Monday, September 16, 2024

Media: Hard Truths and Soft Media

If you're not getting how useless 'left' and 'independent' media are, you probably weren't paying attention last week.

 

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Let's start with some history because history and context are in short supply as we look around at left and 'left' sites like COMMON DREAMS.  The Civil Rights Movement is a defining moment in history, not just US history, but around the world.  A non-violent movement that pushed for progress and saw a lot of success.  Lives were improved, society was bettered.  Many activists gave their all for the movement.  Some ended up giving their lives.  One such pioneer was Medgar Evers.  The NAACP notes:


Throughout his short life, Medgar Evers heroically spoke out against racism in the deeply divided South. He fought against cruel Jim Crow laws, protested segregation in education, and launched an investigation into the Emmett Till lynching. In addition to playing a role in the civil rights movement, he served as the NAACP's first field officer in Mississippi.

Evers began his journey as a civil rights activist when he and five friends were turned away from a local election at gunpoint. He had just returned from the Battle of Normandy in World War II and realized fighting for his country did not spare him from racism or give him equal rights.

After attending college at the historically black Alcorn State University in Mississippi and taking a job selling life insurance in the predominantly Black town of Mound Bayou, Evers became president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL). As head of the organization, Evers mounted a boycott of gas stations that barred Black people from using their restrooms, distributing bumper stickers with the slogan "Don't Buy Gas Where You Can't Use the Restroom." annual conferences between 1952 and 1954 in Mound Bayou attracted tens of thousands.

Evers soon turned his sights on desegregation after being rejected from the University of Mississippi Law School because of the color of his skin. The Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education 1954 ruling making school segregation unconstitutional. His fight to desegregate the University of Mississippi Law School bore fruit eight years after he began when James Meredith was enrolled in 1962.

As NAACP's first field officer in Mississippi, Evers established new local chapters, organized voter registration drives, and helped lead protests to desegregate public primary schools, parks, and Mississippi Gold Coast beaches.

Evers gained notoriety in the eyes of white supremacists after becoming involved in two high-profile Mississippi cases. His public investigations into the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till and the 1960 conviction of Clyde Kennard, a Black civil rights activist framed for crimes he didn't commit, left Evers vulnerable to attack.

White supremacists made several attempts on Evers's life before succeeding on June 12, 1963. After pulling into his driveway and getting out of his car carrying NAACP T-shirts reading "Jim Crow Must Go," Evers was shot in the back and died at the local hospital less than an hour later. He was murdered just hours after President John F. Kennedy's speech on national television in support of civil rights.

A member of the Ku Klux Klan, Byron De La Beckwith, was arrested for Evers's murder but remained free after all-white juries twice deadlocked on his guilt. Three decades later, justice was finally served when De La Beckwith was found guilty of Evers's murder and sent to prison in his 70s.

Evers was buried with full military honors in front of more than 3,000 people at Arlington National Cemetery. His murder and the failure to convict De La Beckwith inspired a number of songs from popular musicians, including Bob Dylan's "Only a Pawn in Their Game" and "Too Many Martyrs" and "Another Country" by Phil Ochs. The 1996 film The Ghosts of Mississippi starring Alec Baldwin and Whoopi Goldberg depicts the 1994 trial of De La Beckwith for Evers's murder.

Evers's family also carried his legacy forward. Both his wife Myrlie Evers-Williams and his brother Charles became prominent civil rights activists, with Myrlie serving as chairwoman of NAACP from 1995 to 1998.

 

 Get it?  He's part of history and he's a hero.  His widow is as well.  And she's been a guest three times on DEMOCRACY NOW! But last week, that program couldn't find her, nor could TRUTHOUT, THE NATION, THE PROGRESSIVE, IN THESE TIMES . . .  It's a long, long list.  And, yeah, COMMON DREAMS couldn't find her either.


Why should they have been noting her?  When a Civil Rights icon endorses in a presidential race, that's news.  CBS NEWS thought so.

 

 

 

Susan Page and USA TODAY found it to be newsworthy

 

California Rep. Maxine Waters first introduced Evers to Kamala Harris when she was running for California attorney general in 2010. "I'm an admirer" of Harris, Evers said. "It takes a pretty strong person to step out into a crowd that may or may not be friendly and put yourself on the line for something that you believe in. I think she has done that."

Her endorsement is no surprise, but it is an affirmation of Harris' groundbreaking candidacy by one of the handful of surviving leaders of the civil rights movement of the '60s − a movement that didn't always fully acknowledge the contributions of women.

"I hear criticisms along the way, that women should not be involved in politics, this and the other," Evers said, noting she was speaking as "an old-timer." She has seen that attitude change − with the first woman of color nominated for the presidency, the first Black woman sitting on the Supreme Court, and two Black women favored to win Senate seats in November.

 

DELTA NEWS TV found it to be news:

 

Myrlie Evers, civil rights leader, first female chairman of the NAACP, author, activists and widow of civil rights icon Medgar Evers today announced her endorsement of Kamala Harris for President in a new video, citing her commitment to justice, equality, and the ongoing fight for civil rights. 

“Kamala Harris embodies the values that my husband Medgar Evers dedicated his life to—justice, equality, and the belief that America can and should be better,” says Myrlie Evers. “Her vision for this country aligns with the ideals Medgar fought for, and that’s why I am proud to endorse her for President. As a senator, she held the Trump administration accountable and will continue to fight those who attempt to undermine our Constitution and American values.”


But all those 'independent' outlets as well as THE PACIFICA EVENING NEWS and Saturday and Sunday evening's KPFA EVENING NEWS didn't find it to be news.  It reminds us of how a minor playwright -- who was friends with then editorial-editor of THE NEW YORK TIMES Gail Collins -- got multiple front page stories when she died, an editorial when she died and multiple columns on the op-ed pages of THE TIMES while Coretta Scott King got a minor front page story and that was it.  A playwright of little significance versus a part of history, a pioneer.  We called it out and we called it out loudly.  As sop tossed to us, one columnist that we know finally wrote a column about Coretta for THE TIMES.  Well, he said it was "about" her, we noticed that it was a few paragraphs squeezed into a multi-topic column. 


There's a lot of pretense by the White left and 'left' that Black Lives Matter and we say "pretense" because while they give an occasional shout out to the notion, in practice they just can't be bothered.

 

COMMON DREAMS attacks Kamala every day.  Every day.  They can't note an endorsement from a Civil Rights pioneer but they make time for a garbage column from a British man living in England to trash Kamala?  "Democratic charade"?  First off, he's not in the United States, there's no reason to publish his uninformed opinion.  He's a Gaza-freak who's failed to advocate for Palestinians adequately in his own country but wants to pretend he's somehow holding a politician from another country accountable.  We're sick of these cowards.  And we're getting damn sick of COMMON DREAMS and its attacks on Kamala. 


TRUTHOUT at least tries to be a little more even-handed.  Nicholas Powers had a column last Thursday where he reviewed some basic facts about Black women's health and expressed his desire for Kamala to address the issue.  


Hmm.

 

Let's drop back to the August 29th Iraq snapshot:


Starting with the US presidential election, I believe the whine goes something like this: "Kamala hasn't done any interviews!"


kamala cover


That's what the mail brought me yesterday.  Page 48 kicks off Caroline Wanga's six page interview with the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.  The two discuss a number of issues including the economy.  I'll note this from the interview 

Kamala Harris:  I have been working on that issue for years -- with my colleagues from the CBC [Congressional Black Caucus] when I was in the Senate and now as Vice President.  Why? Because Black women in the United States of America are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women.  And we know that there are a variety of reasons for that.  But we also know that this is a health care crisis of the highest order, and it has received very little attention proportionate to the seriousness of the matter.  So, I worked with my colleagues when I was in the Senate.  We passed a number of ills.  When I came in as Vice President, I continue to work on it.  And one of the things I found is this: For women on Medicaid, which states can provide for postpartum care for two months up to 12 months -- and I realized when I came in as Vice President, only three states would extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum care from two months to 12 months.  I don't have a problem shaming people sometimes, so I challenged the states to extend it.  And now 46 states have extended Medicaid coverage for postpartum care.  There is a direct connection between this and Black maternal mortality.  But back to the other point about freedom of choice.  The majority of Black women in America live in the South You know that in the South, we have some of the highest rates of Black maternal mortality.  In the South, except for the state of Virginia, every state has an abortion ban.  And what I find hypocrisy upon hypocrisy, by some of these extremists, is that the same ones saying they're passing these abortion bans because they care about women and children have been completely silent on the issue of Black maternal mortality.  Don't come to us, gaslighting us about where you've been and where you haven't been, on important issues that relate to what we know every day affects our sisters, our mothers, our aunties, our grandmothers -- and could affect our daughters. 


A few comments.  The interview is not online.  I have no idea if it will be posted or not.  Currently at ESSENCE,  Jasmine Browley has an article about Kamala and the opportunity economy that went up this week and Robyn Mowatt looks at political style.  Second, the cover notes "COLLECTOR'S EDITION."  If you're a subscriber like me, you may grimace.  But they used a real sticker that peels off -- not a paper label that's basically glued to the cover -- and it's very easy and doesn't tear the cover when you remove it.  After I removed it, I scanned for the image above (notice no tear in the lower corner) and took the cover off the magazine.  It's now framed and up in my home office.


If you read the quote above and then read Nicholas' article, you're left with the realization that has no idea that this interview exists.  Which goes again to our 'independent' and 'left' media which can constantly tell us about what made the pages of THE NEW YORK TIMES, ESQUIRE or any other White corporate outlet repeatedly ignores the Black press over and over. 


Last week, Kamala Harris debated Donald Trump -- see "Kamala destroys Donald (Ava and C.I.)."  Somehow, that just wasn't good enough for our left and 'left' media.  

 

And it wasn't important to them -- COMMON DREAMS ran with a bad column by Robert C. Koehler that concluded with, "But in her 'victory,' what deeper truth did Harris advance? What not-yet-existing country did she envision and present to the American people . . .and the world? I heard the clichés, especially the military clichés, but I didn't see the vision."  We don't link to trash.  But you can find the column, GOOGLE the quote if you have to.  You will then see that he didn't quote Kamala once from the debate.  He quoted Donald over and over.  But on Kamala he went to outside the debate because he's ticked off by an endorsement Kamala received.  Then he has the nerve to end his bad column, which refused to quote Kamala, asking his audience to identify some "deeper truth" Kamala addressed -- after refusing to quote her.  No, that's not journalism.  

 

It also wasn't important to Koehler that Donald lied about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.  He reduced that lie to one single sentence, "In Springfield, Ohio, Haitian immigrants are 'eating dogs and cats -- the pets of people that live there'."

 

The lie had been out there for days before the debate.   To it's credit, COMMON DREAMS had covered the lie before the debate in Brett Wilkins' "'Racist Piece of Sh*t' JD Vance Spreads False Rumors of Pet-Eating Haitian Immigrants."  In the debate itself?  Here's the exchange via ABC NEWS' transcription:



DAVID MUIR: We're going to turn now to immigration and border security. We know it's an issue that's important to Republicans, Democrats, voters across the board in this country. Vice President Harris, you were tasked by President Biden with getting to the root causes of migration from Central America. We know that illegal border crossings reached a record high in the Biden administration. This past June, President Biden imposed tough new asylum restrictions. We know the numbers since then have dropped significantly. But my question to you tonight is why did the administration wait until six months before the election to act and would you have done anything differently from President Biden on this?

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: So I'm the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings. And let me say that the United States Congress, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Senate, came up with a border security bill which I supported. And that bill would have put 1,500 more border agents on the border to help those folks who are working there right now over time trying to do their job. It would have allowed us to stem the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States. I know there are so many families watching tonight who have been personally affected by the surge of fentanyl in our country. That bill would have put more resources to allow us to prosecute transnational criminal organizations for trafficking in guns, drugs and human beings. But you know what happened to that bill? Donald Trump got on the phone, called up some folks in Congress, and said kill the bill. And you know why? Because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem. And understand, this comes at a time where the people of our country actually need a leader who engages in solutions, who actually addresses the problems at hand. But what we have in the former president is someone who would prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem. And I'll tell you something, he's going to talk about immigration a lot tonight even when it's not the subject that is being raised. And I'm going to actually do something really unusual and I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies because it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you. You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams, and your, your desires. And I'll tell you, I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first. And I pledge to you that I will.

DAVID MUIR: Vice President Harris, thank you. President Trump, on that point I want to get your response.

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I would like to respond.

DAVID MUIR: Let me just ask, though, why did you try to kill that bill and successfully so? That would have put thousands of additional agents and officers on the border.

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: First let me respond as to the rallies. She said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there. And then showing them in a different light. So, she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. That's because people want to take their country back. Our country is being lost. We're a failing nation. And it happened three and a half years ago. And what, what's going on here, you're going to end up in World War 3, just to go into another subject. What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country. And look at what's happening to the towns all over the United States. And a lot of towns don't want to talk -- not going to be Aurora or Springfield. A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame. As far as rallies are concerned, as far -- the reason they go is they like what I say. They want to bring our country back. They want to make America great again. It's a very simple phrase. Make America great again. She's destroying this country. And if she becomes president, this country doesn't have a chance of success. Not only success. We'll end up being Venezuela on steroids.

DAVID MUIR: I just want to clarify here, you bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community --

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I've seen people on television

DAVID MUIR: Let me just say here this ...

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food. So maybe he said that and maybe that's a good thing to say for a city manager.

DAVID MUIR: I'm not taking this from television. I'm taking it from the city manager.

 

In the aftermath, we saw garbage.  At ZNET, for example, an idiot showed up to float some conspiracy theory about David Muir and how did Muir 'knew' Donald would bring this up.  How?  Because he and Vance were already bringing it up and Vance was called out before the debate. 

 

The debate was Tuesday night.  Yet it wasn't until Thursday that COMMON DREAMS finally took the attack on immigrants seriously -- as opposed to treating it like a joke (which they did in two columns prior to that).  By that time, the rage Donald's lies has stoked were causing serious problems.   David Badash reports:



Just days after the Republican nominees for president and vice president promoted and doubled-down on false, debunked and racist claims about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio stealing pet cats and dogs and eating them, that town’s city hall and elementary school were forced to evacuate after a bomb threat targeting multiple locations was received Thursday.


 

Donald Trump used hatred and fear to mobilize his base and the result was an unsafe environment.  But COMMON DREAMS couldn't and wouldn't focus on that.  Donald Trump is a threat to democracy and COMMON DREAMS won't focus on that.

 

Now again, COMMON DREAMS did grasp, days later, how vile and disgusting and dangerous the lie was.  That does put them ahead of THE PACIFICA  EVENING NEWS which, on Friday, started a 'report' on this issue with "what he [Joe Biden] describes as attacks on the Haitian immigrant community."  What he describes?  As opposed to actual attacks on the Haitian immigrant community?  Because that's what they were. 

 

And the attacks from the demagogue team of Donald and JD have continued.  On this morning's FACE THE NATION (CBS), Margaret Breenan confronted Vance on his newest lie.

 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yesterday, you posted a video, the origins of which CBS cannot confirm, claiming Africans are grilling cats in Dayton. Haiti is not Africa. Dayton is not Springfield. But putting all that aside, what is your intent in furthering the focus on these people? You're not talking about how to surge federal funds to help with safety, hospitals, and schools. You're talking about this…

SEN. JD VANCE: Margaret is your argument really, that it's a huge difference if migrants are grilling cats 20 miles away from Springfield rather than downtown Springfield? And would it change if the video was 20 miles closer to where these things allegedly occurred? My point here is that the American media ignores these stories. Everybody who has dealt with a large influx of migration knows that sometimes there are cultural practices that seem very far out there to a lot of Americans. Are we not allowed to talk about this in the United States of America? Margaret, because the American media is more interested in fact checking innocent people who are begging for relief than they are in investigating some of these claims. I'm going to talk about what my constituents are sending me. That video was actually filmed by a constituent. That video was filmed by a person who is worried about what's going on in these communities. I'm going to talk about it because that's what I need to do as the United States senator for Ohio, is represent Ohio and actually make sure that people's concerns get their voice.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Again, as a representative of Ohio, these are officials from Ohio, including the Dayton police chief who said there is no evidence of what you just claimed as being verifiable or true. CBS confirmed- we were able to confirm this video, and it was of the Proud Boys marching through Springfield yesterday. We know hate groups have been amplifying the concerns about Haitians for weeks. What exactly- what constituency are you trying to appeal to here by putting this at the center of the conversation?

SEN. JD VANCE: Margaret, first of all, whatever some local mayor said about this case, I am hearing from dozens of constituents who are concerned about these issues. They are allowed to be concerned about these issues, and I think it's shameful how the American media ignores them.

 

Some are trying to cover this -- NPR here; however, we think they're missing the point.  JD repeated this morning on one program after another that he was not at fault, he was merely bringing up what his constituents were telling him.

 

While it is his job to represent his constituents, he's under no obligation to repeat lies -- told to him by constituents or whomever.

 

If his constituents, for example, tell him that 12-year-old boys are aborting their own butt babies, that doesn't mean JD Vance has to amplify it.  It's a lie.  He's a US senator and that's not a pass for lying.  


Equally true, he's repeating the lie and he needs to stop blaming others for that.


Blaming others.  


We're at a crossroads here.  We care about the Palestinian people.


So we're torn by whom to vote for?  Hell no.  


It's not just that Jill Stein is an idiot who has run for president two times previously but still doesn't know how many members the House of Representatives has?  (435.)



It's not just that she will not win.  


It's the fact that a group that we're going to dub "Gaza Freaks," are working to elect Donald Trump -- a lot of them apparently are in left and 'left' media.  


We need to address racism, sexism, homophobia, we need to save our democracy, we need to address the corruption of the Supreme Court, we need to restore women's health access, we need so many things.


And we're not going to get any of them with Donald Trump in the White House.  


We certainly aren't going to get a cease-fire with Donald Trump in the White House.


On Saturday's KPFA EVENING NEWS, Jill Stein groupie Ann Garrison thought she'd woo and win voters over to Jill Stein and stupidity via an interview with Hassan Abdel Salam of the Abandon Harris Movement -- a group working "to defeat Kamala Harris in battleground states."  If you're wondering if the slow witted group grasps that this would mean electing Donald Trump, yes, they do grasp that.

 

Ann Garrison:  So you're looking to win a moral victory by costing the Democrats the election or helping to do so?

 

Hassan Abdel Salam:  Absolutely.

 

 He then offers delusions about how this is "the only way the political establishment, the Democratic Party, will listen to us is if they too encounter the very thing they fear the most a defeat on November 5th."

 

No, that's not what's going to happen.  If you nut jobs re-elect Donald Trump, you're going to find the majority of Americans no longer give a s**t about your cause.

 

You re-elect Donald Trump and you're going to find yourself on a no-man's island.  

 

Your cause will lose support and you will be a joke.   No one will want to hear from you.  No one will want to know you.  If you think the way Ralph Nader got ostracized -- even from organizations he himself started -- in 2000 was rough, you don't know the half of it.  Bully Boy Bush was an unknown quantity.  We all know what another term of Trump means. 

 

The day after Garrison's propaganda aired on KPFA, Leo Rose Rodriguez had a column published by THE MINNESOTA STAR-TRIBUNE which noted why he, despite being very concerned about the Palestinian people, was not abandoning Harris.

 

That's part of the story that 'left' and 'independent' media refuses to tell.  


What we're calling "The Gaza Freaks" are not the only people concerned about the Palestinians in the United States.  Were it just "The Gaza Freaks," no one would give a damn the same way America's ignored these attacks, this apartheid, for decades and decades.  


Now, when Americans are finally waking up to reality, The Gaza Freaks want to destroy the support that's building by going off on their purity mission -- wearing their virginity promise rings -- and insisting that they will not give up their cherry until Gaza is free.


Reality, Gaza's not going to be free in 2024 or 2025.  Probably not in 2026.  That's not how movements work.  

 

The Gaza Freaks are turning everyone off.  The Gaza Freaks are thrilled with "The shooting?" that took place last week because they think it makes them look better (one of their own was shot after he attacked a peaceful protester for Israel).  


You are unhinged and you're promoting destruction 

 

Destruction can come from all over.  For example, the Jill Stein supporter who took pornographic photos of their own children?  We can help with the destruction of The Gaza Freaks by outing them on things like this.  Is that really what you want us to do?

 

Because we're trying to be kind.  And if we're struggling with kindness, you damn well better believe that a lot of other people are as well.  So think very clearly in this moment.  Your continued attacks on Kamala Harris are not going to help the Palestinian people.  But they do send a message to the rest of us about what freaks you are and how you don't care one bit about racial justice in the US, about climate change, about the kid who was raped by her father and will be forced to give birth, about anything.  Because, one more time, you don't even care about the Palestinians if you're working to put Donald Trump back into the White House. 

  


Monday, September 09, 2024

Truest statement of the week

I remember when it was that I decided I had had it with the GP. I was at a national People’s Summit conference in Chicago in the summer of 2016 organized by National Nurses United and many other progressive groups and individuals who had come together after active involvement in the historic Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign. I was one of those people. On the second day of this event, attended by thousands, I looked up onto a screen that was projecting tweets about the convention that were being posted. I was shocked to see one from Jill Stein explicitly calling out this event and those who organized it as being “sheepdogs for the duopoly.” These supporters of independent socialist Bernie Sanders were all about corralling progressives into the Democratic Party, Stein was saying.

The GP, and others supporting them, don’t get it on mass politics. They believe in ideological purty before anything else. Unless you’re ideologically pure, they would say, you will never be able to bring about the transformational, revolutionary changes needed. Purity comes before anything else.

Twenty years of this approach have made it clear this is a losing strategy. The national US Green Party is a failure because of its rigid and narrow electoral approach.

 -- Ted Glick, "AOC and the Green Party’s Failed Electoral Strategy" (ZNET).




 


A note to our readers

Hey --

Monday.

Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:


The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, 
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.

 

And what did we come up with? 

 

Ted Glick gets a truest.

Repost for Iraq and Gaza coverage.

Ava and C.I. on the problems with the network presidential debate.

Jess talks books with Ava and C.I.

Jess does a book review.  

A list of passings this year that we felt were worth noting.

What we've been reading in the community. 

Paul Rudnick. 

Rebecca, Jim, Dona, Ty, Betty, Stan, Cedric and Ann wrote this and we thank them for it.

DEMOCRACY NOW! segment.

 Speech by Kamala Harris.

Repost of an important piece by Kat.

As Betty notes in "Treason Trump plans to pardon his insurrectionists ," why are people on the left and 'left' repeating a false right-wing talking point that Kamala has nothing to say on policies?  Have they not checked the campaign website?  If they did, they'd find this piece and more.

A visual.  It's from the '00s but we dug it out to repost.

What we listened to while writing.

 Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it.

 

 

 

Peace.

 

-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

 

 

 

Iraq and Gaza

Reposting for Iraq and Gaza coverage:

Iraq and Gaza

THE KHALEEJ TIMES reports, "The Iraqi Meteorological Organisation confirmed on Saturday that the light observed in the skies over Iraq on Friday was the result of a meteor burning up in the atmosphere."  Interesting but hardly the most interesting news out of Iraq right now.



Supposedly, US troops will be withdrawing from Iraq.  Again!  Of course the withdrawal under Barack Obama was not a withdrawal.  It was a drawdown as thousands remained in Iraq.  In the fall of 2012, Barack began sending more US troops -- special forces.  The press ran with "withdrawal" while the US military (rightly) termed it a "drawdown."  Yes, there is a difference.  


So applause to WION for its use of terms in the video below entitled "Will some US troops remain in Iraq after drawdown?"



IRAQI NEWS reports:


Different sources revealed that Baghdad and Washington agreed on a strategy for the departure of coalition forces led by the United States from Iraq.

Reuters mentioned that hundreds of troops are expected to leave Iraq by September 2025 and the remaining forces by the end of 2026, according to the agreement, which still needs confirmation from top authorities in both countries and an announcement date.

Last week, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, confirmed that the remnants of the terrorist group ISIS are no longer a danger to the country.


Will it be a withdrawal?  No.  No, it will be a drawdown, "Reuters also reported that the two governments aim to establish a new advisory relationship that could see some US troops remain in Iraq after the drawdown."  NEWSWEEK wrongly sells it as a withdrawal.  A withdrawal means all leave (except Marines guarding the US Embassy).  A drawdown means a number leave but not all.  It's amazing that NEWSWEEK can't get it right even as they quote anonymous US military officials.   SHAFAQ NEWS notes, "However, the report highlighted that a US force will remain stationed in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, serving as a key link to US operations in Syria."

For any who have forgotten, US troops invaded Iraq  in March of 2003.  Barack Obama carried out a drawdown -- but not a withdrawal -- and US troops remain in Iraq.  21 years later and US troops remain in Iraq. 


If you're not getting it, Thomas Watkins (THE NATIONAL) explains:


The US is likely to maintain significant military capabilities to fight extremists in Iraq after the anti-ISIS coalition wraps up in the coming years, an American official said on Friday.

Speaking after it was reported that US-led coalition forces would leave Iraq by the end of 2026, the official said their departure “doesn't necessarily change” the military's ability to go after ISIS.

“I would be extremely surprised if they pulled all US presence out,” the official told The National. Baghdad and Washington agreed in late July on a two-year plan to end the coalition's mission in Iraq, which was brought in to fight ISIS a decade ago.


When will Turkey leave Iraq alone?  RUDAW reports:


A shepherd was killed in a Turkish bombardment of a village in northeastern Erbil on Tuesday, according to a local health official and a war monitor. The area is known for clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdish fighters.

Badi’ Kamal Mohammed, 29, was seriously injured when Turkish air forces hit the Senin meadow in the Sidakan district of Erbil province, hospital director Karwan Faysal told Rudaw. Faysal added that Mohammed was brought to Sidakan hospital, where the civilian succumbed to his wounds.


In other news, THE NEWS reports on a governmental denial:


A political adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has rejected recent allegations that employees at the premier’s office have been spying on and wire-tapping senior officials and politicians.

Since late August, Iraqi local media outlets and lawmakers have alleged that employees at Sudani’s office had been arrested on charges of spying on senior officials.

“This is an inflated lie,” said Fadi al-Shammari in an interview with an Iraqi broadcaster .


 

Michael Knights of the right-wing Washington Institute For Near East Policy argues this is Iraq's Watergate.  Briefly for Iraqi community members, President Richard Nixon and his administration spied on people illegally and Watergate specifically refers to Nixon's 'plumbers' breaking into the Democratic National Committee's office in the Watergate building in 1972.  The scandal would eventually reveal other corruptions and crimes of Tricky Dick's administration forcing him to resign the presidency in disgrace to avoid being impeached.


Moving over to Gaza . . . 

From Saturday's WEEKEND EDITION (NPR):


STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have one picture of the war in Gaza. While it's hard for foreign journalists to make it into Gaza, many images have made their way out. We've seen destruction from the air and from the ground. We've seen children in peril, people alive and dead. And now we have the story behind a single image from this week, which some people will find disturbing. This report is just a little over two minutes. NPR's Aya Batrawy has the story of the girl in the pink roller skates.

AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Tala Abu Ajwa was heading out to play with her brother when a bomb hit their building in Gaza City. Shrapnel went flying through the air, piercing her neck. The 10-year-old died within minutes. The photo of her in her pink roller skates quickly spread online.

HUSSAM ABU AJWA: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: I reached Tala's father, Hussam Abu Ajwa, by phone in Gaza City. He says his daughter was bubbly and ambitious.

ABU AJWA: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: He tells me the day before she was killed, she told him, Baba, I want to become a dentist and go back to school. She told her dad she wanted to celebrate her brother's birthday and forget about the war.

ABU AJWA: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: He promised to try. Abu Ajwa, a high school chemistry teacher before the war, sends me photos of how the family once lived. Tala's arms are wrapped around his neck in a pool. In other photos, she's hugging her siblings, dolled up in dresses, headbands, a Daisy Duck sweater. She loved taking selfies. This last photo of her in the morgue, still wearing her skates, has gone viral on social media.

ABU AJWA: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: Abu Ajwa says he tried his best to keep the family safe. The Israeli military says it takes precautions to limit civilian deaths in its targeting of Hamas. It did not respond to NPR's request on why this residential building was hit. Tala's father says the booms of Israeli airstrikes would scare her. She'd curl up in his arms.


Meanwhile, REUTERS notes, "Israeli military strikes across the Palestinian Gaza Strip killed at least 61 people in the space of 24 hours, local medics said on Saturday, as Israeli forces battled Hamas-led militants in the territory." Among the targets bombed by the Israeli government?  Halima al-Sa’diyya school.  They keep bombing schools. ALJAZEERA adds, "Israel has continued attacks in Gaza. At least four people, including the deputy director of Palestinian Civil Defence in the North Gaza governorate, Abu al-Abd Morsi, have been killed in an attack on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp."


And still there is no cease-fire.  FRANCE 24 notes, "The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza entered its 12 month Saturday with little sign of respite for the Palestinian territory or hope for Israeli hostages still held captive."  There are protests.  THE NATIONAL reports:


Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Tel Aviv again on Saturday demanding a deal to free the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Organisers said 400,000 people blocked Derech Menachem Begin, one of the city's main thoroughfares.

Protests were also held in other cities, including Haifa, Jerusalem and Caesarea, near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence.

Demonstrators, including the family of the hostages, held banners that read "we are all kidnapped" and "get them out of hell".


THE TIMES OF ISRAEL adds, "Speakers at the Saturday night Tel Aviv rally were to include: Andrey Kozlov, a former hostage rescued from Gaza in an IDF operation; former hostage Danielle Aloni who was released along with her young daughter Emilia during the November ceasefire; Shay Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat, whose murder was announced by the IDF earlier this week along with five other hostages; Nissan Calderon, brother of hostage Ofer Calderon; ⁠Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander; ⁠and Einav Moses, the daughter-in-law of 80-year-old hostage Gadi Moses."  London also witnessed a large protest.  THE SOCIALIST WORKER reports:


Anger at the Labour government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide filled the streets of central London on Saturday. 

Around 125,000 people joined the 17th national demonstration for Palestine since Israel began its genocide last October. 

The immense vitality of the Palestine movement was on show with many first-time marchers. Kamar told Socialist Worker, “This is my first demonstration in London—and it won’t be my last.” 

The march was infused with outrage at Labour only suspending 30—out of 350—British arms export licences to Israel last week. 

Kamar said Western governments have made some concessions because they “want to be seen to be on the right side of history” while still backing Israel. “The British government has suspended some arms sales to Israel, but it’s very small,” she said. 

Imad, a lorry driver from West Bromwich in the Midlands, told Socialist Worker, Labour is failing to do enough. It suspended 30 arms licences—but why not all? It’s just trying to shut people down with gestures to show they are doing something. If it was serious, Labour would have suspended all licences.”

But, Imad added, “Anyone who wants to be in Downing Street has to support Zionism.” 

Protestor Ian, who had travelled to London, agreed, 30 out of 350 arms contracts is nothing but lip service. 

“Labour is still providing arms for the F35 fighter jets, so there’s no real difference between Labour and the last Tory government.”


In other news,  Benedict Garman (BBC NEWS) reports:


Israeli forces have been laying tarmac on a key road in Gaza along its southern border - in what some commentators see as a signal that they're not prepared to fully withdraw from the territory any time soon.

The road has become a major sticking point in the negotiations for a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.

BBC Verify has analysed satellite imagery, photos and video that show the surfacing of a road along the narrow but strategically important strip of land running the length of Gaza's border with Egypt, long known by its Israeli military codename: the Philadelphi Corridor.

Between 26 August and 5 September, satellite imagery captured at regular intervals shows fresh paving along a section of road extending 6.4km inland from the coast along the border fence.



Gaza remains under assault. Day 336 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll rises to 40,939, with 94,616 injured."   Early on, Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) pointed out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."    Months ago, United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of of acute food insecurity or worse."   Months ago,  AP  noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home."  February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:

 


April 11th, Sharon Zhang (TRUTHOUT) reported, "In addition to the over 34,000 Palestinians who have been counted as killed in Israel’s genocidal assault so far, there are 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza who are missing, a humanitarian aid group has estimated, either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into Israeli prisons.  In a report released Thursday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the estimate is based on initial reports and that the actual number of people missing is likely even higher."
 


Winding down, Susie Beever (THE MIRROR) reports:

An American woman was shot and killed in the West Bank on Friday, doctors have said.

The woman, aged 26, was shot in the head in the northern region of the Palestinian territory and died after being rushed to hospital, medical official Dr Ward Basalat said. Dr. Fouad Naffa, the head of the hospital, also confirmed the death of an American woman, who has not yet been named.


AP notes, "Witnesses, activists and Palestinian media said she was shot by Israeli troops while attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration against settlement expansion in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank, near the town of Beita. Israel's military said it was still looking into the incident, but it confirmed that troops had opened fire in the area."

The following sites updated:




Media: A great sitcom, a lousy debate

Last week, FX served up the first two episodes of ENGLISH TEACHER, a new sitcom from WILL & GRACE's  Brian Jordan Alvarez.  Alvarez spent three seasons on the NBC reboot playing Estefan -- Jack's boyfriend and then husband.  This time around, Brian's a producer on a series he created and he's also writing and directing some episodes. 


tc2

The set up?  Brian plays high school English teacher Evan Marquez who is coping with a break up with his ex-boyfriend Maclom (Jordan Firstman) while new hire Harry (Lagston Kerman) catches his attention.  His friends among the faculty include his best friend teacher Gwen (Stephanie Koenig)  and gym teacher Markie Hillridge who expectx Evan to be the go-to for all things LGBTQ+.


We'd argue the show -- which is very funny -- would be even funnier in front of a live audience.  However, it's nice to see a single-camera set up comedy that doesn't yet again rip off Christopher Guest.  All those 'mockumentaries' owe penalty royalties to Chris -- MODERN FAMILY, PARKS & RECREATION, THE OFFICE, 2015's THE MUPPETS, ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, TRIAL & ERROR, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, and many more.  They should also pay penalties to the audiences who had to suffer through the meaningless garbage that stole from Guest but brought none of his hilarity.  


The eight episodes fly by quickly and set a high water mark for the other fall programs that will follow.


They won't follow this week, however.

 

No, this week's big program will air live on Tuesday: The debate between the Democratic Party's presidential candidate Kamala Harris and the Republican Party's presidential candidate Donald Trump.  

The debate will take place in Philadelphia at The National Constitutional Center and supposedly the moderators are David Muir and Linsey Davis.  Supposedly?  A presidential debate is a bit more significant than WHAT'S MY LINE? -- which means moderators do more than fired off questions in a functioning world.


In June, the Convicted Felon debated President Joe Biden.   Ashley Lopez, Stephen Fowler and Mara Liasson (NPR) noted:

 

LOPEZ:  This was an opportunity for both Trump and Biden to make a pitch to those voters, to provide maybe some clarity on big issues policy-wise that the country is facing. I got to say, I don't know how anyone walked away from this debate with, like, a better picture, specifically on policy. Some really important issues were brought up, like inflation and childcare costs. And I don't know. I didn't hear many lucid, clear policy proposals. And I mean, a lot of this got mired in, kind of tangential conversations. Like, I mean, what was that conversation about golf? I mean, I can't even. How is this, in the 90 minutes we have to debate the future of this country - how is this taking up this much time? It was really kind of striking to me.

FOWLER: There's the hypothetical meme about, oh, what does the average voter in a diner in the Midwest think about this? I mean, honestly, they might talk about the bickering back and forth over the golf scores and who's more physically fit, but honestly, not in a good way for the future of democracy, which also was a topic of discussion.

LOPEZ: And we're definitely going to talk more about that soon. For now, a quick break, more in a second.

And we're back. And I want to pivot to talking about the moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. There seems to have been a choice made by CNN to let the candidates speak and not interrupt them even to offer sort of basic fact-checking. Stephen, can you talk to me about the kind of position this put specifically Biden in but also how this kind of frame the debate?

FOWLER: Yeah, so it's never easy to wrangle a live debate. It was definitely a choice during this debate to just let the two candidates largely go and largely say things that weren't true and largely just let it happen and let it ride. What this does is it doesn't really give people a sense of what's actually true about these major topics like immigration, about the economy. I mean, both Biden and Trump said things that weren't true. But if you're listening to that in real time, which - let's be honest; most people aren't - it allows them to fudge the record a little bit and kind of create moments that aren't as grounded in truth and reality. And it's honestly another negative against the utility of debates because you don't get their stances. And as another point, along with the fact-checking element of this, there were plenty of times where Trump and Biden were asked questions and reasked questions that they just decided not to answer.

LIASSON: Right, and voters will have to decide how important those nonanswers are, such as the times that Trump was asked, would you accept the results of the election, even if you don't win? And he refused.

(SOUNDBITE OF CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE)

DANA BASH: Will you pledge tonight that once all legal challenges have been exhausted, that you will accept the results of this election regardless of who wins, and you will say right now that political violence in any form is unacceptable?

DONALD TRUMP: Well, I shouldn't have to say that, but of course, I believe that. It's totally unacceptable. And if you would see my statements that I made on Twitter at the time and also my statement that I made in the Rose Garden, you would say it's one of the strongest statements you've ever seen, in addition to the speech I made in front of, I believe, the largest crowd I've ever spoken to. And I will tell you nobody ever talks about that. They talk about a relatively small number of people that went to the Capitol.

LIASSON: Donald Trump has never said, since 2015, that he would accept the results of an election that he lost. He said it all - it depends if it's fair, fair according to him. But I do think, Stephen, we have to be fair. They both said things that weren't true, but there's no comparison between the number of lies, flagrant lies, that Trump told compared to Biden. To say that he was responsible for insulin coming down to $35 is just false, and there were, like, dozens of other things. But I agree with you. The fact that the moderators decided not to fact check helped Donald Trump because he's the one for whom lying is a superpower. Unchallenged lies are even a bigger superpower.

And the other thing that helped Trump was the new rules of shutting off mics after your time is up. In 2020, Trump probably was perceived to have lost the debate where he continuously interrupted Biden. But this time, the microphones being shut off gave him a kind of discipline that he might not have brought on his own.

 

 

 If you missed it, Donald insisted that Tuesday's debate shuts off microphones -- mainly because he's unable to shut his mouth on his own.  Former WASHINGTON POST ombudsperson Margaret Sullivan wrote about the June debate at THE GUARDIAN:

 

Donald Trump had a thuggish look, but he seemed vigorous and energetic. He seemed … the same.

Then the barrage of lies started, as they always do with Trump.

Among them: Democrats favor post-birth executions. The former president never slept with a porn star. The 2020 election was riddled with fraud. Trump never called prisoners of war losers and suckers. Biden would quadruple people’s taxes.

On and on and on, in nearly every Trump sentence. Biden had occasional moments, too, of exaggeration or misstatement. But there is no comparison.

No comparison – and no fact-checking by the moderators.

That was the policy going in. CNN’s political director, David Chalian, made that clear a few days ago when he said that debate moderators shouldn’t make themselves into participants but remain mere facilitators. There would be no live factchecks during the debate.

 

 After the June debate, AP noted CBS news anchor Gayle King's observation that the lack o fact checking (or follow up questions) benefited Donald, "If you don't know the facts, you'd think he was making a lot of sense." Gale is correct.  At THE WISCONSIN EXAMINER, Ruth Conniff weighed in:

 

But the absolute worst performance of the night came from CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who gave Trump a complete pass on all those whoppers.

When Trump claimed that “every reasonable anchor” has debunked the story that there was a riot by violent white supremacists in Charlottesville, anchor Jake Tapper said only,  “Thank you, President Trump” and moved on.

The moderators gave the same response when Trump said that the federal government was behind his felony convictions in the New York hush money trial — a state-level prosecution in state court that had no connection to the Biden administration or federal prosecutors.

They gave the same response to Trump’s preposterous claim that “everybody wanted” Roe v. Wade overturned and that before it was overturned, Democrats were allowing “after-birth” abortions.

Trump also lied repeatedly about sanctioning the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, saying that he had nothing to do with it and that he tried to send in 10,000 National Guard troops to protect the Capitol. The violence committed by his supporters was all Nancy Pelosi’s fault, he said, because she didn’t accept his offer of help, and, he added, she has admitted as much in a documentary film. 

As Politifact’s fact-checkers explained, it’s a lie Trump has rehearsed many times: “This remains False. In a brief video, Pelosi said, ‘I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more,’ referring to U.S. Capitol security, not the National Guard. No member of Congress has the authority to activate the District of Columbia National Guard. Only the president, defense secretary and U.S. Army secretary do. Records show that Pelosi approved a Jan. 6, 2021, request to seek support from the National Guard and pushed to get National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol when their deployment was delayed by hours that day.”

Those examples barely scratch the surface of the nonstop 90 minutes of lies spewed by Trump — about the economy (which was far from “the greatest in history” in the Trump administration — wages and GDP went down), jobs numbers (which have improved dramatically under Biden), the spike in border crossings (which started on Trump’s watch, not Biden’s), crime (which has gone down, not up, under Biden) and the “pants on fire” claim that “millions of immigrants” have come to the U.S. illegally from “jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions.” Giving Trump a platform to spread hate and lies and providing no check whatsoever was a gross dereliction of journalistic duty by CNN.

 

We know the other argument, and we've made it ourselves, it's up to the candidates.  But it actually isn't.  When a known liar is given air time, it's incumbent upon the network to fact check. With Donald, we're talking about a man who spoke at the press (not to, not with) for an hour last month and, as Domenico Montanaro (NPR) noted, lied 162 times -- 162 lies in one hour.  The June debate had approximately 53 million viewers.  And there was no fact checking.  Now, in the past, you had serious airtime given in the days after a debate in which fact checks took place.  That did not happen with June's debate.  As we noted in "Media: It's Time For Joe To Go:"


Aided by a bored and lazy media, in the 24 hours after the debate ended, concerns over Joe's ability to handle a second term soared.  Efforts on his part to reassure voters the day after the debate with speeches -- including one at Stonewall -- failed to stop the media-created tsunami.

 

As the days piled on, so did the garbage.  Norman Solomon -- who used the public airwaves in 2008 to advocate for Barack Obama while pretending he was objective and that he wasn't, in fact, a pledged delegate for Barack -- showed up this go round pretending like he was sincerely concerned.  He wasn't.  He'd led an earlier effort to prevent Joe from running for a second term.  He's as a big a liar as Roseanne Barr -- a Trump supporter who Tweeted the night of the debate that she felt sorry for Joe, genuinely sorry, honest, no fingers-crossed, for reals.


People like that, more than actual Democrats, created a drip-drip that wouldn't cease and kept the topic the focus of the media -- a media that failed repeatedly to hold Donald Trump accountable for his non-stop lying in the debates or for The 2025 Project.  


It shouldn't take Taraji P. Henson, at last week's BET Awards, talking on stage about The 2025 Project for the media to finally pay attention to it. 


But that's what's happened.  And even so, Donald's gotten a two week pass where serious issues of substance were only fleeting media conversations.  The drip-drip was very good for Donald and very bad for Democrats. 

[. . .]


We say Joe won the debate -- in part due to Donald's lies.  And it goes to the media and the male dominance of the media -- especially our so-called 'independent' media on YOUTUBE -- that something as ridiculous as Donald Trump claiming women were aborting babies right after they gave birth to them  was not the biggest moment of the debate and a non-stop ridicule in the media as just how stupid Donald is.

But what women grasp, apparently men don't -- neither do male-identifying women who'll do anything to get by in the male-dominated media.


The liar should have been crucified for the insane lie that women were giving birth and then aborting the infant that had just been born.  But the media let it pass. They didn't do their job.  And we're not going to pretend that they did.  Day after day, for over a week, we heard about Joe Biden's energy levels but there was no similar coverage of the lies that flew out of The Convicted Felon's mouth.


Years ago,  we called out fat ass Candy Crowley in 2012 for injecting herself into the debate.  But we called her out because she got her facts wrong and because she cut off the candidate she was correcting (Mitt Romney) in mid-comment.   Last week, at POYNTER, Angie Drobnic Holan explained:


Moderators shouldn’t waste time on fact checks that aren’t important. An example of what not to do came when CNN’s Candy Crowley fact-checked Mitt Romeny in a 2012 debate with Barack Obama. The incident has been debated for years whether Crowley got it right or not. The problem here was that, while the fact check was about an important topic, the fact check itself drilled down on a process detail that wasn’t so important. Let’s review.

The topic again was Libya, and Romney’s attack line was this: “It took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.”

Crowley contradicted Romney, saying “(Obama) did in fact, sir. … (He did) call it an act of terrorism.” Obama seized the moment, saying, “Can you say that a little louder, Candy?” 

Crowley then hedged: “He did call it an act of terror. It did as well take — it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You (Romney) are correct about that.” The tape, for those who don’t remember, was an American-made video mocking Islam, and for a brief time it was thought to have provoked a spontaneous riot at the U.S. mission in Benghazi. As evidence developed, it was clear the attack was pre-planned.

This exchange got a huge amount of attention about whether Crowley was successful in her fact check or not, and unfortunately it all hinged on a parsing of what words Obama used at a Rose Garden press conference. (Read longer fact checks here and here.) Was Obama calling Benghazi an act of terror, or was he just speaking about violent acts in general and placing Benghazi in that context? This hardly seemed the most important part of the Benghazi attack. 

Lost in the fray about what Obama said when was the actual policy response to Libya, or ways America could have saved lives or protected its foreign policy interests better.


That's a solid point and she's correct.  It's not the minor details but the big picture.  And the big picture needs to be fact checked.  Approximately 53 million people watched a debate last June with no fact check and no push back and no follow up questions.  That's not journalism.   That's a live reed, not journalism.  53 million people were not served by the pretense that what CNN provided was journalism.  As POLIFACT's Samantha Putterman observed on PBS, "But as journalists, it's also their job to hold powerful people accountable and check them when they are being inaccurate with the American people, especially during a high-stakes presidential election. I don't think they could have fact-checked every false or misleading claim made last night, but they could have done their due diligence to correct for the record frequently false claims made on incredibly important topics like abortion, economy, and immigration. The American people deserve to know when a presidential candidate is spreading falsehoods, especially on issues they will be voting on."    Rachel Leingang, Chris Stein,Maanvi Singh and Carter Sherman (GUARDIAN) observed, "Moderators in the first presidential debate in 2024 took a completely hands-off approach to factchecking the candidates, letting lies and half-truths, most frequently from Donald Trump, remain unchallenged. The former president frequently ignored the questions posed by CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, instead talking about whatever he wanted."

 

And the few moments, in the days after the debate, in which a few networks offered 'fact checks' wasn't helpful either.  PBS' THE NEWSHOUR, for example, thought it was fair to note a Joe Biden distortion or lie and a Donald Trump distortion or lie.  This made it appear that both lied equally.  Even CNN did a better job than that online (if not on the air):

 

Trump made more than 30 false claims at the Thursday debate. They included numerous claims that CNN and others have already debunked during the current presidential campaign or prior.

Trump’s repeat falsehoods included his assertions that some Democratic-led states allow babies to be executed after birth, that every legal scholar and everybody in general wanted Roe v. Wade overturned, that there were no terror attacks during his presidency, that Iran didn’t fund terror groups during his presidency, that the US has provided more aid to Ukraine than Europe has, that Biden for years referred to Black people as “super predators,” that Biden is planning to quadruple people’s taxes, that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 National Guard troops for the US Capitol on January 6, 2021that Americans don’t pay the cost of his tariffs on China and other countries, that Europe accepts no American cars, that he is the president who got the Veterans Choice program through Congress, and that fraud marred the results of the 2020 election.

Trump also added some new false claims, such as his assertions that the US currently has its biggest budget deficit and its biggest trade deficit with China. Both records actually occurred under Trump.

Biden made at least nine false or misleading claims in the debate.


So what's the answer?  MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell has rightly noted that, the way TV works, a running fact check could be done onscreen during the actual debate.  We have no problem with that.  

 

In addition, however, we're aware that there will be two breaks in the debate.  Instead of wasting those on commercials, they should be used for fact checks.  Three or four journalists should immediately begin letting viewers know what just happened.  They should do that during both breaks and as well as right after the debate ends when a third fact check should take place -- no  lingering over the candidates on stage, go into the third fact check immediately.


Tomorrow night, ABC will most likely fail at any kind of accountability or fact check during the debate itself.  If that is what happens, we all need to grasp that journalism was not practiced.  Asking questions is not enough.  Your job also includes informing the audience when someone lies and holding them accountable.


 

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