Brain Hacking / the New Dark Age

             The off-year election results make it clear what matters to inspired voters is not the same stuff the media obsesses about. Reproductive rights issues have now influenced another election though the topic is generally shoved out of news agendas by the obsession with candidate polls, a kind of idiot trail to irrelevance.

         James Fallows, an emeritus wisdom, American journalist, academic, and speech writer said last week it seems the media is more interested in predicting next year’s election than paying attention to the news. Amen!

         I’ve written here of my distress that editors and producers are being reckless in their obsession with dubious polls and the attendant horse race of presidential politics. I blame a generational irrationality. News content managers have come up in an age of click bait, social media streams and distraction. 

        There was a time when political journalism sought to examine record, policy ideas, penetrate campaign organizations and test suitability for office. It appears they now wait for the latest poll and then explain seven ways to Sunday who will win 12 months from now. There is no shortage of "experts" from the political industrial complex to help with the spin.

         Tuesday’s election results benefited those who understand most US voters are still livid about the Supreme Court’s extremist decisions, restrictive state legislatures and the rightwing loud mouth lunacy on school boards. Mom’s for Liberty got pummeled by moms with common sense and civility. 

        People are smarter than social media streams and media simplemindedness that is attracted to the loudest shouting match.

        Most of the preliminary coverage missed what was coming, because the media was too busy trying to predict winners, as Fallows observed on Washington Week

        He knows a thing or two having been a national correspondent for the Atlantic, written for the New York Times, New Yorker, was an editor of US News and World Report, authored several books including a National Book Award winner, has been an academic and a presidential speechwriter. 

         Good journalism, the kind that Fallows generation produced still exists, but you have to get past gaffes, a lack of proportionality, and the current propensity for gotcha. 

        The news media, like politics is more performative today. Less journalism occurs at a time when Americans are less well read and educated, know very little if any history, and they were not taught and so do not understand civics. 

        Many, many Americans have plenty of emotion, and a more than an ample supply of demagogues and simpletons both in politics and media. It is also an age of news and information deserts which only permits a further dumbing down. People let social media algorithms, disinformation and radicalization efforts create their reality and manipulate their behavior. It is an age of brainwashing and group think.

        Coverage of the Hamas barbarism and Israel's response and self defense is demonstrative of how far we have descended, how little critical reason is applied and how intellectually bankrupt we have become.

        Here is one tier of a deep and complicated conflict that samples public and media response:

            

        Criticizing Hamas is not anti Palestinian. 

        Criticizing Netanyahu and his war policy is not anti semitic and not even anti-Israeli. 

        Praising Hamas is anti semitic and is not automatically pro Palestinian.

        Being pro Palestinian is not automatically pro Hamas.

        Being broken hearted by the scenes of death and destruction is not a political position.

        Maybe that is self evident to you and maybe not. But such relatively simple analysis seems lost in most media coverage and certainly on campuses, in cities and social media.Those simple declarative statements above have become fighting words. We are divided, tribal, rancorous, ready to rage and not at all ready to reason.  And that's only the top of it.

        There is complexity, nuance, and detail in ancient adversarial relationships. The involvement of terrorism makes it even more complicated. 

        Yet American screens are filled with hatred and irrationality and very few seem to be interested in anything but expressing angry views, even if they are illegitimate. When they are thrown into the media mix reason has no chance. No one listens.

        War is an ultimate human failing. Warfare is anti human, anti life and irrational.

        I heard an interview today where a Palestinian woman described the ordeal of evacuating a hospital under orders. At no time did the interviewer ask her about the Hamas military operation that was being conducted out of the hospital, nor were there questions about the tunnels below the hospital. A listener who has not read further, heard other sources, or knew of the Hamas tactic of hiding behind civilians would have a takeaway impression that was born out of incomplete knowledge or ignorance, by another name. The interviewer, the media source was at fault for not applying scrutiny, the challenge of a neutral examination, an attempt at objective understanding. Confirm, verify, question.

        I've been to Gaza, the West Bank, into what was Palestinian "territory" and understand the historic anger and the depressed conditions.

        I sat in Jericho with former combatants, Arabs and Jews.

        I've been to a Kibbutz and spent time with man named Uzi, whose parents were original settlers of Israel. He remembers being a boy and having to lay flat on the floor as his home was shelled by enemies in the evening. 

        I met with diplomats from the Palestinian Authority and their counterparts from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. These men had spent years working on sharing roads, moving produce from one zone to another, easing border crossings, protecting water supplies, trying to manage the daily tasks of commerce and agriculture. They thought that by making business together they would not make war.

        I spent days with a Nobel Peace nominee, a Palestinian Christian who was an Israeli citizen. He build schools and a peace institute where Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Jew, Druze and Christian children lived and studied together.

        

        Leaders with agendas can wreck and stifle constructive progress. Zealots are dangerous leaders no matter how they pray.

        All of this is to say, what we seen on our screens is horrible, human failure, violence that is evil. War is hell. It has human allies. 

       What we see on screens from America is so often imprecise, without context, so brutally mis-understood and unquestioned. And too we see the way people far away from the hellish reality of Gaza and Israel shout slogans, carry banners, injure and harm other humans, invoke deep hatred and because of what?

        Ignorance, lack of knowledge, stupidity led actions are on a holiday feast in America. Intolerance, hatred, narrow-mindedness, zealotry are on the rampage. They are fed by politicians, media failures, and by people who do not think or do not reason. 

        There is a reason they are called ancient hatreds, but there was a time when journalists and analysts tried to lance the ignorance, or at least lend understanding. Now media exacerbates at worse, or wastes opportunity to bring light.

        I've used the example of the Gaza incursion response to terrorism. But modern political media shows itself to be frequently incompetent on a far less grievous though important matter, American presidential politics, where in their mind the campaign is never over.

        Rather than obsession with irrelevant political polls, that change weekly, and inside the beltway gossip, more time could be devoted to examination of policy options, deep dives into the complexity of the conflicts, the culture war, the threat of a government that cannot compromise, what to do about two set's of "truth", why has a political industrial complex turned our electoral system into a business? 

        Too often media, and it is particularly so these days and with a younger media cadre, is complicit because they are being "played" by a political industry that has learned how to manipulate and spin. Sometimes the old dogs in a news organization had the best sense of things. They'd been around.

        After nearly a half century of chasing deadlines and news I think a dose of old fashioned ethic, skepticism and standards are much needed. Cheers to the old boys and old girls who straddled the world's news from the end of a world war, through a cold war, got beaten and hosed and had dogs turned on them as they covered the struggle for civil rights, who's coverage of Asian wars shook the moorings and exposed the deceit, who investigated a corrupt presidency, challenged government foibles, tested candidates, exposed scandal, and took seriously the idea of being a watchdog of the public's right to know. 

        Edward R. Murrow, father of modern broadcast journalism said something about television that can be applied to all screens, phones and pads included and to the content we consume.

            

            "This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference."

        See you down the trail.  

        

The First Casualties

 

Truth is the first casualty of war.

            The origin quote, "The first casualty when war comes is truth," was uttered by the second most senior member of the US Senate in history, Senator Hiram Johnson of California in 1917.

        Time has proven Senator Johnson correct. One is led to believe it has been ever such.

        We live in a time of hybrid war, a mostly psychological conflict. Culture and media are weaponized. Public policy and politics are combat. All of us live under assault.

        Truth and a common "reality" suffer attack around the globe and, dangerously, in the US. 

The First Offensive

        To the best of my knowledge, neither Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy nor any leading Republican has been asked about the truth of this prophetic news article published by the New York Times on August 8, 2016.

        By David E. Sanger and Maggie Haberman

            Aug. 8, 2016

Fifty of the nation’s most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter declaring that Donald J. Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be president and “would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being.”

Mr. Trump, the officials warn, “would be the most reckless president in American history.”

The letter says Mr. Trump would weaken the United States’ moral authority and questions his knowledge of and belief in the Constitution. It says he has “demonstrated repeatedly that he has little understanding” of the nation’s “vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges, its indispensable alliances and the democratic values” on which American policy should be based. And it laments that “Mr. Trump has shown no interest in educating himself.”

        No thinking person will deny that truth. 

      Noted here previously, the names read like an honor roll of veteran policy experts; cabinet members, State Department, Defense, Intelligence, National Security, Justice Department and most of them conservatives.

    The US moral authority has been weakened and we have been put at risk. Isn't it in the public interest to put the issue to the leaders who cower to or abet the twice impeached ex president?  

Hard Truths

    This criticism today is geared not at the propagandizing tools of the right, but a check on how that perversity has spread to unlikely other sources. 

    It is true the false narrative of the Roger Ailes created faux news attack on American values continues to make the Murdoch clan richer by manipulating information for the suckers of Fox News. They have done terrible deeds as enemies of the American Republic. 

    The legacy damage to America's belief in itself has been fanned by Fox and Trump. But like a virus, it has spread. These are merely random examples of a larger bombardment on truth.

    Consider this headline from the New York Times

OPINION

 

DAVID BROOKS

Did the F.B.I. Just Re-elect Donald Trump?

Aug. 11, 2022

 

        Later David Brooks said on reflection and after learning more, he understood how grievously serious was the matter of Trump having the most sensitive of secret documents, and about nuclear weapons, in his possession. He acknowledged the process of getting them back was proper and justified. But even the Times, no editorial and opinion page friend of Trump, took their own shot at the credibility of the nation's law enforcement agency with a reckless headline.

        Marvin Kalb, a respected former CBS News Correspondent, now a senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the founding director of the Shorenstein Center on Media at Harvard University posted something recently that will sound familiar to those of you who have been readers of this blog.

"The American press corps struggles every day to prove to readers and viewers that it is “fair and balanced,” the slogan cleverly adopted by Fox News. If it strongly criticized Donald Trump during his presidency (and since), then it follows that it must also strongly criticize Joe Biden, which is exactly what it’s done.

Fair, isn’t it? Balanced, too, right?

Wrong.

Not only does criticism not come in equal shapes and sizes, appropriate for all presidents and both political parties (a journalistic curse called “bothsideism”), but, when unfairly applied, as it has been in covering Biden, it runs the serious risk of further damaging our still free press and weakening our already shaky democracy.

The press image of Biden, president of the United States of America, has been whittled down to that of a doddering old man, wobbly on his feet and barely able to articulate a single thought without slurring.

Is that a fair and balanced image of Biden? Hardly. But can the press do better?"

        Certainly the press can do better. "Bothsideism" or false equivalency are wounds,  serious casualties, and they are self inflicted. 

       Recently Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of the PBS News Hour asked a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor; "how do you know that they followed procedures?" and, after reprising Republican accusations about the search and the FBI, "how do we know who is telling the truth?" (Positing an arbitrary either or between Republican bombast or Attorney General Garland)

        The analyst, in so many words, said "common sense, look at what happened?" He could have said, look at the document or read how these federal warrants are issued. He might also have said "consider the source of the criticism." I would add the question was contrived to get an accusation and entirely missed the point of the larger story line.

        The back and forth related to what was evident in the legal documents, evident that Trump and his people had ignored earlier requests and subpoenas, evident by the procedure that was legal and methodical and was not a "raid" as stated by many in the media. 

         Woodruff was caught up in a game of "gotcha" or the hard question or the snark that is the common currency of media posturing. Questions are asked for the sparks or friction and not for the light that might be shed. It was as though she was saying, "Choose between the Republican shrieks or the Attorney General." Like lesser talents than herself, she was trying to be "tough" or maybe trying to placate Trump fans. 

        He and his administration have not earned respect. Their record should in turn earn them extra scrutiny and skepticism. To elevate what they or their apologists say to a level of equivalency is wrong and evidence of poor journalistic process and judgement. 

        

        Woodruff is a respected legend in broadcast journalism. We first noticed her when she was a field correspondent for NBC working out of the Atlanta bureau in the '70's. She has had a storied career and enjoys a distinguished reputation so it is disturbing to see someone of that caliber fall victim to what Kalb and others, who have also worked in the hot spots and under deadline, are talking about. The media today is playing for appearances, image, and pretense. It is bad journalism and it is disingenuous.

        On a program she interviewed Republican Senator Tim Scott who has written a book. Not every member of the House,  Senate or Cabinet gets interviewed by the News Hour when they write a book. Scott is an African American Republican and in this age of bothsidism either Woodruff or a senior producer decided it would be good to have him on. Was there news in the interview? No and she let him blather prattling political spew without much of a challenge to the obvious politicking BS. He is up for re-election. Will his challenger get similar national airtime? If there was a need to interview Scott about his book, a better format would have been to record the interview and edit it before airing it. Truth and balance took a hit in the way it was done.

    I'm focused on PBS because they provide a broader perspective, more in depth focus, thoughtful investigations, intelligent balanced analysis and they devote more content time. They don't have to sell dog food or pharmaceuticals and etc.

    PBS is down the middle and objective, not caught up in political leanings, or show business punditry. Their business is news, done soberly. The correspondents are knowledgeable and experts on their beat. PBS is absent the hype and artificial production elements common to the commercial networks and cable operations.

     American network and cable news need to be profit centers, slavish then to whatever gets and keeps ratings. PBS on the other hand is content driven, intellectual and does not pander to partisans or those who seek "silo" news that affirms their beliefs. 

    It is for all of these reasons that I wish Woodruff and her senior producing team would seriously consider the wisdom of Kalb. 

        I was a managing editor of nightly newscasts, a news anchor, and a television news director. My advice is to follow the flow of the story, try to advance the viewer's understanding and expand the story line, anticipate consequence, stick to the facts as you have them, provide context and explain it all. What does it mean? Avoid the mindless group think that being an adversary means being nasty, or trying to catch up someone or prompt them to say something bombastic. Think about depth and spend less effort on toxic social media. Do not rely on the Washington bred idea of "bothsideism." Those are unhelpful and distracting. 

        As an example, using something that a Jim Jordan, a Ron Johnson, even Mitch McConnell or Kevin McCarthy says as the basis of a "challenging question" is simply falling into their trap and getting "used" by them. You can note what they said, but to raise it to a level that exceeds veracity is doing harm and is poor editorial judgement. Avoid being played.

        We have learned this Republican party is interested in maintaining power without an agenda or a platform of principles. Republicans have been caught in lies, suborned insurrection, and have been cowards to or complicit with Trump. Their strategy is to cast doubt on the electoral process, the Justice Department and in the value of our institutions. It is part of the war on Democracy.

         To my staffs I stressed that perspective and proportionality are important judgement tools in journalism. Perspective and proportionality disappear when formula and style overtake the character and nature of a news event or story. Everything has a context, it has a past and will carry an impact on future occurrences and how journalism is done influences that process. Arbitrary attempts at "confrontation" for its own sake are a disservice to the audience and can damage the nation and its understanding of itself. 

       If I was a news manager today, anyone who is still an election denier would be covered only in that context. This is a war.

        Those who advocate or believe the lie are a like cancer in the body politic. Journalists should keep them in focus but extend them no credibility. To give them equal time or even to consider them "the other side" is harmful. To do so would aid and abet the enemies of this nation and puts at risk our security and well being. 

    

        The uncivil war has already eroded our confidence in the electoral process. That is now a Republican strategy. News leaders need to own up to their responsibilities in this precarious time.

        In parting, we must toss a zinger at one of the nation's leading iconoclasts and commentators. Comic Bill Maher can be a jerk, but he has an amazing depth of understanding. Some of his "New Rules" analysis are brilliant. We urge Mr Maher to choose words carefully.

       He called the execution of the search warrant a "raid."

Quibble if you wish, but it was not a raid. A raid is something else. Is this a big deal? When we live in a nation where a lot of poor souls believe Donald Trump, calling it a raid is yet one more chip off the credibility of a justice system, FBI and the process of law that is under attack by the team that began dividing America, in 2016. Do not play into their strategy.

        It is not inappropriate to examine DOJ, or the FBI or any other agency of state, local and federal government. The media, the Fourth Estate, has a role to play as a watchdog. But it is a damned hard job to do, and one of the labors is operate as independently and objectively as possible. 

        We in the media need to work assiduously to avoid being spun, used, manipulated, or of adopting a heard mentality. We should seek to find truth, verify facts and refuse to be conformed to purposes of commercial or political objective.

        There is a fine line between cynicism and skepticism. I think that is the region in which good journalism functions. I have tried to hew toward the skepticism side because a good reporter also must work to keep an open mind, be willing and able to learn while maintaining an independence. 

        This is one of those times in our national history when journalism is needed and cannot be compromised by vested interests, even self interests.

        Stay alert. See you down the trail. 

    

      

Safeguarding Freedom of Expression

         When awarding Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee said their journalism, safe guarding the freedom of expression, is a precondition to democracy and lasting peace.

      From the Nobel Committee announcement:

      Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is convinced that freedom of expression and freedom of information help to ensure an informed public. These rights are crucial prerequisites for democracy and protect against war and conflict. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov is intended to underscore the importance of protecting and defending these fundamental rights.

Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better world order to succeed in our time. This year’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize is therefore firmly anchored in the provisions of Alfred Nobel’s will.

            Ressa and Muratov have been abused and attacked by authorities. Colleagues have been killed. They are not alone.

       Journalists across the planet have suffered for their pursuit of facts. It is good these two, who faced down authoritarian dictators and government henchmen, are cited. Ressa and Muratov have been especially courageous. Thousands of others can a share a sense of pride as they too work against lies, authoritarianism, and abuse of human liberty and dignity. 

        A former news director I worked with took a mid career sabbatical to begin a process of visiting the old Soviet Union states to teach news gathering, editing, reporting and broadcasting. He helped to plant the seeds that now challenge Putin and the oligarchs. 

        I worked with and counseled visiting foreign journalists on investigative reporting and documentary work. I made it a point to work with those from authoritarian nations. 

        Bob Campbell and I were just a couple of the legion of American journalists who evangelized the robustness of strong reporting. It is odd and pathetic that practices of dictators and strongmen are now used by American politicians. These include attacks on the Constitution and its foundational principles. 

        The canons and codes of conduct of journalism's guiding institutions have been perverted by "news" services that in truth are propaganda mills and disinformation.

          I've been recalling an assignment to Brazil, after the first elected civilian government in 21 years. We were there after the military government relinquished power. Boarded up newspapers and radio stations were being re-opened and reborn. In the cafes and bars there was talk of democracy and the free press. America was a role model. That was before news by flavor, and all that followed the Rupert Murdoch virus.

telling stories 

        Working in the "news biz" is a ticket to a lifetime of stories, adventures and memorable people.

           It was well after 4:00 and Bob Hoover and I had the double package lead story on the news at 5:00. We had just returned to our cubicle in the police wing following an elevator ride from the Chief's office.

            Trying to block out the noise from the police scanner so I could hear the sound bites and then feed them back to the studio, I heard an unusual clacking competing with Bob's old school typing.

            I looked at him and saw that he'd pushed his dentures forward, out of his mouth and he was chipping them open and closed as he thought of his copy while typing. He was keeping a kind of rhythm. Bob had been a drummer. He was not amused at my chuckle and he kept pounding away. 

            I was punching in and out my Sony cassette recorder listening for the in and out edit points of the news actualities we had just gathered. Bob was at my elbow at our steel case desk, both of us jammed to the walls of our little cube. The emergency and police frequency speaker box was squawking above us as Bob jabbed his index fingers onto the keyboard of his 1920's era portable black Corona typewriter. Bob had been a reporter since the 20's and that old Corona, with it's uneven key strokes, had covered a lot of news. Now some 50 years later he and I were on deadline to report what was the biggest drug bust in Indianapolis history. Lots of money, drugs and weapons had been put on display as the IPD touted the victory. Bob and I were racing to pull it all together for the 5:00 news.

             Bob was a decade past normal retirement, but he could't give it up, the rush, the adrenaline rush that courses through the body as you write and edit on deadline. 

            He was always dressed to the nines and rarely took off his suit coat or sport jacket. After we had reported live and were off the air, Bob put his jacket on the back of his chair, loosened his tie, unlocked the top desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of Kentucky bourbon, which he poured in our coffee mugs. Racing the clock, telling the story, getting it right produces a particular kind of thirst. 

              So does investigative reporting, covering war, murder, child abuse, public fraud, social justice actions, government, disaster, disease, politics, banking, immigration, addiction, zoning boards and the countless other places where you'll find journalists, laboring to keep you informed. 

                            So before the moon is full, raise a toast to all of the real reporters, those whose only bias is for information, facts and who go to war and all of those other places armed only with curiosity, pens, pencils, cameras, notebooks and recorders. 

                        See you down the trail.                       

ON THE BRINK..............IF

        Approaching two years of pandemic living, humankind is the poorer for it. 

    "When your negativity bucket is full, it's full!" said the Rat as he threw neighbor Bob off the cliff in the cartoon strip Pearls Before Swine.

     We are devolving.

    Extraordinary souls have devoted themselves to others, to healing and to the common good, but almost everybody else is  worried or angry or both. 

     We've begun to understand we are a planet of grief, grievances and that pieces do not fit as they did. Life as we knew it is also a victim. 

        Those things, organizations, structure, mores, routines and all that held us together as a last tendril of civility are gone or are changed, drastically. We find ourselves on the brink emotionally, politically, and as a planet.

        Petulance has become our happy face.

       Our manner of living pays it no honor, nor even nods acknowledgement, but this growling spectacle of how we live with each other, is being measured. Standards change of course and so, in that way, we are scored by comparison. 

        History has the last word. Presently we are at war over values of culture. The battle-line is the nexus of I and we. 

        How do we live into and what do we expect from society? How do we get along?

        Media is the clarion. 

        Radio, television and social media have morphed story telling and journalism. It's changed reporting and our expectations. 

         Curated and aggregated information, like all things, was subject to human foibles. That is how racism, male supremacy,  cultural bias and the like got baked into normative assumptions. Though overdue and limited, old media was and is, self-correcting.               

        Now, however, we watch algorithms, products of human reasoning, maturing through data and machine learning, amass power and influence, though unrestrained by idealism, values, faith, principles and standards of decency and civility. It shows.

        No one elected the tech titans, yet their profit making platforms are addictive and they bend culture. Old media plays along. The manic pandemic lifestyle wedded us more intensely to our screens. Everything has changed as we live in a feedback loop of discordance. So much of life is like fingernails on a blackboard.

        Snark, "gotcha," and the takedown is the code of behavior and modus operandi. There is not enough probing for understanding and there is way too much lunging for the throat.

      Correspondents feed their social media streams, and maintain a "following" in addition to the work of being experts on their beat. Time was when only information and fact gathering was the job. Developing sources and contacts takes time, now devoted to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds.     

        This era of media practices "false equivalency." It is lazy, stupid and deplorable. 

      Here's how it works. A correspondent, news anchor or writer will give value to lies and deceptions, that are obvious political stunts or posturing, by how they pose a question. It is prompted by the seeking of an artificial "balance" or pretense of objectivity. 

     It's kept the Trump big lie and all of it's perverted manifestations alive. Even talking about it breaths more life into it. Raising it gives it an undeserved sort of credibility. Think  Cyber Ninja vote "recount" in Arizona, as one example.

     Republicans have no agenda. They will condemn neither the insurrection nor the Trump lies. When one of them trots out a fallacy, or an absurd claim, it is used as a kind of block and check to what Democrats or the administration say, do or propose. I am waiting for the flat earth society to get street credibility when a major news organization cites them in a story. 

    Lies are lies, crazy is crazy and bull shit is bull shit. A responsible media would call it out and not be trapped into shilling the ludicrous. 

       "News by flavor" has sharpened the edges between us. In fact it is only about business, building ratings and selling ads, but the poor fools who consume hours of the stuff end up duped and manipulated.

        Chronic news "content slant and skew," propagandizing and active disinformation is destroying us by division and diminishing the value of information. Too few seek multiple sources and verifiable credibility.

        There is no reason Mitch McConnell should be believed. He leads a party that is out to destroy a democratic republic and its time honored rules. McConnell is seen and quoted but rarely if ever challenged about dirty tricks and deception. 

        Presently he is delaying the calendar, trying to avoid a voting rights bill that could put a stop to the fraudulent voter suppression blitzkrieg of Trump's fascists. He's trying to stop passage of legislation, notably the infrastructure funding, that 70% of Americans support. He's playing brinksmanship even on government funding which is to pay for the $8 Trillion he and Trump added to the debt. He is incapable of bipartisanship, even to the benefit of his own voters.

       McConnell is playing a death match for the sake of power. What he says is given credibility by media, but he is never challenged on motive. It is spineless reporting.

        The evacuation of Afghanistan moved more humans than any time in history. More allies and friends were moved from harm than in any war. The media and republican inspired take was "a botched job."  History will cite the full story of stopping this nation's longest war, fraudulent and mismanaged from the start.    

        

     There is seething pressure building among many. They want to see Democrats unite, and not squander opportunity at a time of peril. Since Reagan, Republicans have tried to undo the Democrat social pact with America. 

     Republicans have given tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations, cut social spending and shrunk government service at every opportunity. The nation is now crumbling, our standing in the world is slipping in categories like health, income and education. 

    The more serious challenge is more sinister than policy differences.

      Republicans are so without belief, they gave their party to Trump and he is the front man for a dumbed down populism, white supremacy, looney nationalism and dark money. Republicans aid and abet foreign enemies and enable a wealthy cabal to use Trumpism to turn our democracy into an autocracy. 

        Even in the face of such a dire and toxic scene, the Democrats again are at war with themselves unable to see the bigger picture. 

        Politics and government is damaged and a global crisis only makes it worse.

   

       There has been exceptional reporting and stunning revelations but that valuable information has to compete for bandwidth. Media suffers as we all do, from fatigue and pandemic depression. Fear and anger are dominant emotions.

         Deep analysis, visionary strategies, pragmatic determination still exist but they have trouble cutting through the noise and fog of a pandemic infected planet following four years of turmoil of the most incompetent and simply the most evil and divisive presidency in US history. We are exhausted. Sick and tired. It's a helluva position to be in when we face existential challenge, to our nation and to the planet. 

        If our systems are broken, if common sense no longer exists, if people don't believe science, if one of our great parties has become a cult, there is only one place to go as we stand on the brink. As beat up as we may be, we must go within, summon strength, honor our aspirations, stand on the shoulders of all who have faced adversity, embrace whatever is sacred in our life and be a light bearer whenever, wherever, and however we can.

        

          Stay strong! This too will pass.

          See you down the trail. 

           IF

            by Rudyard Kipling

  If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!