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* (rev. 2/28/18)
About two years ago I wrote a short essay about One America News Network. It was generally complimentary, and I welcomed it as a much-needed (though small in the cable world) competitor to an increasingly milqutoast Fox News. In my view, OAN has improved on all fronts, while FNN has made marginal gains. Of course a lot has happened since my earlier comments.
Showing posts with label Journalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journalism. Show all posts
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Media Suicide by Trump
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For decades legacy media have been a kind of symphony orchestra that performed hymns to the Left. They played well, forte and were consistently perfect in meter and pitch. But there is a new conductor in town, and he has provided scores with unfamiliar notation they haven't learned how to read. What were once melodic concerts have become a cacophony that their former audiences are, increasingly, no longer willing to hear.
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| Whio-TV News Set Ed! at English Wikipedia |
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
President Donald Trump, Heretic, Faces the Star Chamber
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I refer to his August 15 press conference where he had the unmitigated temerity to commit a heresy that cannot be forgiven. He told the truth. Worse, he spoke it directly to the high priests of the PC Marxist Church. It took great courage, to be sure, but he must not go unpunished.
His Party brethren, including some closest to him, showed more discretion. Not desiring to burn in Hell, they were quick to distance themselves from any deviation regarding church orthodoxy. It was not lost on them that truth -- whether spoken of past or present -- is verboten.
While political correctness is cowardice masquerading as comity, it must be preserved. How else to restore the good name of communism. Shame on you, President Trump!
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| Deplorable Men |
His Party brethren, including some closest to him, showed more discretion. Not desiring to burn in Hell, they were quick to distance themselves from any deviation regarding church orthodoxy. It was not lost on them that truth -- whether spoken of past or present -- is verboten.
While political correctness is cowardice masquerading as comity, it must be preserved. How else to restore the good name of communism. Shame on you, President Trump!
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Thank You, Donald Trump
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Mr. Obama, uncritically supported by the Democrat ship of fools who share his beliefs, regularly trots out some sanctimonious meme of Cultural Marxism, such as, "Americans are a [mindlessly, suicidally] tolerant people; it's WHO WE ARE!" Despite his assertions, it is rapidly becoming apparent that opposing beliefs articulated by Donald Trump more accurately reflect WHO WE ARE.
Mr. Obama, uncritically supported by the Democrat ship of fools who share his beliefs, regularly trots out some sanctimonious meme of Cultural Marxism, such as, "Americans are a [mindlessly, suicidally] tolerant people; it's WHO WE ARE!" Despite his assertions, it is rapidly becoming apparent that opposing beliefs articulated by Donald Trump more accurately reflect WHO WE ARE.
Monday, October 20, 2014
OANN: Good News
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The new, upstart One America News Network (OANN) is certainly worth a look -- in my view, an extended look. One could say, painting with a fine brush, that Fox News Network (FNN) owns the conservative message for TV viewers; it is to television what Rush Limbaugh is to radio. Fox has become enormously successful because it has enjoyed the distinction of being the only news and opinion TV outlet for conservative voices. Which is not to say that it is a good or intellectually consistent outlet. The Marxist ruling class (the Institutional Left) may rail against Fox as an instrument of right-wing extremists. And from their perspective it is. From my own it is nothing of the kind. A generation ago Fox would have been seen as politically centrist, and that's how I see it today. *
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| Graham Ledger |
Thursday, January 10, 2013
What Is An Assault Weapon?
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Simple answer: it is a totalitarian term of art. But the skewing of the language by the Left to serve their purposes of aggression and control should neither surprise nor trouble us; it's who they are and what they do. What is troubling is that conservatives uncritically accede to the terminology and thus to the premises of our enemies. We should immediately and instinctively correct the usage to "defense weapons" (better still, "defensive firearms"), and when there is a mass killing simply point out that a defensive firearm fell into the wrong hands -- most often the hands of persons who are mentally ill.
Simple answer: it is a totalitarian term of art. But the skewing of the language by the Left to serve their purposes of aggression and control should neither surprise nor trouble us; it's who they are and what they do. What is troubling is that conservatives uncritically accede to the terminology and thus to the premises of our enemies. We should immediately and instinctively correct the usage to "defense weapons" (better still, "defensive firearms"), and when there is a mass killing simply point out that a defensive firearm fell into the wrong hands -- most often the hands of persons who are mentally ill.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The American Project Is Undone
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For many reasons I have not looked forward to writing this essay. Some readers will surely view it as a pessimistic and panicky jeremiad; all Henny-Penny. And I'd love to be wrong; I hope that my arguments will be found wanting and, if not rebutted definitively, at least convincingly. My thesis is this: America has passed the tipping point in its long journey toward Marxist solipcism; that, barring the miraculous or the sudden emergence of a black swan, we cannot return to being a free society.
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| Humpty Dumpty |
For many reasons I have not looked forward to writing this essay. Some readers will surely view it as a pessimistic and panicky jeremiad; all Henny-Penny. And I'd love to be wrong; I hope that my arguments will be found wanting and, if not rebutted definitively, at least convincingly. My thesis is this: America has passed the tipping point in its long journey toward Marxist solipcism; that, barring the miraculous or the sudden emergence of a black swan, we cannot return to being a free society.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Conservatism Might Be A Good Thing...
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I allude by reference to George Bernard Shaw's famous quotation, Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it. Actually, Christianity has been tried by a great many people, and with considerable success. And the same is true of conservatism, but in a much more limited way.
I allude by reference to George Bernard Shaw's famous quotation, Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it. Actually, Christianity has been tried by a great many people, and with considerable success. And the same is true of conservatism, but in a much more limited way.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Romney Retrospective
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I suspect that for many of us on the conservative side Mitt Romney's rise through the primaries had a foreboding familiarity about it. McCain redux. Another politically spineless pretender to conservatism carrying the Republican banner. Another candidate of adaptive principle who would rather be liked than respected.
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| The Romneys in Altoona, Iowa |
I suspect that for many of us on the conservative side Mitt Romney's rise through the primaries had a foreboding familiarity about it. McCain redux. Another politically spineless pretender to conservatism carrying the Republican banner. Another candidate of adaptive principle who would rather be liked than respected.
Monday, November 12, 2012
How Progressives Won
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Adding to the general confusion to be expected in a political rout is how questions are framed. Establishment Republicans tend to put it this way: How did we lose? Contrast the question with this essay's title. I hope the reader will see what I see.
Adding to the general confusion to be expected in a political rout is how questions are framed. Establishment Republicans tend to put it this way: How did we lose? Contrast the question with this essay's title. I hope the reader will see what I see.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Predicting An Early Night
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Here, I take a position squarely at odds with pollsters, pundits and political pros. I expect the presidential election to be called early by Fox News. For Mitt Romney on the wave of a strong mandate. If I am wrong, there is a great deal more at stake than my credibility.
Here, I take a position squarely at odds with pollsters, pundits and political pros. I expect the presidential election to be called early by Fox News. For Mitt Romney on the wave of a strong mandate. If I am wrong, there is a great deal more at stake than my credibility.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Ignorance vs. Stupidity: A Dead Heat at CNN
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More and more I am convinced that legacy media folks -- contrary to the opinion of some conservatives -- are perfectly sincere. Innocent of fact, curiosity or independent thought, to be sure, but sincere. They believe they are right in most, if not all, things, and I think they might even feel sorry for the rest of us if sympathy wouldn't interfere with the pleasure they take in condescension.
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| CNN Ireport Badge |
More and more I am convinced that legacy media folks -- contrary to the opinion of some conservatives -- are perfectly sincere. Innocent of fact, curiosity or independent thought, to be sure, but sincere. They believe they are right in most, if not all, things, and I think they might even feel sorry for the rest of us if sympathy wouldn't interfere with the pleasure they take in condescension.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Human Nature
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Human nature is imperfect, and it is unchangeable. The failure of the naive to acknowledge and accept those two simple, yet elemental facts leads inevitably to grief.
But grief does not discourage idealists; when their schemes fail they see only error in planning and execution, never questioning the possibility of -- nor their own faith in -- achieving a perfect end-state.
Utopian Dreams
The belief that men are capable of creating a perfect society is an old one, attested in Biblical writings and in Plato's vision, articulated in his Republic.
That vision echoed through the Middle Ages and persisted, with growing momentum, into the current era. Along the way it found expression in Thomas Moore's Utopia (most famously), in the writings of Rousseau and in the early codification of communist socialism by Marx and Engels in reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism. [1]
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| Utopia |
Human nature is imperfect, and it is unchangeable. The failure of the naive to acknowledge and accept those two simple, yet elemental facts leads inevitably to grief.
But grief does not discourage idealists; when their schemes fail they see only error in planning and execution, never questioning the possibility of -- nor their own faith in -- achieving a perfect end-state.
Utopian DreamsThe belief that men are capable of creating a perfect society is an old one, attested in Biblical writings and in Plato's vision, articulated in his Republic.
That vision echoed through the Middle Ages and persisted, with growing momentum, into the current era. Along the way it found expression in Thomas Moore's Utopia (most famously), in the writings of Rousseau and in the early codification of communist socialism by Marx and Engels in reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism. [1]
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Voting: Principle vs Praxis
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One finds no shortage of persons who will tell you with great confidence who is and who is not electable. Certainly one can analyze what he knows -- or believes he knows -- about American voters, their political and policy opinions, their "mood" and their likely preferences and form an opinion as to how any election will fall out. In fact, polling data, in experienced hands most often yield high probabilities of electoral outcomes. But surprise! Human behavior is not always predictable. Black Swans -- perhaps far more common than the name suggests -- have ways to make laughable statistical models that very often assume a stability in kinetic systems that does not exist. The models are correct often enough to create the illusion of predictability, but as, for example, the recent collapse of the derivatives market has shown, our confidence may be misplaced. Said more directly, the laws of probability are not the laws of physics; they do not compel outcomes. And it is always possible that there are variables that we do not recognize, anticipate or even imagine.
One finds no shortage of persons who will tell you with great confidence who is and who is not electable. Certainly one can analyze what he knows -- or believes he knows -- about American voters, their political and policy opinions, their "mood" and their likely preferences and form an opinion as to how any election will fall out. In fact, polling data, in experienced hands most often yield high probabilities of electoral outcomes. But surprise! Human behavior is not always predictable. Black Swans -- perhaps far more common than the name suggests -- have ways to make laughable statistical models that very often assume a stability in kinetic systems that does not exist. The models are correct often enough to create the illusion of predictability, but as, for example, the recent collapse of the derivatives market has shown, our confidence may be misplaced. Said more directly, the laws of probability are not the laws of physics; they do not compel outcomes. And it is always possible that there are variables that we do not recognize, anticipate or even imagine.
Friday, August 19, 2011
APS Cheating Scandal: In No Way Excusable; In Every Way Predictable
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The Atlanta Public School (-teacher) cheating scandal, and similar reflections in other cities, points to the systemic corruption of the K-12 educational establishment. That corruption is especially prevalent in major metropolitan areas where affirmative action priorities [1] have reduced the level of competence and judgment of "educators" [2]. Crony Socialism (a redundant phrase) invites collusion between city bureaucracies with oversight and those overseen. To offer cash incentives for teaching and administrative performance within a system where incompetence has become the accepted standard, is to ask for trouble. Moral hazards and predictable outcomes.
The Atlanta Public School (-teacher) cheating scandal, and similar reflections in other cities, points to the systemic corruption of the K-12 educational establishment. That corruption is especially prevalent in major metropolitan areas where affirmative action priorities [1] have reduced the level of competence and judgment of "educators" [2]. Crony Socialism (a redundant phrase) invites collusion between city bureaucracies with oversight and those overseen. To offer cash incentives for teaching and administrative performance within a system where incompetence has become the accepted standard, is to ask for trouble. Moral hazards and predictable outcomes.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Making News, Making History
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The sorry state of journalism is often portrayed -- in particular by media elitists, to the extent they acknowledge it -- as a recent development; one that calls into contrast the current state of affairs with some imaginary 'golden age' of purely objective reportage. My own suspicion, however, is that good journalism [1] has always been a rare thing. Journalists, and more especially those who have employed them, have yoked the facts of human events to existing dogma -- to prevailing orthodoxy -- and to liberal political agendas.
Are things worse now than in earlier times? I cannot say with certainty, but it seems to me that institutional media have, in the last decade, abandoned all pretense to objective reporting even at considerable costs to market share -- perhaps with the expectation that the liberal establishment will save their financial bacon.
The sorry state of journalism is often portrayed -- in particular by media elitists, to the extent they acknowledge it -- as a recent development; one that calls into contrast the current state of affairs with some imaginary 'golden age' of purely objective reportage. My own suspicion, however, is that good journalism [1] has always been a rare thing. Journalists, and more especially those who have employed them, have yoked the facts of human events to existing dogma -- to prevailing orthodoxy -- and to liberal political agendas.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Fundamental Significance of the Tea Party Phenomenon
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O.K., the title seems pretentious; the use of the word "fundamental" in context may suggest that I am laying claim to some special insight. Maybe, maybe not. That's for the reader to decide.
In short, I think what is most important in the Tea Party movement is unity; unity that transcends, and may ultimately overcome, the politically-driven balkanization of America. (1)
This unity, as I see it, is certainly not a lock-step agreement on most issues, but it seems clear that there is a consensus on certain principles, ideas and approaches strong enough to trump other areas of disagreement. It is the unity suggested by e pluribus unum.
O.K., the title seems pretentious; the use of the word "fundamental" in context may suggest that I am laying claim to some special insight. Maybe, maybe not. That's for the reader to decide.
In short, I think what is most important in the Tea Party movement is unity; unity that transcends, and may ultimately overcome, the politically-driven balkanization of America. (1)
This unity, as I see it, is certainly not a lock-step agreement on most issues, but it seems clear that there is a consensus on certain principles, ideas and approaches strong enough to trump other areas of disagreement. It is the unity suggested by e pluribus unum.
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