News

Here We Go Again...

Once again we find ourselves about to be faced with the possibility of shutting down the government. The fact is -- that it all boils down to a few guys and gals having an agenda that speaks to their issues only. (We agree that we need a smaller but more responsive government, but we can't bring the country to ruin to get there. That is like reducing your household budget by sawing your house in half. That will fix it so you have less house to worry about, but it will probably end up costing you a lot more.) And they will pursue these issues without regard for anything else, especially what is necessary and best for the country at this point in time. People are hurting, we are in an historic downturn. We need to be able to work together to solve these problems.

Folks, what is happening now is not good for our democracy. Our country cannot work without compromise. The checks and balances that make the country work are built around compromise. This is what "checks and balances" are all about.

Checks and balances do not mean that one small group can hold the country hostage to their point of view. That is not what the founders of this great country intended.

We have got to change this situation before it is too late.

Freedom of the Press! What about freedom of the "people" from the "Press"

Erik Wemple (Washington Post Blog) wrote in an article that he attributed to Howard Kurtz of the Daily Beast the following:

"As he embarks on his last hurrah — Ailes’s contract is up in 2013 — he is acting not like a political operative but as a corporate chieftain who knows that fostering friction and picking fights make for good television — and good business. "

The subject of the article aside, my issue is with the very factual I think part that says:

"...a corporate chieftain who knows that fostering friction and picking fights make for good television --- and good business."

I think all of the so called "News" networks have come to that conclusion to the detriment of us all. They even have political segments where they have decided that they will target. Of course one of the problems there is that you only get one side of an argument if you watch them exclusively. That tends to set you harder in your beliefs and it may not be the whole truth, if it is the truth at all.

In other words, it is important to pit one side against another in the political arena in order to gain and maintain audiences. That is, facts and the truth are poppycock, let's get to the conflict.

Again, that is great for entertainment TV and Sports shows in particular, but it is very, very bad for the United States of America.

Sometimes I feel as though I have awakened in one of those movies that paint a horrific view of a future where we are running around in gangs without any direction or hope.

We need a free, agressive and fact based press. We very well may need freedom from the "Press" that we have now.