media news

Fact-checking doesn’t suppress political speech

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Donald John “Liar in Chief” Trump has issued an executive order that seeks to strike back at social media outlets that seek to do the responsible thing.

They want to fact-check the idiocy — the lying idiocy at that — that pours forth from Trump’s Twitter account.

Trump thinks he is being stifled, stymied, censored. Twitter has announced it intends to issue fact-check warnings on Trump’s messages, given that he, um, is prone to lie through his teeth.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, said today that social media shouldn’t apply fact checking on political speech. I disagree with the young zillionaire. Fact checking does not stifle political speech. It doesn’t water down the First Amendment that guarantees free speech.

Now that I have mentioned the First Amendment, I need to remind everyone what it says. It declares that Congress shall make no law that inhibits free speech, freedom of religion and freedom to protest the government. It does not mean that someone can spew lies without them being challenged.

Therefore, Twitter is doing what it deems necessary to warn readers of Trump’s tweets that they are not getting the truth from the president of the United States.

Trump is fighting back. He shouldn’t win this fight.

Yes, Donald Trump has 80 million Twitter followers. I am one of them! I get a laugh out of reading his messages, which he says are an attempt for him to avoid the “media middle man.” He wants to talk directly to Americans using Twitter.

I get that. I have no problem with that noble goal.

Except that Trump debases it by lying, with his bullying, by using Twitter to defame others and to spread debunked rumors.

The cure for Twitter taking the watchdog approach is straightforward and oh, so simple: Quit your damn lying!

national news

Riots inflict terrible collateral damage

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There can be no way on Earth to gloss over any aspect of the reaction to the death of an African-American man at the hands of rogue cops in Minneapolis, Minn.

George Floyd’s death is a hideous example of how dangerous it is to be black in America. He was arrested by the cops, cooperated with their demands, then thrown to the ground, restrained with a knee in the back of his neck until he passed out … and then died. 

The reaction of the rioting crowds, though, is what also is quite troubling. It’s the vandalism that I find so repugnant … accompanied by the theft of items taken from retail outlets that have been looted by the angry mob.

What we have here is a situation that creates untold collateral damage to individuals who do not deserve to be damaged by the rioters.

Think of this for just a moment. There might be a business owner who is aghast and horrified at what the nation has witnessed with the conduct of the police and the death of George Floyd. That business owner then becomes a victim of the mob that rampaged down his or her street, broke into the business, smashed windows, stole items, destroyed the interior, perhaps even set it afire.

How in the name of human decency does one justify such reprehensible conduct?

Do not misunderstand me on this point: I share the anger of those who are demanding justice for George Floyd’s death. The video of the cop — who was fired along with his three colleagues involved in the incident — is repugnant on its face. I hope prosecutors can find grounds to prosecute these officers, particularly the goon who killed Floyd.

However, the damage inflicted on innocent individuals, business owners who well might be sympathetic with the rioters, is beyond anything reasonable, rational or humane.

crime news

Mob mentality exhibiting its ugliness

George Floyd is the latest in a long and distressing line of African-Americans who have fallen victim to police cruelty. I’ve seen the video of the Minneapolis cop pressing his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck, watching him pass out after pleading with the officer to release him because he couldn’t breathe.

Floyd’s death has sparked justifiable outrage and anger among many Americans, black and white.

However … I want to speak about the mob mentality that has overwhelmed Minneapolis. We are witnessing the worst possible way to call for “justice” for George Floyd, who died day after being manhandled by the cops.

The Minneapolis Police Department fired the four officers immediately after the incident. That isn’t enough. There needs to be a thorough investigation into whether they committed a prosecutable crime. I am inclined to believe they did.

The rioting, looting and, yes, the reported death of a resident in all the mayhem is what I want to address here.

Civilized human beings never should destroy property to supposedly protest an injustice that has been done. The scenes of the fires, the smashing of motor vehicle windows, the theft of items by looters does not advance a single noble notion if society is going to put an end to the type of conduct we have witnessed — yet again — by law enforcement officers against an American citizen.

I am sickened by what we have all seen prior to George Floyd’s death. He wasn’t resisting arrest for a non-violent crime. He was, as I saw it, killed by an officer who went far beyond what is normal and humane.

I also am sickened by the sight of the looting, vandalism, mayhem and outrageous behavior of citizens who are doing far more harm than good in their quest for justice.

I fear they might have dishonored the memory of George Floyd.

Justice can be found, but not this way.

local news

Carpetbagging is in style

We made a quick return this past weekend to the Texas Panhandle to see our son and to, oh, just get away from the house for a bit.

Along the drive both ways along U.S. Highway 287 I noticed campaign signs for a single congressional candidate, a guy named Ronny Jackson, who’s running for the Republican nomination for the 13th Congressional District.

It occurred to me on our drive to Amarillo and then back to the house in Princeton: How did this guy Jackson manage to persuade voters that he knows anything about their needs, their desires, their concerns?

Then it dawned on me: Carpetbagging is in vogue these days.

Jackson has never lived in the 13th CD. He was born in Levelland, which isn’t in the district. He moved away, though, to attend college. He obtained a medical degree. He rose the rank of Navy vice admiral. He served as physician to two presidents: Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Then he got nominated to become Department of Veterans Affairs secretary. Oops! He got into trouble. He had to back out when it became known that Dr. Jackson drank on the job, over-prescribed certain drugs and didn’t have a lick of administrative experience that qualified him to run a monstrous agency such as the Department of Veterans Affairs.

What does he do then? He runs for Congress in a district being vacated by a longtime Republican House member, Mac Thornberry of Clarendon, who isn’t running for re-election this year.

Jackson is a carpetbagger. He is running against an Amarillo resident, Josh Winegarner of Amarillo, who is not a carpetbagger.

Look, being a stranger to a congressional district or a state while running for public office isn’t new. Robert Kennedy sought a U.S. Senate seat in New York in 1964, with only a passing knowledge of the state; so did Hillary Clinton in 2000; this year we have numerous candidates running for Texas congressional seats who have never lived in those districts.

I don’t have a dog in that fight any longer, as I no longer can vote in the 13th Congressional District. My memory is pretty good, though, and I have trouble understanding how this guy, Ronny Jackson, has positioned himself to possibly be elected this year representing a congressional district about which he knows nothing.

Is this how we define “representative government” these days?

medical news

Tragic milestone: 100K dead from virus

Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Now that we have passed yet another grievous milestone in the fight against COVID-19, it’s time to look briefly — no need to rehash what we know — at how we got to this terrible event.

Donald Trump declared the virus “under control” in the beginning. We had 15 cases nationally. Trump said the disease would disappear like magic.

It hasn’t. The death toll stands at 100,000 — and counting!

He told us that as president, he calls the shots. Governors should yield to his authority as head of state and commander in chief. Then he punted. He tossed it all back to the governors.

Trump has fought with Democratic governors who have insisted that health concerns should be paramount in their executive decision-making. Trump has heaped praise on Republican governors who have insisted with equal fervor that the economic collapse has brought even more misery to Americans; Trump is in their corner.

Trump has enacted no national plan. He has produced no national strategy. Trump has contradicted medical experts he assembled to participate in the coronavirus pandemic response team.

Oh, and the virus that Trump said would disappear miraculously?

It hasn’t done any such thing. It has gotten worse. It is continuing to worsen. It is killing more Americans every hour.

And still … Donald Trump boasts about what a “fantastic job” he is doing. No. He is not!

national news

Needing to understand Trump’s grip on his ‘base’

(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

I never have professed to know everything about everything.

Some things escape me. They sit perched beyond my ability to grasp certain aspects of human thinking. One of those things involves Donald John Trump, who does profess to know everything about everything, but who in reality is a dunce who cannot admit it.

This brings me to my query: How in the world does Donald Trump’s base of voters defend the conduct of this individual who to my way of thinking exhibits an astonishing example of unfitness for the job he holds.

I have many social media acquaintances — some of whom are actual friends of mine in real life — who cling to this idiot’s world view … such as it is! Maybe they can explain a few things to me.

I am left to ponder so many examples of crassness, boorishness, cruelty from this clown. How do these folks stand with a guy who:

Defames a talk show host by suggesting — without a shred of evidence — that he played a role in the death of a trusted aide when that talk show host served in Congress and drags the family of the young staffer through more grief?

Alleges that a former president of the United States committed an illegal act, again without any evidence?

Suggests the former president, Barack Obama, should be thrown in jail?

Denigrates the service of a war hero, the late Sen. John McCain, and then continues to criticize him as he fights a disease that eventually would took his life?

Mocks a reporter with a serious physical handicap?

Criticizes a Gold Star family — that happens to be Muslim — whose son died while fighting for this country in Iraq?

Admits to grabbing women by their genitals, admits to philandering on his wives and admits to seeking to do so immediately after his third wife gave birth to his fifth child?

Donald Trump is unfit at any and every level to make decisions as president of the United States. He was elected in 2016 partly because he sold Americans a bill of goods about his business background.

And now here we are. We are struggling against a global pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 Americans. Many thousands more of us will die. He should focus solely on the effort to stem the infection. What does he do instead? He takes to Twitter virtually 24/7 to foment lies about his political foes and to disparage others who choose to wear masks as a way to protect themselves and others against a potentially fatal viral infection.

Trump’s base of voters continues to stand with the Nimrod in Chief for reasons that escape me. I want to understand a little better that line of so-called “thinking.”

Bear in mind that I won’t change my own mind about his unfitness for the office he occupies. I just want to learn something.

national news

What kind of lowlife would do this?

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I just cannot stop shaking my head in utter disgust.

Donald Trump continues to exhibit the traits of a disgraceful, despicable lowlife capable of defaming the characters of those with whom he has mere political disagreements.

His latest target happens to be an MSNBC talk show host, Joe Scarborough, a former Republican member of Congress who has since become a Trump critic.

The president of the United States of America has suggested several times openly that Scarborough had a hand in the death of a former congressional aide. Donald Trump has said Scarborough was responsible for the death of Lori Kaye Klausutis. Authorities have debunked anything of the sort.

Trump, though, keeps pitching that scurrilous lie. Not only is he seeking to harm the reputation of Joe Scarborough, Trump is brining untold suffering and pain to Klausutis’ family. Her widower has called on Trump to cease and desist. So has Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney, who has said “enough already” with the defamatory rhetoric.

When reporters ask Trump about the lie he keeps fomenting, he falls back on that lame “many people have said” defense.

To think, therefore, that this piece of sh** politician managed to get elected to the highest office in the land and that the individual masquerading as our head of state is continuing to conduct himself in such a reprehensible manner … while he should be focused exclusively on putting down a global pandemic that has killed 100,000 Americans.

Lori Kaye’s husband, T.J. Klausutis, has asked Twitter to take Trump’s tweets down. “I’m asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain,” he wrote in a letter to Twitter. To date, the social medium has not done so, but it has put warnings out about the lies that Trump keeps fomenting.

Donald Trump is sickening in the extreme.

national news

It isn’t ‘political correctness,’ Mr. POTUS

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A reporter stood before Donald Trump today to pose a question; he said he had to speak loudly because he was wearing a surgical mask.

“You’re being politically correct,” Trump told the reporter, speaking in that dismissive tone he uses to discuss measures people are taking to avoid being sickened by the coronavirus.

The reporter answered that he was merely being cautious, that he doesn’t want to catch the killer virus.

And so it goes on and on with the Dipsh** in Chief, who continues to dismiss the wearing of masks as a preventative measure by Americans.

Trump won’t wear one in public. He says a mask makes him “look ridiculous.” He poked fun today at his likely election opponent, Democrat Joseph R. Biden, for wearing a mask during Memorial Day services in Delaware. Biden was asked by a CNN reporter whether wearing  mask is a sign of “strength” or “weakness.”

Joe Biden’s answer? It’s a sign of “leadership.” Bingo!

Donald Trump has failed every leadership test he has ever taken since becoming a politician.

Oh! There’s this: The disease that would in Donald Trump’s words disappear “miraculously” when we had recorded 15 cases is about to claim its 100,000th fatality.

national news

Oh, the dilemma is maddening

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I am faced at this moment with the most vexing political dilemma I have encountered since I first became eligible to vote.

That was in 1972. I had just returned from active duty in the Army. The 26th amendment to the Constitution was enacted in 1971. I got to vote! Cool!

Now it’s 48 years later and I am trying to stare down this dilemma. It goes like this:

I am torn between wanting the economy and the nation’s health to recover from the global pandemic that is going to kill thousands more Americans while also wanting to remove Donald John Trump from the office of president of the United States.

The dilemma forms because Donald Trump would find a way to take credit for the nation recovering from the pandemic when, in my view, he has done damn near nothing to bring about a welcome conclusion to the crisis.

The economy might start to rebound later this year. Or it might continue to crater. Americans might no longer be stricken with the viral infection called COVID-19, or we might continue to get sick and die at a shocking and tragic rate.

Do I want the worst to occur? Of course not! I want there to be a full return to economic vitality and I certainly want an end to the misery, the grief and the tragic loss of life we are enduring at this moment.

However, a return to economic and physical vitality is likely going to produce a blizzard of self-aggrandizing and misleading (at the very least) pronouncements from the Nimrod in Chief about how “none of this could have occurred without me as your president.”

Perhaps the strangest aspect of it all is that millions of Americans are going to guzzle the swill that this con man would deliver.

Would a happy ending produce a Donald Trump re-election? I shudder at the thought. In my humble view, this individual — through his initial dawdling and dismissiveness about the pandemic — is responsible for more of the misery than he ever will acknowledge.

He deserves to be booted out of office.

local news

What happened to ‘local control is best’?

I am still steamed at the Texas Legislature for wrestling away from cities in the state the ability to enact ordinances aimed at protecting motorists and pedestrians who venture onto our public streets.

The 2019 Legislature decided it had earned enough griping from motorists bitching about a phony notion that they were unable to “face their accuser” and ordered cities to no longer deploy cameras at intersections to catch motorists running through red lights.

You know, of course, that red lights mean “stop.” Too many Texans choose to ignore that command, so they run through the intersections. They have in many cities produced spikes in “t-bone” crashes, resulting in serious injury and death.

An earlier Legislature decided to give cities that right. Many of them did. I lived in a city that deployed red-light cameras. Amarillo, though, was forced to take them down because of legislative edict. I now live in a city, Princeton, that doesn’t govern itself under a home-rule charter, so it must follow state law where it applies; absent a home-rule charter, Princeton couldn’t have activated red-light cameras even if it sought to do so.

My wife and I have just returned from a brief visit to Amarillo. Our visit there reminded me once again of the fight that ensued when the city council showed some serious courage in enacting the ordinance that resulted in red-light cameras. The city traffic engineer and police department had identified intersections where red-light runners had caused undue havoc, mayhem and misery. They deployed the cameras and, lo and behold, they found that the cameras deterred lawbreakers.

One of the chief complaints came from those who said the cameras denied motorists the right to face their accuser. Baloney!

The cameras snapped a picture of the license plate of the offending vehicle; the city then identified the owner of the vehicle and sent him or her a $75 infraction notice. It then fell on the owner of the vehicle to pay the fine, or get whoever was driving the vehicle to pay it or they could protest it to the municipal judge.

Well, that’s all history now. I recall fondly the statement made in public by then-City Councilwoman Ellen Green, who scolded red-light camera opponents by declaring in essence, that all they had to do to was “stop running red lights.”

Shameful.

Whatever happened to the noble principle that “local control is better” than big government?

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