The Thugs Are Winning
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| Photo montage courtesy: MEDIAMATTERSforamerica
The image above illustrates why an increasingly biased and incompetent U. S. media might be as big a threat to the U. S. democracy as any outside force.
Yesterday -- December 7th -- was Pearl Harbor Day. On that day in 2015, it was also A Day of Infamy for the U. S. media, chronicling a precipitous decline of an industry that Founding Fathers such as Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson considered vital to the continuing success of their brilliant but fragile democracy. On the left above is retired Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters. On the right is Stacy Dash. They are, unfortunately, typical of what now is the staple of broadcast journalism in America -- biased and incompetent Talking Head pundits. Yesterday -- Pearl Harbor Day -- Mr. Peters used prime time on Fox News to call President Barack Obama "a total pu--y." And then Ms. Dash called President Barack Obama "a sh-t." A little later Fox News, amazingly, "SUSPENDED" them for two weeks!
But never mind, America! Fox News has dozens of other biased and incompetent Talking Head pundits to easily fill the void in the brief absence of Peters and Dash. Sadly, so do all the other broadcast "news" outfits in the United States.
Using Talking Head pundits like Ralph Peters serves the two prime purposes of cable news: {1} It saves them money because they don't have to go to the expense of actually sending reporters out to cover the news; and {2} it allows cable outfits to propagandize gullible viewers with whatever biased rhetoric fits their purposes.
This photo is courtesy of John Raoux/Associated Press. It was taken on Saturday, November 14, 2015, when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke at the Republican Sunshine Summit in Orlando, Florida, for the purpose of furthering his presidential aspirations. In this speech, Christie called President Barack Obama "a liar" in reference to Obama's policy concerning the dire terror threat from ISIS.
Mr. Christie, sir, with all due respect, I believe you are "the liar" for calling our two-term President "a liar." As a lifelong conservative Republican, I understand that Republican presidential hopefuls can, and should, sharply disagree with the incumbent Democratic president. However, showing total disrespect not only for Mr. Obama but for the office of President is an example of why I am saddened that my Republican Party has been taken over by right-wing extremists who are both liars and bullies. And, sir, I believe there are millions of Americans who agree with me, as evidenced by the fact that unqualified non-politicians -- Trump and Carson -- have spent so many months polling ahead of bought-and-paid-for establishment politicians like you. In a two-party, money-crazed system that allows for unlimited donations from billionaire individuals and organizations, some bought-and-paid-for Republican will yet prevail in the ongoing primary sweepstakes. But, at least, the polls show that many Americans are trying to send a message to the established liars and bullies like you, sir...with, uh, all due respect, Mr. Christie.
As a conservative Republican, I have also been a lifelong supporter of Israel. However, this photo reminds me that I am an even bigger supporter of democracy and America. It shows presidential hopeful Chris Christie speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition in which all Republican candidates are obliged to speak in obligatory genuflection. Christie once mentioned Israel's occupation of Palestinian land as "occupied territory" and cited it as one continuing reason for the vast terrorist Islamic backlash that is roiling much of the world. Well, most Jewish scholars agree with that assessment as did even Obama's predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush. But, when the above photo was taken and in typical obligatory genuflection, Mr. Christie apologized deeply to Jewish billionaire Sheldon Edelson, a prime purchaser of bought-and-paid-for politicians, for his "occupied territory" remark. {NOTE: It's not likely that Christie's apology will make any difference; it's been reported that Edelson favors Marco Rubio and Edelson's wife favors Ted Cruz, one indication why, eventually, the two first-term Cuban-American U. S. Senators will replace Trump and Carson as the two top Republican presidential candidates. In any case, non-bought-and-paid-for Republcians need not apply.}
Please forgive President Obama if he takes time to wipe his brow. Faced with a biased and incompetent U. S. media, and right-wing control of the opposition Republican Party, the very decent and very smart two-term Democratic president has only about one year left in his eight years in the White House. He probably looks forward to the exit. He inherited a world torn asunder largely due to the miscalculations of the eight previous years when Republican George W. Bush ruled the White House. Republicans, of course, lambaste Obama for what they perceive as his failure in correcting all of his inherited Bush-orchestrated ordeals. Mr. Obama has also been lambasted for earnestly trying to achieve some decency in areas such as universal health care for poor people, gun control in the elite Western world's most violent nation, and normalizing relations with Cuba to comply with regional and world opinion. But such sane efforts by Mr. Obama do not compute with conservative and right-wing Republicans who control the U. S. Congress for the benefit of the billionaires who keep them in office in a skewered, money-crazed, two-party political system. After eight years as President, and after wiping his brow, a still-young Barack Obama will likely become the President of a prestigious university.
Being a very decent two-term President of the United States and then being called "a total pu--y" by an indecent, exploitative, incompetent Talking Head pundit is something Mr. Obama, and the office he holds, doesn't deserve. I also believe it is one reason many of the most decent and most competent presidential qualifiers -- such as Elizabeth Warren -- don't bother to even run for the most powerful and most prestigious office in the world. Much of the blame, I believe, lies with Americans who put up with ubiquitous Talking Head pundits like retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, who should have retired to a more respectable endeavor, like...tending a flower garden.
Meanwhile, big news for Cubans:
Jose Abreu will be returning to Cuba next week as a multi-millionaire superstar American baseball player. He will be with other Major Leaguers making a good-will trip to the baseball-mad island. Abreu defected from Cuba in 2013 and signed a guaranteed $68 million, 6-year contract with the Chicago White Sox. He will be joined on the good-will trip to Cuba by two other Cubans -- 33-year-old White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez and 33-year-old catcher Brayan Pena, now with the St. Louis Cardinals. Yasiel Puig, the very talented 24-year-old Cuban with the Los Dodgers, was expected to go to Cuba but he is facing a domestic assault charge. Abreu, Ramirez, and Pena will be joined by the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, baseball's best pitcher, and Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, baseball's best hitter. The good-will tour will be led by two famed Hall of Famers, Joe Torre and Dave Winfield.
Speaking of Jose Abreu's guaranteed $68 million contract that he signed right after defecting from Cuba in 2013: the Chicago White Sox think they got a huge bargain! As American League Rookie-of-the-Year in 2014, he hit .317 with 36 homers and 107 runs-batted-in; and this year he hit .290 with 30 homers and 101 runs-batted-in. Clayton Kershaw and a growing number of American baseball players are making well in excess of $30 million a year!! So, once his piddly 6-year, $68 million contract runs out, Jose Abreu expects to make some REAL money in capitalist America.
These are the three Cubans who will be back on Cuban soil for three days -- December 15-18. Jose Abreu was born in 1987 in Cruces; Brayan Pena was born in 1982 in Havana; and Alexei Ramirez was born in 1981 in Pinar del Rio.
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