How your Washington news gets distorted
by media priorities
Posted By: SurferLad, 2/22/2021 9:14:07 PM
You may not see much news coverage on the world’s 100,000 airplane flights that land safely every day. Let one of them crash, however, and you’ll see smoldering wreckage and sobbing relatives for 24 hours. It’s the same in news coverage of U.S. politics. Now for the first time in memory a research team has examined thousands of news interview transcripts and documented what might seem an obvious but very important conclusion: Extreme views and words by far get the most attention, air time and views online.People who speak
people like this.
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You may not see much news coverage on the world’s 100,000 airplane flights that land safely every day. Let one of them crash, however, and you’ll see smoldering wreckage and sobbing relatives for 24 hours. It’s the same in news coverage of U.S. politics. Now for the first time in memory a research team has examined thousands of news interview transcripts and documented what might seem an obvious but very important conclusion: Extreme views and words by far get the most attention, air time and views online.People who speak
It’s not exactly earthshaking. But it is politically revealing. On Sunday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he will not support a Donald Trump reelection bid in 2024. [Snip] Next Sunday the former president will make his first public appearance and speech since leaving the White House at the annual CPAC conference of conservatives
True to its unpredictable form, 2020’s Election Day became Election Night and then Election Week and likely Election Month. Maybe more. [Snip] Barring some major surprise and given the small changes that vote recounts historically provide, it seems likely that Joe Biden will officially become president-elect later this month around the birthday that will make him at 78 the oldest man ever to become president of these United States. But what does that really mean? News flash for euphoric Biden supporters: much less than meets the eye
American elections, especially presidential ones, are specifically designed to create deep divisions across society, camps labeled Us and Them. You may have noticed this in the tumultuous 2016 upset shockwave that has endured ever since. In this cycle, the election featured two dozen Democrats and a lone Republican who out-talked and out-tweeted them all. In terms of the work put into campaigning, this cycle has been no contest. The 74-year-old Donald Trump has campaigned basically nonstop since the convention in late August. [Snip] His challenger, 77-year-old Joe Biden, on some days might campaign as late as 9 or 10 in the morning
While national attention is riveted by the presidential horse race, a more important contest — or series of contests — is unfolding for control of the Senate. No matter who occupies the Oval Office, the political majority that runs the Senate will play the decisive political role for at least the next two years, perhaps longer. In what is shaping up as a difficult year for Republicans
To put it mildly, 2020 has been one weird year. And these presidential campaigns are no exception. A most striking difference in the current presidential campaigns of President Donald Trump and Joe Biden is the stark contrast in the efforts put forth by these two men in their 70s. [Snip] Some suspect Biden is no longer up to the truly grinding schedule of a real presidential campaign. If that’s the case, is he honestly up to real presidential pressures? The ex-vice president is certainly playing the political version of football’s prevent defense
Americans cannot agree on much these days, but one source of unanimity is that aging is better than the alternative. However, one of the most striking yet less-noticed facts of contemporary politics is that Americans have also shown a striking affinity for selecting — and keeping — old people in political office. Really old people.
[Snip] The median age of all Americans is 38.2 years, less than half Joe Biden’s. The coincidental advanced ages of the nation’s current political leaders have raised all kinds of serious new questions, including ideological rigidity, stale policies and mental and physical
It didn’t take long for this election’s first official October surprise to occur. Less than 22 hours into the new month, President Donald Trump tweeted that he and his wife, Melania, had tested positive for COVID-19. [Snip] Before that came a videotape with former Vice President Joe Biden appearing to call members of the military “stupid bastards.” And you can pretty much count on more such attempts to influence the November presidential election’s outcome, although the sources will likely be masked to make verification
Now’s her chance. When Kamala Harris was chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate back in August, she was portrayed as a younger pioneering partner who would bring new energy and followers to the 2020 Democratic presidential ticket. [Snip] given Biden’s unusually low-key political effort this time, Harris has been largely invisible. Token visits here and there. Now comes her largest opportunity — and biggest, most dangerous challenge. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Harris will be the prominent opponent of President Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee,
Exactly 60 years ago this week, a senator and another former vice president launched a new American political tradition: presidential candidate debates. Next week, the first of this cycle’s three debates is scheduled between President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden.
[Snip] Democrats’ real concern should be that the 77-year-old political veteran’s mental acuity is not what it was eight and 12 years ago. And
In theory, deploying and/or withdrawing U.S. military forces abroad is all about this country’s national security. In practice, however, politics is always close by. And in this election year, both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are taking credit for troop decisions. Biden’s campaign claim that he was in charge of withdrawing 150,000 U.S. service members from Iraq in 2011 is what Mark Twain would call “a stretcher.” Trump made reducing foreign military involvements a major
Joe Biden would be 78 years old by Inauguration Day in January, seven years beyond the average lifespan of a male born in 1942. He had two brain aneurysms in the 1980s. In his 17-month journey to the Oval Office, the Democratic nominee has made scores of claims and dozens of promises. [Snip] Like Hillary Clinton four years ago, Biden has not made himself available for much media questioning. So, Biden’s news conference last week was a rare opportunity for diligent reporters to probe the plans, thoughts and ideas of the man who would be the oldest ever to assume the nation’s highest office.
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The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms launched an initiative last year aimed at providing information to Second Amendment-loving Americans. The goal was to provide a comprehensive list of companies and/or CEOs who back gun control initiatives and legislation or have anti-firearm corporate policies in place.“When we started this project last year, we were actually surprised, and in some cases disappointed, at some of the businesses we added to the list," CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said in a statement. "We discovered several brand name businesses and corporate leaders who evidently have a nefarious agenda to limit gun rights.
On Sunday’s airing of “Fox & Friends,” Jedediah Bila warned that former President Trump should be careful not to divide the country even more than it already is at his upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference appearance and speech.During the segment, a long list of Trump’s policies were ticked off that Biden is now doing away with in what is being called the “great undoing.” It was noted that Trump will “certainly maintain a strong guiding voice on what the Republican Party will be.”That list included a number of items, and later more foreign policy issues such as China and Iran would be added to it:
Dr. Anthony Fauci declared this week that people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 still shouldn’t dine indoors at restaurants or go to movie theaters “because of the safety of society,” even as the number of positive cases in the country continues to decline. “There are certain aspects of being vaccinated and what that means to you personally and your own personal safety and that of your family, versus what vaccines will allow you to do in society,” Dr. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a White House COVID-19 press briefing. “One relates to you, yourself,
The opening of a new supermarket in the Birmingham suburb of Stechford nearly 31 years ago unfolded with neither fanfare nor razzmatazz.There were no adverts to speak of, not even an 'opening soon' sign hanging outside.Cosseted by the comfortable embrace of familiarity (Tesco, Sainsbury's et al), shoppers greeted this new retail arrival, with its low-budget layout, boxes piled up under the harsh strip lighting and a limited product range (600 basic items and not a brand name in sight) with a hefty dose of suspicion.'One looks in vain for avocados or kiwi fruit,' remarked The Times, of the store, a year later. The absence of such exotic non-essentials
For a couple of years, my wife and I escaped Obama’s America by owning a Pacific Ocean hotel in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. The irony was that in supposedly socialist Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega's government left us alone far more than government did in the supposedly free country of the United States of Obama.
Still, while Ortega 2.0 might have shed most of his socialism, he had not shed his lust for power, and the job of making sure he never lost again was that of the Chief Justice Roberto Rivas Reyes of what is in effect the Nicaraguan Supreme Court.
Red Alert: Democrats take first steps
to censor conservative TV channels
OANN, Newsmax and Fox News 39 replies
to censor conservative TV channels
OANN, Newsmax and Fox News 39 replies
In a shocking development in the ongoing censorship debate, two influential Democrat members of the House of Representatives have taken the first steps to challenge the continued availability of conservative channels Newsmax, OANN, and Fox News on mainstream cable, satellite, and streaming television platforms. Multichannel News reported on the story yesterday in an article titled “House Dems Pressure Distributors to Justify Carrying Fox News, Others.”
California Democrats Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney have written to a dozen cable, satellite and streaming companies calling on them to better combat disinformation
Governor Greg Abbott requested statewide designation for major disaster relief from President Biden. Biden denied the statewide designation and only approved some counties in Texas, not all of them. Abbott asked for a declaration that covered the entire state because the winter storm knocked out power and heat throughout the state, as well as leaving millions of Texans without water. Texas has 254 counties. Biden approved only 77 counties for disaster relief. The governor calls it an important first step but it falls far short of what Texas officials requested. Biden signed the declaration late Friday. It covers much of the Texas population.
The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Republican challenge over absentee ballots received up to three days after Election Day in Pennsylvania.Republicans in the Keystone State had sought to block a state court ruling that allowed the Nov. 6 deadline extension in the 2020 election.The decision prompted dissents from three conservative justices; Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch. The trio argued that while the legal questions in the case may not have affected the outcome of the November election, the Supreme Court should taken the opportunity to clarify election law because the same legal issues could impact future elections.
Harvard prof: Study shows slavery
reparations 'could have been as
effective' as COVID-19 vaccine 34 replies
reparations 'could have been as
effective' as COVID-19 vaccine 34 replies
Harvard Medical School assistant professor Michelle E. Morse says a new study she participated in demonstrates how slavery reparations “could have been as effective as a vaccine” for COVID-19. Researches claim that infection rates for the contagion would have been reduced by up to 68% if Black Americans possessed $250,000 per individual or $800,000 per household for the historical injustice of slavery. “[Slavery reparations] could have been as effective as a vaccine,” she said for a Harvard Crimson piece published Feb. 16. “I think the fact that the U.S. has skirted its responsibility and avoided reach for reconciliation in a meaningful way
The leader of Oklahoma’s Cherokee Nation wants Jeep to stop using the tribe’s name on its SUVs. Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation expressed the viewpoint for the first time after Car and Driver magazine inquired whether or not the branding was appropriate in the context of the nationwide rethinking of racial and social justice issues. “I’m sure this comes from a place that is well-intended, but it does not honor us by having our name plastered on the side of a car,” Hoskin told the magazine. Jeep has been using the Cherokee name for nearly five decades,
Two Democratic lawmakers sent letters Monday to a dozen cable, satellite and video streaming companies, including Amazon and Hulu, urging them to drop right-leaning news networks they claim pushed 'misinformation' in the 2020 election. Representatives Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerny, both of whom represent California and sit on the Energy and Commerce Committee, claim it's the responsibility of these companies to address media outlets 'disseminating misinformation to millions' through their airwaves. In the letters, Eshoo and McNerny accuse the right-leaning outlets Fox News, One America News Network (OANN) and Newsmax of serving as 'misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds
Joe Biden read a speech today to the Virtual Munich Security Conference. He slipped and slurred his way through it till he finally used the N-word. What a disgrace.
Biden was only 15 minutes into reading his speech when he slipped up and said at the 15:33 mark (below): [video]
Even closed-captioning caught Biden’s slip up:
What a train wreck. If you’re going to steal an election at least get someone who can read and talk in an understandable manner.