 letters to the White House, Fox News, its hosts Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, the news outlets Newsmax, One America News Network, Epoch Times and others demanding they stop making defamatory claims about Dominion and that they preserve any documents they have relating to the firm.

Want even more irony? How about a settlement with the family of someone who was disparaged on the network ?

The Fox News Channel has reached a private settlement with the parents of the slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. The network had baselessly reported in May 2017 that Rich leaked thousands of Democratic party emails to Wikileaks during the height of the 2016 presidential campaign. 

The story, reported by Fox News' Malia Zimmerman and retracted seven days later, also suggested without any evidence that Democrats might have been linked to the killing of the 27-year-old Rich, a crime that has not been solved to this day. In response to NPR's questions, a Fox News spokesperson tells NPR that Zimmerman is no longer with the network. 

"The settlement with Fox News closes another chapter in our efforts to mourn the murder of our beloved Seth, whom we miss every single day," Joel and Mary Rich wrote in their statement. "We are pleased with the settlement of this and sincerely hope that the media will take genuine caution in the future."

I don't know about you, but if I was worried about censorship and divisiveness and a lack of unity, I'd probably find a different network to help share my story than the original - and still the best - home of division and loose facts.  

Thoughts on Tonight's Debate

 Poor Chris Wallace.

A week or so ago, he set out the topics for tonight's debate, calling for 15-minute segments to address 

• The Trump and Biden records
• The Supreme Court
• COVID-19
• The Economy
• Race and Violence in our Cities
• The Integrity of the Election

Since then? Well, among other things, 

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away; 
• Trump is rushing to get Amy Coney Barrett confirmed; 
• the NY Times released some of Trump's tax records; 
• Joe Biden and Kamala Harris released their tax records; 
• a judge ordered the census count to continue, and the government is saying they pretty much don't care; 
• there were no police officers charged in the murder of Breonna Taylor; 
• a grand juror has petitioned the court to have the full record released so the people know what really happened; 
• ICE is threatening mass arrests in 'sanctuary cities' starting in California; 
• the NFL has its first COVID outbreak; 
• Disney is said to be laying off 28,000 employees;
• there was a deadly rocket attack in Iraq;
• one million people are dead worldwide from COVID, with the US having over 200,000 of the victims;
• unemployment claims continue higher than expected, even though they're lower than at the peak of the pandemic;
• we don't yet have a new economic stimulus bill;
• Arkansas is threatening to fire teachers who refuse to teach in-person classes, and
• one million people have already voted in the presidential election.

Meanwhile, the drinking game boards are set, and everyone's on edge wondering whether they're going to last through the full hour and a half debate, given the chances they'll be a few sheets to the wind after the first topic.

The larger questions? 

• Is anyone watching to learn, or just to have fun? 
• Will either candidate even answer a question, much less answer it fully and factually? 
• Will anyone actually talk about policy, or will it be just a bunch of malarkey? 
• Will any votes change as a result of the debate? 
• Will the debates encourage people to vote, or have them running screaming into the woods and far, far away from their polling places or mail-in ballots? 
• Does anyone think there's really any value in having these darn things, anyway?

Oh -- what's your beverage of choice? Wine? Beer? Or, maybe this is more your style?

I'll see you tomorrow for some post-debate rambling. 

Wondering on Wednesday (v206)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

What's got me wondering tonight? Here's just a sampling.

Do you wonder if Rand Paul and Tucker Carlson got together and decided to tag-team Dr. Fauci, or was it an incredible coinkydink that they both hit out within such a short period of time? Honestly, at any moment I half expected either one of them to shout "You're not the boss of me!" in Fauci's direction, Carlson in particular. 

Now, I realize that things have changed over the course of the pandemic, and what's happening on the ground now is not the same was was happening on the ground back in January; heck, I'd have to wonder about anyone who didn't realize that. The data have changed, the projections have changed, the guidance - and guidelines - have changed, and they'll likely continue to do so. But for Carlson to say that Fauci stuff was 'buffoon-level' was, well, pretty ridiculous, even for someone on Fox. Can't wait to see how the rest of this plays out, and how the other 'buffoon-level' talking heads handle it. 

Speaking of Fox News, I see they've taken Tara Reade off their banner, after she was right there, front and center, for a long time. I wonder why they've moved on?  If you're wondering who or what replaced her, have no fear - I've got you covered.  Here's the old banner, and the new.

What else is going on? 

I wonder if the folks who have been so upset about criminals being released from prison because of the coronavirus  threat are upset about Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, and Michael Avenatti being released for that reason? And, if there is outrage, will those three get the same share of it? 

I listened to a little bit of the Supreme Court hearing on citizen Donald Trump's taxes. I was happy that there were no random toilet-flushing noises when I was listening - and I still wonder whether the flushing that was heard  during one of the earlier virtual sessions was Brett Kavanaugh 'breaking the seal," as it were. I did get to hear Clarence Thomas ask a question, too; I wonder if he likes the cases, or if he likes the format? Thomas, you may know, once went 10 years, three years, and one year without asking any questions from the bench. 

And now, let's close it out with some good news, shall we? Here are two wonderful stories for you.

• A while back - in March, actually - a Kansas farmer sent an N-95 mask to my Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, with a note asking the gov to make sure the mask got to a doctor or nurse working to treat COVID-19 patients. Cuomo told the story at one of his daily press briefings. As often happens with stories like this, things snowballed, the farmer got some unwanted fame, and ended up having a dream of his lifetime come true. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a good one.   

• We've seen incredible pictures of how the environment is healing as people around the world shelter in place, factories stop kicking up tons of pollution, airlines limit flights, and so on. An Australian diving tour company, normally busy with tourists, has instead been busy planting coral on the Great Barrier Reef since their country shut down tourist activity. 

And let's wonder what else people will be inspired to do, to try, to give to others, as we continue down this crazy road. 

What are you wondering about?

Wondering on Wednesday (v200)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

So, what's on your mind tonight?  Are you wondering about the coronavirus pandemic? You know, the one about which the president said. 

I've always known this is a real - this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.

He might have known it was a pandemic, and he might have felt it was a pandemic, but he sure as heck didn't say anything about it being one. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Barry Rubin of The Bulwark put together this video showing us just what the president was telling us all this time he had those feelings. No need to wonder why he never said anything - it wouldn't have put him in a good light - and as the video shows, he'd give himself a perfect 10 for how he's handled this.

I should note that at least they've changed the podium used for the president's press briefings, so every speaker doesn't have to adjust the microphones to talk. But the task force members are still standing right next to each other, some of them are still touching the sides of the podium, and of course Trump lurks next to whoever's at the podium the entire time. Which is even more odd when you see that the reporters have been separated by an empty chair or two, allowing them to practice the social distancing that the task force is literally begging us to follow.

But the big news from the perfect 10 response? Mar-a-Lago will FINALLY close, after being a hot spot of sorts with several positive tests for the virus among attendees of various events. Here's a note about this from the Palm Beach Post.

...Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach has notified members it will close its restaurant and spa and cancel aerobics classes starting Thursday in response to health concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak.

I wonder if he decided to close now because he thought it was a pandemic a long time ago?  Or because he thinks it would be poor form to keep it open while he's telling the rest of us to stay home? Although, I must add, many Florida beaches are still open for spring break, so maybe he's just keeping up with the Joneses.

Some other wonderings, starting with them Dems.

• Papa Joe Biden won the primaries yesterday - Arizona, Illinois, and Florida, picking up another 281 delegates to That Guy from Vermont's 140.  Biden is now up by nearly 300 delegates, and right now we don't really know what to expect going forward as far as potential impact from the pandemic. I wonder if any other governors will do what Ohio's Mike DeWine did - declare a public health emergency and postpone their primaries for a month or nearly three? 

• For his part, TGFV is having to take a look at what his options are, if there are any, and he'll have to wonder whether it's worth it to continue. The margins of victory from yesterday's votes - 11.9% in Arizona, 23% in Illinois, and a whopping 39% in Florida - seem to suggest there's little hope left, but we'll see what happens. 

• Maybe the best thing he can do is to inspire others to attack the "establishment" Dems, get them out of the way, and then let AOC run for president in '24 or '28... and now I'm wondering if maybe that's the plan she's been working towards all along, since it was reported she wasn't all that interested in helping out the Vermonter's campaign when he needed her most?

Meanwhile, Fox News was happy to report, president Trump clinched the Republican nod Tuesday night. I wonder, does anyone even remember who was running against him?

In not-political news, Tom Brady has announced his career as a New England Patriot is over, and he's up for grabs. The problem is not a lot of teams want to grab him - looks like he's going to end up with the Tampa Bay Bucs (probably the most likely outcome) or the Los Angeles Chargers (I think the only other team that's still remotely interested. So, what's the wondering?

Well, for starters, why does he want to keep playing, at this stage of the game? 20 years, six Super Bowl wins, the Greatest of All Time, etc. etc. etc. And then, on the flip side, if you're Tom Brady, would you be able to resist the chance to turn around a team that only won seven games last season?

Elsewhere in the sports world, there's good news to report from the NBA, particularly in how some of the players are responding to the league's suspension of play.  As we learn in this CBS Sports article, a number of the guys have stepped up to assist others in need. One of them is New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson, a 19-year-old kid, who is paying the salaries of all the folks who work at the Smoothie King Arena for 30 days.

Why, you wonder, might he do that? Because, he said, his mom "has always set an example for me about being respectful for others and being grateful for what we have." Good for her, good for him, and good for everyone who's doing things large and small to help others during these crazy times.  

Poll Watch: Impeachment Sentiment

As the full House of Representatives prepares to vote on impeaching president Trump, let's take a look at a couple of recent polls, which may or may not be more reliable than the snarky social media comments I've been seeing.

First, a Fox News poll, which was taken December 8-11. Here's the small print stuff: 1000 registered voters were surveyed via randomly selected landline (221 people) and cellphone (779) numbers which were proportionally distributed across states to align with the number of each state's voters. The margin of error is +/- 3%.

Here's the down and dirty: 89% are following the inquiry closely, and

• 50% believe Trump should be impeached and removed from office; 46% do not. Of those who do not, 82% think he shouldn't be impeached at all, while 9% think impeachment - but not removal from office - is the right thing to do. 

On the president's behavior?

• 53% believe he has abused the powers of his office; 50% believe he has obstructed justice;  48% believe he has obstructed Congress, and 45% believe he has committed bribery;
• 60% do not believe it's appropriate for a president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival; and.
• 47% believe he held up military aid to Ukraine to pressure them to investigate his political rival, and 58% believe that is not something that presidents typically do.

And, on Congress?

• 49% say the Democrats really believe that Trump did something impeachable, while 43% believe they are simply trying to hurt him politically, while
• 36% say the Republicans really believe Trump didn't do anything impeachable, while 52% believe they are simply trying to protect him politically. 

Next, we have a WaPo-ABC News poll, conducted December 10-15. Small print stuff: This one was also a phone survey, with 1,003 adults responding,  70% of whom were reached via cell and 30% via landline. The margin of error is +/- 3.5%.

In this poll, where 62% of respondents have been following the impeachment inquiry closely,

• 49% say the president should be impeached and removed from office, 46% say no; these are within the margin of error for the survey; and
• regardless of how respondents feel about impeachment, 51% say that Congress should censure him, while 42% say no. 

On the president's behaviors?

• 49% believe he improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son;
• 53% disapprove of how he's handled the impeachment inquiry;
• 49% believe he tried to interfere in the impeachment inquiry; and
• 71% say Trump should allow his top aides to testify in the Senate

And on Congress?

• 49% disapprove of the way the Democrats have handled the inquiry;
• 52% disapprove of the way the Republicans have handled it;
• 55% think the hearings have been fair to the president; and
• 62% believe he will get a fair trial in the Senate 

And, sometime later today, we'll have the answer on the two articles of impeachment from the House, and then if all goes as expected, we'll have a limited, very partisan trial in the Senate come January. 

Oh -- on those social media comments I referenced at the top of the post? From my feeds,a significant majority - I'd peg it at 85% or better -  of the people commenting on impeachment-related posts are more interested in denigrating their fellow Americans than they are in discussing impeachment.  

See you later for Wondering on Wednesday. 

Sunday School 7/7/19

I visited two classrooms today, Face the Nation on CBS and Fox News Sunday on the Trump News Network. In both cases, the guest I was interested in hearing was Ken Cuccinelli. He's the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services - they're the folks who decide who can legally come into the country.

Cuccinelli has not been officially nominated to his role, and so has not had any Senate committee confirmation hearings; he's been on the job only since June, but he has a record as an immigration hard-liner and of defending the president on television, so I would presume he's one of those 'only the best people' people. Hopefully, we might be able to find out if that's the case.

On Fox News Sunday, Dana Perino was sitting in for the "anti-Conservative" Chris Wallace (that according to a social media comment I saw earlier today), and asked about the citizenship question on the census. Cuccinelli said he thinks the question will be on the census, adding

I think the president has expressed determination. He's noticed the Supreme Court didn't say this can't be asked, They said they didn't appreciate the process by which it came forward the first time. So the president is determined to fix that, and to have it roll forward in the 2020 census. 

Perino had played the tape of the president stating his new favorite reason for adding the question, since the Supremes shot down the fake "protect the Voting Rights Act" nonsense the administration tried the first time. Here's what Trump said the other day.

You need it for Congress for redistricting. You need it for appropriations. Where are the funds going? How many people are there? Are they citizens? Are they not citizens? You need it for many reasons.

When asked if there was any kind of legal concern the president's statement given that the big question is why they wanted to ask it in the first place, Cuccinelli said

Well, and I think the answer is there are many reasons. He listed a few there, starting with the one you mentioned. But it isn't -- it isn't the only one. There are lots of reasons. For my agency, distribution of work can be considered. I mean, there's all sorts of other things. Right now, we are redistricting our workload among our district offices and our regional offices to level that workload and as it shifts around the country we shift, and knowing where that work is coming from is helpful.

Perino stated, without offering any evidence, "I know that there are some groups that have been trying to help people who are here illegally to be able to not be found by our government," which Cuccinelli referred to as 'harboring.' Perino wondered if the raids could be successful it people knew the feds were coming for them. Cuccinelli said that was a potential threat to officer safety. And, he said,

And the president commented, I don't call these raids, I would agree with him. This is just what ICE is supposed to do. The fact that we've fallen to the point where we're talking about it like it's news tells you how far we have fallen in the enforcement side. I mean, it's the most violated federal court order in America. 

OrangeVerse XLV: Cities and Their State

The president chatted with his Number Two, Tucker Carlson, the other night - Sean Hannity must have been off working on policy papers with Jared, or something.

Carlson got things going,talking about cities they'd seen on the trip to the G-20, with no graffiti, no one going to the bathroom on the street, no junkies. And how that was "very different" from our cities. The president corrected him, saying "some of our cities." Carlson and Trump agreed it was "sad" about cities like New York, San Francisco,  and Los Angeles.

And it is - there's no question about that. We do have issues with homelessness, and drugs, in many cities large and small, in the suburbs, and perhaps even more critically, in rural areas where there are even fewer services available than in our cities.

Where it got poetic, though, was when the president ruminated on why it is that American cities have this kind of issue.

It's On Me

It's a phenomena 

that started two yeas ago.

It's disgraceful.

Seriously Maybe Important

I'm gonna maybe

and I'm looking at it

very seriously,

we're doing some

other things

as you've probably noticed

like some of the

Very Important Things

we're doing now.

Can't Have That

But we're looking at it

Very Seriously

because you can't do that. 

You can't have what's happening

where Police Officers are

getting sick by

just walking the beat.

I mean

they're actually

Getting. Very. Sick.

In Sickness and Mental Health

Where people are getting sick

where the people are

living in hell, too.

Although some of them

have mental problems

where they don't even know

they're living that way.

In fact, perhaps,

they like living that way.

Oh Wait - Maybe It's Not On Me?

They can't do that.

We cannot ruin our cities.

And you have people

that work in those cities.

They work in office buildings

and to get into the building

they have to walk through a scene

that nobody would have believed

possible three years ago.

And this is the liberal establishment.

Fight. Fight. Fight

This is what I'm fighting.

They - I don't know

if they're afraid of votes? 

I don't know 

if they really believe

this should be taking place.

But it's a terrible thing

that's taking place. 

The Situation Room

And we maybe

you know - I had a situation

when I first became president.

We had certain areas of

Washington DC where

that was starting to happen

and I ended it

Very Quickly. 

I said "you can't do that"

when we have leaders of the world

coming in to see the president

and they're riding down a highway

they can't be looking at that. 

I really believe

it hurts our country.

The West Coast Has The Sunshine

San Francisco, I own

property in San Francisco

so I don't care except

that it was

so beautiful.

And now areas

that you used to think of being,

so, you know, being really

Something Very Special,

you take a look

at what's going on

with San Francisco it's terrible. 

Checking Our Equipment

So we're looking at it

Very Seriously

We may intercede.

We may do something

to get that whole thing

cleared up. 

It's inappropriate.

We have to take the people

and do something.

We have to do something.

And you know

we're not really very equipped

as a government

to be doing that kind of work.

That's not really

the kind of work

the government should be doing.

We've never had this

in our lives before

in our country. 

Nope, Definitely Not On Me!

At the same time

most of our cities

are doing great.

But if you look at

some of these,

they are usually sanctuary cities

run by Very Liberal People

and the states are

run by Very Liberal People.