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Shining the Light

 

As expected, immediately after Attorney General Barr released his 4-page summary of the Mueller report, many on the right began calling up conspiracy theories about the "hoax" of collusion and Russian interference in our elections. They blamed Democrats, who they say are still sore losers over the 2016 election. And they also placed blame on the media.

It's interesting that we are now hearing reports from inside the Dept. of Justice that AG Barr's summary is not accurately reflective of the Mueller report and that it does find some questionable, even if not criminal, behavior in the president's camp.

An op-ed in Murdock's Wall Street Journal, whose hard news coverage I generally respect, rekindled the "fake news" claims, citing a few instances where the media got it wrong. It didn't bother to note the many more cases where the media got it right, often uncovering things that run counter to honesty and integrity in government.

The media play a crucial role in our democracy, keeping we, the citizens, informed by questioning our elected officials on policy and actions and, yes, tweets. The media also serve us by by finding and reporting on bad or even illegal behavior in our government.

The president and his enablers don't like this, since it hampers or prevents them from doing as they please behind the scenes. Media oversight and investigation expose actions that may not be in the public interest or in keeping with ethics and moral values most Americans hold dear.

So of course those in power will try to push back and silence the media. It's painfully clear and obvious.

That's why it's so important that the majority do our own pushing back, calling out the lie about " fake news" and standing behind the media. Buy and read newspapers. Watch the news on the networks. Write to advertisers who support papers and network news or, if you can, buy the products and services they advertise.

It's on us to support the media so they can continue shining light on the darkness.

How Can We Believe Him?

When you catch someone in a lie once, you might give him a pass.  We all stretch the truth occasionally, even if just a little bit.

But when someone seems to lie constantly, even about little things, we start to doubt anything that person says.  Unfortunately, that’s the case with our president.  In his State of the Union address, fact-checkers say he lied or stretched the truth at least 30 times.  That’s a lie every two minutes.

He’s lied about so many things that most of us have lost track.  Those who do keep track of these things tell us he’s told more than 7,700 lies or misrepresentations of facts since he’s been in office.  The crazy thing is that so many of those less-than-truthful statements can easily be exposed thanks to video and audio tape showing he says or does the opposite of what he claims he’s said.

Most of us are so tired of the lies that we put absolutely no stock in what he says.  And these days, many world leaders feel the same way.  Trust in the United States globally has dropped precipitously, which is both sad and frightening.

I should admit here, before I go any farther, that I did not watch the State of the Union address Tuesday night.  I just couldn’t force myself to sit through what was likely to be an hour of lies and self-praise.  I am relying on reports from people who had to watch it – reporters and media that I trust.  And those media include not only The New York Times and Washington Post, but also the conservative editorial writers at The Wall Street Journal.

The president talked a lot about unity.  To many, including me, those calls to end divisiveness rang hollow.  In the State of the Union address, he asked that both parties work together.  Yet only hours before the address, at a luncheon with major media, he talked derisively about his political opponents.  And the next day, he went back to his old ways of name-calling those he disagrees with, calling Rep. Adam Schiff, who leads a House Committee that’s doing its job of Constitutionally-mandated oversight, a “hack.”

He lied or misrepresented facts in immigration, including the amount of crime in a border city he used as an example – El Paso.  The mayor of that city, a Republican, said the president is wrong.

He talked about the “great threat” to our national security posed by migrants coming to our southern border, even as his own intelligence chiefs told Congress that the southern border did not make their list of top security concerns.

“Do as I say, not as I do” seems to be the president’s behavioral model.  And because what he constantly does is the opposite of promoting unity – whether in politics or international relations or racial relations here at home – it really is hard to believe anything he says about anything, whether in a press gaggle or before Congress and the nation in the State of the Union.   

Maybe it's time for the real news media to focus on real news

 

We have a president who continues to be out of control when it comes to the media.

What politician wouldn’t hope for the media to report only good news about what he’s doing?  But any politician who has an adult’s understanding of how the media work in a democracy and why they seek to find what’s behind a politician’s words and actions knows – and must accept – the fact that what the media say may not always be what you’d like them to say.

But the current president continues to slam the media and use the phrase “enemy of the people” to try to convince people not to believe what they report.  In his view, the only media outlet worth listening to is what’s become the White House organ -- FOX News, which to any viewer with their eyes and minds open can plainly see is just a shill for the president.  It's what, in a dictatorship, would be State News.

The dust-up in yesterday’s White House news conference is yet another example of a president off the rails and trying to use the bully pulpit of his office to control or censor the free press.  Name-calling some reporters, including calling a black reporter a racist, and then trying to shut up CNN’s Jim Acosta by having an aide physically try to pull the microphone out of his hands is simply going too far.  The subsequent banning of Acosta from the White House because he accosted the White House aide is bogus.  If you look at the video, the aide is clearly seen trying to grab the mic out of Acosta’s hand and, without touching her, he pulled the mic out of her reach.  If anything, she physically attacked him.

Here’s what I’d love to see.  The major media should agree, as a group, to not cover presidential news conferences. Have one pool reporter there to represent them all, just in case some real news comes out.  And if there is no real news to report that day, then there’s no coverage of the president that day.  No reporting about whatever crazy things he says on Twitter, no coverage of whatever name-calling he sink to.  We’ve seen too many times how his words are meaningless, contradictory or outright lies, so why cover it?

Instead, a presidential news blackout, for at least a day.

Leave coverage of the childish name-calling and unwanted presidential opinions on irrelevant things ranging from a TV show's ratings to whether or not he likes a particular singer or sports team or celebrity who may have been critical of him to FOX and the gossip media.  Let the real news media get back to covering real news, which often legitimately does not and should not include the president’s take on things.  We’ve seen too many times how his words are meaningless, contradictory or outright lies.

It’s time to focus back on the real news of the day.

"Failing" NY Times hardly failing

 

The New York Times is not failing, but in fact is doing quite well in terms of both readership and finances.

The paper the president calls an” enemy of the people” is succeeding and prosperous because it is serving the people with factual reporting and correcting the constant stream of lies coming from the White House.

Yesterday the Times company reported its quarterly earnings and profits are up by 30 percent – that’s hardly “failing” in anybody’s book.  The subscriber base has risen again, now topping 4 million.  That includes an increase of 203,000 in digital subscriptions.

The “enemy of the people” says 70 percent of the new digital subscriptions were for news, and the rest for special features like cooking and crosswords.

Revenue from print advertising dropped again, but it was a slight decrease – less than one percent – and it was offset by increases in digital ads.  Overall, ad revenues increased by seven percent. 

The company said they're investing some of the profits in the newsroom, which we hope will bring us more hard news and investigative stories.

I’m happy to see The Times company is thriving, especially since its main product – The New York Times – continues to be a vital part of keeping Americans apprised of what’s really happening in D.C. and elsewhere during these tricky times.   

Words Do Matter

This post is personal, not political.

I am an American Jew.  Not a Jewish-American, but an American Jew. 

I am a 2^nd-generation American.  This country welcomed my grandparents more than 100 years ago when they came to Ellis Island in New York Harbor, fleeing pogroms and terrorism against Jews in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.   

This country enabled my grandparents and my parents to raise their families in peace, with each generation moving up the financial and education ladder.  I was the first in my family to graduate from college.

As a kid, I sometimes felt isolated because of my religion – mostly around Christmastime when so many friends and neighbors put up decorations and trees and we sang Christmas carols in school.   Outside of the house or synagogue, I rarely heard any mention or acknowledgement of Chanukah.

By the time my children were in school, things were very different and people – at least here in the New York area – acknowledged that some of us held beliefs other than Christianity, and the shared values as well as the differences were celebrated.

I’ve been fortunate that, except for some stupid incidents when I was about 10 or 11, I haven’t faced anti-Semitism directly.  And even at 10 when I and some mostly Jewish friends were chased off a neighborhood ballfield by some Catholic school kids who threw rocks at us and called us Christ-killers, I held no grudge, since I had so many Catholic friends and neighbors who I knew would never condone such behavior and who always treated me and my family with affection and respect.

Despite feeling a part of this great nation, I’ve always had a nagging fear – way down deep – that what happened in Germany in the 1930s could happen here.  The Jews in Germany were assimilated, like Jews are here, and they were a vital part of that nation’s cultural and economic life.  Most of them felt what eventually happened there could never happen to them.

That’s how many of us Jews here in America feel.  We love this country and we cherish the freedoms it affords.  But we can’t ignore history and as much as I couldn’t imagine discrimination or worse for Jews here in America, deep down is the knowledge that to some, we are different and perhaps viewed with suspicion or even hatred.  Usually, I feel secure because civility and the law will protect me and my loved ones from anti-Semitism that might turn violent.

Now here’s the part that may look political, but I’m just speaking honestly…  The rhetoric that we’ve seen from the president over the past 3+ years has alarmed me.  If he talks hatred against Latinos and Blacks, we know what eventually follows… the Jews.  And in his rallies, he has made some statements that could be seen as dog-whistles for anti-Semites. 

The Anti-Defamation League has documented a startling increase in hate crimes against Jews in America over the past 2 years  -- up almost 60 percent in 2017.  Part of it is attributed to the tenor of the president’s talk. Words do matter.

Many people in public life and in government, including many Republicans, have called him out for talk that might encourage prejudice.  The nut-job who shot up a synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday didn’t take direction from the president, but he may have been emboldened to act by the hateful rhetoric, just as we’ve seen an alarming increase in violence against black people brought on by the rhetoric about “taking our country back.”  Back from who? 

I’m pretty sure we’ll feel comforted by an outpouring of sympathy and support from most Americans over these next few days.  The vast majority of Americans are horrified by prejudice and violence toward minorities.  (And yes, we Jews are a minority.)  But the sympathy and support and brotherhood must also come from our nation’s top leaders, and it must be honest support rather than hollow words mandated by the situation.

I’m an American Jew.  I would hope I and my loved ones will never be made to feel isolated from the mainstream because of our religious beliefs.  I would like to think it could never ever happen here in America.  But that’s something we all have to continuously work toward – all of us, from the top down.

 

"The truth emerges"

"The truth emerges."

 

Bob Woodward, talking about his new book, quotes his former boss, Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, about the decision to publish the Watergate stories 46 years ago.  He said those words remain in his mind as his new book is being published.

A Sad Weekend

 

This weekend America says farewell to two great heroes.

Aretha Franklin gave us all so much pleasure with her music.  She's been the soundtrack for our lives.  And her fight for good -- for civil rights and women's rights -- was a tremendous help.  And now, as we are hearing, she did so much to help others, in a quiet and unheralded way. 

We call out to her with R-E-S-P-E-C-T as she goes home, probably in a pink Cadillac.

At the same time, we say farewell to Senator John McCain.  He was a hero and a patriot in many ways, from the skies over Viet Nam to the halls of Congress.  He has set an example of courage, class and compassion, which we hope some of our leaders today would follow. 

We salute Sen. McCain as we thank him for a lifetime of service to this great nation and to the world.

On a more personal note, this weekend marks a time I say farewell to Steve Miller, my California cousin who died Wednesday.   Although we lived nearly 3,000 miles apart, we always enjoyed a special connection.  When we'd see each other, even if several years had passed, we'd pick up the conversation as if we had just seen each other the week before.  "73," Stevie.

 

Photo:  Steve, Michael and me in Hollywood, Dec. 2017

Fighting Back in the War on the Press

 

Media people, as well as all Americans who cherish our freedoms and our democracy, have been troubled by the president’s ongoing war on the media.  His tweets and his rants at his rallies about the media being “the enemy of the people” raise fears among many of us that he is trying to move this country toward a fascist dictatorship.   A free and unfettered press is a key element in keeping a democracy a democracy.

The Boston Globe has launched a campaign to battle those destructive words from the White House.  It is urging other papers nationwide to run editorials on Aug. 16 that condemns the president’s anti-media rhetoric.   So far, more than 100 papers have joined the effort, including major market dailies like The Miami Herald, The Denver Post, The Houston Chronicle and The Star-Tribune in Minneapolis.  Small town papers are also joining.

Marjorie Pritchard, the editorial page editor at The Globe said it’s not a political move.  “It’s not about being a Democrat. It’s not about being a Republican.  It’s about the importance of a free press, enshrined in the Constitution.  It’s something we should all get behind.”

In an editorial yesterday, The Globe reminded readers about a 1974 book by political theorist Hannah Arendt, “The Origins of Totalitarianism.”   “A people that can no longer believe anything cannot make up its mind,” Arendt was quoted.  “It is deprived…of its capacity to think and judge.  And with such a people, a leader can do what you please.”    

Thus, the editorial continues, an ill-informed, frightened public is precisely the audience an authoritarian president hopes to cultivate.  Losing public trust in a free press leaves unprincipled leaders with unprecedented powers and control.

Does anyone still not understand the importance of a free press here in the U.S.? 

Strange Days

 

When I saw the news reports and then began seeing clips of the statements and news conference by Putin and Trump following their secret meeting, I was, like probably most Americans, shocked.  Our president stood there in front of the world and said he believed Putin over all of our law and intelligence agencies and committees from both our Senate and House.  He told the world that the U.S. is equally to blame for bad relations between us and Russia’s government.  He then devolved into his tired litany of people to blame – the Democrats, Hillary Clinton, President Obama.  And, as the world watched, he said the biggest threat to U.S. – Russia relations has been the “witch hunt.”

I was heartened when I saw responses from our nation’s leaders.  Even Paul Ryan said, in a statement, that “the president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally.”  A few other Republicans called out the president - albeit gently, for the most part.

Watching the network news and then CNN and MSNBC last night, I saw the dismay voiced by not only political pundits, but by international relations experts and past national security and CIA leaders.

Out of curiosity, I jumped over to FOX News to see how they were reporting this incredible story.  The first time, they were reporting on something else – a crime story, I believe.  I tried again, and I got the Laura Ingraham show.  There she was, with two or three pundits, mocking the nation’s and the world’s reaction to the president’s remarks.  She showed clips of reporters and analysts on CNN and MSNBC and one of the major networks voicing their dismay and their concerns over how this can impact us on the world stage and at home.  And then Ingraham and her guests smirked and laughed, saying this is much ado about nothing and that Trump has done a wonderful thing by sitting with an enemy and trying to be friends.  They called the concern by Democrats and others as simply overblown hysteria and more partisan politics to try to hurt the president.

No wonder we have such disconnect between left and right in this country!  Many on the right rely solely on FOX for their news – certainly Trump’s base does – and they are being fed information and comment that is simply wrong.  Talk about fake news!!

So thanks to FOX and the other far-right media like Breitbart, Sinclair TV and Limbaugh, many people will simply continue believing there’s some “deep state” that’s trying to undermine the president and that he is doing amazing things on the world front as he, in reality, harms relations with our friends and allies and ignores what may have been the most significant attack on our nation since 9/11 – an attack that didn’t kill people but instead is part of an ongoing attempt to kill the basic principles and core beliefs of this great nation.

The president is not making America great again.  It’s always been great.  Rather, he’s working to chip away at that greatness because it doesn’t align with his vision of America as a place that favors the wealthy over the poor and a place where people from certain countries (like Norway) are more welcome than those who come from nations where the predominant skin color is black or brown. 

We can only hope that, despite the hate-filled rhetoric spewing from the likes of FOX and Limbaugh, more of our elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, come to their senses and forcefully speak out and – better yet – initiate some action to censure the president for what he’s done.  Former CIA chief John Brennan, who Trump just moments ago called “a very bad guy,” is right when he called Trump’s actions yesterday “nothing short of treasonous.”

Finally...