And Respect Broadcast Journalism
Tonight -- Thursday, January 28th, 2016 -- Megyn Kelly will be the prime moderator as Fox News plays host to its 2nd of what now is the 7th Republican presidential debate. {The photos are courtesy of: businessinsider.com}. On the eve of this momentous, earth-shaking, and headline-grabbing event, I feel compelled to write an open letter to Megyn Kelly, one she won't read but nevertheless is time-worthy.
Each weekday Megyn Kelly's The Kelly File airs at 9:00 P. M. on Fox News.
The headline above has screamed across the United States, and indeed the entire world, because the leading Republican presidential contender, billionaire businessman Donald Trump, said he would not participate in tonight's debate because he believes Megyn Kelly and Fox News, America's most-watched cable news network, are biased against him. Mr. Trump is correct. In the first debate moderated by Ms. Kelly, she clearly, starting famously with the very first question, tried mightily to humiliate Mr. Trump, apparently because she rather obviously favors the candidacy of Marco Rubio and feels she can use the power of Fox News, and the debates, to derail Mr. Trump's amazing dominance of the polls. That being said...Megyn Kelly, Fox News, and the Republican Debates are all emblematic of a seemingly endless, multi-billion dollar election process that, uniquely in America, is primarily designed to enrich already rich capitalists -- including the television industry that makes huge profits from an endless array of obnoxious ads and from being able, month after month, to just use Talking Head political pundits analyzing the election as opposed to actually going out and covering the news, which would be a bit more expensive.
Indeed, on last night's program -- prior to tonight's debate -- Megyn Kelly did not even try to hide her obsession with making Marco Rubio, the first-term U. S. Senator from Miami, the next President of the United States. Once again -- EVEN LAST NIGHT -- she used her high-powered propaganda machine to propagandize for Rubio's candidacy -- as she will, if a bit more subtlety, during tonight's debate. But there is, I believe, a broader issue than just one Fox anchor's obsession with one particular candidate. It concerns the island of Cuba. Beyond question, President Obama's history-making efforts to normalize relations with the nearby island is either one of or the most significant and most lasting developments of the past year in the United States of America. Moreover, two of the top three Republican presidential candidates happen to be Cuban-obsessed Cuban-American U. S. Senators who scathingly oppose the President's and the world's desire to normalize relations with Cuba, and even most Cuban-Americans are opposed to Marco Rubio's and Ted Cruz's petty intransigence regarding Cuba. And yet, typical of the gutlessness of the U. S. media, the Republican debates have yet to ask Rubio or Cruz a single question about Cuba. It is for that reason, on the eve of tonight's 7th Republican debate and the 2nd one moderated by Megyn Kelly and Fox News, I feel compelled to write an open letter to Ms. Kelly, with all due respect.
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"Miss Kelly:
As a lifelong democracy-loving conservative Republican, I realize that right-wingers have usurped both my party and most of America's prized ideals. Fox News, as evidenced by your nightly program and your conduct during the debate in Cleveland, symbolizes that debacle. Therefore, I would like to suggest a few questions that you should, but won't, ask during tonight's debate. THOSE QUESTIONS, ON BEHALF OF FAIRNESS, ARE:
"Mr. Rubio, you have said that you don't care if 99% of Americans disagree with you, you will, if elected President, turn back all of the progress that President Obama has made in trying to normalize relations with Cuba, such as reopening embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time since 1961. Such statements by you regarding Cuba makes some believe that you have a Banana Republic approach to an issue that perhaps sheds more negative glows on America and democracy than any other single issue, and that insanity has been allowed to exist for going on six decades now. So, sir, would you defend your position on Cuba?"
"Mr. Rubio, your standard stump speech always includes the line about how you emerged from poverty...your father a bartender, your mother a maid...to your current exalted station in life. However, as a Cuban-American in Miami, is it not true, sir, that you had a tremendous advantage over all non-Cuban Americans...based on the political and economic advantages of being a Cuban-American in Miami?"
"Mr. Rubio, you made it all the way to the U. S. Senate from Miami with your bio making the obligatory claim that your parents escaped Castro's tyranny in Cuba. Then, sir, it was pointed out that your parents actually escaped the Batista tyranny in Cuba long before Castro's revolution was even considered a serious threat. Was that, Mr. Rubio, a lie or a mistake?"
"Mr. Rubio, the New York Times wrote a scathing article about your multiple financial misdeeds in Florida. But your Tea Party and media friends, and not just us at Fox, dismissed those revelations. In fact, I remember that former Florida congressman, Joe Scarborough, on his politically-oriented MSNBC program, held up a copy of that New York Times and loudly proclaimed such revelations would help get you elected President! That being said, sir, do you think you have been justly or unjustly criticized about financial misdeeds?"
"Mr. Rubio, the New York Times is not the only source that has criticized your honesty or lack thereof. Ken Silverstein is a respected journalist -- The Los Angeles Times, Harpers Magazine, The New York Observer, and so forth. Last week he wrote a long article entitled: 'Marco Rubio: Poor Little Rich Boy Runs Into Real Estate Trouble.' The sub-title was: 'The Senator's Three Houses, Various Lady Friends, Assorted Con Artist Pals and Piles of Unexplained Income.' The very first sentence was: 'When it comes to sheer brazen corruption, chicanery and dishonesty there is one candidate who stands head and shoulders above everyone else, and that is the right-wing Cuban-American and Tea Party darling Senator Marco Rubio of -- naturally -- the great State of Florida.' Ken Silverstein then went into great detail, naming names and other details to support that headline, that sub-headline, and that first sentence. I don't believe, sir, that you or any of the others have sued him or his newspaper. But tonight, sir, would you comment on what Mr. Silverstein wrote a few days ago?"
"Mr. Cruz, it has been pointed out that your trip from Texas to the U. S. Senate paralleled Mr. Rubio's journey from Florida. You both latched on strongly to the Bush dynasty and the Tea Party, for example. On Sean Hannity's Fox program last night, Wednesday, you said yet again that your father left Cuba with a $100 bill attached to his underwear and then washed dishes for 50 cents an hour. Like Mr. Rubio, you stress your rise from poverty. You have also stressed that you and your wife Heidi sacrificed your wealth to win the Senate race in Texas. Are they not all lies, sir? I mean, your dad either in Canada where you were born or in Texas a bit later seems to have gotten very rich. Your Princeton and Harvard educations may even be examples of the special benefits accorded to Cuban-Americans. As for your financial sacrifices, sir, is it not true that your Senate bid in Texas was financed by Goldman Sachs, the infamous bank where your wife is an executive?"
"Thank you, Mr. Cruz. You are indeed a smart man, a Harvard-taught tort lawyer, and a skilled debater. In the Senate you have railed about the need for tort reform. But, sir, aren't multi-million-dollar tort wins in Texas, along with your wife's Goldman Sachs job, the way you first became a multi-millionaire?"
"Very well, Mr. Cruz. Speaking of your 'poor' father. It has been reported that he is even more fanatically evangelical than you. He is also notable for his fiery speeches on your behalf and against President Obama. He claims that he once was a rebel for Castro, and even was with rebel legend Frank Pais just hours before Pais was famously captured and gruesomely executed by Batista's thugs in Santiago de Cuba. But your father's timelines regarding Pais' death have rather easily been disputed. Rubio's bio when he got to the Senate included some falsehoods about his Cuban heritage. So, Mr. Cruz, how truthful is yours?"
"But, Mr. Rubio, if I may follow up on that, sir...most Americans, most Cuban-Americans, and most of the whole world strongly support President Obama's overtures to Cuba, all of which you say you will roll back and end starting the first day you are in the White House. A yearly vote in the UN, for example, clearly shows that America's best friends all around the world desire a saner U. S. approach to Cuba, such as an end to the embargo that many feel has shamed America and democracy since 1962. The UN vote in that regard is consistently 191-to-2 with only Israel, by far the biggest recipient of economic and military aid from the U. S., supporting the U.S. regarding Cuba. So, Mr. Rubio, doesn't your opinion regarding Cuba more resemble that of a Banana Republic dictator than a serious candidate to be President of the United States?"
"Very well, Mr. Rubio, I was already aware of your Talking Points on Cuba. But answer me this: If your views are correct, why do polls show that Mr. Trump is easily defeating both you and your Cuban-aligned mentor Jeb Bush even IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA even though Trump is a New Yorker and you and Bush are Floridians? If most Floridians don't support you, why should most Americans?"
"AND NOW ONE FINAL QUESTION, MR. RUBIO, BECAUSE OUR TIME IS ALMOST UP. It has been said by many avowed democracy-lovers -- such as Sarah Stephens, the Founder of the Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas -- that the Cuban narrative in the U. S., since 1959, as well as Cuban laws in the U. S. Congress, have been dictated by a handful of only the most zealous Miami-based Cuban-Americans such as yourself. How would you respond to that sentiment?"
"Oh, well, Mr. Rubio, if your answer is just 'It's a lie," it leaves me time for one more final question. The New York Times, and others, have headlined articles about how 'Petty" you and Mr. Cruz are regarding Cuba. For example, sir, you alone have been responsible for some Cuban issues that seem to reveal that one man in the 100-person Senate or the 535-person Congress can, amazingly, exact Cuban rules or laws that adversely affect Cubans and all Americans. For example, your Congressional colleague from Miami who happens to be the son of a former key Batista Minister, Mario Diaz-Balart, recently slipped into a must-past, veto-proof, multi-billion-dollar law that prevents President Obama from closing the democracy-sapping Bush-era prison at Guantanamo Bay and prevents the President from discussing the return of Guantanamo Bay, which most sane people understand was stolen from Cuba way back in 1903. But that was Diaz-Balart, sir. You, Mr. Rubio, are just as bad, in the view of many. For example, a brilliant American diplomat, Roberta Jacobson, is considered by everyone except the Cuban-Americans in Congress to be America's best possible Ambassador to Mexico, a position that is very urgent for the U. S. to fill. Yet, sir, you have used your ungodly power in the Senate to block that nomination. You openly blame Jacobson for her brilliant diplomacy in regards to Cuba this past year. Now, sir, explain to the American people in this final debate before the primary vote in Iowa why you are willing to demean Roberta Jacobson, democracy, and America to assuage your own petty and biased Cuban agenda."
"Mr. Rubio, the New York Times is not the only source that has criticized your honesty or lack thereof. Ken Silverstein is a respected journalist -- The Los Angeles Times, Harpers Magazine, The New York Observer, and so forth. Last week he wrote a long article entitled: 'Marco Rubio: Poor Little Rich Boy Runs Into Real Estate Trouble.' The sub-title was: 'The Senator's Three Houses, Various Lady Friends, Assorted Con Artist Pals and Piles of Unexplained Income.' The very first sentence was: 'When it comes to sheer brazen corruption, chicanery and dishonesty there is one candidate who stands head and shoulders above everyone else, and that is the right-wing Cuban-American and Tea Party darling Senator Marco Rubio of -- naturally -- the great State of Florida.' Ken Silverstein then went into great detail, naming names and other details to support that headline, that sub-headline, and that first sentence. I don't believe, sir, that you or any of the others have sued him or his newspaper. But tonight, sir, would you comment on what Mr. Silverstein wrote a few days ago?"
"Mr. Cruz, it has been pointed out that your trip from Texas to the U. S. Senate paralleled Mr. Rubio's journey from Florida. You both latched on strongly to the Bush dynasty and the Tea Party, for example. On Sean Hannity's Fox program last night, Wednesday, you said yet again that your father left Cuba with a $100 bill attached to his underwear and then washed dishes for 50 cents an hour. Like Mr. Rubio, you stress your rise from poverty. You have also stressed that you and your wife Heidi sacrificed your wealth to win the Senate race in Texas. Are they not all lies, sir? I mean, your dad either in Canada where you were born or in Texas a bit later seems to have gotten very rich. Your Princeton and Harvard educations may even be examples of the special benefits accorded to Cuban-Americans. As for your financial sacrifices, sir, is it not true that your Senate bid in Texas was financed by Goldman Sachs, the infamous bank where your wife is an executive?"
"Thank you, Mr. Cruz. You are indeed a smart man, a Harvard-taught tort lawyer, and a skilled debater. In the Senate you have railed about the need for tort reform. But, sir, aren't multi-million-dollar tort wins in Texas, along with your wife's Goldman Sachs job, the way you first became a multi-millionaire?"
"Very well, Mr. Cruz. Speaking of your 'poor' father. It has been reported that he is even more fanatically evangelical than you. He is also notable for his fiery speeches on your behalf and against President Obama. He claims that he once was a rebel for Castro, and even was with rebel legend Frank Pais just hours before Pais was famously captured and gruesomely executed by Batista's thugs in Santiago de Cuba. But your father's timelines regarding Pais' death have rather easily been disputed. Rubio's bio when he got to the Senate included some falsehoods about his Cuban heritage. So, Mr. Cruz, how truthful is yours?"
"Mr. Cruz, both you and your wife, the Goldman Sachs executive, worked feverishly in Texas as obligatory sycophants for the George W. Bush presidential campaigns. Now Mr. Bush says, 'I just don't like the guy.' So, it seems, all the old Republican icons agree with him. Bob Dole, the former presidential contender and top man in the Senate, said this week, 'Nobody likes him" and Dole said your presidency would be even more 'cataclysmic' for America than Donald Trump's. Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor, this week totally echoed Dole's comments. So, Mr. Cruz, if Republicans who know you don't like you and think you would be a disastrous and even dangerous President, why are you a Republican presidential candidate?"
"Now back to Mr. Rubio. Sir, I saw a photo from the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami where supposedly your greatest support lies. The photo, apparently aimed at you, said: 'Embargo Israel, not Cuba.' That was an apparent reference, sir, to the fact that the Cuban-Americans who dominate Little Havana think you have sold out to a host of Jewish billionaires, such as Mr. Singer, Mr. Edelson, etc. Could that possibly be so, sir? You have said your first flight on Air Force One will be to Israel while many in your hometown think it perhaps should be to Miami or some other American city. Is there a disconnect, sir, with your own people?" "But, Mr. Rubio, if I may follow up on that, sir...most Americans, most Cuban-Americans, and most of the whole world strongly support President Obama's overtures to Cuba, all of which you say you will roll back and end starting the first day you are in the White House. A yearly vote in the UN, for example, clearly shows that America's best friends all around the world desire a saner U. S. approach to Cuba, such as an end to the embargo that many feel has shamed America and democracy since 1962. The UN vote in that regard is consistently 191-to-2 with only Israel, by far the biggest recipient of economic and military aid from the U. S., supporting the U.S. regarding Cuba. So, Mr. Rubio, doesn't your opinion regarding Cuba more resemble that of a Banana Republic dictator than a serious candidate to be President of the United States?"
"Very well, Mr. Rubio, I was already aware of your Talking Points on Cuba. But answer me this: If your views are correct, why do polls show that Mr. Trump is easily defeating both you and your Cuban-aligned mentor Jeb Bush even IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA even though Trump is a New Yorker and you and Bush are Floridians? If most Floridians don't support you, why should most Americans?"
"AND NOW ONE FINAL QUESTION, MR. RUBIO, BECAUSE OUR TIME IS ALMOST UP. It has been said by many avowed democracy-lovers -- such as Sarah Stephens, the Founder of the Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas -- that the Cuban narrative in the U. S., since 1959, as well as Cuban laws in the U. S. Congress, have been dictated by a handful of only the most zealous Miami-based Cuban-Americans such as yourself. How would you respond to that sentiment?"
"Oh, well, Mr. Rubio, if your answer is just 'It's a lie," it leaves me time for one more final question. The New York Times, and others, have headlined articles about how 'Petty" you and Mr. Cruz are regarding Cuba. For example, sir, you alone have been responsible for some Cuban issues that seem to reveal that one man in the 100-person Senate or the 535-person Congress can, amazingly, exact Cuban rules or laws that adversely affect Cubans and all Americans. For example, your Congressional colleague from Miami who happens to be the son of a former key Batista Minister, Mario Diaz-Balart, recently slipped into a must-past, veto-proof, multi-billion-dollar law that prevents President Obama from closing the democracy-sapping Bush-era prison at Guantanamo Bay and prevents the President from discussing the return of Guantanamo Bay, which most sane people understand was stolen from Cuba way back in 1903. But that was Diaz-Balart, sir. You, Mr. Rubio, are just as bad, in the view of many. For example, a brilliant American diplomat, Roberta Jacobson, is considered by everyone except the Cuban-Americans in Congress to be America's best possible Ambassador to Mexico, a position that is very urgent for the U. S. to fill. Yet, sir, you have used your ungodly power in the Senate to block that nomination. You openly blame Jacobson for her brilliant diplomacy in regards to Cuba this past year. Now, sir, explain to the American people in this final debate before the primary vote in Iowa why you are willing to demean Roberta Jacobson, democracy, and America to assuage your own petty and biased Cuban agenda."
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Yes, it's Jan. 28-2016 -- the night for the second Republican presidential debate moderated by Megyn Kelly and Fox News. It will, I believe, highlight how far removed we are from the Walter Cronkite days of television journalism in the United States. AND, YES!! The transition from the Cronkite-era to the Kelly-era emphasizes two facts about Cuba: {1} Cuba says more about the United States than it says about Cuba; and {2} no issue since World War II has hurt America's image around the world as must as its Cuban policy.
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Walter Cronkite died on July 17, 2009.
That's the day that honest television journalism also died.
