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.


 

Books (Jess, Ava and C.I.)

1summerread

 

As we did in 2021 and 2023, we're attempting to again increase book coverage in the community. This go round, we're talking to Jess about "THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION (Jess)" -- his review of the late William Friedkin's 2013 THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION: A MEMOIR.  So you did not care for the book?



Jess: I hated it.  What a liar William Friedkin was.  And what a little bitch as well.  He is such a little bitch to George Lucas, to Peter  Bogdanovich, to Cybill Shepherd, it just never ends.  His book reveals him to have been a miserable creep who never appreciated anything or anyone.  He tanked SORCERER by refusing Steve McQueen's request to create a role for Ali MacGraw (one of the biggest stars at the time) or to make her an associate professor.  They had just made THE GETAWAY (1972) and she'd left Robert Evans for Steve.  He did not want to go on location without her and, as he pointed out to Friedkin, she was a big star -- based on ticket sales to her films, she was declared the biggest box office female of 1972.  And, let's be honest, if Steve had been asking for a man to be given a role in the film, Friedkin would have done it, but Friedkin hated women.  
 

He tended to hate everyone.  You noted how he didn't want Gene Hackman in THE FRENCH CONNECTION and how, in his book, he wasn't impressed with Hackman's acting.


Jess: Right.  In the book, he insists Hackman was awful in the role and that he had to create the performance in editing.  He also attack Al Pacino.  And insists Pacino wasn't giving a performance.


This is in CRUISING.  And Friedkin nots how Al is furious when he sees the first screening of the film.
 

Jess: Yeah.  That's when Al learns that the character he's playing may be a killer.  Friedkin tries to justify it by saying that he didn't realize until after filming that the character could be the killer.  He wrote the script.  He directed the film.  But he didn't realize that until after the editing started?  He wasn't an artist, he wasn't anything but a bad film director.


You noted that he disowned the man his first documentary was about.


Jess: Right.  You know, he made a documentary about a man on death row.  All the appeals through the legal system were exhausted.  The only thing that could save him, after this, was the governor granting him a stay of execution.  That did happen.  And Freidkin was considered a hero.  When he passed in 2023, you saw that from some of the stupid YOUTUBERS who insisted he was so great.  What they didn't know was ten years before he died, he published the book and he said the guy was guilty and did commit the murder and he also wrote that he, Friedkin, no longer opposed the death penalty.  There were five YOUTUBERS on the left that I saw praise him and talk about how great he was and specifically cite the documentary I'm talking about.  They look like idiots and looked like idiots in real time.


And how do you evaluate Friedkin himself?


Jess:  Highly overrated as a director.  The only two films he made that stand up are THE BOYS IN THE BAND, based on a play that really didn't get changed when made into a film, and THE EXORCIST based on William Peter Blatty's book with William Peter Blatty also writing the screenplay.  He left no real mark but with those two properties, so strong in the writing, he did okay.  Otherwise, his filmography is forgettable garbage -- over and over.

 

 -------------------

 

Previous book discussions: 

 

"Books (Dona, Ava and C.I.)"

 

"Book Talk (Ty, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Stan, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Trina, Ava and C.I.)"

"Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)"

"Books (Ruth, Jim, Ava and C.I.)"

"Books (Ty, Ava and C.I.)

 "Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)"

"Books (Ann, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Stan, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Dona, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Ty, Ava and C.I.)

 "Book Talk (Mike, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Stan, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Mike, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Ann, Marcia, Trina, Ava and C.I.)"

"Book Talk (Elaine, Ava and C.I.)

"Books (Marcia, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"

 "Book Talk (Kat, Ava and C.I.)"

 

 

 

 

 

THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION (Jess)

When I was a college student, the washed up William Friedkin came to speak on campus and couldn't draw a crowd.  I was moving from journalism to pre-law and had nothing to do with film classes or drama or anything like that.  But I had two professors selling the speaking gig hard because no one wanted to go.  They kept emphasizing THE EXORCIST, one of the few hit films that Friedkin directed.

 

Against my better judgment, I went.

 

And listened to his boring talk while trying to figure out if he was a closeted gay men or just a sexist elderly man.


At the end of his too-long talk, I still didn't know.  Reading his awful book from 2013 (he died in 2023), I'd guess he was a woman hating closeted gay man. Also very untalented.


The book is THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION: A MEMOIR.


It's as plodding as the title indicates.


On the KINDLE edition, it's page 291 where he's talking about his first job in 'the business' in 1953 -- hired to work at a TV station.  He tells you there were only three television networks back then:

There was little programming and only three networks.  THE MILTON BERLE HOUR was on NBC, Jackie Gleason on the old DUMONT NETWORK.  


And that's it.  Even the slowest reader should be able to count and point out that's just two network.  The network he overlooks was the biggest: CBS.

And as a closet homosexual, I guess it made since for him to overlook CBS and the most popular program on CBS -- the most popular program period and the only one really remembered and watched from the fifties to this day: I LOVE LUCY.  Lucille Ball starred in the role and, as the Glenn Greenwald of his generation, it was important for Friedkin to ignore and hate women.


I like Sonny & Cher.  They made some good recordings and LOOK AT US is one we often listen to.  But, no, I don't mistake Sonny Bono for a musical genius.  That means I'm way smarter than Friedkin ever was.  Sonny & Cher are a part of music history, they are pioneers of the folk rock era.  But, like most people, I'm aware that the cat was at least 70% Cher.  At least 70%.  Sonny couldn't sing -- and would have no more hits after he and Cher split in the mid-seventies.  As a producer, he copied his mentor and former boss Phil Spector way too much.  As a songwriter?   Sonny tended to rip off other songs throughout the sixties. "Baby Don't Go"? A rip-off of "We'll Sing In The Sunshine."  "Just You?"  A rip-off of "Baby I Love You."  I could go on and on with this and I wasn't even alive during the sixties.  Friedkin was, was an adult, but didn't know from music -- popular or otherwise.  


So he babbles on about making GOOD TIMES with Sonny.  "And Cher!"  Yes, Cher co-stars in the film.  But he really doesn't mention her or note her.  

You're writing a book in 2013 and you spend pages and pages on GOOD TIMES (a goofy movie that I enjoy but it was not a hit) and it's Sonny Bono, Sonny Bono, Sonny Bono, Sonny Bono . . .


Sonny's entertainment career ended when heLOOK AT US.and Cher divorced.  Without Cher -- as his really bad ABC variety show demonstrated in its very brief run -- he had nothing.


Cher?  She's gone on to win an Academy Award for best actress.  Has proven to be more popular as a solo artist than she ever was as part of a duo.  And Friedkin has nothing to say.  He directed an Oscar winning actress in her first acting role (Sonny and Cher performed as themselves in concert in WILD IN THE STREETS, but GOOD TIMES was her first acting role) and he has nothing to share about . . . Cher?


Sexist pig.

While praising Sonny ("and Cher") he claims that they sold "over 80 million records worldwide."  Even Wikipedia only claims 40 million for the duo.  WIKIPEDIA also notes,  "Cher has sold over 100 million records worldwide (as a solo artist)[1][2] and a further 40 million as part of Sonny & Cher, making her one of the best-selling female recording artists in history.[3][4]"

 

But, hey, reality doesn't justify his sexism so he ignores it.

 In 2017, Ava and C.I. called him out for lying on TCM that when CITIZEN KANE came out, he saw it eight times in one day.  The math and his age made that claim laughable.  In the book, he lies that he saw it in 1961 at a retro house and saw it from noon to just after ten -- five times.  Ava and C.I. already did the math.  It's basically a two hour movie.  You have to allow time for the coming attractions, you have to allow time for the theater to be swept between showings.  There is no way that it aired five times from noon until just after ten.  Why he needed to lie is anyone's guess.  He makes his name with a documentary about a man on death row about to be executed and claims that his documentary led the governor to grant a stay of execution.  I'd give him credit for that documentary and that accomplishment -- and too many have given him credit for both over the years -- however, not only was it a poorly directed and assembled film (as even he admits in the book) but he tells us that he believes the man was guilty of murder.

 

I guess a few of our YOUTUBERS on the left and 'left' should have read his book before praising him endlessly last year for that documentary?

He writes about 'directing' THE BOYS IN THE BAND --and I word it that way because he doesn't write about directing it.  He writes about the time before -- lighting arguments during while looking for location shoots -- this is before shooting began.  He does not write about filming on location or in the studio.  He loses interest in the film rather quickly despite it being one of only two films he directed that are still shown repeatedly.   

THE FRENCH CONNECTION was a hit and even spawned a sequel.  It's also a film that has aged poorly.  Gene Hackman won an Academy Award for the film and his performance is still strong but the script is weak and the 'big' moment is a car chase that was probably state of the art in the early 1970s but is so unimpressive today when stunts and chases are done so much better on not just film, but also on network cop shows.  Still he spends 21 pages on the shooting of the film.  About that mean in the lead up to the film where he's pitching and casting it (he did not want Gene in the film at all -- he did want Peter Boyle and gets off a few bitchy lines at Boyle for turning him down).  And then we get about ten more pages of the editing of the film.  It's a disappointment today and would be completely forgotten were it not for Gene Hackman's performance.  (Friedkin didn't want him and only cast him when he was told no Hackman, no film.  He also claims he created Hackman's performance in the editing stage of the film and that Hackman's actual performance was unimpressive.)

 

Then comes THE EXORCIST.  Again, it's one of the two films that he directed which have stood the test of time.  With THE BOYS IN THE BAND, Friedkin just filmed the play with a few 'open up the play' scenes on location.  It's not a director's film.  It had the play and the play's cast.  Anyone directing that film could have done it as well as Friedkin and most could have done it better.  Like THE BOYS IN THE BAND, THE EXORCIST worked because of the script.  William Peter Blatty wrote the 1971 best selling book and then he wrote the script for the 1973 film.  The US section of the film works better -- and is in sharper focus -- than the overseas section.  Friedkin really flopped there.  But the story was so strong -- a mother learns her daughter has been possessed by the devil -- with so many shockers (most of which were in the book) -- that it became a huge hit thanks to strong performances from Ellen Burstyn and a surprisingly touching Linda Blair.  Surprisingly touching?  You have to go back and view the film again to grasp how much Blair gave to that role. In your memory, you recall her head spinning around and her peeing on the carpet and telling the astronaut that he was going to die up there.  But it's the quieter moments she provides that makes those shocking moments so memorable. 

It's really the only film that Friekin made that had female characters who actually mattered -- along with Blair and the always incredible Burstyn, there's also Kitty Winn. He reduces Burstyn to a sentence or two here and there in the over 82 pages on the film.  Example, the film's had its first showing and he mentions Burstyn in a single sentence along with others at the premiere when Mercedes McCambridge attacked him verbally for not giving her screen credit for doing the demon's voice.  Other than her calling to ask to meet him about being cast in the film, that's basically it for Ellen who got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.  Linda Blair gets a little more attention in the chapters as he describes the make up devised for her.

 

Again, 82 pages.  


And not one word about Burstyn's acting.  But he finds time to praise multiple male actors for their performances in the film.  (He also offers pages of what I hope are lies about the Yazidis in Iraq.)

 

He had two hits in a row. 


And that was it.


He then directed one flop after another.   Fourteen flop films in a row.  He married a studio executive which allowed him to continue to direct despite one flop after another.  Without that wife, he wouldn't have directed the hideous JADE.  Fourteen flops, thirteen instantly forgettable films.


1980's CRUISING flopped.  It is remembered today for all the protests and complaints about the homophobia on display as Al Pacino played an undercover cop into the rough trade-fisting scene as he looked for a killer.  He charts his interest into a project like CRUISING to 1979, "It was 1979, and there wasn't yet a name for AIDS, but gay men were dying mysteriously in increasingly large numbers."  


When Friedkin typed or spoke, I assume everyone knew he was a liar.  For the record, AIDS emerges in the US with the first reported case in the year 1981.  

In the book, he trashes Pacino as unprepared whereas, for decades, Al Pacino has publicly spoken of how Friedkin didn't know what he was doing or what the story was supposed to tell and would never answer him on set -- even about the ending.  Friedkin wrote the script but couldn't figure out if Al's character was a victim or the actual killer so between that and Friedkin's well known tendency to lie, I think most of us will line up with Al.

Reading the book was, like Friedkin's film career, a waste of time.

 

2024 passings

ceme

 

1) "bad news (settlers shot a child in the back and adan canto has died)" -- Rebecca covers the passing of THE CLEANING LADY and DESIGNATED SURVIVOR star.

 

 2 and 3) "David Soul and Glynis Johns have passed" -- two passings -- one you knew from STARSKY & HUTCH, the other you knew from MARY POPPINS.


4) "Mary Weiss, The Leader of the Genre?" -- Elaine notes the passing of the leader of The Shangri-Las. 


5) "The death of Norman Jewison and the death of Taraji P. Henson's career" -- Stan notes the passing of film director Norman Jewison.

 

 6) "Melanie: Queen of the Music festivals ," "Thank you to Melanie (Jess)," "Jon Stewart to return to the desk," "Melanie, REACHER, young voters," "When are they going to arrest Kari Lake?," "We lose Melanie and Dexter King but are still stuck with Jonathan Turley?," "my top five melanie albums," "Ugly Chaya Chachi Ratchik," "Where's Florida's "Don't Say Southern Baptist" law?," and "Melanie, Mary Weiss, Green Day" -- remembering singer-songwriter Melanie.


7) "Norman Jewison and Melanie" -- Ruth notes Melanie and director Norman Jewison's passing. 


8) "Chita Rivera" -- a trailblazer's life is noted by Elaine.  


9) "Carl Weathers" -- Stan covers the actor and the athlete's passing.

 

10) "Richard Lewis" --  Ruth notes the passing of a stand up comic and actor.

 

11)  "Eric Carmen" -- Kat notes the passing of a singer-songwriter.

 

12)  "Louis Gossett Jr." -- Stan notes a passing of a breakthrough and Academy Award winning actor.

 

13) "I do Barbara Rush" -- Betty notes a passing of a golden age actress.

 

14) "Joe Flaherty" -- Stan notes a passing of a comic actor. 


15) "Robert MacNeil" -- Ruth notes a passing of a news anchor.

 

 16)  "meg bennett" -- Rebecca notes that passing of an actress and writer.

 

17) "David Sanborn" -- Kat notes the passing of a saxophone legend.

 

18) "Dabney Coleman" -- Stan notes a character actor who became a star.

 

19) "Charlie Colin" -- Kat notes the passing of an alternative rocker.

 

20)  "morgan spurlock, demi moore" -- Rebecca notes the passing of a filmmaker.

 

 21) "Rev. James Lawson" -- Ann notes the passing of a pioneer.

 

22) "Donald Sutherland" -- Stan notes the passing of a true original. 


23) "The media is full of liars" -- Ann notes the passing of Martin Mull and how the media had to fudge the truth.


24) "Robert Towne" -- Stan notes a passing.

 

25) "Media: Reality versus the lies the media loves to spread" -- Ava and C.I. note Dr Ruth's passing -- and the reality of her so-called 'ally' status.

 

26)   "shannen doherty" -- Rebecca notes the passing of the TV actress.

 

27) "Bob Newhart" -- Marcia notes the passing of the TV sitcom star.

 

28) "Richard Simmons" -- Ruth notes the passing of the fitness guru.

 

29)  "Obituaries -- thoughts on Sheila Jackson Lee and others" -- Elaine notes the passing of Sheila Jackson Lee -- exposed as a crook in Greg Palast's THE BEST DEMOCRACY MONEY CAN BUY -- and why we cover the deaths we cover.

 

30) ''Gena Rowlands" -- Stan notes the passing of a legendary actress.

 

31)  "Taco Spaghetti in the Kitchen" -- Trina notes the passing of game show host Peter Marshall. 

 

32) "Donahue" -- Kat notes a passing of a daytime TV pioneer.

 

33) "James Darren" -- Kat notes the passing of an actor and singer. 


34) "Weekend Box Office and James Earl Jones has passed" -- Stan notes James Earl Jones' passing.