I'm still under the weather, so keeping it short today. Lawrence O'Donnell has been doing one must-watch show after another these days. So, watch, enjoy, and share: For months, Lawrence O'Donnell has been waiting for the Trump campaign to be asked one very simple question about his taxes. It finally happened and the Trump campaign manager was stunned.
Twitter lost its mind yesterday, in part because the political news media lost theirs, as you can see if you take a few minutes to watch the segment below from The Last Word. I spent hours batting away Trump trolls and even fellow Democrats who came up with every conspiracy theory you can imagine (and some you can't) about Hillary Clinton's health. I'm not a huge fan of some of Hillary's policies, but I'll be damned if I'll entertain such idiocy. "Idiocy?" you ask. Yes, idiocy. Here's one example of a message I got from someone I ended up unfollowing [...]
So there I was doing my usual Twitter thing, when I looked up to see a tweet to me from the Associated Press asking me to email them. As they say on the Twitter Machine, "Wut?" It turns out-- imagine my surprise-- the Rachel Maddow Show recommended me to the AP, who subsequently interviewed me (the designated liberal), as well as a conservative man--a (gulp!) Cruz supporter-- about which media sources we rely on for our information. Yes, I was nervous. Then they wanted to put us together on a conference call. Yes, I was even more nervous. I resisted because [...]
Here is how the Los Angeles Times framed Jebya Bush's effort to look presidential by taking a Very Important trip overseas to prove his global cred: Jeb Bush makes it through Europe unscathed, if not more popular at home Here is the first paragraph of that "news" report: When he flies home from here Saturday, Jeb Bush can boast that his ripple-free trip to three European nations this week proved he is capable of striding without stumbling on a global stage. Here is how the L.A. Times ended their story: To the extent Bush needed a whiff of fresh air and [...]
Welcome to today's stream-of-consciousness rant. Here's what happened on MSNBC this morning: Thomas Roberts was discussing the upcoming six (yay!) Democratic primary debates with a correspondent. Roberts then said, "Hillary will be debating nobody." The correspondent reminded him that Bernie Sanders is running. "Oh, but he's an Independent," said Roberts. 1. Bernie Sanders isn't "nobody." 2. Bernie has said repeatedly he's running as a Democrat. A "news" anchor should know that. Hell, I knew it! Why didn't Roberts? This was as demeaning as it was disrespectful to Bernie Sanders and to the Democratic primary process. Based on what I heard, Roberts appeared [...]
Image via Another snark-filled guest post by the one, the only Will Durst: MISREMEMBERING Big bad brouhaha over at NBC with anchor Brian Williams misremembering being shot down in a helicopter on a trip to Iraq, when the facts seem to indicate that although he did fly in a helicopter, and was over Iraq, he was not shot down. Well, come on; the guy was close. Got 2 out of 3. They keep you in the bigs with a .667 batting average, right? Well, this time around… maybe not. Easy to see how this could happen, though. Self- aggrandizement is a [...]
Couldn't have said it better myself: Here is a recent Los Angeles Times letter to the editor, because our voices matter: I will not let my jealousy of Rick Steves (for turning a passion for traveling into professional success) get in the way of congratulating him for his wonderful piece on the cable news-stoked fear gripping this country. The corporate media that create this fear damage our society in incalculable ways. ("Tune out cable news and turn away fear," Op-Ed, Nov. 4) As Steves says, their agenda is profit. But how could anyone not notice the ramping up of Islamic State [...]
Yay! Laffy's Big Road Trip was a complete success this year! (As opposed to other years.) Zion National Park was gorgeous, Bryce was spectacular, and our accommodations and dining experiences were great. The people in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona were nice as could be (well, except for that cop who pulled us over in Arizona for a law we'd never heard of-- the Move Over Law-- but at least he let us off with a warning... and turned out to be a fan of Mr. Laffy's show "Naked and Afraid"). Here's what wasn't gorgeous, spectacular, or great: Being stuck with CNN as [...]
I would like nothing more than to ignore TV news, but because writing and commentating about it is what I do, and because one cannot ignore what goes on around one, we, I, cannot afford to do that. So I keep watching. Being uninformed is not an option. Being misinformed by those who report the news is worse. Day after day, I cringe as I watch and listen to what passes for reporting and how it is reported. Every so often, a rant is in order. Today is one of those every-so-oftens. Most of the quotes below are my own creations in [...]