media news

Not missing the TV noise

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A while ago I decided to keep the TV turned off during the day while I was home piddling and putzing around the house or playing with my puppies.

My concern at the time was whether I would miss what has become “white noise” associated with the chatter coming from what my Dad used to call the “boob tube.” I am happy to make this announcement.

I haven’t missed the noise. Not one teeny, tiny little bit.

I couldn’t have done this as a much younger man or a teenager. I was addicted to TV. I admit it freely and without reservation. That addiction has cured itself partly because I am much longer in the tooth these days and also because the programming bores me out of my pointy-headed skull.

The news? Hah! Fuhgetabout it!

The news might be the most boring element all the programming I formerly watched. Why does it bore me? Partly because it doesn’t tell me what I don’t already know. I am not being snobby. I merely am telling the truth. I follow issues of the day pretty closely through a variety of media forums. TV doesn’t provide much context or new info for me to digest.

Anyhow … the decision awaiting me now is whether I continue to keep the house quiet during the day. Hey, there’s no real decision to make. Of course I intend to keep doing what I’ve been doing.

The news? I’ll stay ready to weigh in when the time is right for it.

local news, media news, Uncategorized

If I had a dollar …

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You’ve heard others say it, or perhaps you have said it yourself, that “if I had a dollar for every time … blah, blah, blah.“

I am an old-school media guy. I grew up reading the newspaper that was delivered to our home from front to back. I did so each day. Every day!

My love of newspapers didn’t end when I left home when I was in my quite early 20s. I got married at 21 to a young woman who was 19. We built a nice life together and it involved newspapers. I worked for four of them over the course of nearly 40 years. Two in Oregon. Two in Texas.

My full time career ended in August 2012. The media world was in the midst of a huge change. It’s still underway.

Americans aren’t ready newspapers the way we all once did. So, when someone tells me they still “prefer to read an actual newspaper” that blackens their fingers with printer’s ink, all I can do is chuckle.

Why? Because if I had a dollar for every person who said such a thing to me I’d be a gazillionaire.

I hang out, I reckon, with too many old timers like me, folks who grew up as I did reading newspapers. That includes the advice columns and the horoscopes, man.

I’m all but absolutely certain that were I to hang with younger folks that I would see a much different world than the one I have left behind. Which I suppose brings me to my point. The media are looking for ways to appeal to the younger among us. They are the future. People like me are part of the fading past.

I get it. Totally and completely.

I want to wish the media companies well in their quest for new readership audiences. I also want to wish the younger Americans out there looking for sources to inform them of the events of the day. They’re out there. You just have to look carefully and decide who among those sources are giving it you straight and which of them are foisting their own world view on a gullible ocean of empty skulls.

national news

Resignation possible?

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Let us explore briefly something that virtually no one is saying out loud, but which lurks as a possibility as we ponder the future of the Donald Trump administration.

First, I’ll set the table.

The midterm election in November is shaping up as a possible blowout victory for Democrats. They might flip 30 House seats or more. If they capture the Senate majority, well, that’s just more gravy. Donald Trump then would stand a good chance of being impeached for a third time. He survived the first two impeachments because Republican senators by and large stood with him in the trials that emerged from the House impeachment actions.

Although, 57 senators voted to convict Trump in the second impeachment. It didn’t meet the two-third threshold required for conviction as stipulated by the Constitution.

Just suppose the House impeaches him again. Just suppose it goes to trial. Just suppose there might emerge a core of GOP senators who could tell Trump what many of us want to hear from them. That he cannot win a third trial. He will get the boot.

What does the president do? Does he follow the course that President Nixon did in 1974 when confronted by a group of Republican wise men … and resign?

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says an impeachment article could be brought against the entire executive branch. Indeed, many of them have lied through their teeth to protect the president just in the first year of his second term in office. Article II refers to “other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The article says impeachment proceedings could be launched against “all Civil officers of the United States.” That would mean the president and vice president. Who takes over were such a stunning event to occur? The speaker of the House would become president. Presuming it would be a Democrat, I’ll go out on a limb and suggest it would be Hakeem Jeffries.

I have no clue on this good Earth as to whether that would happen. I am just tossing it out there for discussion purposes.

Who in the name of sanity knows what Trump will seek to do to continue his usurping of congressional power? I cannot answer that one. Except that if I were a member of Congress I would be outraged at what I see happening to the framework our nation’s founders laid out when they created the United States of America.

national security

Defending the ‘homeland’

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The term “homeland” emerged from the rubble after the 9/11 terror attack that sent the United States hurtling into what amounted to a new world war … against international terrorism.

I want to discuss a couple aspects about the term briefly here and I might piss some folks off with what I am about to assert.

First of all, I dislike the term “homeland” to label the United States of America and our territories scattered around the world. Why does it bother me? I cannot explain it fully, but I will start by asserting that the very term sounds antiquated. It’s as if it belongs in the 19th-century glossary of terms.

The 9/11 attacks prompted President Bush soon afterward to create a Homeland Security department in the Cabinet. The first DHS secretary was Tom Ridge, the governor of Pennsylvania. He took office in 2003. The current DHS head is Kristi Noem, former governor of South Dakota. More on her in a moment.

I have believed almost since the beginning of our war against terror that the national security adviser could assume the role of protector of our nation. Think for a moment about the term “national security.” I know it encompasses worldwide threats, but they all have a common denominator: Do they affect the security of our home country?

Furthermore, I also have believed — since the 9/11 attacks — that President Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, has escaped any serious responsibility for her office’s failure to act on known threats to our security. I heard little commentary from the pundit class wondering: Why didn’t Rice’s team pick up on the clues that reportedly had been spread like bread crumbs along the trail?

Homeland Security has become the subject of recrimination these days, as DHS Secretary Noem has presided over the immigration cops’ handling of the task of ridding the country of criminals who are here illegally. She has lied her way through hours of testimony before Congress and has laid blame on the victims of two fatal shootings who died at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement goons in Minneapolis.

Is it at all possible to roll Homeland Security issues into the national security adviser’s team, kick in a few billion bucks that are now being squandered at DHS and then charge the NSA with protecting the nation against the criminals hiding as undocumented immigrants.

crime news

It’s the masks, man … the masks

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Of all the issues surrounding the deployment of federal goons disguised as immigration agents, one issue stands out as particularly troubling to this American patriot.

It’s the use of masks to hide the identity of these brutes as they arrest folks on suspicion that they might be here illegally or worse, up to no good at all.

I heard a Donald Trump administration official explain the reason for the masks, which generally are pullover cloths meant to cover all but the eyes. You’ve seen ’em, right? They cover the faces of heavily armed men who are packing guns, stun devices, cuffs and/or zip ties and are wearing flak jackets under their camo shirts. They wear the masks to protect officers against angry protesters,  the explanation goes.

They present a frightening profile of individuals on orders from the top of the federal chain of command to round up crooks, killers and assorted bad guys. Except too many of them have been law-abiding U.S. citizens. And, yes, a couple of them have died after being shot by these goons.

I am trying to square this method of policing by intimidation with what I see every day in the North Texas community where I live and in neighboring cities and towns throughout the area. I see officers engaging in what they call “community policing,” where police interact one-on-one with residents, building trust between taxpayers and The Man. Princeton police engage in a regular session that includes walks through neighborhoods with residents, giving them a chance to ask questions of the cops.

I want to draw that parallel because we are told that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are being deployed to “enforce the law.” Their tactics, though, run totally counter to the type of police work I see almost daily in the city where I live. We’re on a first-name basis with many of the police who patrol our streets. In places at this moment like Minneapolis, ICE agents are hiding behind masks … and presenting an image of intimidation and fear.

The ICE presence is, to say the least, an astonishingly bad look for the agency and the officers who now are feeling the rage of a community under siege.

national news, political news

Vote to avoid impeachment?

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Donald J. Trump reportedly now is telling supporters he needs their vote to dodge what many have said from the get-go, which is that Democrats are sure to impeach Trump a third time if they regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm election later this year.

I will continue to insist that impeachment isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it seemingly could stop legislation from moving forward if lawmakers get caught up in the drama of a presidential impeachment. Then again, legislation has all but sputtered and died as legislators have battled openly with the administration over matters that have little to do with policy.

So … what’s the diff?

What astounds me is that a sitting POTUS would appeal to his supporters on such a shallow level. Never mind the idiocy that keeps flowing from the administration. He wants to seize Greenland from Denmark; he believes Canada should become an American state; he has taken a sovereign leader captive and vowed to take over Venezuela. He put his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; he cheers the notion of Americans losing their jobs; he says not a damn thing about millions of Americans being stripped of their health insurance.

Impeachable offense, anyone? Anyone at all? There are a few of them in the list of misdeeds I have just mentioned.

And, of course, he continues to lie. Bald-faced lies. He says he won the 2024 election in a landslide. He says inflation was the worst in U.S. history when he took office. Holy crap! Dude cannot tell the truth on any issue. Nothing is beyond the liar in chief’s reach!

I think Trump is correct that Democrats will seek to impeach him in 2027. Their failure to do all they can to get this guy out of office will stigmatize them for the rest of time.

local news

Life with puppies …

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Today I want to regale you with a brief tale I am living as I sit at home in North Texas trapped indoors by the bitter cold that has swept in as announced.

I’ve turned the TV off because I am sickened by the news created by the monsters disguised as immigration cops.

So, I will talk briefly about my life with two dogs. They are — to put it mildly — a serious hoot and a scream.

Sabol is the older of them. She is a Chihuaha mix. She’s about 7 years old. She joined my family about 18 months ago. She loves attention. She cannot lick you enough. She’s a little pudgy but she gets around just fine. She runs around in the back yard and she likes the sound of her own voice … if you get my drift.

Then there’s Endo. She joined me almost a year ago. Endo is a 4-year-old black-mouth cur mix. She and Sabol are BFFs. They established their lasting friendship the moment Endo walked into the house. Sabol had to sniff up and down. She gave Endo the once over and conveyed the message I understood completely, which is that “this one is good, Dad.”

I had been a bit fearful that Sabol might not like another fur baby joining the family, as this is her house. She’s the boss.

Hey, no worries.

Well, we’re all kinda trapped inside for next little bit of time. We’re all waiting for the deep freeze to lift.

Normally, I keep the back door open to the back yard. Our doggie door allows them to move in and out at will. With the temperature hovering at around 20 degrees, I am keeping the door closed. The puppies let me know when they want to go outside.

Endo usually sends the message by jumping up and down in front of me. I ask her, “Do you want to go outside?” She responds by bolting for the door. Sabol joins her there and they sort of “play growl” at each other. I open the door and they blast through the doggie door.

Then Endo launches into a three- or four-lap sprint around the back yard. Full tilt! Flaps up!

Only this morning, when she went out she couldn’t keep her footing when she wanted to reverse direction. The ice covered the lawn and made it treacherous for her. She made less than two laps today before bolting back inside. Endo is a short-hair pooch, as is Sabol. Neither of them is comfortable with the cold weather.

I am happy to report that life around my house is a bit quieter than normal. I am even happier to report that I hit home runs when I acquired these two pups. I’ll be clear on this final point, which is that I don’t do cold weather well. I am ready to let Sabol and Endo enjoy the great outdoors.

environmental news, local news

Reporting the weather takes on new urgency

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My fellow North Texas residents I am sure have noticed the extra urgency in the tone of voice used by the broadcast TV weather forecasters as they tell us about the winter storm that is bearing down on much of the country.

I get why they sound so, um, excited.

The last one of these “major” winter weather events turned into a catstrophe. It was February 2021. Snow and ice blanketed the entire state. Hundreds of Texans died in the blast of cold. One U.S. senator, Republican Ted Cruz, infamously jetted off to Cancun while the state was freezing to death. He hurried back when the media exposed his getaway.

ERCOT, the agency that overseas energy production and distribution, acknowledged system failure. Legislators pledge to fix it. Now we’re on the verge of getting another big-time blast.

ERCOT is telling us the system will hold up. The media are reporting ERCOT’s assurances dutifully, as they should.

This kind of reporting has become a regular staple now when we hear about winter storms. Will the system hold up? Has ERCOT winterized the natural gas heating pumps sufficiently? Are local governments setting up enough warming shelters to give residents a place to go in case of power failure?

The 2021 storm did not affect my wife and me as it did many other families. We lost power for a couple of days, water for a couple of hours.We powered through it. To be honest, we did not expect to be without either power or water.

This time I am prepared for the worst. Got flashlights standing by. I even have a lithium battery-powered lantern I can deploy if I need extra light. Plenty of water on hand. Food in the cupboards.

I have been advised by the weather hounds of what to do.

Experience has taught us a bitter lesson to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

crime news

How can they deny the obvious?

I don’t why I am surprised, but the notion that Repuiblicans in Congress who fled for their safety on Jan. 6, 2021 are now denying what happened on the day of the insurrection does astound me beyond measure.

I cannot believe any of them when they say the attack on the Electoral College that day was no big deal, that Donald Trump did nothing wrong by refusing to call for the end of the traitors’ assault on the electoral process. Yet they did so again when special counsel Jack Smith offered testimony explaining the process that led his team to conclude beyond any doubt that Trump broke the law on that horrible day.

I will go to my grave without ever forgiving them for their betrayal of their oath to protect the Constitution and for allowing Trump to get away with the crimes he clearly committed.

 

John Edwards, national news, Rielle Hunter

Don’t brag about fidelity, dudes

The next time I hear a male political candidate boast on the campaign trail about how he has kept his vow of fidelity to his wife will be the first time I likely will throw a heavy object at whatever device I heard this idiotic statement.

I am seeing pictures of men posing with their wife and children. I have heard statements from them proclaiming they are devoted husbands, fathers and grandfathers who have family members who adore them beyond measure.

It’s the kind of crap that makes me feel like puking in my lap.

I never have considered marital fidelity to be something about which one should boast. It is a part of a holy relationship one assumes when he marries the person of his dreams. I am directing these remarks, I hope you understand, to the male politicians out there who are beginning to ask for our votes, our money to help them campaign and our trust that they are who they say they are.

We’ve been burned by these clowns before. I shall reintroduce you to John Edwards, the former Democratic senator from North Carolina who campaigned for vice president in 2004 on a ticket led by John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Edwards was married to Elizabeth. He appeared on the campaign trail with his wife, who was suffering from cancer. He proclaimed his love for her. He acted for all the world like a faithful husband.

Except he was leading a secret life as a Romeo involved in an affair with another woman … with whom he would produce a child. Edwards sought to persuade the voting public that he was a faithful husband when he was nothing more than a marital cheater.

John Edwards makes me sick to this day. His wife died of the disease from which she suffered. Edwards has disappeared from public life. His legacy as a cheat, a liar and a philanderer is etched in stone. He is one of many men who have been caught betraying that sacred oath they took.

So I remain suspicious of any man who makes marital faithfulness a bragging point in a campaign for public office.

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience