“It is the most perfect presentation of nineteenth-century individualistic industrialism I have ever seen.” ~ H.G. Wells, legendary English writer commenting on Chicago
*Access Part One of this series at the following link:
“Welcome to the Desert of the Real” Series – Part One
“Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.” ~ Rumi
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*Important: This highly unique series contains quite a bit of linked multi-media content.
This content is extremely important in addition to the content being very interesting, compelling, and highly entertaining.
For this reason, ideally this series is best accessed by a laptop or desktop computer.
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Before we get started…
A Very Important Recommendation:
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Before Part Two, here is yet another….
….Chicago the Beautiful Spotlight 🙂
“The most beautiful modern city in the world is Chicago. I always visit the Art Institute, walk on Lake Shore Drive and take the architecture boat ride. The Chicago Tribune building is one of my favorites.” ~ Nicola Bulgari, Italian billionaire businessman and grandson of Sotirios Bulgari, founder of the luxury brand Bulgari.
Continuing on from Part One….
One great example of “The Chicago Way” of embracing an insult for the greater good was how President Obama embraced the *intended* insult of calling the Affordable Care Act “Obamacare.”
Remember “Obamacare” was an intended insult given to the Affordable Care Act by the Republicans….
….but like the typical Chicagoan, President Obama ended up liking the insult.
Case in point:
Excerpt from USA Today:
“President Obama and his Republican critics do agree on one thing about the new health care law — the term “Obamacare.”
At one time, Republicans used “Obamacare” almost exclusively as a term of derision; but these days, Obama himself is embracing the moniker.
“For the past few years, since I signed the Affordable Care Act, a lot of you have been enjoying new benefits and protections that you didn’t before even if you didn’t know they were coming from Obamacare,” Obama told supporters during a health speech in Maryland on Thursday.” ~ USA Today – September 2013
And also like the typical Chicagoan, President Obama turned the *insult* into a rallying cry in his favor at a 2012 campaign rally as the following video proves.
“Obamacare? It’s true: I do care.”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
For those who have forgotten…
….ultimately, the TRUE and intended purpose for any politician achieving power is to expand and increase one’s ability to help and serve the people.
Case in point:
Georgetown University Health Policy Institute – October 2016 – Children’s Health Coverage Rate Now at Historic High of 95 Percent
#ThanksObama 🙂
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Now after 12+ years of hate, lies and unpopularity…
…the once extremely unpopular and now suddenly popular Affordable Care Act will forever be known as “Obamacare”…
…which means President Obama will forever get his due for his historic achievement which has/will help to save the lives of countless millions of Americans…
….especially during these challenging, unstable, and uncertain pandemic times.
Case in Point:
Per the New York Times Covid Tracker….
…as of January 27th 2023, there had been 102M cases of Covid in the U.S. and 1.11M deaths from Covid as of that date.
Although these are astronomical, devastating, and heartbreaking numbers for our country…
….just think how much HIGHER those tragic numbers would be as of that date without the Affordable Care Act aka without Obamacare?
Think of the countless number of Americans now dealing with what has been called Long Covid and having to cope with it without having affordable health care.
#CovidIsNotOver
“An analysis of workers’ compensation claims in New York found that 71 percent of claimants with long Covid needed continuing medical treatment or were unable to work for six months or more.” ~ NYT
Just imagine the U.S dealing with an unprecedented number of cases of Covid and Long Covid….
…..on top of the many other physical and mental health illnesses and challenges countless millions of Americans are currently dealing with right now without Obamacare?
Again….
#ThanksObama
“If you walk through life and don’t help anybody, you haven’t had much of a life.” ~ Fred Hampton, native Chicagoan
Yet the sad irony is that in spite of having Obamacare…
….America has by far had the most Covid-19 deaths of any country in the world to date.
India, a country with almost 1.5 billion people to the U.S.’s 330 million people, had 530,000+ pandemic deaths as of January 9th 2023 to America’s 1.121,000+ pandemic deaths as of that same date.
The unending tragedy and fact of the matter is it absolutely did not have to be this way.
Case in point:
PBS – May 2020 – Obama Team Left Pandemic Playbook for Trump Administration, Officials Confirm
“A Pandemic Plan was in place. Trump abandoned it — and Science — in the face of Covid-19.” ~ Stat News -May 2020
Politico – March 2020 – Trump Team Failed to Follow NSC’s Pandemic Playbook
“The 69-page document, finished in 2016 (by the Obama administration), provided a step by step list of priorities – which were then ignored by the (Trump) administration.” ~ Politico – March 2020
The following excerpt represents just one demo of the many heartbreaking casualties of Trump and the Republicans leaders decision to totally ignore the Obama administration’s pandemic plan:
“At least 204,000 U.S. children and teens have lost parents and other in-home caregivers to COVID-19—more than 1 in every 360 youth, according to COVID Collaborative, an interdisciplinary group of experts that is raising awareness and support for COVID-bereaved children.” ~APA – American Psychological Association – October 2022
THIS is one of the countless reasons why a rock solid case can be made about why the Trump presidency was such a complete and total disaster for millions of Americans and for America in general in too many tragic, destructive, and corrupt ways to count.
Case in point:
“Beginning the morning after his (Trump’s) inauguration, a spectacular science-related tragedy has unfolded.
The Trump administration has systematically dismantled the executive branch’s science infrastructure and rejected the role of science to inform policy, essentially reversing both Republican and Democrat presidential administrations since World War II, when Vannevar Bush, an engineer, advised Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.
President Trump’s pursuit of anti-science policy has been so effective that as the first cases of Covid-19 were breaking out in Wuhan, China, no meaningful science policy infrastructure was in place to advise him. As a consequence, America is suffering from a pandemic without a plan. Our responses are ineffectual and inconsistent. We are increasingly divided by misinformation and invidious messaging. And it’s not even over.” ~ Jason Karlawish – Stats News – May 2020
In addition to the Obama administration and it’s scientists working hard and spending years to develop a go to playbook for the country to utilize in preparation of a deadly pandemic, there is also the following enraging fact:
“Former President Barack Obama warned the nation in 2014 about the potential for a coming pandemic and pushed for billions in emergency funding that was ultimately blocked by Republicans in Congress.” ~ The Atlanta Journal Constitution – April 2020
So no, it wasn’t just Trump.
Ask yourselves why in the face of Covid did Trump along with Republican leaders in the House and Senate absolutely refuse to even consider President Obama’s science driven, highly meticulous, ready made Pandemic Plan when they had no plan of their own?
Ask yourselves why did Republican leaders choose to block President Obama’s emergency funding request in 2014 for what every reputable scientist warned about a looming pandemic hitting the world in recent years to come?
This emergency funding would have been used to prepare the U.S. for what every scientist said was an inevitable deadly world pandemic on the horizon.
This particular question is extremely important, especially after the Ebola Virus scare in 2014 which thankfully resulted in only ONE documented Ebola virus death in the U.S.
Receipts:
The Atlantic – Obama’s Ebola Victory Lap – February 2015
“At no point Wednesday did President Obama utter the words “I told you so.” But that was the underlying message from a White House event that brought him together with the doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals whose advice he relied on in the battle against Ebola.
Four months after he took a beating from political opponents (aka a beating from modern day Republicans) who mocked his competence and derided the expertise of those giving him advice, a triumphant Obama surrounded himself with those experts and declared a milestone has been reached in the battle against Ebola. It was not, he stressed, final victory, but an important “transition” in which he could bring home almost all the U.S. troops he dispatched to Africa to help the doctors.
Even with the memories of that withering criticism still fresh, the applause of his White House audience was so embracing and the statistics at hand so encouraging, the president clearly was pleased with the way things have worked out. So while he was very careful not to repeat the words uttered by his predecessor about the Iraq war—that this was “mission accomplished”—this was, without doubt, a victory lap.
“Remember, there was no small amount of skepticism about our chances,” he said with some understatement. “People were understandably afraid. And, if we’re honest, some stoked those fears. But we believed that if we made policy based not on fear, but on sound science and good judgment, America could lead an effective global response while keeping the American people safe, and we could turn the tide of the epidemic.” ~ The Atlantic – February 2015
This part:
“But we believed that if we made policy based not on fear, but on sound science and good judgment, America could lead an effective global response while keeping the American people safe, and we could turn the tide of the (Ebola) epidemic.” ~ President Obama (2014)
Outside of the issue of affordable health care…
…in my opinion, no other issue shows the night and day difference in addition to the extreme importance of which political party is in the leadership position in the U.S. for the health, safety, and well-being of Americans…
….than the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership’s highly successful science based handling of the Ebola Virus crisis…
…vs the Trump administration and Republican leadership’s tragically devastating and totally failed anti-science handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in it’s critical first year.
Again, it absolutely did not have to be this way.
And why hasn’t the U.S. media repeatedly with front page stories and newscasts asked Trump and the Republicans these extremely important questions about their complete failure to utilize the Pandemic Playbook the Obama administration spent years and millions of tax payer dollars creating to prepare the U.S. for a looming deadly pandemic…
…especially after the media went overboard in hyping and exaggerating the Ebola Virus crisis under President Obama which (again) resulted in only ONE death in the U.S.?
The answer to these important questions would closely align with why the Republicans repeatedly tried to repeal “Obamacare” for more than a decade with most of the US media failing to critically question the Republicans about their basis and logic for doing that too.
“You’ll remember how Trump said in late February (about Covid) that “within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.” He predicted that “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.” ~ Dan Froomkin – Presswatchers.org – April 2020
Instead of calling BS and demanding competence, leadership, and accountability…
…many in the mainstream media simply rubberstamped Trump’s ridiculous, highly delusional, and 100% wrong pandemic predictions.
As a result, many people from all over the world without journalism degrees or investigative experience rightly predicted the enormous pandemic death toll that tragically was to come for the U.S. because of having an ignorant, anti-science magical thinker like Trump in the White House.
Here is a comment a smart lady left on a Twitter thread in March 2020, near the beginning of the pandemic:
“I’m sorry to tell you that but based on the trend of others country, your third world healthcare system, your stupid leader and his decisions, one million of death will be reached and this is a minimum!” ~ Comment left on Twitter thread on March 31, 2020
The vast majority of the U.S. media behaved like what Trump and the Republicans did in ignoring the Obama administration’s pandemic playbook…
…and blocking then President Obama’s request for funding to prepare the country for a pandemic which every expert said was looming was nothing or normal not even deserving of major headlines, breaking news banners, top story status, or front page space…
….even after more than a million pandemic deaths and counting.
More than a million Americans dying during this truly devastating pandemic, (the far and away most pandemic deaths of any other country on earth)…
….largely as a result of the Trump administration ignoring the science, it’s refusal to implement the Obama Administration’s Pandemic Plan, and it’s total incompetence, malfeasance, and failure in handling the Covid pandemic…
….was and still is being treated by the Corporate owned U.S. media as no big deal.
*Just imagine the difference in the media’s coverage if this astronomical level of pandemic death had happened under President Obama after he totally ignored a ready made, science driven, years in the making Pandemic Playbook left for him to utilize for the U.S. by the previous presidential administration.
*Here is a link to independent journalist Dan Froomkin of Presswatchers.org’s must read article written in April 2020 on the U.S. media’s total incompetence and mishandling of Trump’s deadly “magical thinking” pandemic rhetoric titled “Trump Predicts Two Bad Weeks Followed By ‘a Burst of Light’ and Political Press Lauds Him For His New Realism.”
In too many ways to count, the thankfully one term Trump presidency was a complete disaster:
And then there is the following:
Well I guess the modern day Republican Party has finally stopped pretending that the 90% Corporation Owned Media is “liberal” or “biased” against it…
…since it is beyond obvious that there is a stark 180 degree difference in how that same 90% Corporation Owned Media covers Republican politicians vs Democratic politicians.
“Just 37 years ago, there were 50 companies in charge of most American media. Now, 90% of the media in the United States is controlled by just six corporations: AT&T, CBS, Comcast, Disney, Newscorp and Viacom. This means that just 232 media executives are calling the shots for the vast majority of the information we are presented with, controlling a total Big Six net worth of over $430 billion.” ~ Excerpt from an excellent article on this important topic by teen journalist Mira Nalbandian titled “The Big Six’s Big Media Game” – May 2022
American voters should remember the 90% Corporate takeover of the U.S. media during the 2024 presidential election season next year.
Why?
Because Corporate friendly aka GOP friendly false narratives pushed by the mainstream media solely in the interest of it’s Corporate owners will be just as plentiful and just as dangerous as they usually are.
“The implications of the extreme consolidation of media power are extensive. First, the largest source of political money comes from corporations, and the media conglomerates are some of the largest corporations in the world. In the Forbes 2020 ranking of the world’s largest public companies, AT&T came in 11th, Comcast 27th, and Disney 36th. ViacomCBS and News Corp trailed the top three, at 472nd and 1737th, respectively.
The tech companies are also at the top of the list. Alphabet (Google’s parent company) comes in 13th in the world and Facebook sits at a comfortable 39th. The market values of these companies range from $5.8 to $919 billion.
These billions upon billions equal more influence in political discourse and elections.
“Money determines the winning issues and candidates in American politics, so the larger the corporation, the stronger the influence. But no other industry is as directly linked to voting patterns as the media industry. Their product is the messaging that dictates the issues and candidates that dominate the national arena.
What this means is that not only do the media giants contribute money to campaigns, they also cover them. They report, record, narrate, document and broadcast them. Consequently, the political power of media conglomerates grows exponentially with their size and wealth; the larger the corporation, the greater its political influence through both monetary power and messaging.
The greater the political power of the media giants, the more easily they lobby and influence the government to slash regulations, grant antitrust approvals and pass laws that increase their corporate domination.” ~ Excerpt from a very important column written by Helen Johnson for Vassar College’s student newspaper “The Miscellany News” titled “The Unprecedented Consolidation of the Modern Media Industry Has Severe Consequences” – April 2021
One sterling example of how extremely detrimental and catastrophic the Corporate Media Takeover in the U.S. has not only been for America but for the entire world…
…is when instead of the U.S media doing it’s job as alleged journalists by investigating and questioning the basis for the Iraq War…
…. a war launched on false and bogus pretenses which were obvious to many at the time…
…the Corporate owned media became Bush/Cheney’s PR arm and eagerly marketed and sold a totally baseless and monumentally deadly war to America and the world instead.
“From the beginning, President Bush had viewed any proposal to invade Iraq as requiring a public relations campaign in order to persuade the American people that the war was necessary and just.”
“The White House understood that it would not need its own state-media apparatus to force the bitter pill of war down the throats of the American people: the American news media was willing to act as this essential marketing conduit.” ~ Excerpt from a 2018 article from the McGill National Review titled “Selling the Iraq War”
Other informative articles to read on this extremely important topic are linked below:
Lima Charlie News – March 2017 – 14 Years Later: How the Media Sold the War in Iraq
Truthout – March 2013 – How the Media Fueled the War in Iraq
PBS – March 2013 – The Iraq War Anniversary: How the Media Failed Us
This may be why the one thing the vast majority of Americans seem to agree on no matter their political leanings is how incompetent, horrible and untrustworthy the U.S. media is.
Case in point:
“Just 29% of people surveyed in the U.S. said they trust the news, compared to 45% in Canada and 54% in Brazil.”
“The United States ranks last in media trust — at 29% — among 92,000 news consumers surveyed in 46 countries, a report released Wednesday found. That’s worse than Poland, worse than the Philippines, worse than Peru. (Finland leads at 65%.)” ~ Poynter – June 2021
It’s extremely sad but also very dangerous what has happened to America’s Media…
…especially after just a few corporations were allowed by our government in the 90s to takeover almost the entire media landscape.
When corporations own the vast majority of the nation’s media…
…there are no longer highly respected journalists of the caliber of Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Ed Bradley, Bill Moyers, Gwen Ifill, Helen Thomas, Dan Rather, etc.
There are no longer investigative journalists or whistle blowers going after Corporate misconduct, corporate corruption, or spotlighting corporate crimes like wage theft.
*It’s important to highlight the 90% Corporate Takeover of the U.S Media not only impacts how important public interest issues are covered…
….but it equally impacts what public interest issues and concerns never gets covered by the 90% Corporate Owned Media.
Case in point:
Anti-War Protests and the Obama Administration’s Pandemic Plan which the Trump Administration totally ignored and which almost none of the public has ever heard of are just a couple out of many examples of this dangerous truth regarding what the 90% Corporate Owned Media chooses to suppress or ignore.
Here’s yet another example:
With a 90% Corporate owned and Corporate friendly media…
…Americans no longer get hard hitting investigative reports about what should be nationally known corporate scandals like railroad companies getting their lobbyists to kill commonsense safety regulations meant to protect the public before the inevitable catastrophe happens as a result of said killed regulations:
*Note: Lever News which is my original source of this extremely troubling public interest story is a reader supported media outlet which holds the powerful accountable.
The Lever – February 2023 – Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment
Let’s back up a bit:
Where were all the investigative journalists filing newspaper stories and articles and televised news reports with the proper amount of concern and urgency from the 90% Corporation Owned Media…
…when the paid lobbyists for these rail companies were donating money to the politicians who would agree to blocking safety rules meant to protect their own voters and the public at large from potential harm?
How dangerous for the citizens of Ohio and for citizens in surrounding states is this train derailment catastrophe?
This dangerous:
“Five days after a train carrying vinyl chloride derailed and exploded near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, crews ignited a controlled burn of toxic chemicals to prevent a much more dangerous explosion.
Thousands in East Palestine, a town of about 5,000 people, evacuated, and officials warned the controlled burn would create a phosgene and hydrogen chloride plume across the region. Phosgene is a highly toxic gas that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble, and was used as a weapon in the first world war.” ~ The Guardian UK – February 2023
Related:
The following was reported by Fortune Magazine in 2018:
Fast forward to 2023…
….and the exact catastrophic scenario which the Obama Administration tried to protect from happening to the American public…
…happened in Palestine, Ohio in addition to it seriously impacting many more cities, towns, and states.
*I would like to note that although that report from CNN was better than I expected, it was a week late.
Independent news outlets, in addition Social Media and also YouTube had were reporting this extremely important story about a week earlier.
Surprisingly, even Fox News did a belated week late report on this train derailment catastrophe.
Meanwhile, there are reports that chickens, fish, animals, etc are already turning up dead from the toxins released from this devastating train derailment.
Before those CNN and Fox News reports posted on Twitter by Media Matters which I shared above….
Pro Tip: Whenever you see headlines about frivolous, dumb, and unimportant topics from major news outlets that are suppose to report major and topical news events…
….not report the same things that the National Enquirer or People Magazine would report….
….ask yourselves what major event, scandal, topic, etc. is happening at that moment which they are trying to distract you from learning about?
This is a PERFECT example of how what the 90% Corporate Owned Media failing to investigate, cover, publicize or more importantly bring attention to in the interest of the public does not happen now…
….or it only happens after the story becomes so big on other Independent media outlets, Social media, YouTube, etc. that the Corporate Media can no longer ignore it.
*Stock buybacks were made illegal until 1982 for a reason.
“The toxic plume created by the (Ohio) explosion contains phosgene, which was literally used as a chemical weapon in WWI…” ~ Ami Berger via Spoutible
Rather than caring about public safety, public interests, or the public good…
….the 90% Corporate Owned Media most definitely protects it’s own.
Following is yet another good example of this truth:
While the 90% Corporate Owned Media sells the ridiculous narrative that Democratic presidents only are directly responsible for skyrocketing gas prices…
…Big Oil gets to price gouge in peace and earn record profits as a result.
And then there is this:
Maybe one of these days it will finally be figured out that Corporations didn’t buy up 90% of the American media landscape to tout Democratic wins, to be fair and accurate, or to act in the interest of the American people.
They did it to cover up Republican failures, to increase and protect their own bottom lines, and to prevent any media push back or investigation into questionable and possibly illegal corporate practices, in addition to other equally nefarious reasons.
This is one of many reasons why the American public’s trust in the 90% Corporate Owned Media is at rock bottom now.
Reclaim the Net.org – July 2021 – Trust in US Mainstream Media Hits Rock Bottom
“Trust of the media in the US is amongst the lowest in the world.” ~ Reclaim the Net.org – July 2021
When the interests of the people are secondary or totally ignored in favor of protecting corporate interests at all costs…
….humanity is no longer involved in the 90% Corporate owned media’s view of America…
….and authentic journalism is officially dead.
This is likely why this journalism free and corporate interests first version of the U.S. media ranks dead last in media trust by the people of it’s own country out of 46 countries.
With good reason:
Oh nothing to see there.
Just MSNBC claiming to interview an “random PA voter” who proceeds to bash President Biden without disclosing that the “random voter” they are interviewing is the Former Chairman of the Republican State Committee in PA.
Yet the 90% Corporate Owned Media wonders why it’s trust and respect levels are in the toilet amongst the vast majority of Americans, (and also among citizens all over the world).
*I wanted to use that example in particular to prove that the supposedly “liberal” or Democrat-friendly MSNBC is no less deceitful and dishonest than any other Corporate Owned Media is.
“Just because MSNBC has a few good hosts nights and weekends does not mean that it is the woke alternative to Fox.” ~ Someone on Twitter commenting on the above tweet about MSNBC’s fake random voter scam
Why are U.S. citizens being forced to get our news and information from the Corporate owned industry that we distrust the most in this country, with good reason?
How does it work that an industry that has proven time and time again to be dishonest and is dead last in trust among all the other media in the world gets to dictate, opine, or tell the people who trusts it the least who we should believe or trust?
Why should Americans be forced to listen to a media industry that has repeatedly given them good reason to not trust anything it prints, reports or says?
Why are Americans being forced to settle for dishonest and phony media narratives instead of authentic and honest journalism just because multi-billion dollar Corporations want to dictate what we see and hear while covering up or ignoring extremely important public interest issues that they don’t want us to see or hear?
Again it’s a very sad and also a very tragic situation…
…but it’s also extremely dangerous for our country, for American Democracy, and also dangerous for the world.
And then there is this:
The Street – November 2016 – Donald Trump Rode $5 Billion in Free Media to the White House
Not only did the 90% Corporate Owned Media totally fail in it’s duties to properly investigate Trump before the 2016 presidential election….
….it also practically bankrolled Trump’s candidacy by giving him $5 Billion in Free media and advertising.
“There’s been a lot of debate in media industry circles about whether the media helped create the Donald Trump phenomenon by constantly writing about him and putting him on television in an attempt to drive traffic and ratings. Now a new study from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government has come up with some fairly compelling ammunition to support this view.” ~ Excerpt from June 2016 Fortune Magazine article titled “Here’s Proof That the Media Helped Create Donald Trump”
This all leads me to the following important point.
“He (Donald Trump) rode to power on the wings of a dark lie. One of the most malignant and ugly lies in American history. We must never forget it.” ~ Veteran journalist Bill Moyers on Donald Trump’s baseless and racist lies during the entirety of President Obama’s 8 year presidency about his birth certificate and alleged illegitimacy as POTUS.
I absolutely agree that Trump’s “malignant and ugly lies” about our nation’s first Black POTUS is something this country must never forget…
…but we also must never forget that in addition to eagerly giving Trump $5 Billion in Free advertising during the 2016 presidential campaign…
…and in addition to it’s abject and total failure in vetting Trump’s many nefarious business dealings, his questionable ties to Putin and Russia, his zero qualifications to be POTUS, etc….
…we must never forget that it was the 90% Corporate Owned Media which throughout the entire Obama Presidency repeatedly gave Donald Trump it’s powerful platform to make his baseless and racist claims questioning President Obama’s legitimacy as POTUS.
The U.S. media acted like it was totally normal to have the birth certificate and legitimacy of the nation’s first Black president questioned by Trump and the modern day Republican Party….
….and it rewarded Trump’s racism for leading the way in maligning our nation’s 1st Black POTUS with billions of dollars in free and favorable media coverage.
In fact, Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy even did a study which detailed just how favorable the 90% Corporate Owned Media was to Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy in 2016:
“Its data concludes that Trump coverage was “favorable in all of the news outlets we studied. There were differences from one outlet to the next but the range was relatively small, from a low of 63 percent positive or neutral in The New York Times to a high of 74 percent positive or neutral in USA Today. Across all the outlets, Trump’s coverage was roughly two-to-one favorable.” ~ Excerpt from Poynter’s June 2016 article titled “Journalists Helped Cement Donald Trump’s Candidacy, According To A New Report”
Even before 2016, for almost the entire 8 years President Obama was in the White House…
…the U.S media very eagerly and very willingly offered up it’s platforms for Trump to repeatedly lie about and malign our nation’s first Black POTUS with devastating consequences for our country.
NBC even paid Trump tens of millions of dollars all while he was a lying and racist birther claiming President Obama was an illegitimate president because he supposedly wasn’t born in this country…
…..and (again) the entire Corporate media collectively gave Trump an astounding $5 billion in free promotion in the 2016 presidential race which helped him get elected.
“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.” ~ Former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves quoted in The Hollywood Reporter about how good Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is for his company – February 2016
*Notice that CBS’s Moonves openly admitted Trump’s presidential campaign was not good for America…
….but he and the rest of the 90% Corporate Owned Media really didn’t care about what was good for America.
It only cared about what was good for IT.
“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”
“The money’s rolling in and this is fun.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going.” ~ Fortune Magazine quoting CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves expressing his obvious glee at Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy and the impact it is having on CBS’s profits – March 2016
“CNN is expected to see $100 million in extra revenues this year, thanks largely to its coverage of Trump.” ~ NPR’s David Folkenflik – October 2016
*I saw the following ridiculous but totally unsurprising comment from a member of the U.S. media on Twitter in 2016 just a few months before the presidential election.
I found it so unbelievable that I had to write it down:
“If most people are racist, and most people are not horrible, then many racists are not horrible.” ~ Josh Barro – The New York Times (via Twitter) – September 2016
From my perspective, that “logic” explains a great deal about the U.S media in a nutshell.
“You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn’t sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you. He’s helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you’re profiting off of him.” ~ Comedian Michelle Wolf at the White House Correspondents Dinner slinging truth right in the media’s very red faces – April 2018
How thin-skinned and enraged was the 90% Corporate Owned Media at comedian Michelle Wolf for telling the unvarnished truth about itself straight to the red faces of hundreds of it’s media personalities in addition to a televised audience of millions at it’s yearly celebratory dinner in 2018?
This thin-skinned and enraged:
Yep, the 90% Corporate Owned Media was so butt hurt about comedian Michelle Wolf’s comedic truth telling at it’s dinner in 2018 that it cowardly decided to cut the customary comedian from it’s 2019 dinner.
“In the NPR interview, the comedian (Michelle Wolf) said that people should have the ability to laugh at themselves. “There’s plenty where you could look back and the camera was on Obama when people were making pretty aggressive jokes about Obama, and he was laughing,” Wolf said. “And I think having the ability to laugh at yourself is important.” ~ From Politico article titled “Michelle Wolf: ‘I wouldn’t change a single word that I said”
Receipts:
A montage of President Obama laughing at the jokes thrown at him at the White House Correspondents Dinner, (WHCD)
*Donald Trump was so insecure and thin-skinned that he didn’t even bother to show up at the annual WHCD during his entire one term presidency.
Meanwhile…
Being really thin-skinned and insecure seems to be a Republican Male trait:
Imagine if President Obama or even President Biden were so thin-skinned, fragile, and insecure that they sought to shut down media critical of them, hated to be joked about, or were afraid to face their opponent’s supporters.
Needless to say….
….to laugh at yourself or at whatever ridiculousness is thrown at you is “The Chicago Way”…
…but here’s the thing:
It’s much more difficult to laugh at yourself if the “joke” really isn’t a joke and if whatever damning thing that is said about you is 100% true.
Let’s look again at what comedian Michelle Wolf said about the 90% Corporate Owned Media:
“You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn’t sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you. He’s helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you’re profiting off of him.” ~ Comedian Michelle Wolf at the White House Correspondents Dinner slinging truth right in the media’s very red faces – April 2018
First let me say to comedian Michelle Wolf:
BRAVO
Secondly, I think the hundreds of media personalities at that 2018 WHCD dinner were so enraged about what comedian Michelle Wolf said about them loving, boosting, and profiting off of Donald Trump was because they knew she was telling the 100% truth and they were all embarrassed, as they should have been.
“Executives at CBS News were so dismayed by Saturday’s presentation (aka Michelle Wolf’s truth telling at the 2018 WHCD) that the network considered ending its participation in future dinners, according to three people who spoke anonymously to describe internal discussions.” ~ Excerpt from NYT article titled “Did Michelle Wolf Kill the White House Correspondents’ Dinner?” – April 2018
Oh?
Wasn’t it CBS’s former Chairman Les Moonves who said the following which 100% confirms every word Michelle Wolf said about the Corporate Media at that WHCD dinner?
“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”
“The money’s rolling in and this is fun.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going.” ~ Fortune Magazine quoting former CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves expressing his obvious glee at Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy and the impact it is having on CBS’s profits – March 2016
Not surprised at all that many in the 90% Corporate Owned Media seem to be just as insecure, fragile and thin-skinned as Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis is.
A must read:
NYT critic James Poniewozik’s opinion piece titled “Michelle Wolf Did Her Job. It’s the Correspondents’ Dinner That Is the Problem.”
Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from President Harry S. Truman aka “Give em Hell, Harry!”
“I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.” ~ President Harry Truman
Getting back to the very real seriousness of a media that constantly fails at doing journalism aka it’s job…
…all that I have mentioned thus far is just the tip of the iceberg in regard to how absolutely devastating a 90% Corporate Owned Media has been for this country and also for the world as the unbelievably corrupt Trump presidency, and before it the Iraq War debacle so sadly and tragically proved.
Here are some of the truly tragic consequences:
“The number of United States troops who have died fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had passed 7,000 at the end of 2019. Approximately 177,000 national military and police from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraqi, and Syria allies have died. Western allies have also borne high human costs.
They died in a host of ways. The causes of death include rocket-propelled grenade fire and the improvised explosive devices that have been responsible for roughly half of all deaths and injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their deaths were also the result of vehicle crashes, electrocutions, heatstroke, friendly fire, and suicides in theater.” ~ Watson Institute International & Public Affairs – Brown University – (Last updated as of this writing in July 2021)
Then there are the tens of thousands of military suicides which tragically came after the Iraq War:
“Official Pentagon numbers do not include the many troops who return home and kill themselves as a result of psychological wounds such as PTSD.
Over 30,177 service members and veterans of the post-9/11 wars have committed suicide — over four times as many as have died in combat. ~ Watson Institute International & Public Affairs – Brown University – (Last updated as of this writing in July 2021)
Last but not least there are the Iraqi civilian deaths and injuries:
“No one knows with certainty how many people have been killed and wounded in Iraq since the 2003 United States invasion.
However, we know that between 275,000 and 306,000 civilians have died from direct war related violence caused by the U.S., its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces from the time of the invasion through October 2019.
The violent deaths of Iraqi civilians have occurred through aerial bombing, shelling, gunshots, suicide attacks, and fires started by bombing. Many civilians have also been injured.” ~ Watson Institute International & Public Affairs – Brown University – (Last updated as of this writing December 2022)
*And none of these tragic figures include allied deaths, injuries, etc.
Yet not only as Americans but as decent human beings we are expected to just forget about this, move on, and continue to trust the extremely broken and corrupt industry that is most responsible for this…
…an industry which has yet to have any consequences or accountability for it’s devastatingly wrong and tragic actions.
“It’s hardly controversial to suggest that the mainstream media’s performance in the lead-up to the Iraq War was a disaster. In retrospect, many journalists and pundits wish they had been more skeptical of the White House’s claims about Iraq, particularly its allegations about weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, though, media apologists suggest that the press could not have done much better, since “everyone” was in agreement on the intelligence regarding Iraq’s weapons threat. This was never the case. Critical journalists and analysts raised serious questions at the time about what the White House was saying. Often, however, their warnings were ignored by the bulk of the corporate press.” ~ Excerpt from FAIR’s excellent analysis of the media’s total and complete Iraq War failure titled “Iraq and the Media: A Critical Timeline” – March 2007
In the following brief video, the legendary talk show host Phil Donahue speaks about allegedly “liberal” MSNBC letting him go and shutting down his career because the 90% Corporate Owned Media absolutely would not allow the brave and honorable few authentic journalists in the media who were critical of the Iraq War or questioning of it’s basis to have a platform or a voice.
Why were the warnings and critiques about the devastating and tragic Iraq War from experienced analysts and real journalists with courage and integrity totally ignored or completely shut down by the bulk of the 90% Corporate Owned Media?
Answer: One reason is because the Iraq War was GOOD for the mainstream media’s corporate interests and it’s profit margin…
….so who cares if hundreds of thousands of innocents were killed in a war which was based on a LIE?
Chicago’s own Barack Obama said it best.
“You don’t defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq.” ~ Presidential Candidate Barack Obama during his 2008 DNC Convention Speech
*To see an excellent breakdown on the U.S. media’s key role in enabling and pushing for the ill fated and tragic Iraq War…
…please see veteran journalist Bill Moyer’s excellent documentary titled “Buying The War” linked from YouTube here.
The character of today’s media is in no way in the same category as the legendary media icon Joseph Pulitzer:
“I will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty.” ~ Joseph Pulitzer (1907 Retirement Address)
How exactly does it work that the most distrusted industry in America…
…an industry that repeatedly refuses to be held accountable for it’s own untrustworthiness…
….gets to be the official arbiter of the trustworthiness of others?
See how that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever?
I think most Americans know that doesn’t make sense.
This is one of many reasons why a growing number of Americans are seeking smarter, fairer, more honest, more honorable, narrative-free, and authentic journalism and news sources that put the interests of the American people first vs being beholden to corporate interests.
Previously I said the following:
“American voters should remember the 90% Corporate takeover of the U.S. media during the 2024 presidential election season next year.
Why?
Because Corporate friendly aka GOP friendly false narratives pushed by the mainstream media solely in the interest of it’s Corporate owners will be just as plentiful and just as dangerous as they usually are.
Case in point:
Flashback to 2003, when the New York Times’ disgraced reporter Judith Miller sold the bogus Iraq War to the nation.
Jon Stewart Grills Judith Miller on Iraq War Reporting
*Funny how comedians like Michelle Wolf, Jon Stewart, John Oliver and others have been forced to double as truth speakers to call out the 90% Corporate Owned Media.
Fast Forward to 2023: Even though Trump is now out of office and as of this writing is reportedly waiting to be indicted and arrested…
….Maggie Haberman seems to still be playing the same dishonest role as Judith Miller did at the New York Times in regard to her reporting on most things involving Trump.
Even in 2023, Haberman and the New York Times are still hiding relevant information from the public involving Trump and his corrupt allies.
And then there is this:
It’s very important to understand that the 90% Corporate Owned Media will normalize or try to cover up or tone down almost any “new low” modern day Republicans come up with if it favors it’s own bottomline and self interests.
I repeat:
“American voters should remember the 90% Corporate takeover of the U.S. media during the 2024 presidential election season next year.”
No where is this more clear than in the way the 90% Corporate Owned Media is now covering the Biden-Harris Administration.
Here is one of many reasons why it’s coverage of the Biden-Harris administration absolutely stinks:
This stinky coverage is particularly true in regard to how the male dominated Corporate media covers this nation’s 1st woman, 1st Black, and 1st Asian American Vice President, Kamala Harris.
Case in point:
“Even some Democrats whom her own advisers referred reporters to for supportive quotes confided privately that they had lost hope in her” ~ Politico’s White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire eagerly tweeting a quote from the latest New York Times/Corporate Media hit piece on Kamala Harris – February 2023
*Note: The fact that the 90% Corporate Owned Media can’t even during the month of February aka during Black History Month go without attacking the 1st Black female VP with it’s BS false narratives is very telling.
One thing the media seems to have a serious problem disguising is it’s extreme dislike and obvious fear of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Gee, I wonder why?
Thankfully because the 90% Corporate Owned Media’s own respect and trustworthiness is currently a rock bottom dumpster fire with the vast majority of the American public…
…many are seeing right through it’s “both sides” crap, false narratives, and just plain BS.
Case in point:
Ray Mabus said in response to Jonathan Lemire tweeted NYT quote which cowardly dissed VP Kamala Harris with unnamed sources:
“Was the same thing said about POTUS (President Biden) when VP for President Obama two years into first term? Seems like the impossible standard set for a woman of color in the role, and media plays huge role in this narrative.” ~ Ray Mabus via Twitter (February 2023)
*Ray Mabus served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy, the State Auditor of Mississippi, the 60th Governor of Mississippi, and as the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
“Please cover this more responsibly” is not activism.” ~ Sam Adams, senior editor of Slate Culture commenting on above tweet
Meanwhile…
I say let modern-day Republicans and their Corporate Media cheerleaders keep digging holes for themselves to fall into.
As was just recently seen in the 2022 midterm elections when the Corporate media’s ridiculous “Red Wave” predictions looked more like this…
…more and more Americans are totally ignoring the 90% Corporate Owned Media’s biased and narrative-driven BS…
…which is a very good thing. 🙂
In the meantime….
…attention VP Kamala Harris:
If you haven’t already…
…please copy or steal this stellar move from former President Obama:
Speaking of President Obama…
…regarding the intended insult “Obamacare” now being favorably linked forever to affordable health care in the U.S.
#ThanksRepublicans 🙂
That’s “The Chicago Way,” ladies and gents.
That’s how patiently Chicago rolls…
….and how it in the process rolls over it’s many haters. 🙂
Speaking of haters….
…like I said earlier, modern day Republican hatred of Chicago is long and it goes deep.
FUN FACT: Most Blue states today were Union states during the Civil War…
…and most Red states today were Confederate states during the Civil War.
“The Union included the states of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon.
Abraham Lincoln was their President.
The Confederacy included the states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Jefferson Davis was their President.
Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri were called Border States.
In 1865, the Union won the war.” ~ National Park Service website
So basically most of the Confederate states which today would be considered the descendants of Lincoln’s Confederate enemies….
…aka what we today call Red states hijacked Lincoln’s Republican Party…
…yet many of them are still pretending they are the same Republicans who supported President Lincoln and won the Civil War.
Important Note: I first want to make clear that I very much know that just because a state is Red doesn’t mean all of the people who live in it vote Republican.
States like Florida, Virginia and North Carolina even voted for our first Black president, President Obama in 2008…
….and considering that Virginia was once considered Ground Zero for the Southern Confederacy during the Civil War, that’s quite a remarkable evolution for that state.
*Barack Obama won Virginia again in 2012, Hillary Clinton won the state for Dems again in 2016, and Joe Biden turned Virginia Blue yet again in 2020 with 54.11% of the vote in 2020, by a margin of 10.11%, the best performance for a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944.
Go Virginia 🙂
On the other side…
…too bad Virginia’s current Republican Governor seems to be perfectly aligned with the old, outdated Southern Confederacy:
Can modern day Republicans make it any more clear who and what they are and what they represent?
Thankfully our nation’s current Secretary of Education doesn’t agree with modern day Republicans:
Then there is the war modern-day Republicans are now waging on books in classroom libraries:
This is not just removing *some* books, it’s removing ALL books from Florida’s classroom libraries.
“Call it the “Blue Scare” – an intense effort by an ever more extreme right-wing, including leading politicos, far-right media, Christo-fascists, and online activists, to expunge any hint of liberalism within schools, government, and the media.
Under the guise of defending freedom from “woke-ism,” the ultra-conservatives and intense libertarians who have hijacked the Republican Party, pushing it further and further from the realm of reasonable civil debate, are now consistently employing the same type of language this country has seen before during two red scares.” ~ Excerpt from Washington Press article titled “The New MCarthyism: Today’s Right-Wing Is Using An Old Playbook” – January 2023
And “liberalism” or “woke-ism” for these folks is anything that informs or teaches accurate, warts and all TRUTH about America, both past and present…
….and/or anything that tries to make America a more inclusive, more equitable, and a more decent country.
Basically anything or anyone who is seeking to “unrig” the game.
Meanwhile….
Note to Text Book Publishers & School Superintendents Who Cave: You could always choose to take a stand for the truth and what is right vs choosing to be unprincipled and gutless cowards.
“If social studies and history textbook publishers have principles they will pull out of the FL market rather than publishing (KK) Klan history.” ~ Marty Duren via Twitter
The problem is principles, ethics, and honesty are not what is driving many of these publishers:
“Florida — along with California and Texas — is a major market for school textbook publishing, a $4.8 billion industry.”
“Because state approval can be lucrative, publishers have often quietly catered to the biggest markets, adjusting content for their local needs and political leanings.” ~ The New York Times – March 2023
America’s children deserve so much better than watered down BS taught as factual American history so dishonest, unprincipled and profit driven text book publishers can continue making the big bucks.
“This is not a small thing and we must not let this go. Studies Weekly this is unacceptable. We need a convening of publishers to mandate ethics in curriculum selection. We will not return to Lost Cause distortions that degrade & distort the truth of our history & struggle.”
“Our community has worked hard to demand respect for the sacrifices of our ancestors. We honor them by telling the truth of their stories & contributions to this country. I consider this cowardice & greed by some textbook publishers to be an assault on our cultural integrity.” ~ Sherrilyn Ifill, former President & Director-Counsel of LDF (NAACP Legal Defense Fund). Sr Fellow, Ford Foundation via Twitter
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” ~ George Orwell
This modern day text book distortion and book banning is really not that far removed from when Southern Slave States made book reading a crime sometimes punishable by death for the enslaved.
Some states even made laws not only against the enslaved, but also against “free people of color” from being taught to read or write, and the punishment was also for the brave white people who taught them.
“Many states had specific laws prohibiting the education of “persons of color”. The state of Georgia penal code read: “Punishment for teaching slaves or free persons of color to read. — If any slave, Negro, or free person of color, or any white person, shall teach any other slave, Negro, or free person of color, to read or write either written or printed characters, the said free person of color or slave shall be punished by fine and whipping, or fine or whipping, at the discretion of the court.” ~ Matthew Lynch – Edweek.org – May 2014
The reasons why an educated population is seen as a threat by the modern day Republican Party and it’s supporters today…
…are the same reasons they were seen as a threat for the Southern Confederacy and it’s supporters for the enslaved:
“In every case of education prohibition, the end goal was to repress a certain demographic, preventing them from becoming literate and gaining the potential to throw off oppression.”
“Access to education and literacy rights continue to be a matter of concern across the globe as non-compliant countries continue to use non-education as a tool to subjugate large percentages of the population.” ~ Matthew Lynch – Edweek.org – May 2014
“As Clarence Lusane, a professor of political science at Howard University notes, there was a growing belief that “an educated enslaved person was a dangerous person.” ~ Excerpt from “How Literacy Became a Powerful Weapon in the Fight to End Slavery” – History.com
The man who enslaved a young Frederick Douglass made it clear why education of any form was prohibited for enslaved and free Black/POC people:
“Slave owner Hugh Auld describes this fear in this exchange with his wife, Sophia Auld, after he discovered her teaching a young Frederick Douglass how to read:
“He should know nothing but the will of his master and learn to obey it.” ~ Oakland Literacy Coalition – January 2022
One thing is for sure…
…Lincoln’s Republican Party was not anti-education, anti-book, or anti-intellectual.
“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
It’s obvious that the modern day Republican Party’s goal is the same goal it’s Confederate enslaver forefathers had…
…except it’s anti-education goal now includes everyone, not just the enslaved.
They want Americans as unknowledgeable and uneducated as possible.
“Think back to a darker time in our history. Two hundred years ago when slavery was going on, it was illegal to educate a slave, particularly to teach them to read. Why do you think that was? Because when you educate a man, you liberate a man.” ~ Modern day Republican and sellout Dr. Ben Carson, in his book “One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future”
Unsurprisingly, in addition to banning the teaching of Black History…
….the modern day Republican Party seems to also attract voters who are antagonistic towards higher education and towards education in general.
“…51 percent of respondents agreed with the idea that “a college education is the best way to get ahead in the U.S.” But agreement differed significantly by respondent’s partisan affiliations: Seventy-one percent of self-identified Democrats agreed while (just) 37 percent of self-identified Republicans did.” ~ FiveThirtyEight – October 2022
There’s also this:
Reason – August 2019 – Survey: 59% of Republicans Now Think College Is Bad for America
“Republicans and right-leaning independents have turned rapidly against Higher Ed.”
The percentage of Republicans who see value in higher education has collapsed in recent years, from 53 percent in 2012 to just 33 percent in 2019.” ~ Reason – August 2019
What happened between 2012 and 2019?
Answer: President Trump
“…after winning his third-straight contest in Nevada Tuesday, Trump credited his “poorly educated” supporters, in part, for the win.
“We won the evangelicals. We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated,” he said during his victory speech.” ~ Excerpt from USA Today article titled “Donald Trump loves the ‘poorly educated’ — and they love him” – February 2016
Look no further for the reason why so many Republican voters believe Donald Trump is a genius…
….why so many believe Covid is a hoax or no different than the flu or the common cold…
….and why so many Republicans believe in QAnon.
They say a leader is a reflection of those he leads.
Having a president for four years who not only didn’t value higher education…
…but touted how much he loved his supporters being “poorly educated”…
…could explain that deep dive in Republican views of higher education from 53% in favor to only 33% in favor of higher education from 2012 to 2019.
The negative consequences for America not having a highly educated population are too many to count.
One tragic consequence:
“The number of men enrolled at two- and four-year colleges has fallen behind women by record levels, in a widening education gap across the U.S.” ~ Wall Street Journal
Here’s the thing:
That WSJ headline may as well read:
“A Generation of American Men Give Up On Being a Doctor, Lawyer, Scientist, Engineer, Architect, Teacher, Pharmacist, Financial Manager, Astronaut, Accountant, Veterinarian, Journalist, Marketing Exec, Nurse, Paramedic, Biologist, Psychiatrist, Firefighter, Therapist, Banker, Professor, Nuclear Medicine Technologist, Radiologist, MRI Technologist, Historian, Corporate Manager, etc. etc etc…
…since all of these careers require having a college degree at the minimum.
Why are so many young American men giving up on higher education?
In my opinion, this is a crisis that will have extremely dire consequences for this country if it continues.
Can more coaches and mentors like the following please step up for young men?
Meanwhile…
On top of so many young American men shunning college having to now deal with very limited job opportunities…
…so many Republicans (and young American men) being so hostile towards higher education and educated experts means being much more easily susceptible to misinformation.
The sad part is the blind belief in misinformation and disbelief in science of many Republican voters is literally killing them:
NPR – December 2021 – Pro-Trump Counties Now Have Far Higher COVID Death Rates. Misinformation is to Blame
“Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden. That’s according to a new analysis by NPR that examines how political polarization and misinformation are driving a significant share of the deaths in the pandemic.” ~ NPR – December 2021
Going back to the ridiculous and backwards book banning efforts of Republican Governors…
…thankfully many are fighting back against their anti-education, anti-history, and anti-truth movement:
It looks like freedom of education, particularly the extremely painful yet 100% true and authentic history of Black Americans in this country…
….and the warts and all true and authentic history of America as a whole, from it’s founding…
…which coincidentally means the history of the true, authentic and non-whitewashed real life experience of the millions of enslaved ancestors of Black Americans…
…and anything that promotes reconciliation, progress, or solutions to escape that extremely dark and brutal history which many in America want to pretend never happened…
….is the Civil Rights Movement for the 21st Century.
For all of these understandable reasons…
…I want to make clear that when I mention Red states or states that were once in the Southern Confederacy…
….I am in no way speaking of all the people currently living in those states which consists of many Blue voters and majority Blue voting cities like Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, etc. in Texas….
…in addition to the many thousands of patriotic, democracy-loving Blue voters residing in all of the Red states.
Having made that point crystal clear…
…the fact that the same Southern states which hated Abraham Lincoln so much that their Confederate forefathers refused to put his name on their presidential ballots when he ran for president in 1860…
….the same Southern states which declared war on America immediately after Abraham Lincoln won the presidency…
…have descendants/admirers in the present day peddling a modernized version of the same hatred, discrimination, and racism of their Confederate heroes and forefathers…
…but are now shamelessly doing it under the banner of Lincoln’s Republican Party…
…the same party that kicked their loser Confederate forefathers/ancestors butts in the American Civil War….
….is one of many reasons why it’s ridiculous to call the modern day Republican Party…
…”The Party of Lincoln.”
Kind of like how modern-day Republicans stole or hijacked the word “woke“ from it’s African American originators…
…and intentionally and immorally twisted it’s meaning totally beyond recognition.
Woke: aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice) ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary
I understand…
….you steal because in addition to being immoral and unethical, you’re not a very creative or innovative bunch….
….but that does not give you the right to hijack a word or a political party…
…totally and completely change their meanings and purposes, and instead make them into warped images of your ignorant, racist and hateful selves.
Co-opt – To takeover; appropriate. ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary
And when co-opting is done willfully and without permission and the original meaning is negatively distorted beyond recognition….
…co-opting becomes malicious stealing.
The Legal Defense Fund – August 2022 – How Woke Went From “Black” to “Bad”
Sorry Republican hatemongers…
…but in the same way you can’t first steal and then twist the word “woke” into something that bears zero resemblance to the true meaning it’s Black American originators gave it….
…you also cannot steal Lincoln’s Republican Party and twist it into a hate-filled version of everything Lincoln stood and fought against.
In fact…
…given it’s recent history, particularly it’s Trump led insurrectionist attack on the nation’s Capitol that happened on January 6th, 2021…
…“The 21st Century Confederacy” is the far more appropriate name for the modern day Republican Party.
This opinion is supported by the January 6th Final Report issued by the Congressional Select Committee created to investigate the deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol which took place on January 6th. 2021…
…all because Donald Trump and thousands of his supporters, (including a Supreme Court Justice’s wife), absolutely refused to accept the lawful results of the 2020 election.
“The January 6th Report does well to make explicit one of the drivers of the efforts to overturn the (2020 presidential) election: racism.”
A powerful review of the Jan 6. Report’s findings on the central role of “white nationalism” in Jan. 6. Echoes of “lynching”
“White supremacists & Confederate-sympathizers were among the first rioters to enter the U.S. Capitol.”
“Ethan Nordean, a Proud Boys leader invoked the “Day of the Rope” to reject the outcome of the 2020 election, ‘referring to a day of mass lynching of ‘race traitors.’” ~ Scott Hechinger, Civil Rights Attorney in a thread via Twitter – December 2022
It comes as absolutely no surprise to Chicago that the thankfully short-lived, one term Trump presidency was hugely embarrassing for our country…
….was extremely corrupt, beyond racist, and totally incompetent on an unprecedented scale…
…and ended with Trump and thousands of his supporters pathetically and violently refusing to accept his 2020 election loss.
The Southern Confederacy’s enemy flag never made it to the U.S. Capitol during the American Civil War…
….but it most definitely made it’s way inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6th 2021.
Description from Reuters of Image: A supporter of President Trump carries a Confederate battle flag on the second floor of the Capitol Building, January 6. REUTERS/Mike Theiler
“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt, (Republican President)
As the video clearly shows, it took only a couple of minutes for all hell to break loose after Trump sent that incendiary tweet about VP Pence.
*Note: This attack on American Democracy happened more than two years ago, yet Trump, his White House enablers, and all modern day Republican politicians who were involved in this vicious attack on America have yet to be held accountable….
…and no one in the modern day Republican Party or in the 90% Corporate Owned Media is calling on any of them to be held accountable.
Must be nice to be able to get away with anything, no matter how heinous.
I can’t help but think that had President Obama done what Trump had done more than two years ago, he would be in prison right now if not sitting on death row…
…and the Corporate media would have run 24/7 wall to wall outraged coverage until that was the exact outcome.
Remember how hard the Corporate Media tried it’s best to make every little hiccup or mishap that happened “Obama’s Katrina” during President Obama’s remarkably non-scandalous 8 year presidency?
Now the 90% Corporate Owned Media is busy pretending #Jan6th and Trump’s involvement in it is all normal and no big deal as it ignores potential treason as it creates a horse race between Trump and DeSantis while helping Trump to run for president a third time…
…without expressing an ounce of integrity, objection, or outrage with Trump or the modern day Republican Party that he has the absolute gall and the shameless audacity to even try to run for president again.
Nothing to see here, right 90% Corporate Owned Media?
#NeverForgetJan6th
Just one of many reasons why the modern day Republican Party can convincingly be called…
…the 21st Century Confederacy.
The sooner it’s recognized exactly who and what the modern day Republican Party represents, the better it will be for everyone.
Update:
On February 20th 2023 on President’s Day no less…
…modern day Republicans confirm the obvious…
….that they are indeed “The 21st Century Confederacy.”
Thanks for helping to make my case for me modern day Republicans.
Much obliged for your assistance 🙂
I say why not?
Greene and Trump are perfect lowest bar ever representations of exactly what the modern day Republican Party has devolved into.
And for anyone ridiculously claiming that MAGA does not = The Republican Party.
As they use to say when I was growing up:
“You lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.”
Trump is the Frankenstein monster that the modern day Republican Party has spent decades creating since Richard Nixon’s beyond racist “Southern Strategy.”
For better or worse, the MAGA GOP is now stuck with it’s self inflicted monster and will go down with him….
…and I guess they know that since they are even now trying to do whatever they can to protect Trump aka themselves.
*Note: I’ve been saying the modern day Republican Party = The 21st Century Confederacy since 2009….
…when it made obstructing and smearing our nation’s 1st Black POTUS it’s main mission in life.
Thankfully Barack Obama is from Chicago and knew how to both handle and defeat modern day Republicans. 🙂
I would say I rest my case…
…but there is so much more to come in Part Three. 🙂
I end Part Two of this series with another…
Chicago the Beautiful Spotlight 🙂
“Chicago, mistress of the lakes,
Controller of our inland trade,
The freest city of our states,
What wondrous strides thy fame has made!” ~ Charles Frederick White “To Chicago”
*This ends Part Two in this series.
A Special Spotlight:
“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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Also…
If you appreciate all the time, dedication, and hard work I have thus far and am continuing to put into researching, innovating and creating this comprehensive, unique and one of a kind website and series to educate, enlighten, benefit, and help others…
…please consider making a small donation or whatever donation you are comfortable making to support what has become my life’s mission and work at one of the following 2 links.
$5.00, $50.00, $500.00 or whatever amount you are comfortable donating would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
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You can access Part Three of this unique series at the following link:
Welcome to Selfcaretaker.com 