Light/Breezes

Light/Breezes
SUNRISE AT DEATH VALLEY-Photo by Tom Cochrun

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

MATTERS OF CONTROL

     Lana's knee replacement surgery meant I spent a few days at the hospital, a rich tableau for an old reporter and watcher of people.
     One thing I am sure of is that nurses run things. Doctors matter of course and so do the administrators, but the nurses are the heart and soul and a good portion of the brains. It's similar to the army, where Sergeants run things. Nurses and sergeants know things based on practical experience on top of their considerable training. If you want to know something, ask a nurse. If nurses offer advice, take it.
     I'm biased because my youngest daughter Katherine is a nurse and so are several of our good friends.
     Maybe this nation would be a lot better off, if nurses were running the show.

there's a cure for that
        branding and castration in Templeton California

        I take it as my patriotic duty to rail about a couple of items and offer up a solution as pictured above.

         A military parade? Just one more warning sign on the growing checklist this guy is separated from reality,  normalcy, decency and intelligence and that he's acting so like a banana republic dictator he represents a danger to our democratic republic. He's got no politics or policy that we could fight about it, it's just his ego insanity, arrogance and lack of knowledge.
         Scores of experienced men and women warned us in the campaign, he's unfit, unqualified and lacks the intelligence to do the job. He won't even read the daily presidential briefs, he spends hours doing his "hair," comes to work late, leaves early and cannot be trusted.
         Yea, I know I'm sick and tired of it too. But we cannot for moment let this tyrant go unchecked or unchallenged so some times we have beat a dead horse. 
        There is the vexing matter of those who continue to support him, and the republicans who refuse to rebuff him. I submit they will be remembered by history as fools and a cancer on the great American experiment. 
         Wouldn't you love to see this bloated over the hill playboy and scammer meet justice-Batman or Avengers style? Or from a cowboy like those pictured above.

an example of the decline
          It was an item many would have missed. The Sinclair Broadcast group, the nation's largest owner of TV stations, is fighting for deregulation so they can amass more stations. That alone is a topic for discussion, but the point today is Sinclair asked executives, including news executives and local news directors to contribute to the legal fund.
         They are nuts! They are turning their back on 50 years of journalistic cannons. All major news organizations, ABC, NBC, CBS, FoxNews, and CNN forbid journalists from contributing to candidates, parties or political organizations. Frankly, as a journalist, you wouldn't want to. It helps eliminate conflict of interest or the perception of a bias.
        "I've never seen anything like this," says Professor Lewis Friedland of the University of Wisconsin and a former TV producer, "it's blatantly unethical."
        Sinclair's senior vice president of strategy and policy said there was nothing wrong with the request since it did not go to reporters, anchors or other newsroom employees. Rebecca Hanson said the news directors "were solicited as a result of being part of our managerial level, not because of their role in editorial." Ms Hanson, you cannot have it both ways.
        I was a news director at the flagship station of a TV chain and a member of the management, but also responsible for day to day news operations and content on three stations. Journalists and news people always put priority on content. Hanson's comment and lack of understanding of the ethical violation is so typical of profit driven corporate management where the only thing that matters is the bottom line. And it is not unlike the logic of those who can support donald trump. Oh, by the way, Sinclair mandated that local stations run pro trump commentaries, right wing harangues and pro trump news stories. Mandated that! They are further right than Fox News and they plan to challenge Fox by purchasing new stations, but first they must challenge the Federal Government. 
        I would not, nor could I have, worked for Sinclair. They are a bane on real journalism, but this is the age of trump, where someones opinion carries as much weight as facts, science and truth. It's an age where money and lies persuade.
       There are days when I wonder if traditional American values or principles of fairness, honesty, experience and the value of intelligence and history can survive an age of Facebook, social media, news by flavor, right wing news bias, low information citizens, big money and swindlers like trump and Putin. Maybe not, but not without a fight and a full defense of the constitution and bill of rights. 
        The staff person who was tasked with explaining to the president what the 10 amendments that are bill of rights were says he got to the fourth, trump rolled his eyes, used his finger to blubber his lips and that was it. It is a good bet donald trump has never read the constitution, doesn't know what the separation of powers or checks and balances are -but he's pretty sure his button is the largest.  
        

        See you down the trail.

        

5 comments:

  1. You are right about the nurses. I've been an admirer of nurses since I dated one in college. And I have a nephew who is a nurse, as is his wife.

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  2. As we discussed yesterday, trump couldn't keep up with FDR's wheelchair or push it, Churchill would have worked circles around him.

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  3. Well written, and well said. And yes, I've had twice a nurse save my career when they said "Are you sure you want to do that?".
    There is nothing left to be said about trump. He and his minions are masters of deflection, of changing the subject every other day. We cannot stay focused on one thing, it's always something else. Any one of the 'something else' would have been cause for the house or senate to start impeachment proceeding for Obama, but with trump it's a shrug of the shoulders. To their credit, some do look embarrassed when this is pointed out to them.

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  4. Despite "50 years of journalistic cannons" journalists DO contribute to political campaigns. Journalists contributed almost $400,000 to the hillary campaign and $14,000 to the Trump campaign. I'm sure you knew that. Maybe you just forgot to mention it. And, most journalists (about 95%) are liberals. No bias in the media? If you believe that, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn...

    What's wrong with showing our respect for the men and women who risk life and limb to protect us by throwing them a parade? Nothing like an Academy Award in their future. Those red-carpet 'parades' are for stars who have the ability to memorize lines and repeat them in front of a camera. Such brilliance! No cheerleaders in skimpy uniforms urging them to fight on. And no mention in some Hall of Fame. That honor is reserved for those with the ability to toss a ball, ram another player in a head-on collision and run like hell. Such courage! What do the Vets get? A long wait in VA Hospitals for their service. If they throw a parade to honor our real heroes, I wanna lead it!

    Last week we were "phonies and frauds." This week," fools and a cancer on the great American experiment." More name-calling. (sigh) What we don't get are the facts, discussion of serious issues or any semblance of objectivity.

    Maryann








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    1. Tom, sorry for the intrusion. Maryann, your last paragraph was a perfect description of the trump administrations outputs and tweets from number 45.
      Nothing wrong with showing respect, but ask them what they'd like to demonstrate that. It probably won't be a parade. And the purpose of the parade is to entertain and he feels 'honor', the current president.
      Tom, again, sorry for intruding, but sometimes things are just so off......

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