Important media headlines for September 22nd:
Bottom Line: The advent of the Trump administration and mainstream media's decision to stop any pretense of objectivity in covering this administration brought about the daily feature (that's become a fan favorite) hysterical media headlines. I use it to illustrate the absurdity and lack of objectivity in media on a daily basis as well as it being a source of levity. I've toyed with the idea of having one focused on important, must read material as well. Today is the day I think that needs to begin. We're at a critical fork in the road on a bunch of issues. Healthcare, taxes, North Korea, politicization of all forms of entertainment - just to name a few. So going forward, in addition to the hysterical headlines, I'm going to produce a daily mix of important, must read, types of stories as well.
Curt Schilling: 'Some of the most racist people' are on ESPN - The Hill http://bit.ly/2ygf4z1
Excerpt: Schilling addressed the controversy over "SportsCenter" anchor Jemele Hill, who called President Trump a "white supremacist" on Twitter.
"Her calling [Trump] a racist is not a surprise," Schilling told "Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade in an interview. "Disney and ESPN have stopped giving all pretense of objectivity and they support a very intolerant, exclusive liberal agenda."
Hill has not apologized for her comments about Trump, only expressing regret over painting ESPN "in an unfair light."
Ding, ding, ding. Bigotry is alive and well and completely tolerated as long as it's targeted at someone on the right of the political spectrum.
Looks Like Obama Did Spy on Trump--and Apparently Me Sharyl Attkisson, The Hill
Excerpt: Many in the media are diving deeply into minutiae in order to discredit any notion that President Trump might have been onto something in March when he fired off a series of tweets claiming President Obama had “tapped” “wires” in Trump Tower just before the election.
According to media reports this week, the FBI did indeed “wiretap” the former head of Trump’s campaign, Paul Manafort, both before and after Trump was elected. If Trump officials — or Trump himself — communicated with Manafort during the wiretaps, they would have been recorded, too. But we’re missing the bigger story. If these reports are accurate, it means U.S. intelligence agencies secretly surveilled at least a half dozen Trump associates. And those are just the ones we know about.
So let's see, that would make Obama, Clinton, Clapper & most major news organizations a pack of slanderous liars. I'd like to say I'm surprised.
Police Violence Against Black Men Is Rare Philippe Lemoine, National Review Online
Excerpt: Last year, according to the Washington Post’s tally, just 16 unarmed black men, out of a population of more than 20 million, were killed by the police. The year before, the number was 36. These figures are likely close to the number of black men struck by lightning in a given year, considering that happens to about 300 Americans annually and black men are 7 percent of the population. And they include cases where the shooting was justified, even if the person killed was unarmed. Of course, police killings are not the result of a force of nature, and I’m not claiming these are morally equivalent. But the comparison illustrates that these killings are incredibly rare, and that it’s completely misleading to talk about an “epidemic” of them. You don’t hear people talk about an epidemic of lightning strikes and claim they are afraid to go outside because of it.
Graham-Cassidy Is the Best GOP Health Plan Yet John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist
Excerpt: Contrary to much of the media coverage this week, the push by congressional Republicans to do something about Obamacare isn’t a desperate last-ditch effort or a “health care zombie.” On the contrary, it might be the best health-care reform idea GOP leaders have come up with yet.
The bill, authored by senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, would address a woeful imbalance in our health-care system by returning much of the authority for regulating health insurance back to the states, where it belongs. In its current form, the legislation keeps most of Obamacare’s funding in place (except for the individual mandate tax penalties and medical-device taxes) but states would be able to apply for grants that allow them to more or less pursue whatever health-care policies they want with those funds and waive some key parts of Obamacare like the individual mandate and coverage for preexisting conditions.
Based on what I've reviewed of the bill so far I completely agree. I'd characterized the previous GOP attempts as being a varying percentage of "less awful" than Obamacare. This proposal might actually be far better than not. I intend dig in an deliver a more comprehensive review on Monday.