Category Archives: media news

media news, national news, political news

No truer words …

I don’t normally trust Facebook memes’ as being authentic, given their nature and the fact that so many of them prove to be phony.

But this one really strikes me as funny … and so spot-on true.

I cannot vouch for whether Dave Letterman actually said it, but it could come from damn near anyone with a brain and it certainly fits the situation and the context it is addressing.

Were it not for the fact that the former Moron in Chief was spotted tens of millions of bucks by his father to get into business, he would be dismissed as an abject failure at damn near every venture he has tackled.

And to think he stands ready to be nominated by a once-great political party to run for the U.S. presidency … yet again!

media news, national news, political news

How does POTUS battle back?

For the ever-lovin’ life of me, I don’t understand a lot of things, such as public opinion polling that seems to fly directly against the winds of success of a particular politician.

The pol I have in mind is the president of the United States of America, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. By an overwhelming measure, Joe Biden has enjoyed a successful presidency.

Jobs are up; inflation is in check; the economy is the strongest on Earth; infrastructure is being improved; we are battling climate change; our international alliances are stronger than ever; we have gotten past the COVID pandemic.

Is the world a perfect place? Of course not! We cannot possibly produce a perfect world. Immigration is in crisis; war has erupted in Ukraine and in Israel and Gaza.

Biden is taking plenty of heat for all that has gone wrong on his watch and virtually none of the credit for all that has gone right. The RealClearPolitics poll average places Biden at a 39.7% approval rating.

What the hell is going on?

I know the polling is a static measure. It gauges the public mood in the moment. It is the proverbial snapshot of our feelings right now.

Still, it annoys me to no end in sight that President Biden continues to fight this perception — fed by the right-wing mainstream media — of a public that is uncertain about our future. The MAGA media are clinging to the coattails of Biden’s presidential predecessor, the former Idiot in Chief who wants his old job back.

They are swallowing the swill he peddles, believing the nation is going straight to hell. It damn sure isn’t!

I have no advice to offer the president and his re-election campaign team on how to revive the president’s standing. I guess perhaps the president ought to just keep hammering at his predecessor — the GOP nominee-in-waiting — by reminding everyone about the chaos that accompanied him throughout his sole term in office.

Only the idiotic former POTUS actually pledges to make matters worse if the worst happens and he is elected this November.

Polling takes a lot of hits. I am not going to concede that the polls we see today will hold up until Election Day. Still, they are enough to drive me out of my mind!

local news, media news, national news

Heeding the critics

Taking heed of what passes for constructive criticism is a good thing, so I am going to listen to what some of my critics have said about the stern language I have been using to describe the ardent followers of the 45th POTUS.

They don’t like the m-word I have used to describe the MAGA adherents. It’s an alliterative term and I thought it sounded cool when I first used it.

Then I got a scolding from a longtime friend of mine in Amarillo, a fellow journalist — and a fellow I got to know after I left the newspaper in Amarillo more than a decade ago. He was disappointed that I would stoop to using such language to describe those with whom I disagreed politically. I don’t believe he is an adherent to the idiocy preached by the immediate past president, but his disappointment in me hit me where it hurts.

Then a family member chimed in later. Saying essentially the same thing. He thought it was “beneath” me to use such language. He took direct offense to my use of the descriptive word and said I also was denigrating another member of his immediate family who, I presume, also is part of the MAGA movement.

Others have chimed in, too.

I’m a grownup. I also am a decent human being … at least that’s what my friends and family members tell me.

I also am cognizant that not every follower of the former POTUS qualifies for the moronic description I ascribed to them. They’re smart and educated, but — shall we say — misguided.

Understand, too, that none of this lessens the visceral loathing I have for the MAGA Daddy. I’m just going to go a bit easier on those who follow his idiotic pronouncements.

So … there. Even bloggers can keep — more or less — an open mind.

media news, national news, political news

Playing mind game with ex-POTUS

There might come a time when I’ll reverse course, but I hope it is no time soon.

The “course” to which I refer deals with my refusal to mention the name of the 45th president of the U.S. I am sick of him, sick of hearing his name, sick of reading his name, sick of his presence on the public stage.

For the foreseeable future you won’t see his name in print on High Plains Blogger. Hey, it’s my blog and I manage it anyway I see fit.

He was elected POTUS in 2016, at which time I declared my intention never to put the word “President” in front of his name. I recall one time doing so, but I was quoting another source to make a point about this fellow.

To be clear, I accepted his election in 2016 as being legally viable. I simply couldn’t — or wouldn’t — deliver him any measure of respect by attaching his name directly next to the term “President.” OK, it might have been small-minded of me. Some of my critics have said as much.

But you know what? I don’t give a rat’s rear end!

I am taking my visceral opposition to this guy to the next level. You won’t read his name on my blog. OK. I feel better now that I have explained myself.

media news

Cynicism takes over

Far too many of my former journalism colleagues have conflated two terms in describing their reasons for becoming reporters.

They have told me they are “cynical” by nature and their “cynicism” makes them fit for the craft they pursued. I prefer another term in describing why we pursue that line of work.

That term is “skeptic,” or “skeptical,” or “skepticism.”

It’s easy to become cynical, particularly these days, when covering politics or reporting on policy decisions. I want to point y’all to the words and actions of the immediate past POTUS.

Skeptical reporters no doubt have grown cynical over the way the e-POTUS lies and is able to get away with it. Their task when covering this guy is to prevent their cynicism from infecting the tone of their coverage of his coming and going.

I offer the notion that it’s OK to look at what he says and the actions he takes with a huge dose of skepticism. It’s what good journalists always should do. Take it from me also that the world of journalism contains a many solid reporters who take seriously their pledge to cover their subjects fairly.

Even as they look with intense — but healthy — skepticism at what these pols are saying.

local news, media news

The joy of putting politics aside

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — One of the many joys of traveling — even for the briefest of periods — always is the distance I keep from the world of politics.

I spent a modestly successful career immersed in the comings and goings of politicians, their handlers and those who follow them. Even when I traveled with my wife, Kathy Anne, I scarfed up newspapers to (a) read how they were covering the issues of the day and (b) collect page design ideas I could apply to whatever newspaper where I was working.

Well, I no longer collect newspapers and I now am able to follow the news digitally.

So, my son and I ventured to the Hill Country to visit Kathy Anne’s brother and his two daughters, son-in-law and their daughters.

Politics, policy discussion, who’s up and down in the Republican presidential campaign? Pffttt! I couldn’t possibly care less about any of that!

But … our visit is about to end. We’ll be heading back to North Texas in short order. Then I’ll concern myself with issues and news of the day.

But, man, I do look forward to these getaways. They help cleanse my soul. That said, I am looking forward to the next one.

media news, national news

Now, for social media’s negatives

Not long ago I spoke glowingly about social media’s ability to keep friends connected. Today, I want to offer a dart at social media’s ability to lift the celebrity profiles of politicians beyond where they deserve.

I am stunned at how freshmen and women in Congress become overnight celebrities, how their every utterance becomes headline news.

Progressives mined that wellspring a few years ago when Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez took her seat in the U.S. House. She got airtime, inches in print and attention usually reserved for much senior members.

She didn’t deserve it! Same with other progressives such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

Now, it’s the MAGA cultists getting this outsized attention. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and Lauren Boebert all can be seen and heard everywhere. They have become leaders within their Republican Party, just as AOC emerged as a leader within the Democratic Party.

Who or what is responsible? Social media. These pols have mined social media with cunning. Their celebrity status is both cheap and costly. It cost them little to attain this status. It has cost our system of government, though, to give these loudmouths attention they clearly do not deserve.

local news, media news

Social media can bring joy

Many of us grouse about social media and how these platforms annoy us endlessly with trivial nonsense.

Well, I am going to say something nice about one social medium and the pure joy it brought to little ol’ me.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed recently when I noticed a message from the former wife of a longtime friend and former colleague of mine. We worked for a time together in Oregon City, Ore., back when my career was getting started.

This former wife happens to be close friends with another Facebook friend of mine; she stumbled onto a message I had written to our shared friend, so she reached out to me. She told me she and my old pal were divorced, but she gave me his phone number and his address in Oregon.

What did I do? I called him!

He took the call, saw my name on his caller ID … and we commenced some serious catching up over the many years that had passed since we last saw each other.

This friend and I did some outdoorsy things in the old days, even a little mountaineering.

I left Oregon in the spring of 1984 and set up my life and career in Texas with my wife and two sons. I lost touch with my friend.

Until now!

I told him of the journey my life has taken over the past 40 years. The good and the bad. He told me, too, of his life’s path … also sprinkling some of the negatives with the positive stuff.

But, hey, that’s life. The ups and downs all come along and we manage to maintain our balance and trudge on.

It was a purely joyful conversation I had with my old friend. I just regret it took us so long to reconnect.

I am going to bitch again about social media in the future, bemoaning its excesses, its intrusion into our lives and the nonsense it conveys around the world.

Just not today.

local news, media news

Freelance job adds joy to life

One of the purest joys of my gig as a freelance journalist in North Texas deals with the quality of people I get to meet along the way.

Such as what happened this morning when I ventured to a historic cemetery near Princeton, Texas.

They had a ceremony today to lay wreaths on the graves of veterans who are buried at Wilson Chapel Memorial Cemetery. The event is run essentially by the local Daughters of the American Revolution. I walked into the chapel today to introduce myself to some of the DAR members who were meeting in advance of the wreath-laying event. They greeted me warmly, thanked me for being there to cover it for the Princeton Herald, one of the newspapers for which I am writing these days.

I am doing what can best be described these days as “soft journalism.” I write human interest features and report on actions taken by local city councils and school boards. Almost to a person, I am accepted as media representative and no one hassles me, nags me, throws a dig at me or hangs a four-letter epithet on me.

Believe me when I say that back in the old days when I did this full time, earning a decent living for my family, I didn’t always walk into friendly zones. These days it’s vastly different … for the most part.

There was one notable difference, though, that I can relate to you.

I walked into a school board meeting room a couple of years ago for the first time to cover this local school board. I extended my hand to one of the trustees, who promptly pushed me away, muttering something about the nasty organization for which I am working. He said something about a story that was published that cast him in a negative light … and he didn’t like it one single bit.

He blamed me for it! I sought to tell him I didn’t know what he was talking about, that I just started working for the newspaper. That didn’t matter. I was still the bad guy.

Well, several weeks later, this individual approached me, extended his hand and apologized. He said he was sorry for the way he acted when we met the first time. He said there were some issues in his personal life that affected his behavior and said, in effect, that he was acting totally out of character.

Our relationship ever since has been delightful.

I enjoy this kind of relationship with sources in the community. My bosses don’t ask me to dig deeply into reports of corruption. I’m fine with it.

This is a part-time gig. I do it for fun and to earn a little walking-around money. I am not in it to make a name for myself. I had plenty of that in earlier posts back when I did this job for a living.

Therefore … I am living the dream. Truly. I am.

media news

No ‘war on Christmas’

Bill O’Reilly is still off the air, which makes me happy in that I won’t have to listen to the blowhard lament the so-called Liberal Media War on Christmas.

The war has never existed. It never will. O’Reilly used his Fox Propaganda Network platform to declare regularly that the media sought to rid society of Christmas references, apparently because the media comprise — in O’Reilly’s view — godless heathens who dismiss the religious significance of the holiday.

That ain’t true. Neither is the media’s war on the holiday true.

The only “enemy” of the spirit of Christmas lies within the corporate executives of the companies that profit from all the gift-buying that occurs between the day after Christmas and New Year’s Day.

And do you remember when Donald Trump declared his intention in 2016 to make businesses wish customers a Merry Christmas? That was a singularly stupid proclamation, given that a president has no legal authority to issue such an order.

So, the Christmas buying season is upon us. Millions of Americans will put up their Christmas trees, decorate their homes with Santa, Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, elves and, yes, Nativity Scenes to commemorate the holiday.

There will be no war on Christmas!