Is “Neutral” Journalism Really Neutral?

found online by Raymond

 

Balance

From The Propaganda Professor:

Let’s try a little thought experiment. Imagine you are a journalist. A real journalist — not a hack for Fox “News” or OANN or Breitbart, but someone who actually has an interest in keeping the public reasonably informed. Say you’re writing a story about a particular development and you want to, or feel obliged to, report what several public figures say about it. At least one of these public figures is blatantly lying. Now here’s the question: do you identify the blatant lies as lies, or do you simply report faithfully what everyone said and hope (naively, one must say) that the public can sort it all out? Does your journalistic commitment to impartiality require you to avoid fact-checking? Or does your journalistic commitment to truth require you to fact-check?

This is more than just a hypothetical scenario. It’s become the day-to-day reality in our era of alternative facts. And very often, journalists are opting for the first course of action: they are giving truth and falsehood equal time, and not distinguishing between the two. This has been the new norm for several years now, but it has become glaringly apparent during the media coverage of the impeachment.

The front page of the New York Times, reproduced above, is a prime example.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Demands Trump Recuse Himself

found online by Raymond

 

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

From Andy Borowitz:

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Asserting that his personal interests put him in direct conflict with the interests of the United States of America, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has demanded that Donald Trump recuse himself from all decisions involving the future of the U.S.

Speaking from her office at the Supreme Court, Ginsburg said that Trump’s oft-stated allegiance to himself makes it impossible for him to render unbiased decisions on issues affecting people other than himself.

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Tailgunner Ginni!

found online by Raymond

 

Ginni Thomas

From Max’s Dad:

Years and years ago while in a college documentary class a young woman was watching an ancient film about the infamous Joseph McCarthy. She was appalled at the liberal bias shown in the documentary which was basically allowing McCarthy and Roy Cohn to hang themselves with their own words. Being the loudmouth I was I spoke up in defense of the film and was soon joined by the rest of us 1970s radicals. The woman backed down meekly saying “I always thought McCarthy was a good guy”. That young lady was Ginni Lamp, now known as Ginni Thomas, the goofy wife of the mute Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Yep, I know someone famous, well knew, well once argued with her.

Ginni Thomas is now doing what her hero, Joe McCarthy, would have loved.

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Law Enforcement, Private Enterprise, and Personal Data

found online by Raymond

 

DNA Privacy

From Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara:

Government makes the laws. It needs this lawmaking power to fulfil its responsibility to protect us from and prosecute criminals. But it’s for this very reason–its power of the gun–that we have a constitution designed to limit that power; that is, to prevent the government from becoming the criminal.

Giving the same freedom to police to collect our data as Cambridge Analytica amounts to giving the police free reign to search our homes without a warrant. Cambridge Analytica or Facebook or “Big Pharma” should be free to collect our freely given data, so long as it operates within the law–e.g., obeys the government’s privacy and contract laws. They cannot force us. They can only offer us a product. The police, as agents of the state, should be barred from accessing data without a warrant–that is, without “probable cause.” Isn’t there something in the Fourth Amendment about this?

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Trump Faceplants As DNI Pick Turns Him Down

found online by Raymond

 

President and Intelligence Refusenik

From Hackwhackers:

Demagogue and Kremlin asset Donald “Tovarich” Trump has a casting call out for a confirmable Director of National Intelligence, since his acting Director, Richard Grenell is utterly incompetent for that job, among other factors. Trump said he wanted Georgia wingnut Rep. Doug Collins, who performed for Trump on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment hearing by trying to obstruct and derail it. Here’s what unfolded…

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Situations are Deplorable; People Are Not

found online by Raymond

 

From JoAnn Williams at Biased Unbalanced and Politically Incorrect:

His political beliefs meet all the qualifications for a so-called “Deplorable.” I first wrote about him this past November.

I ran into him last week and he told me he is recovering from a serious illness. His doctor recommended more tests and a consultation with a specialist.

He has no insurance.

He is not able to work full time because of his illness.

Due to his reduced income, he cannot afford the extra tests or a visit to a specialist.

I did not ask him if his virulent opposition to President Obama and the affordable care act had changed.

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Beware of Evangelicals Coming in the Name of “Friendship”

found online by Raymond

 

In the Name of Friendship

From The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser:

I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for many Evangelicals to befriend people just for the sake of friendship. Much like Amway or Herbalife peddlers, zealous Evangelicals always have an ulterior motive when talking to and interacting with the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. The good news for us heathens is that many Evangelicals aren’t good Christians. They are content to let us go to Hell in peace. That said, there are plenty of Evangelicals who believe they are duty-bound to irritate, bug, and harass non-Christians, all in the name of evangelizing the lost.

Take Larry Dixon, professor of theology at Columbia International University Seminary and School of Missions in Columbia, South Carolina. Dixon is “convinced that there is a major element missing in many Christian’s lives.” That element, you ask? Befriending sinners as Jesus did. Dixon implores his fellow Evangelicals to leave the Christian Ghetto® and “develop meaningful relationships with those who are still outside of Christ!”

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A Civil Rights Hero is Gone

Margaret Anderson at the dedication of Vernon School Park in Sparta, Illinois

She was a civil rights activist when activism was physically dangerous. When human bodies were decorating poplar trees. When they were being found in earthen dams. She was a major participant in the history of central Illinois. She was a founding member of the NAACP in Sparta. Picket lines were often her part-time home, and the after school home of her children.

I was privileged to speak with her many times over the years. When my loved one and I occasionally visited over weekends, I would rise before sunrise for coffee and conversation. She told me of the world of her youth.

Each time we left for home, I would kiss her forehead and ask her to take care of herself. That she was the only mama I had now. And she would smile and tell me she was proud of me. Proud of me.

My wife, her daughter, pretty much moved into her mom’s house, caring for her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, during her final months of suffering.

She was laid to rest yesterday. Hundreds attended the funeral. The ceremony went a little long – people personally touched by this compassionate woman briefly spoke. The number was impressive.

It is hard for me to imagine a world without Margaret Anderson in it.
In my heart, there is, for the moment, a huge crater where Sparta used to be.

UnBalanced Balance, Giulliani, Security, Barr, Stone, Truth, Persecution

Rudy Giuliani