Tag Archives: scandals

media news

‘Protecting’ Bidens? Seriously?

The conspiracy theorists who populate the MAGA crowd really and truly just crack me up!

They contend with a straight face that journalists are “protecting the Bidens” from exposure for the crimes they reportedly have committed. Bribery, extortion, money laundering. They say it all leads to the top of the family food chain, which in this instance means also to the top of the U.S. government.

Wow! I now want to explain a little something about journalism and those who practice an honorable craft.

I keep my hand in the career I pursued for nearly 37 years. My days as a full-time journalist are long gone, as I am now an old man who still reads the news daily and enjoys the rough and tumble of journalistic combat.

OK, what do I know about the craft? It is populated by highly competitive individuals. Newspapers compete against each other. So do TV networks, streaming services, digital outlets. Those who continue to work in journalism vie with each year for recognition among their peers for the good work they do.

I offer this as my way of telling you the conspiracy theorists ignore the competitive nature of journalism, even in the form it is taking these days. No journalist worth a damn is going to sit on a story involving a politician with whom he agrees politically because he doesn’t want to “embarrass” him or her.

A journalist is going to expose anything he or she believes is worth reporting to the public. That is part of the job they all sign on for when they hit the streets in search of the next big scoop.

I also must remind everyone who reads this blog that journalists are not bound by ideology. They do not just “seek out conservatives” because they work for the “liberal media.”

Let me toss out a few names for you: John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, Jim Wright. Oh, wait … Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton! These all are prominent politicians, all are Democrats, all are so-called members of the “liberal elite.” They all were targets of aggressive journalists looking for the truth behind the assorted allegations that rocked their respective careers.

You can spare me the bullsh** notion that the media are “protecting” President Joe Biden and his son because they want to protect the president. In the real world of gumshoe journalism, such an allegation is as phony as it gets.

national news

Cynicism is worrisome

So many of my friends have fallen into a world of acute cynicism, given the state of affairs in our great land.

They wonder if we ever can get back what we seemingly have lost in this Age of Donald J. Trump, which is a shared purpose, a sense of commonality and whether we ever again will be able to reach deep within ourselves to find it.

Some friends have said it’s gone forever. That the Trump cult — the MAGA morons as I have been calling them — has destroyed our national will.

I do not believe that’s the case. I do believe we have it within ourselves to pull our collective heads out of that dark place and find our way into sunlight. How do we do it? I haven’t a single, solitary clue!

I am left to rely on my belief in the Constitution as the sturdiest governing document ever crafted. It isn’t perfect. More work lies ahead, with amendments to be crafted, approved and ratified.

We have been through many crises over the 200-plus years of our national existence. They’ve included warfare, multiple presidential scandals, economic calamity, disease, dark impulses within the souls of many Americans. This thing we’re enduring now is unique in one regard, though: It seems to rest on the political fortunes of one individual.

I will not accept any notion that suggests that a doddering old man who once held the nation’s highest office is strong enough to take this country down.

Cynicism be damned!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump, national news

Now it’s Jared Kushner in the hot seat . . . sheesh!

Good grief! My head is hurting.

As if the scandals surrounding the president’s possible violation of the Emoluments Clause, the Robert Mueller investigation, the hush money payments to a porn star weren’t enough — now we hear that the First Son-in-Law, Jared Kushner is the midst of yet another potential scandal.

Donald Trump said he didn’t do anything to grease it for Kushner to get a top-secret security clearance to work in the White House. Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, said the same thing.

Then comes reporting that — yep! — the president did, in fact, order that Kushner get the security clearance. The president threw his weight around to assure that Kushner, the guy with zero government experience or exposure, would get the top clearance offered to key White House advisers.

When does this baloney stop? When do we stop being jarred by the president’s astonishing lies?

I think I know when it’ll happen. That will occur when Donald Trump walks out of the White House for the final time.

Oh, how I hope it’s sooner rather than later.