Free Press is Not the Enemy But Biased Media Is

by Chuck Marshall 

       Well, after my tirade this past week regarding the media I still  wasn't satisfied, so I felt compelled to send a letter to the paper (the illustrious Orlando Sentinel) but I don't think they'll print it.  It's a little too "bombastic" and "provocative" which they tend to shy away from.  I don't take it personally, they have to be careful to a certain extent. and they've been very generous with me printing around 7 out 10 of the letters I do send them.  Very flattering,  I must admit !   I actually consider our local paper to be only moderately "left leaning".  It is  reasonably balanced and its most liberal articles tend to be fed from the Washington Post and the LA Times and lately the Associated Press (which I've lost respect for as they've recently jumped on the "We hate Trump" bandwagon).   The Orlando Sentinel even endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012 !    

     Interestingly, President Trump tweeted this week that the media is not his enemy but that they are the enemy of the people.  This did, of course, send the mainstream media into a "tizzy" as many of you have probably already seen.  The actual tweet specifies CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Failing New York Times, and Washington Post.  Was that a good idea ?  I've learned not to doubt anything Donald Trump does,  and I would say it was certainly typical of him.   The CNN's of the world took his simple tweet and turned it into him being an "enemy" of the free press which he DID NOT imply and they know that.  They proved his point in their reaction.   They proceed to distort the truth and blatantly combat the decision of the American people.  As my blog yesterday outlined, and the letter below states;  I agree with him.  

        There is no self examination.  There is no introspection.  They are sharks in the water and they seem to have lost themselves in all this frenzy.   Their ugly gnarled teeth are out and open for all to see.  I understand Trump is a great disappointment to them but I sincerely believe they are committing slow suicide as they are relentless in their berating of a freely elected President.   They would be wise to step back to the middle and focus on facts and truth and avoid "creating the story".   A truly good  journalist or news organization should pursue the truth and inform and they should work hard to be politically moderate.  The political prism tends to  distort the facts and consequently the story.  People aren't stupid, and they can sense partisan journalism as is evidenced by the horrible statistics regarding the news media today.  I think it's around 60 to 70% simply don't trust them.  How can you build an audience with that fact staring you in the face ?  

So, anyway... here is my letter this week and since  I doubt they'll print it, I hate to let a good letter to to waste !!    If they print it, I'll make a note below in the next few days.  

      "There is an evil more dangerous and frightening than any terrorist I can think of because a bomb that sneaks in will do harm to one unfortunate city or community,  but this rampage from the far left, led by the media, tears and insults at the heart of all Americans.   It is the height of arrogance to reveal such a low opinion of 63 million Americans that they voted wrong and that the media, Hollywood, and Academia  know better what's good for our country.  I have no problem with criticism of the President, even when he hasn't really been given a chance.  That's what he signed up for.  What I do have a problem with is the power play I see coming from the media.  They feel they are entitled to insult this revered American institution of a free election with open bias and hostility towards the President and consequently the citizens who voted for him.  They show more compassion for foreign refugees than struggling Americans.  They insult America by doubting its decision.  I believe a free press exists to seek and find the truth and to record history not  rule the people and create history.  The other branches of government will keep the President in check.  The press has assumed power that is not rightfully theirs. "  

In Chuck Marshall's Humble Opinion......

Have a great week, loyal readers and don't forget to click an ad  ! 

Progressive Media Treasonous to Americans

By Chuck Marshall
 

                  The Progressive News Media and their Entertainment Minions 

      I feel so frustrated because I can't just sit down and watch the news like I use to or be entertained.    All I hear is biased nonsense.   I hear fear.   I hear "half truths".  I hear total lies.  What has happened to our journalists ?  Have they all completely lost sense of what's right, what's fair and what's honorable ?  I don't hear the truth anymore.  The election of Donald Trump has revealed a side of the mainstream media that genuinely alarms me.  Their misleading stories and biased commentary are so obvious a High School student would recognize it.  Their dignity is gone and they've reduced themselves to yellow journalists resembling The National Enquirer or The Star.  On a good day they might be more appropriately compared to "People" magazine with their groveling towards Hollywood and anyone with a lot of money.  Except Donald Trump of course.  He promises to stand up for the common man which is a threat to the cozy situation all the highest powers have between each other.    The media is a serious part of the problem we have today in our country.  I wrote a scathing blog criticizing the Democratic party, but in a lot of ways it's the left leaning media that is truly at the heart of the problem we have today.   The Democratic party is essentially their lapdog.  

     The Mainstream media is still in a frenzy because their choice for POTUS was not chosen.     They do not see themselves as covering history, they see themselves as  producing history but conservative victories keep preventing that !   They wanted their first woman POTUS !  So, they do not seek the truth but they produce their own version of the truth that makes them feel important and as having higher morals because they're so politically correct and superior as compared to middle America.   Their best friends in Hollywood and at the helm of talk shows the world over and all manner of entertainment are startled and shudder that perhaps  they are not the center of the universe and it's revealing an attitude and a mindset that is walled off around their mansions with no openness to any opinion other than their own .  In short, the mainstream media and it's "over the top" opposition to a free election and all their minions in the entertainment world are treasonous towards our country.  

Media Should Look in the Mirror to Understand Trump Victory

   

     One of the more aggravating aspects of the election this year, to me, was how totally biased the Media was in favor of Hillary Clinton.  A massive 75% in a USA Today poll stated they believed the media was biased in favor of Hillary, and only 7% thought they favored Trump.  Even handed reporting, huh ?  I think this had a lot to do with Trump's victory.  Americans like an underdog, and boy was Trump the underdog in this election.   With the exception of Fox News, all of the media piled on Trump - tearing and smearing his every action.  He was treated with open contempt and offered almost no respect so much so that the first debate dwindled into an argument between the moderator and Trump.   Clinton won all three debates, but there was a surprise in all that.  It didn't matter.  I believe people thought the entire event was unfair and they ended up pulling for Trump because he kept on fighting.  He never let up.  He never wavered.  They might not like him, but by God the man has gumption and temerity and fight.   

     In addition, it was obvious that the media not only were pulling for Clinton, they were also self assured that all the masses out in the vast wasteland of middle America would certainly put down their corn cobs and vote logically, as the elite media had instructed them.  This did not happen, and you could visibly see the talking heads waver and  shake in their Italian shoes the night of the election returns.  After all  the negative attention towards Donald Trump they were in shock that their instructions weren’t followed by the people !    

     As offensive as some of Donald's  comments were to me,  I watched with glee as the mainstream media and the party system (both parties) took a punch in the mouth.   Donald Trump won on  a promise to clean up Washington, DC and for pushing against the establishment which not only includes the political parties and multinational corporations but also the massive media organizations that have deemed themselves "king makers".    Biased headlines directing Americans how they should think smacks of Soviet Communism and their puppet newspaper "Pravda".   They should all be ashamed of themselves as their yellow journalism is a bigger danger to American liberty than Donald Trump.

L'âge de l' incompétence; Part Deux

The Age of Incompetence: Part Two

By Chuck Marshall

     The media has outdone themselves today and they look more asinine than they did on CNBC for the last Republican debate.  Who knew they could top themselves so quickly !   Politico- the political web site for those of you unfamiliar-  came out with a story stating that Ben Carson had "fabricated" his experience as a high school senior while in the Detroit ROTC where he was in a position of high leadership (this is not the fact being questioned- that would be the case in a NORMAL story questioning a potential leader).   In his book, they explained,  he wrote that he was complimented  by General Westmoreland himself at a banquet and he was encouraged to apply to West Point and "was offered a scholarship".   Carson turned him down because he wanted to be a Doctor.  This is, of course, what happened and would seem to be the key fact here.    Politico was elaborate in commenting that he "couldn't have been offered a scholarship because West Point doesn't offer scholarships".  The headlines were then all over the Internet  "Carson lied about being offered a scholarship to West Point".   Carson later explained that he was offered a "position" to come to West Point in conversation, ie "Your performance  at the Detroit ROTC has been exemplary, I think you would have no problem getting into West Point, or being offered a position to go there".   In other words, he didn't clarify but there really is no word for "getting a position" at West Point and even their marketing uses the word "scholarship" as the reader can see in the image above.  The real story;  Carson exaggerated the details of his offer to apply to West Point.  

      Politico also attacked Carson for even claiming any admission to West Point because "West Point has no record of him applying".  In his book Carson never claimed to apply to West Point, he was simply making a point that he had risen to the enviable position of being offered a likely position at the prestigious academy.   Why would he apply to West Point if he had already said he wanted to be a Doctor ?   Later today it was discovered that West Point doesn't keep any record of who did or did not apply that far back so ...... the conclusion?   Politico lied about checking the details of Carson applying at West Point.   To sum it up., Politico got caught doing what they were accusing Carson of doing., and that's not an exaggeration it's slander.

     All at the same time., our friends at  CNN "discovered" that Ben Carson may have "fabricated" the "narrative" in his book regarding details of himself as a 13 year old while growing up in a Detroit ghetto.   My first thought is;  "everybody did weird things when they were 13 years old, but what was he hiding?  What did he fabricate?"   He fabricated that he threatened a friend with a knife and he fabricated that he threatened his mother with a hammer over a pair of pants.   Keep in mind he didn't say he never did those things, he lied by saying he DID do those things.   Huh?  So, he was lying about tending towards violence in his youth... when really he was NOT violent ?   He was  being dishonest because he was actually a mellow, law abiding citizen as a 13 year old.   I've heard a lot of bizarre stories in my 52 years but this is one of the most bizarre.  Les médias est plus incompétent que je l'imaginais !  

If this is all they can find on Ben Carson then he has got my vote friends....

* Why is this title in French ?  Click the link to L'age de l'incompetence - Part 1" under the heading "Popular Posts"  to  the right of this page to find out.  Have a good day.

Guns and Race in America

By Chuck Marshall

Since the murders of 9 innocent people in South Carolina I feel compelled to write on the topic.  It also coincides with my previous blog in my twin blog, "Journal of an American Malcontent", which elaborated on the absurdity of the lady that "identifies herself as black".   Her name escapes me., but she's a great example of how silly race issues can get.

The loss of lives is the biggest tragedy of the South Carolina mass killings., and I think 99.99% of all Americans are disgusted and saddened.   I guess this must be the 10th mass killing in the last 5 years and  it's getting tragically common.  The tragedy of the South Carolina mass killings - the avoidable tragedy- is that  the story itself turns into another opportunity for our political parties to start debating each other.  Now should be a time to come together and establish some real solutions regarding mass killings;    Gun Control,  Mental Illness, Crime Control and ways to prevent things like this from coming up again.  Our so-called leaders will no doubt get into another pissing match, pointing their fingers at each other and coming to absolutely NO solution but to continue arguing "unwinnable" arguments.  There is no compromise in DC so nothing gets done.  We are essentially a leader-less country with a group of  political extremists that are out for the following things;   themselves, their lobbyist buddies on K-Street (where the real money and power comes from), and of course their "team" the idiotic Republican and Democratic parties.  Notice the glaring absence of the American people on that list.

There is one other culprit in all of this,  the network news media.  And  I do mean the left-leaning networks especially (which are synonymous with the Democratic party).    The networks show no restraint in taking this opportunity to draw their own conclusions with dim-witted comments funneling all of this into the fault of southern white people.  Their narrative is that the confederate flag and the hate of southern white people is a never ending plague upon the black folk of the south.  They also took the opportunity in several cases to blame  Fox Network for "stirring the pot" of racism... .  or words to that effect.   The reality is the guy that killed those people is a lunatic and a psychopath- who is also a bigot.  The problem is with the lunatic part., the bigotry is an ugly aspect of all societies in the world and comes from all races not just the white race.

They-the network media - see themselves as morally superior to the majority of the country.  The reality is they are condescending, arrogant,  self righteous egomaniacs and most of them are better suited to cover Hollywood and all it's superficial happenings., not a real story like this.   This is the reason I stick to reasonably intelligent written media, newspapers and I encourage all my readers to pick up a paper or subscribe to an electronic version of your city's newspapers.  The newspapers usually have thought behind their opinions.

 I am as angered by these murders as anyone but I want solutions not rhetoric.   Our leaders are bending over backwards to use this as another self-congratulatory oration of why they are so superior to the rest of the country and the other side.   President Obama won everybody over by explaining that this never  happens in any other civilized country besides the United States.  Wow, comments like that will sure help things a lot.  Once again, he has shown what an excellent "left leaning" college professor he would be but what a terrible leader he actually is.

In my humble opinion.