Category: Media

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J.D. Vance was overheard telling his son to shut up about his Pokemon passion the other day. Of the many sins of Vance this is way down on my list of something to be concerned about. In fact, it puts him in a relatable situation the many parents might experience — their children being annoying while he is trying to get something done. Maybe he could have handled it a bit better but when a person is busy and a child is pestering him about Pokemon, it seems like a reasonable place to snap. Shut the Hell up seems about right. This is an unremarkable bit of justifiable annoyance. It doesn’t make him a bad parent and it is certainly unworthy of a top position on the Daily Beast’s top 10 Cheat List.

Nor do I care much about Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, having an affair while he was married to his first wife. To be clear, I wouldn’t care even if he had been having an affair while being married to Harris. If Harris and Emhoff have made their peace about it, it is none of my business. Wait, let me expand on that thought. Even if they still were fighting about it today, it wouldn’t be any of my business. And I really think it’s ballsy for Republicans to leak this bit of news to the press when Donald Trump, a frequently unfaithful husband, is their standard bearer.

However, I don’t blame the political operatives dredging up such nonsense though. They are just doing their jobs. They are paid to find dirt and to publicize it. They are hoping that some piece of dirt might influence voters to decide for them.The problem is the press and selling newspapers. They can print the dirt or not. Dirt sells newspapers, so the press will headline any and every personal indiscretion in the hopes that this bit of salacious gossip sells more newspapers. Sadly, it must work or else the press wouldn’t be spending so much time talking about these trivialities.

This doesn’t excuse the press in the least. It is comparable to a parent feeding his child only sweets because that is all she will eat. A diet of chocolates would damage the health of the child. They aren’t getting the fruits and vegetables required for a healthy diet. Just because the American Public buys bull shit doesn’t mean you have to serve bullshit. Every headline taken up with Doug Emhoff’s first marriage and J.D. Vance’s snappy parenting, is space taken away from topics that really matter — things like homelessness, or immigration, or inflation or the situation in the Middle East.

Thanks for the information though I am sure I will find it helpful on November 5.

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Members of a Catholic church in England reported their priest gave a sermon suggesting that, given the way Jesus died, he probably died with an erection. So now it has become big news and a lot of people are talking about it. Which is irritating for the following reasons:

  1. What Jesus’ erection has to do with the crucification is beyond me. It sounds like the priest was giving graphic details of how a man dying on the cross would suffer. The priest was giving way to much data here. Yes, it is important to know Jesus suffered, but I think even a child can figure out that being nailed to a cross is no picnic. Why the priest had to throw in all the gory details which included that in Jesus dying minutes the blood rushed to his penis and caused him to pop a boner seems beyond the pale. It’s irrelevant to the Easter Story.
  2. Since there is no earthly reason for the priest to discuss Jesus’ erection, why did he drop this little bomb into his Easter sermon? He had to know that mentioning the word erection during a church service was going to cause a commotion. The mere mention of anything sexual perks up the ears of the more Puritanical members of any congregation. They heard erection and their knives were drawn and ready. This was professional suicide on a grand level. It says a lot that he decided to kick the chair out from under him during one of the most well attended church days of the year. I can only think that he was sick of his job and decided to go out in a blaze of glory. He succeeded.
  3. It doesn’t really matter because popping a boner while dying is not a sin. Even though the priest has been removed from his position and it looks like he did something wrong, there is absolutely no theological debate regarding men who have erections while dying. Men in their prime often find themselves erect for no apparent reason whatsoever. It just happens. I realize that Jesus’ erection is unimportant and the Pope has way more important things to deal with but he might mention this in a future speech or sermon sometime if he is running short of material — erections are not sinful.
  4. Jesus, up until his death, was a human being subject to the same human temptations as any other human being. Isn’t that an important part of the Jesus story? He struggled with his humanity like any other human while he was here. An erection just humanizes the man. Although, I think, in keeping with the Easter story, that Jesus’s death is a better illustration of his humanity and is very much in keeping with the Easter Story.
  5. Some of the church scolds were worried that children might have heard this story. Let me assure everyone, as a young person who once spent every Sunday in Mass, the children missed it entirely. All I recall about Mass was my eyes would glaze over upon entering church and for the next hour I daydreamed or looked at people or tried to talk to one of my siblings in the pew with me but I rarely, if ever, paid attention to the priest. The only thing I can remember is my parents rousting me out of my slumber in order to get to communion. Mass, as every kid forced to go knows, is a snoozefest.
  6. This is not a free speech issue. The Catholic Church is not a public entity and should be free to police their employees as they wish. They did.
  7. Why is this getting so much press? I can see that it may be an issue for the members of the church, but for the larger world it is nothing but the press stirring a pot to see what kind of controversy they can create with a nothing event. I don’t know why they wasted precious headline space on this when they could be talking about something really important like the Met Gala or Taylor Swift. It’s like the press has lost all sense of what is important.

Finally, on a brighter note, I would recommend the name Jesus’ Erection as a great name for any new band who are looking for a catchy name. It is sure to get noticed, all you have to be is good and the world is your oyster.

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“I don’t care what they call me as long as they mention my name.”

George M. Cohan

“There is no such thing as bad publicity. “

P.T. Barnum

Missouri state Senator Bill Eigel worries that the vague writing of an Abortion Bill would allow one year olds to get abortions. Why he is worried is a bit of a mystery. One year olds are incapable of pregnancy, so their need for abortions isn’t really an issue here. It won’t happen so it is nothing to be worried about. But, anyway, when has that stopped politicians from making an issue out of nothing.

Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume there is a one year old girl needing an abortion. She is unable to give her consent in the first place, so she was raped. the very people who would be protected by passage of the bill — victims of incest and rape. Furthermore, and the most important point to consider here, it is impossible for a one year old girl to carry a full term pregnancy to birth. She would need an abortion to save her life. So, if anyone should get an abortion, a pregnant one year old absolutely should.

If it were biologically possible which it isn’t.

On the other hand, Eigel generated a lot of pro-Life points fighting the scourge of one year olds seeking abortions. He also was able to get it without really having to take a stand on anything important. There won’t be any stories about one year olds dying from botched abortions or doctors debating whether to give a one year old an abortion because it will never happen. This, however important it is to you and me, is irrelevant to Eigel and his supporters. Eigel still gets pro-Life points for opposing abortion and, particularly important, defending babies from abortion clinics who would think nothing of aborting non-existent fetuses from one year olds.

The press dutifully reported Eigel’s concerns. The press will report any outrageous statement from any elected official because it might tempt shocked readers into reading their paper. Who wants to read about actual mature women needing an abortion when they can debate endlessly about one year old who will never need one. The only thing that happened here was Eigel got his name in the paper an his reputation enhanced with his voters.

You will all be relieved to know, pro-Choice or pro-Life, that one year olds will not have access to legal abortion. Absolutely nothing was learned from this nor was any debate furthered in discussing it. Why this was a newsworthy event is still a mystery but I am certain that the press would only use their limited space to report on truly important issues. Right?

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By the time I finish writing this blog, I might have changed my mind but right now I have to say Peter Falk as Columbo is my favorite television character. The show dates from the 1970’s and has aged surprisingly well. Unlike most detective shows where the trick is to figure out who the murderer is, the audience knows who the murderer is but how Columbo figures out who the murderer is.

The murderer is almost always some rich and powerful person who thinks they are smarter than the bumbling appearing Columbo who stumbles into their lives . Because they think they are smarter than Columbo, they fall into his trap of giving too much information that they inadvertently give away important details, seemingly innocuous information, that seals their fate later in the show.

Falk and the writers gives Columbo an array of distinctive quirks. His rumbled rain coat that he is always wearing and he can’t bring himself to rid himself of even after his wife buys him a snazzy new one, his ever present cigar, his scratching head when confused, his car — a barely functional vintage Peugeot convertible, his sad sack and barely functional pet dog, his never on screen wife who he calls Mrs. Columbo and who is full of good advice, and his saying “just one more thing” as he his leaving the suspect which tricks a usually exasperated person into giving some seemingly unimportant detail that really is at the heart of what Columbo is looking for.

You can’t help but root for Columbo as he manages to manipulate these arrogant assholes into prison. He plays into their egos, letting them think he is a bumbler while finding out everything he needs to know. Part of Falk’s charm is he manages to ingratiate his suspects into helping him and working with him to help him catch the killer while actually setting a trap for the unsuspecting guilty party. It is particularly fun when the suspect catches on to Columbo’s game but have gone too far to save themselves from falling into one of his traps. Their disdain for him throughout the show and their disbelief that this idiot outwitted them is the best revenge.

So if you are looking for a good detective show and you have exhausted everything you know, you might revisit Columbo as I think you will find it a rewarding experience.

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Mike Johnson, the new Speaker of the House, in case you can’t keep track with the rapid turnaround in that position, revealed that he and his 16 year old son have a porn accountability device on their electronic devices. So what? Is this really anybody’s business? He made a deal with his son about keeping themselves honest about viewing pornography. I don’t think this is in any way controversial or, for that matter, news worthy.

Yet some how this made the headlines. It is an incredible waste of space. It adds nothing to what we know about Mike Johnson as we already knew he was a fundamentalist Christian. It isn’t particularly surprising for him to have such a device and that he monitors his son’s viewing. It is his business.

So why the headlines. Now I would hate to say anything bad about the media but I think the only reason this is here is that it involves pornography and a public figure. It makes for a catchy headline. Speaker of the House, Pornography. The boys and girls in the Fourth Estate must have already had this typed and published before realizing what a snooze fest this was.

But given that there isn’t much going on now, what with the war in the Middle East, the war in the Ukraine, the Trump trials, questions about the economy and Taylor Swift’s dating Travis Kelce they had so much space that they had to fill it with something and this is what they decided to fill it. Empty space filling more empty space.

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Newt Gingrich believes that Former President Barack Obama is running the Biden Presidency behind the scenes. Just in case you didn’t hear it, and I am sure because she wants to keep the American public informed on all the scuttlebutt in Washington, Megan Kelley passes along this little tidbit in a discussion she was having with another reporter. Neither one provided a bit of evidence that this was indeed what was happening. Never mind, it is vitally important to feed conspiracies to the hungry Right-Wing mob. They have difficulty holding up their pitchforks without a daily does of conspiracy.

Since they are purposefully vague about what Obama is actually doing, I am trying to identify what the actual problem is. If they mean that Biden is appointing the same people Obama worked with in his term. So what? Isn’t that standard operating procedures here? A new Democratic President will obviously use experienced Democratic operatives from a previous Democratic President in their appointments. If they are saying that Obama secretly jumps the White House fence every night so he can run the government while Biden sits drooling in his wheelchair, then I think they need to provide some details backing this speculation.

This innocent passing along of speculation because it it important for the public to know is just bull shit. The media loves it and, of course, will pass the scoop along with nary a second thought. They love controversy and if people provide them with controversies, they will publish it. Why, if people are talking about it, then it is news and it would be an absolute disservice to the American Public to keep such important information from them.

I don’t know about you but I am not sure passing along gossip counts as meaningful dialogue or responsible behavior. Perhaps one of the reasons that the American public holds the press and the government in such low regard is their questionable behavior in supplying the American Public with evidence about what they are saying.

For the record, I have absolutely no facts to back up what I am saying but I think it is really important to get this unsubstantiated information out there because it might be true and it is vitally important that the American Public weigh in on my idle speculation. It could be important or it could light a fuse to a keg of dynamite, who am I to judge, I am just telling you what I’ve heard.

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I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person. For me, though, a little evidence is required for me to take the bait and don my aluminum foil hat. This doesn’t seem to bother Vivek Ramaswamy, extremely long shot Republican candidate for President. He doubts the 9-11 Commissions findings. He wants to know how many armed US government officials were on board the planes that crashed into the twin towers. He admits he doesn’t have any idea or any information about how many were on board. Facts don’t matter. He has questions and damn it they must be answered.

The 9-11 commission admits to one government official being on board and he did not carry a gun. This isn’t good enough for Ramaswamy though, he needs another commission to confirm this fact. Now, I would think, and I am just guessing here, but in the spreading conspiracy theory world that’s all you need really, an inkling and nothing more, so I am going to go out on a limb here, that if there was any government official with a gun on board that day, they would have used it to stop the high jackers who only had box cutters. That this new commission is unlikely to discover anything new is besides the point. Coming from a candidate who claims fiscal responsibility is important to him this seems odd but then the similarly fiscally minded Republicans wanted 10 investigations into Benghazi even though each commission had remarkably similar findings.

Now Newt Gingrich, and, of course, another person who absolutely wants to rein in government spending on wasteful projects, claims that Former President Barack Obama is actually in charge of the government and not Joe Biden. Given that the Republicans claim that Biden is a doddering old man who should be in an old age home and not the White House, you would think they would take some comfort that Obama, a much younger and vigorous man, was actually in charge but no the nefarious Obama, partnered with the always evil Hillary Clinton, are up to no good. This is Gingrich’s theory, all gut instincts and no facts, and it needs investigating.

What bothers me about these obvious attempts to grab the media’s attention is that the media willingly just gives it to them. It is a remarkably easy method. Just say something outrageous and if you are half way famous person — the media will go out of their way to spread whatever bullshit conspiracy the person is talking about. I don’t blame Ramaswamy and Gingrich. They want attention and they know what they have to do to get it.

The media’s behavior is disappointing to say the least and belies the Republican argument that the media is against them. The media isn’t for or against anyone or anything. All they want to do is to sell papers. They are devoid of positions for the most part. So if anyone wants attention, all they have to do is say something outrageous and the media will do the rest. And you see where this takes us — Donald Trump, who, by the way, is out of office, gets 24/7/365 day coverage while the environment burns. There is not stop coverage of trans children which affects less than 1% of the students in public education because Governor DeSantis thinks it is the number one problem for American Education. It is all a diversion from what really matters. But never mind, I understand that there are some problems with deck chairs sliding on the Titanic. The good news is the passengers all have free ice.

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I can’t believe drag shows are still in the news. But Republicans have latched on to them as if they were the gravest danger the nation now faces. Witness –Bill Lee, Tennessee governor, joining Florida Governor DeSantis, in stopping drag queens from entertaining children. The good news is that the Republican clearly have run out of scare tactics because, if you take away Republican governors, there is absolutely no one worried about this.

It is not the first time that Republicans hyperventilated about non-issues. It is, after all, what they do best. How can we forget the problem of a nine months pregnant woman deciding to abort right after she goes into labor. This simply doesn’t happen and no doctor would proceed with the abortion even if it did. Even though it never has happened, Republicans demanded answers and Democrats stupidly answered them. In the end, the Democrats looked like people who would kill a new born baby if the woman wanted to obtain an abortion just prior to delivery. Why Democrats continue to fall for these hypothetical question about something that never happens and never will is beyond me but sadly they do.

This is why I am concerned about the drag show debate currently going on because awkward opposition to these laws might give people the impression that the Democrats are encouraging parents to take their children to drag shows. This isn’t the case at all but any time you involve yourself in a ridiculous debate, you risk saying something stupid like parent’s should decide whether their child should go to a drag show. Well, yes, this is absolutely true but it really isn’t something that most parents need worry about in the first place because drag shows are adult entertainment usually performed in an establishment that serves alcohol. Children won’t be attending even if, God forbid, the parents approved of the child going.

That doesn’t stop Republicans from getting upset about it. These new laws will have little impact on anyone. Drag shows will continue unimpeded for their adult audiences and children will continue not to see them. That the drag show issue continues to be debated, only shows the sorry state of American politics. A heated debate is going on about something that doesn’t affect anyone, that no one cares about, and that no law is likely to change the current situation. But, by all means, let’s continue to talk about the dangers of children at drag shows.

It is a a rather clumsy ploy by Gov. DeSantis and his fellow Republicans to put the spotlight on non-issue with which they think they damages Democrats. I doubt seriously if this is true. This is an issue that only is of burning importance to true believers. DeSantis and company might be able to shore up their own numbers with their fellow Republicans but everyone else? Have you heard anyone expressing concern about the dangers of children at drag shows? I haven’t.

It does however move the spotlight to an issue that, at best, is of peripheral concern to most Americans. The media loves talking about drag shows because drag queens are entertaining. Drag queens are much more fun viewing than say a spot about the origins of the war in the Ukraine. This also means, if the media is talking about drag shows, they aren’t talking about Healthcare, Jobs, Education, the Economy, the War in the Ukraine, and well the list goes on and on. Issues that actually affect people. But then the media isn’t about news, it is about selling ad space. The media prefers scandals over meaningful information about what is going on in the world. In other words, they prefer controversy and sex than news. This is why the Republicans are rampaging over drag shows and this is why the media is happily reporting about them.

It also shows that the Republicans are politically bankrupt. Concern about the dangers of drag shows is smoke and mirrors, a sleight of hand to draw attention away from these other more pressing issues. Do you think that Republicans would be talking about drag shows if they had any credible policies to deal with the the array of problems facing this country? Why would they spend so much energy on such a non-problem like drag shows if they could actually attract voters with winning policies regarding the economy or education or healthcare? Or protecting children, for Christ’s sake. They want to protect children from drag queens, which isn’t a problem, while ignoring the dangers of crazy men with guns shooting up schools which actually is a problem. And they are getting away with it.

This is where the Democrats need to confront them. Can Republicans show the damage that drag queens have had on children? How does that compare with gunmen? Would teachers and students need special training if a drag queen entered a school? How about if a gunman entered a school? Given the difference in dead children that gunmen cause in schools and the damage that drag queens do what would be a more prudent way to spend our time and money? Let’s ask them awkward questions about their empty priorities and see how well they respond.

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If you needed another example of the criminal malpractice of the present media networks, I give you George Santos. Why are they still talking about him? He is unimportant and his reputation is ruined. The only thing that could possibly revive his career now is if the press continual spotlighting of him creates sympathy among the perpetually persecuted wing nuts on the Republican right. The press is doing everything it can to make this possible.

Santos, a freshman congressman with little political power, may have been an important story as long as Republicans defended him. Once he was unmasked as a serial liar, most Republicans, at least the establishment ones, have abandoned him. The Republican leadership may allow him to stay the next two years in order to keep their slim majority but Santo himself is done. Any future opponent for his house seat, Republican or Democrat, will have ample examples of his perfidy and the voters of his district can remove him from his position.

Yet the media headlines his every lie as if the already multiple lies they have revealed before weren’t enough to convince the public he is a liar. Santos said this, Santos said that, every lie he utters makes a new headline with talking head round tables outraged at his brazen inability to tell the truth. For a business that runs on trying to capture the public’s attention with the new and the sexy, this seems like a peculiarly boneheaded move. There is nothing new about it and Santos is far from sexy. Why bother to read every new outrageous lie? I am convinced. Tell me something I don’t already know but Santos is no longer worth my time.

The Santos story is easy pickings. Santos, narcissist that he is, will continue to talk. If he talks, he will be lying. The average high school news reporter can google the information and discover the lie. Why the media has latched onto this story like a dog with a bone is a mystery. Their continued interest and piling on of Santos, they risk making him sympathetic to the already prodigious number of media haters. The enemy of my enemy and all that, see Donald Trump if you are interested in more details.

Worse, Santos is a distraction from more important issues. There can only so many headlines, so many talking head roundtables. If they are all talking about Santos, they aren’t talking about inflation or the Russian war or the meth epidemic or any of the million and one bigger problems than George Santos.

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Oakland Athletic’s outfielder Skye Bolt apparently got sick during a baseball game the other day.

However, why this is worth precious new’s space is baffling. There is no news there. He barfed. It isn’t funny. It didn’t impact the game. There was no daring rescue to get him off the field. The poor man quite simply barfed and walked off the field afterwards. This is not news.

But, for some reason, it is making the news. Whenever the news media complains about they are just doing their jobs and they are under attack for reporting the facts, I always think of instances like this. Yes, true enough this happened. In a world of billions of people, someone is going to be barfing. There is probably someone barfing this very moment. Why is this man barfing important to me?

The media has surrendered their lofty perch when they opted to reporting the sensational. They have a lot of discretion on what appears in their papers and in their news programs. Apparently vomiting athletes brings in viewers who want to see the gory details. Sadly it says a lot about their audience and it demeans journalism that they can’t restrain their lust for ad revenue to feed their audiences prurient interest.