Uvalde - Everyone Seems to have a Piece of the Blame

 I don't want to come down too hard on the Uvalde police for several reasons. I do not know all the facts, and the police have really been taking it on the chin since all the defunding movements. Their morale must be at rock bottom and fear of doing the wrong thing is always looming. However, I'd seriously look at the training they're getting.

That being said, there is a reason for raised eyebrows.  Since when do police run from a fight?  Why didn't they try to get into the school through windows or other means instead of waiting for backup? Especially when children were involved? That's only one question that has popped into my mind.

Why were there so many conflicting stories from those who should have been in the know?

I can almost give the teachers a pass because they weren't expecting what happened and fear and adrenaline can confuse. However, relaxing procedures and blocking open a door when in a crisis might indicate the lack of instilling those procedures over and over until they become so habitual fear cannot overcome them.

Politicians were, as usual, over the top in politicizing the incident. The media was too quick to report without verifying information. Again, nothing new.

Man, there's a lot of blame to go around. I'm thinking it's time for an entire societal reset in this country.  From child safety to mental health issues in our kids - and adults for that matter - policing and first and foremost, intelligent leadership.  Less time spent on the right to use gender pronouns that aren't real and more time looking at why parents are not welcome in the classroom,  why questionable subjects can be underhandedly pursued, and why suddenly it's okay for biological men to compete in sports as women. Which they are not. Period.

Uvalde is an example of what happens when what's important is allowed to slide into apathy and complacency by those who should be monitoring it. I'd say it is a small example because it's a small town, but that's not true. It's huge. Twenty-one people are dead. Nineteen children. It's huge.

When Did Not Growing Up Become Acceptable?

Never in my ever shortening life have I seen so many supposed adults acting like self-indulgent children.  It isn't just Donald Trump though he certainly seems to be leading the parade.

It's truly frightening to see how many people close to my own age are indulging themselves in this new pattern of behavior.  Look at some that surround Trump.  Rudy Giuliani for instance.  He just cannot bring himself to keep his mouth shut.  Of course I guess it's difficult when one's foot is usually in it.

It amazes me that these people don't see themselves in those they excoriate. The Democratic leadership for example.  The word positive is no longer in their vocabulary.  From Schumer to Pelosi, every word uttered spells doom and gloom. It gets worse with members of the Black Caucus.  How can people be so filled with hate?
Let's not forget Hillary who has yet to admit that she might be at least minutely responsible for her own loss.

Then the media.  The histrionics displayed daily on MSNBC and CNN in particular make me wonder why these people aren't given downers before being allowed on air.  The FOX personalities are no better.  Dobbs gets apoplectic on a nightly basis as do Hannity and Ingraham.  Man, it's exhausting trying to watch them - never mind that its the same stories ad nauseum day in and day out.

Let's not forget the FBI and Mueller and the invisible Department of Justice.  They are so intent in getting a free ride to the tune of millions of tax payer money they've forgotten what justice is supposed to be about.

All of them, every last one of them is acting like an over indulged child who knows there will be no consequences.  That is because we have no recourse since they have exempted themselves from consequences that would put the rest of us in jail.

At one time I thought I'd see my generation coming to the fore and bringing back a standard of honesty and decency but my generation's front men are among the most egregious offenders!

I don't blog so much any more because it's painful. I barely read or watch the news for the same reason. I have never seen our nation in such a precarious state.  The athletes kneeling during the national anthem don't get it's the wrong protest for what should be a legitimate cause.  Our politicians can no longer bring themselves to be pragmatic.  The media either no longer knows how or just doesn't care to be objective any more.

So I wait and hope the pendulum on the old clock isn't totally beyond repair and will soon begin to swing back toward the center. Perhaps the mid-terms will be an indication but I fear this ship of state is going to take some time to right itself.  I'd like to be here to see it.  I probably won't.

And you know what?  The child within needs to stay there.  Within.

Hey Media - The NW Is Having A Natural Disaster Too!

Hey media types, there's stuff going on elsewhere you know!

I mean this in no way to diminish the destruction of hurricane Harvey and the human suffering it has wrought but I'm a little tired of seeing it 24/7 when other areas of the country are suffering their own natural disasters.

We are in a severe drought in my neck of the woods.  We've had no rain since late June and everything is parched beyond belief.  And burning.  It has been going on for months.  Not days or weeks - months! The air quality is horrible - often dangerous.  Your throat and eyes burn, everything smells of smoke.  The sun and moon are blood red in the haze.  When you can see them.

Occasionally a dry thunder storm blows through and it's lightening starts up a whole new batch of fires.  Fronts come through with their breezes and spread them. The map to the upper left shows the active fires as of today in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and beyond.  There is no relief in sight for at least the next week and temperatures are hovering in the 90s and higher in many places. Imagine fighting those blazes with the required gear and clothing.  One must have a tolerance for heat, that's for sure. And yes, those responders are every bit the heros as those on the Gulf Coast.

Yes.  People are losing their homes, towns are being evacuated, livestock and wild life are burning to death. Our forests and farmslands are being decimated. What assets that are available all go to fighting the fires which won't be totally out until snow flies - if it flies.

Now understand, out here in the west this is an annual occurrence.  Every summer we burn yet we see little in the national media about it.  I see no celebrities nor sports stars contributing big bucks nor organizing fund raisers for those afflicted.  It affects the people in these areas no less than the flooding in Texas.

Maybe Congress would increase the fire fighting budget if they did.  It's totally depleted.  There are no more fire crews.  The fire season is no where near being over.

So how 'bout it media guys?  Give our plight some attention too.  You'll find the people no less thankful, the hospitality just as gracious and even the countryside, what's left of it, quite beautiful.

We could use the exposure too.  We aren't east coast centric so it's more difficult to get the word out. So, in that spirit - HELP!!!

The D.C. Bubble is Larger Than I Thought

For years, especially during political campaigns, the media laments the "Bubble" that is Washington.  What they don't do is include themselves as part of it.

It is, I suppose, because they are of the same ilk as the "left".  How that came about I'm not sure but I'm guessing it comes from the powers that employ them.  Toe the line or you're gone.  Just like the Robert Lee episode at ESPN.  My goodness, a man named Robert Lee, an Asian American (Chinese), was pulled from calling a University of Virginia game for fear of offending...who?  Please!

Even Mr. Lee was complicit by agreeing without protest because of the of ridicule on social media. Really?

Where did all this political correctness, as it's called, come from?  And fear to defy it?  Which generation spawned it? I'd like to think it was not mine.  I think perhaps it's the one following ours,  the Boomers. I have to ask if it has permeated all of society or just those with nothing better to do with their time? Regardless, it has gone way too far.

When a Catholic school in Anselmo, CA removes or covers it's statuary of Jesus, Mary and others to appear more inclusive it has gone nuts. "Appear" is the key word here.  In fact it won't change the stance of the Catholic church's beliefs one iota.

Today I read that some are criticizing the shoes Melania Trump is wearing in Texas. What's she supposed to wear, waders?  To show support for the rescue crews?  Come on.

I also read Congress is digging in it's heels on relief funding.  This has to be coming from the leadership since Congress as a whole is still on vacation.

Fortunately there are those who are paying little attention to all this non-sense unless they are directly affected.  Where I live we're dealing with a severe drought and fire season. My acquaintances who write blogs are concentrating a lot on their own issues - a lot about health of either themselves or loved ones.  They are surprisingly educational and inspiring and in no way convey self pity. I can't say the same for some of the younger generations.

As the days pass the news cycles remain stalled in mostly childish political drivel.  The pols are trying to position themselves for another run for office.  The media hoaxsters are busy trying to keep the waters roiled and doing a good job of it.  Our man/child President is proving himself the perfect oxymoron.

I'd like to think they are all hurting no one other those that keep company in that unbreakable bubble. I guess we'll find out when a new crop of challengers make themselves known.  We need them to be armed with pins to burst that bubble. Maybe enforce they could succeed.  Actually now would be a good time.  They could be washed away with the other devastation that will wash to sea with the Texas flood waters.

Media - Just Quit It!

Boy, do I have a headache!  No, nothing like a brain tumor though it might be less painful.  It's from watching too much news.  Old story, isn't it?

I have a cure in mind, however.  It will never happen but when I get these bright ideas I like to share them.  This is for both the main stream media and FOX News.  Quit!  Just quit covering government all together.  They aren't doing anything anyway.

Just look at the health care mess.  Tell us when something positive happens.  Otherwise ignore Congress.  Did it ever occur to you that the reason why Congress holds so many hearings is because it gives them an excuse to not legislate?  Why do they have to investigate every little tit and giggle as a potential crime when they know it isn't?  Because they then don't have to do anything else because they don't have the time.  Those vacations, you know.

Then there's the administration.   Stop already.  You are reporting fake news about this hapless bunch and you know it.  Collusion is not against the law, besides both parties are equally guilty of the practice so quit trying to make a story out of it.  Donald is going to continue being the man/child he has always been.  He loves the attention it gets him and you all in the media just feed into it by reporting every Tweet.  Give it up.  You're not winning anyone over to your side.  You just keep alienating.  Is that your intent?  If so, quit it!

I no longer have any idea what is true and what is not in the jumble of mixed messaging.  I never thought being in the "middle" meant trying to figure out where the truth lies.

Not that I've been missed, but this is why my posting has become nil.  Actually I miss it but that takes me back to subject matter.  I found trying to be positive about a failing organization might help but the organization is still failing and I'm no longer with them.

My time has been spent trying to do my share of keeping up our 5 acres.  At our age it's no easy task. We're in the yard by 7:30 or 8 and shot by eleven.  So much for stamina.  Of course we use heat as an excuse and there is some merit to that but I'm not sure how much.

Oh well, if I ponder long enough I may come up with something.  There is beauty in this world of ours.  The last two nights we could get a rare glimpse of the northern lights.  I didn't make it to mid-night but those who did had some spectacular photos.

I've never tired of photographing our yard birds.  Yesterday it was a pair of baby Robins trying to earn their wings in between stints of trying to decimate my raspberry crop.  At that they are succeeding.

My headache feels better now.  I've an errand to run before dinner.  By the time I get home the local news may be on and I can catch the weather.  By the time dinner is over the news will be too and FOX will not be on the agenda.

So.  What shall we talk about now?

Thankful For What?

As we head full steam toward Thanksgiving Day I know I have a lot to be thankful for.  I'm still here for one.  I have my husband , my home, family and friends.  There is always food on the table and warmth in the house.  And this is still the best country in the world. God help us remain so.

But will we? I have never known so many otherwise intelligent, thinking people behaving so poorly than what I'm witnessing these days.  Forget about the bad behavior copy cats and kids who think it's cool, or whatever their rationale may be.

It's bad enough people are requiring safe rooms, therapy dogs and coloring books to cope with election results; even worse is the continuing misrepresentation of quotes by the media and the cruelness, yes cruelness, shown toward our newly elected leaders and their families.

What is wrong with this country?  How have we gotten to this point?  It's apparent if only one can be objective.  One side has decided they know what is best for everyone and choose not to cope with those who disagree.  Rather than having a discussion we get sullen lectures then threat.  We have a President on his farewell tour around the world doing his best to negate his successor's presidency before it even gets started.  People are openly mocking Melania Trump.  What's that all about?  The media is not changing it's spots nor do I expect it will.

What I do know is that I hope Trump continues to pick strong people for his cabinet and once in the White House he has a tremendously successful tenure. As my husband often says, "Don't get mad, get even."  Well, what better way than to have that success.

He then can use the Sinatra song as his theme, "I did it my way".  After all, it's what the people wanted.  Something different from what we've been living with for decades.  Mr. Trump is by no means the most polished of "outsiders".  Never-the-less he is the President elect.  It's time we started treating him with the respect due the office if not the man.

We can disagree.  We can also bite our tongues, suck it up and regain some civility.  If you think other countries are unfair in their view of Obama as being weak, what do you think they think of the way so many anti-Trump people are behaving post election?

Coloring books and therapy dogs?  They have nothing to fear from that. What do we have to fear?  Their attitudes and what those attitudes might lead to. We've already seen plenty of it.

Mr. Trump, to you, your family and those you choose to help you govern, God speed and happy Thanksgiving. There are many millions who wish you the same.  We just don't get the press.

Enough Already!

I had just settled down to watch some before dinner TV last night when all programming on the cable channels turned to New Hampshire and Trump.  Please.  Is he the only one running for President?

I listened to his aggrandizing opening one more time then a bit longer when he announced he was going to something different - take questions.  Really!  He did.  But he never answers them.  Not one while I was listening and some were indeed quite specific.  Just the same old "I guarantee you when I'm President that won't happen..."

What he did do is savagely attack Carly Fiorina.  He must be worried about her burgeoning popularity.

Neither of them are perfect by any manner.  Both have had business successes and failures but I see the beginnings of the "Romneying" of Carly. She's to blame for everything that went wrong with HP and Lucent and now everyone who lost their job in shake ups is coming out of the woodwork. Oh, she ruined my life!  And how long  ago was was that?  Haven't you done anything since?  Stuff happens.  Hub lost more than one job due to corporate turmoil. We didn't like it but we didn't wallow in it.  We moved on.

Okay.  That's a prejudiced paragraph because I like Carly Fiorina. That being said, to date other than Ben Carson, she and Trump are getting all the press.  And Carson darn little at that other than poll results.

Frankly, I would like to hear about other candidate rallies and speeches.  From both parties.  I don't care about network ratings, I care about information and I'm not getting it. Where is Jim Webb?  Where is Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chaffey and what issues are they campaigning on?  I haven't a clue.  Do you?

The same holds true for Rick Santorum and George Pataki.  They certainly aren't sitting at home twiddling their thumbs waiting for Trump to topple.

The media has an obligation to cover all the candidates, not be the determining factor of who has the right to move up and who doesn't. It's no wonder politicians have a love/hate relationship with the media.  They have the power to make you or break you depending on their own personal ideology.  That's wrong.  They're supposed to be objective but with the lines blurred between punditry, reporting and entertainment, we the public are being ill served.

I shouldn't have to watch FOX to hear about the Republicans nor MSNBC to hear about Democrats.  I should be able to listen to either and get the same perspective.  Objectivity.

We rightfully put a pox on both political parties; the media deserves the same.

Some Advice For The Media

I've got a hot flash for the political pundits who anchor debates.  They aren't about you!  They're about the candidates.  Now I know you all love the sound of your own voices.  That's apparent from watching your daily shows where you don't let guests have their say so you can pontificate. Especially when the guest has a different point of view.

But to take up a third of the allotted time so you can "frame" your questions is ridiculous.  Face it, those watching this first debate were there for one of two reasons.  One to see Donald Trump.  Two to hear what the candidates had to say, not you.  We viewers already know the issues.  You don't have to patronize us with your "depth of understanding" which is usually lacking at best anyway.

A note to the ladies, especially Ms. Kelly.  If you want to be taken seriously you might try dressing like a professional.  Many nights you look like you're on your way out to the streets after your broadcast.  C'mon.  If you want to be a model or something different, television "news" isn't the proper venue.

I know.  Professionalism isn't what it was when I was a young working woman. There are, however, those of us who will judge you on yours never-the-less.  All things being cyclical, professionalism will return.

If you need an example, it isn't the fashionably challenged Hillary Clinton nor Ms. Kelly.  Take a good look at Carly Fiorina.  She reeks class and professionalism. Take a lesson.

It's Time To Change The Programming

The evening airwaves between four and, say, eight are filled with redundancy no matter which channel you favor. I've gotten to the point I want to lash out like Jay Carney did not long ago to a CBS reporter.  "I get it, ...!"

If I see one more clip of Obama saying we can keep our health care, period and the talking head proceed to bug a guest  into say the President LIED, I'm going to get violent.  Then the host usually trots out a litany of citizens who have either lost their coverage or have seen their cost skyrocket.  Okay.  I get it!  How many times is that dead horse going to be beaten?

I beg to question, however, why don't they get it?  The disastrous roll out of the health care website is due to a lot of things, none of which have anything to do with the actual content of the bill.  You could say it shows the government should never get involved in anything in which it lacks expertise. Which is just about everything. It's a given but about as possible under this administration as Ted Cruz's attempt to defund the bill.

They're going to meddle because it's the nature of the beast.  Those in high places always think they know more than the rest of us even though most of them are there for no more than having been a loyal supporter of the man who holds the top job.

In truth, the problem with the bill is it's content.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that when unnecessary benefits are added, demanded, the price is going to increase.  It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to know that those increased prices are going to preclude a lot of the very people they need because of that additional cost.  It should be easy to see that by saying only 5% or 15% of the people are being effected is ignoring the number of bodies actually effected which is in the millions.  A percentage is far more palatable and masks the fact real people with real needs make up that percentage. I could break it down even further but for space and time constraints.

Could the pundits help the case?  I think so but they won't because they have no imagination as to how to program plus it's easier to harangue than offer something of substance.

What would I do?  I'd seek out the Republicans who have had good ideas about how to fix the problem sit down for a serious panel discussion all in one place at the same time.  I'd have each lay out their ideas.  I'd not interrupt. I'd not allow them to interrupt each other.

When they were finished I'd ask them why they don't take themselves off the air, sit down together and piece together the best of each idea.  Then they select the most dynamic among them to be the spokesman for the plan and present it to the people in every venue that would have them.  And fight for those who wouldn't.  Just to keep it fair.  If, say, MSNBC said no thanks, let it be known by every means available.

Yep.  That's what I'd do.  It's the Dogwalk solution for Congressional  inertia and media complacency.

Some People Are Never Satisfied

When nothing else catches my attention I'll flip around the dial to see who is ranting about what.  FOX doesn't get much of a listen after Bret Baier finishes up at four.  I don't like the new lineup so it's usually reruns of Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War or whatever else might be on PBS.

Last night however, I caught a bit of Hannity who seems to be losing it.  He and Ann Coulter were trashing Chris Christie.

Not so long ago Ann Coulter was politically in love with Christie. "We have to nominate people who can win!" was her mantra. I guess it ended when he opted out of the presidential sweepstakes in 2012.

Last night is was a whole different story.  The election in New Jersey was calculated to be all about him., so she said. Well, yes, it was.  Had he not called for a special election to fill the  Senate seat of the late Frank Lautenberg  the Republicans would have won, so she claimed.  How so?  Once voters pulled the lever for Christie they'd have continued to vote Republican.  Booker, obviously, is a Democrat. He is also a super star of sorts. Not that we need another one in Washington, but it did help in his election.

Maybe it's a generational thing again, but voting a split ticket used to happen quite often.  Of course that was back when people bothered to look at the qualifications of a candidate, not just his/her party.  They even seemed to have done so when they first elected Christie, a Republican, in what is a very blue state.

Then the two were angry because he wouldn't take time to campaign in Virginia for Ken Cuccinelli.  Had he done so Cuccinelli could have won and they would have had another Republican governor! But no, it was all about the selfish Christie.

And you wonder why I have no respect for these pundits who fill far too much air time.  The crux of the problem is too many "conservatives" are trying to mold every Republican that runs into the "conservative" image.  Christie won't budge.  His responsibility is doing the best he can for his state and he at least realizes that includes working with the opposition.  What a novel approach! Do you suppose that's why he wins?

Funny, Christie is still the politician Coulter loved.  He still wins.  Quite handily I might add.  It's refreshing to see a politician who isn't afraid to buck pundit pressure and to what is necessary to get the job done.

Is he smart enough to be able to handle the very different presidential primaries?  Time will tell if he runs, but I'm willing to bet he'll figure it out.

As for Coulter, Hannity et al, if they'd spend more time promoting the positive about candidates rather than having a hissy fit because Christie would not call the President a liar, more good would come of it.

If and until they stifle their antagonistic manner, they're not worth the air time they are given.  Note that. Given.  If viewers had to pay, a whole lot of that time would be up for grabs.  If I'm going to pay, whoever is speaking had best have something worthwhile to say.  Maybe that's why there is so much better programming on PBS.  We viewers help pay for it.

News And Entertainment - One And The Same?

I've been watching the hullabaloo on FOX over who will lose their time slot when Megan Kelly moves to prime time the first of September.

Even though Greta Van Susteren has the weakest ratings she appears to have the better agent because she is expected to hold at 10 o'clock.  Sean Hannity is slated for change.  I'm guessing a non-prime slot and a whole lot more money, but who knows.  None of them are worth watching unless your are interested in a 'conservative' rehash of the day's news plus too much fluff like the video of the day.  Never-the-less the speculating has been fun.

I had come to believe the line between news and entertainment couldn't get more blurred but oh, how wrong I was.  Remember the commercial where Alec Baldwin tells an airline passenger not to worry with him at the controls because he had played a pilot?  Well, now he's going to play pundit and where else but msnbc?  I love it!

If I want whiny or righteous indignation I watch FOX.  If I want anger and nastiness I watch msnbc.  If I want to watch line straddling I watch CNN. It really doesn't make much difference since the slant is predetermined and never wavers.

I read Baldwin's rants on the Huff Post occasionally and of course we're always reminded of his Irish temper whenever a photographer happens to get too close.  I expect his demeanor will carry over to his new gig.  After all he's played it before.

Now, where to go for news?  Maybe I'll bookmark the Washington Post now that Jeff Bezos has bought it. I understand he's a hard nose of a boss and obviously a successful businessman.  My curiosity is piqued as to how he's going to turn an obsolete though storied rag into a money making venture.  Maybe rags to riches will have new meaning. Besides I prefer print media.

The fun and speculation has about run its course with the FOX escapade except for the final details.  Now I can begin trying to think of who else msnbc might recruit to become the 12th angry man.  Maybe it will be Bill Clinton.  He'll be pretty upset if the Hillary bio pic gets trashed and no one can do angry better than he.  I can just imagine his red face now.

There's something about those Irish pundits.  Matthews, O'Donnell, Hannity, O'Reilly and now Baldwin.  Gosh, I wish they were all on the same network. Then I wouldn't have to watch any of them!

Partisan Media Personified

It had to be painful beyond belief for Chris Matthews to admit the thrill going up his leg for President Obama has been severely diminished.

I wonder if he realizes he has just put a name and a face to what the media has become.  The President's lap dog.

I quote Mr. Matthews:

"What part of the Presidency does Obama like? He doesn't like dealing with other politicians - that means his own cabinet, that means members of congress, either party. He doesn't particularly like the press. He likes to write speeches, likes to rewrite what Favreau (one of Obama's speech writers) and others wrote for the first draft. So what part does he like? He likes going on the road campaigning, visiting businesses like he does every couple of days somewhere in Ohio or somewhere. But what part does he like? He doesn't like lobbying for the bills he cares about. He doesn't like selling to the press. He doesn't like giving orders or giving someone the power to give orders. He doesn't seem to like being an executive."

Well, well, well.  It seems Mr. Matthews has know all along what a lot of us have known.  My question to him is, knowing all this how could you have such blind allegiance?  Do you understand how you've negated your responsibilities to the public because of it?

For years you and your ilk have had a smug, smirking presence on MSNBC denigrating anyone and everyone who didn't  think the same as you.  Are you proud of that now?  Now that your idol has been proven less than worthy of your worship?

Can you save face?  I doubt it.  My guess is that you will be back in his corner as soon as you feel it's safe.  You and yours will find no haven anywhere else because you've been so tarred with your own vindictiveness.  Norah O'Donnell at least had the good sense to move on. The rest of you dug in your heels and in doing so such people who had at one time been good reporters, like Andrea Mitchell, lost all credibility

I used to listen to you.  Before NBC and especially MSNBC became the network of the administration.     I rarely do so any more because I can get more civil slanted news elsewhere. You remind me of a bunch of kids in a snarky clique having a mean spirited gossip session.

What you do isn't news.  It isn't even commentary. Heck, it isn't even entertainment.  You had best be thankful for the first amendment, otherwise there would be no place for you on the airwaves.

Do I feel your pain or sympathize with your disillusionment?  No.  That would be reserved for someone caught up unknowingly.  If anything what I feel for you is contempt for misleading the public when you full well knew better.  But then you are the reflection of the administration you serve.

        

The Media Giveth, The Media Taketh Away

When the media is doing it's job administrations often have adversarial relationships with them.  That hasn't been true of the Obama administration; the media gave him the Presidency twice.

For those of us wondering if they would ever get back to doing their job, seeing a crack in the relationship is encouraging.

Let's look at the current flap over Bob Woodward being threatened by a White House official.  Now that the e-mails are out there the debate is about interpretation.  The issue however isn't the perceived threat as much as a pattern of hostility that seems to be developing toward the press in general.  You see, Bob Woodward isn't the first to have complained about threats veiled or not.   Ron Fournier, in a piece for the National Journal claims to have sent a White House source packing for similar reasons and Lanny Davis, a more staunch Democrat would be hard to find, reports he too has been subject to such bluster.

The White House operatives may be over playing their hand once again.  Though many today may not remember Bob Woodward from his Watergate days, many of us do.  He and fellow reporter Carl Bernstein, with the help of a source know as Deep Throat, were responsible for the demise of the Nixon administration.  Of course the arrogance of that administration also had a hand in it.  A lesson could to be learned.

But Woodward.  By blowing him off as did David Plouffe by saying, "He's getting old" is insulting a media icon and one of the most tenacious and thorough reporters ever to have put ink to paper. One thing about the press, they tend to be loyal to their own.

So what happens now?  Maybe, just maybe they'll get together and decide these whippersnappers in the White House need to be taught a lesson and actually start asking some pertinent questions. Follow Woodward's lead. Talk about the exaggerations of the sequester.  Heck, go all the way back to Benghazi and ask the questions that would have been timely before the election!

Of course teaching the White House a lesson is doing it for all the wrong reasons.  They should do it because it's their job.  The President once told them in an exchange he remembers how the people depend on them.  I imagine that was followed by a wink and the after thought that it applies only when we're told what the administration wants us to be told.

Whatever the reason, there is now a wedge in that once solid love affair.  Ironic, isn't it, that this really began to come to light with a different kind of wedge?  Like a sand wedge.  In a golf game.  That the press wasn't allowed to witness. Now they know how we, their consumers, feel on a daily basis! If they dislike it as much as we do, they can do something more than threaten. They can ask and act.  I hope they do.

What Do YOU Believe And More Importantly, Why?

What kind of a news person, reader, would rather have a terrorist be something other than what they are so as to de-emphasize prejudices? MSNBC's Contessa Brewer. Or as in Judith Miller's case on Fox News Watch , we have to learn to get inside these peoples heads so as to understand them. They both make me cringe and in their own way, they're saying the same thing. The poor mis-understood terrorist.

It's really not all that complicated, ladies. It's their religion. It's what they believe, for whatever reason and no amount of breast beating on our part is going to change that.

I got to thinking about people and their religious beliefs. How long has it been since you have sat down and actually thought about why you believe what you do? There are as many religions and offshoots as there are millions of people believing in their premises. Not all are the same by any stretch. Some promote peace and good will, others live and let live and yet others death to all who disbelieve. Somewhere in that hodgepodge there must be a common thread. I don't think it's the belief in a supreme being as much as it's the filling of an inner need. The need to understand our very existence and justify our place in the world.

Obama wasn't all wrong when he spoke of people clinging to their religion and their guns during times of turmoil. It's a comfort zone, sanctuary even, from the troublesome unknown and least understood. An excellent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal speaks to how those who value their religious beliefs over any nation have found themselves disenfranchised no matter where they reside.

Think about it. This country was settled by people who were disenfranchised from the religious beliefs foisted upon them by England, the Jews, Catholics in Northern Ireland. To varying degrees, it is not just Muslim. They just happen to have the most violent of extremists.

It really has nothing the news folk would so like to find. They aren't necessarily loners, underachievers nor poor and uneducated. It's what they've come to believe and they are just as faithful to their beliefs as we are to ours. We are in a ideological fight with those who's beliefs are the antithesis of ours. Where we would open our arms to include them, they would cut ours off as a punishment.

To try to understand that is futile; better minds than Judith Miller's have tried and failed. And to hope a failed terror attempt was the act of someone other than one with that mindset displays a lack of intellect that should be banned from the air. Changing the color of the skin, the accent or religion makes it no less deplorable. What we don't need is more.

When The Media Gets It Wrong

If I were a Tea Party member and saw these guys coming down the street toward me, I too would be a tad bit unnerved. The headlines, shortly after, blared that Obama and the secret service called out the swat team to keep the Partiers under control.

Nothing could be further from the truth though I must say the riot gear is a bit of over kill. The secret service did indeed ask for police, not the SWAT team, to clear the roadway for the Pressident's motorcade. No one was there to threaten the Tea Partiers into submission.

The same type of hyperbole is accompanying the new Arizona law to weed out illegals. It's just like the Gestapo they scream. What is more like the Gestapo than asking for ones "papers"? Please. When you go to Europe you are advised to keep your passport with you at all times and it is perfectly legal to be asked to produce it. Me. A white, anglo saxon atheist! What should I make of that?

Then there is the cry that the law is unconstitutional. I've heard it over and over! Pundits, letters to the editor, you'd think the sky was falling. I have yet, however, to hear just exactly what in the law is unconstitutional! Spelled out by those who claim it as an absolute truth!

All this over reaction is exhausting. When listening to the talking heads, and our august Senators, talk about finance reform, it's easy to see how many people don't understand how the system works. Just listen to the questions coming from the Senators if you can get past the profanity!

People are confused, anxious or down right angry because the media isn't doing it's job. The papers are disappearing. NBC news is a joke. Ann Curry visiting a submarine is not news!

It seems to matter little, however. More don't care than do. I'm willing to wager people spend more time on Facebook and Twitter then they do following the news. That, my friends, is for the birds. Tweet!

Still Playing The Race Card Is The Pitts!

Back on the 19th of February I wrote a post pondering the idea of having a Mad Hatter wing of the Tea Party movement for those who are more centrist than right. After reading a recent Leonard Pitts column I'm thinking it might really be a good idea.

I read Mr. Pitts with some regularity because he is in our paper on Mondays and there is little else other than retreads of old news picked up from the AP. Mr. Pitts often gives interesting insight into what it's like to be black in today's America. Of late he seems to also think that everything that's wrong with America is because we have a black President and we're not happy about it; especially the Tea Partiers.

There is much in his column I would like to refute. First he quotes from one of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's diatribes in which Mr. Olbermann suggests the tea party movement is the "outcry of people who haven't yet made peace with the fact that their President is black." There was a time Mr. Olbermann's commentaries had some substance about the abuses of power while Bush was in office, now they are little more than shilling for the President who he will never let us forget is black. That is racism. Nuanced perhaps, but racist never-the-less.

Mr. Pitts goes on to suggest people voted for Obama because they liked his policies, eloquence and intelligence. The last two perhaps, certainly not his policies for he had none other than hope and change. We've found out what voting for eloquence alone can do and it has nothing to do with race. It is not a reflection on the President but rather on us!

He then asks if Republican Condoleeza Rice were President if that first pot of tea would have been brewed. I contend that it would have had we been as dissatisfied with her policies as we are with Obama's. It has nothing to do with race. And actually by using Rice as an example is he not contradicting himself? He took race right out of it!

I am not a Tea Party member so I can not speak for all of them. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Pitts seem to be doing a good job without me. I do know we have such a movement locally, in redder than red right down to the neck Idaho. I do not believe it's driven by racism. It's driven by differences over policy.

Mr. Pitts seems to be a very angry man these days. I, as an independent voter, am too. When I look and listen to the President the last thing I'm thinking about is his race. It's about which ever policy he's talking about. I would like to think there are many more people like me than those Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Pitts dwell on.

There is no good purpose in constantly emphasizing the President's race. It resolves nothing. It irritates those like me who are not happy with either side. I thoroughly resent the idea that anyone would accuse me of being racist just because I don't like the President's policies.

The ones keeping the issue alive are those who dwell on it and keep speaking of it. Perhaps they should take a look through Alice's mirror and see if they can tell who the racists really are. Forget about the one in the funny hat higher than a kite from inhaling mercury vapors. That would be me. Looking for people to come to my party. No racists allowed.

What If You Don't Have A Computer?

Tonight there is a "chocolate walk" in downtown Coeur d' Alene. Hub and I thought about going but there was no ad in this morning's paper telling times and places participating. I spent the next while going through the weeks papers until I found the one. One ad. In it we were told to go to a web site.

I got to thinking about how often we hear that. The local news always tells us if we want a more complete story go to their web site. So do all the network news shows and the cable shows. Even Jon Stewart will post an over long interview.

My computer space is not unlike the one pictured. I spend way too much time here. How many, however, don't have a computer or ready access to one? It must be frustrating for them if they want to dig deep into a story. Newspapers don't go into nearly the depth they did awhile back. Budget restraints. Smaller paper, fewer reporters. More and more news to investigate. Not a heartening equation.

Then there are those who don't have a computer nor do they read a newspaper. If they get news, it's the sound bites that pass for it. I'm assuming those without computers or papers do have television. It is the mass media of the moment. Computers soon will be.

Computers are a luxury becoming a necessity. In the meantime does the broadcast media have an obligation to get away from the soundbites and actually report the news? British Broadcasting does the best job of anyone at the moment but I'd guess it's not available everywhere.

I worry about our uninformed electorate. They still vote. As issues and policies become more complex and confusing how will they decide who to vote for with limited information or information skewed by political philosophies? Will it merely be the person they like best? The one they relate to? It will be interesting to see if the Republicans can unearth a candidate that will counter the cool, elitist image of the President. One who understands what the people are saying. Could it be a "personality" like Scott Brown or Sarah Palin? Should it?

Web sites will have analysis twenty four seven as elections draw near. Television tends to be reducdant and papers skimpy.

Will those with only televisiont be a class of voter unto themselves? How will they figure into the results? Or are they too insignificant to matter?

Just wondering.

The West's Revenge!

Imagine! Washington D.C. is up to it's keester in snow. Have you ever heard such weeping and wailing from the media? Washington D.C.. Government. The people who are trying to reshape our car culture into one of teeny weenie green machines that can't even be charged up for a whole day's worth of driving, much less pull through snow covered streets.

We Westerners chuckle at all this. Who's fault is it that they aren't prepared? New York City has a plan for it. You'd think D.C. would too since when it does snow the entire government shuts down. That's not bad mind you. They can't do any harm when they're closed down!

They won't learn from this experience because they tend not to learn from any experience, but they should note that their little vehicles aren't worth squat in the white stuff. The people in upstate New York know it. We bought our first SUV when we moved from Seattle to Rochester, New York several years ago. It was needed and well used. Lake effect snow does pile up!

Then there is all of us in the Midwest and West. We are no stranger to wind and snow and blizzard conditions pushing up drifts as high as the house. Fallen trees. Collapsed roofs. Community spirit when it comes to digging everyone out. Dig out parties sponsored by the local TV stations where anyone with a snow blower or a shovel is asked to pitch in. And, boy, they do!

Last year we had around 160 inches, the year before around 180. Getting around in that took some doing. It took big, heavy vehicles like our cherished rigs - pick ups and SUVs. Our beloved gas guzzlers. I wouldn't live west of the Mississippi, out in the country, without one.

So listen up you government types. Here's your shovel ready project. How many of you are actually going to do the labor? Or are you going to hire it out and count it as "job creation"?

As for getting around,a few politically incorrect types are brazen enough to drive SUVs. It's a good thing, too. One such person able to slip and slide around town in the ultimate of offensive vehicles, a Hummer, got his just reward. He pulled a police car out of a snowbank.

Those eastern elitists who like to claim there is no intelligent life west of the Mississippi have that wrong as well as everything else. The direction might need to be reversed!

Republicans Beware

In learning that the President is summoning both sides of Congress to a televised discussion of his health care initiative, I suspect the Republicans are being set up.

One, the people have spoken. They don't want the reform that is now on the back burner. Yet the President will not start with a clean and more simple slate. Yesterday, when I wrote of the Palin appeal, this is an example of why she has it. She doesn't give the impression that she thinks she knows it all and that the rest of us are just too stupid to "get it". The President gives exactly that impression.

The Republicans do have some good suggestions as do some Democrats that their own party ignored. That's the worrisome part. Nancy Pelosi has her mind set and no amount of political theater is going to change it. Obama can prod and cajole to his heart's content but it's Pelosi who gloves the iron fist!

The Republicans need to lay out their ideas as clearly, concisely and thoroughly as possible. They also need to have the fortitude to point out the weaknesses in the current plan as they see them and doable alternatives - along with how they intend to pay for everything.

The Democrats are going to fight tort reform because they are in the pocket of the lawyers. They will fight pre-existing conditions and selling across state lines because of the insurance industry. There is a lot more that needs to happen, like addressing medicare reimbursements. When the Mayo Clinic says no more medicare patients we seniors all need to worry.

So. The only way for the Republicans to avoid being accused of having no ideas or being no more than obstructionists is to shift it to the Democrats on live television.

I'd like to think Pelosi and her pals would clean up their act on television but, frankly, I don't see that happening. It isn't that they haven't heard us. If their media enablers can make fun of Palin for having notes scribbled on her hand, you know nothing is missed. Not even the irony of Obama using teleprompters in front of a sixth grade class!

They just don't care.

Anchor Away?

I don't think there is a news anchor on television today that will ever have the gravitas of Walter Cronkite, or the long gone Chet Huntley/David Brinkley team or many of the others who pioneered the roll of news anchor as I was growing up.

The only one we have now that was ever actually a newsman is Brian Williams and he's been reduced to little more than a news reader. As for the women? How can you consider someone who graduated from the ranks of Today or Good Morning America a news man? Oops - news woman. To me they come across as news 'light'. When in serious mode they tend to strike me as maudlin.

I could never understand CBS paying Ms. Couric $15 ,000, 000. She has never generated the ratings to justify that amount and apparently has not moved up in the ratings even with Diane Sawyer replacing Charlie Gibson. I must admit that surprises me a bit.

What it comes down to, Ms. Couric is just out of her element. It's not that she doesn't have ability. I thought her interview with Sarah Palin was one of the best I've seen. She was properly tenacious without being abrasive. That takes skill.

Now, according to the New York Post she is nearing the end of her three year contract and facing a salary cut. If they even want to retain her. She was a grand experiment that failed.

It is suggested she may be in the running to become the next daytime diva, replacing Oprah or even taking over Larry King's slot on CNN. She might not have quite the presence to replace Oprah but neither is she as benign as King. I could see her making that show more substantial.

I hope she does move on and that Sawyer is close behind her. Their strengths are not in the anchor's chair. Really wishful thinking is that the evening newscasts would become just that again - news, rather than a recap of the day's sound bites.

My fear is that Ann Curry will replace Williams and our choice will be one of the three. I'm all for women breaking the glass ceiling but to break it just for the sake of breaking it is a waste of ability if it could be better used elsewhere.