Obsession: How the Media Keep Us Ignorant

 

Intellectual Takeout   "Many people of all political persuasions, including myself, find much of the mainstream news opinionated and biased. Negative media coverage of President Trump, for example, ran as high as 99 percent in May. 

"This slanted news does serious damage to our republic. It’s divisive, but it also causes
ignorance. Two days ago, I met a man in his mid-30s who gave me a blank look when I mentioned the scandal surrounding Hunter Biden’s hard drive. When I asked another woman, a Democrat, what she thought about the possibility of Joe Biden having dementia, she had no idea what I meant.

"But there is a threat to an informed citizenry as great as prejudicial reporting: negligence. The MSM not only keeps us in the dark by their bigotry and their deliberate omission of certain stories, but also by their inability to broaden their reporting.

"Since January, the media has focused continually on the pandemic sweeping the globe. They’ve battered us with statistics, with terrible stories of nursing home deaths, and with arrests made when a church or business opened, news seasoned with the opinions of “experts.”

"The Black Lives Matter Movement with its protests and riots occasionally nudged aside the pandemic as worthy of reporting, but generally coronavirus remained front and center in the headlines. The nomination and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court dominated the news for a few days, and with the election season, those who watch televised news find themselves now in a storm of opinions, polls, and speculations.

"Meanwhile, this hurricane of headlines has swept away events taking place around the world." . . .

How Hunter Biden became the unkempt man who left his laptop in a nondescript computer store in a Delaware shopping mall - and never returned

UK Daily Mail  "Unkempt and unshaven, the man stumbled into the nondescript computer store at a Delaware shopping mall.

"Entering The Mac Shop carrying three water-damaged computers, he approached owner John Paul MacIsaac, who later claimed that he smelled alcohol on the customer's breath.

"Mr MacIsaac was able to fix two of the machines, but the third was beyond repair. Then the customer gave his name: Hunter Biden." . . .

. . . "He decided to look at the recovered material on the laptop – which is now in the hands of the FBI as part of an investigation in which Mr MacIsaac is a material witness – and says a chill ran down his spine.

"The Mail on Sunday today reveals some of that material for the first time – exposing how the son of the man tipped to be America's next President left himself wide open to blackmail.

"Mr MacIsaac fears repercussions. 'I have everything documented. I have everything saved. But the shop is over. I won't be able to sustain my business… too many people are angry.' ". . . 

. . . "Strangely, the story got little traction in the US media. Stranger still, Twitter blocked the New York Post's account while Facebook and Google censored any mention of the article. Under pressure, they relented.

"Even when Tony Bobulinski, a former US Navy serviceman and ex-wrestling champion who was Hunter's business partner, went on Trump-supporting Fox News to confirm he had emails verifying those on the laptop, the story was largely ignored."

. . . "The Mail on Sunday today reveals some of that material for the first time – exposing how the son of the man tipped to be America's next President left himself wide open to blackmail.

"Mr MacIsaac fears repercussions. 'I have everything documented. I have everything saved. But the shop is over. I won't be able to sustain my business… too many people are angry.' " . . .

Finally, as Mr Trump fumed about the absence of media coverage for the Biden Files, the material was offered to The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline.

Twitterboss Jack Dorsey

. . . "Quizzing Twitter's chief executive Jack Dorsey during a virtual Senate hearing last week, Texas senator Ted Cruz asked: 'Who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report and what the American people are allowed to hear?' Mr Dorsey has apologised for Twitter's action and said its treatment of the New York Post story was 'unacceptable'.

"Republicans have long accused the bosses of technology companies of double standards for editing, deleting or fact-checking Mr Trump's posts while allowing harmful hate speech to remain on their services." . . .

 

Bad time for this

 Of all the times to be offline, the next few days may see the Tunnel Wall unable to be online. This evening will tell the tale. TD

A struggle against evil can be humorous

 

Genghis Gary

ome Texas-style humor prompts Karen-style howls from Biden campaign  . . . "One of them even called 911, suddenly taking a shine to the cops they otherwise want to defund.

"The hypocrisy runs thick, to start. This, after all, is the party whose candidate is endorsed by Antifa. The party of looting, rioting, and burning, the party of CHOP, the party of restaurant disruptions, the party of shooting into Trump processions, as happened in Sherman Oaks. "Get in their faces," as Rep. Maxine Waters put it, calling for mobbings of Republicans in public places. 

"Now we see the whimper of the punched bully, the acts and language of the Karen, crying victim and asking to speak to the management. (And apologies to all the nice people named 'Karen,' as a 'Monica,' I know.)" . . .

Democrats made this comparison:

. . . What it sounds like is the Bidenites were looking for an excuse to play victim. One of them calculated that there was more public relations value in claiming that a non-violent funny stunt with Trump flags fluttering around a big Biden bus like Texas swallowtails was 'dangerous' to them than holding the actual rally, which by all counts would attract only a few dozen. Much better for the Bidenites to get the national media to report on the "ambush" and play the victim and establish another phony "narrative" about the dangers of Trump supporters, than to do the actual work of campaigning." . . .

Voting Against Evil

. . . "Joe Biden, the Democrat candidate, professes to be a Roman Catholic, yet like all the other faux Catholic Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, still approves abortion on demand up to delivery. That is infanticide and pure wickedness." . . .

What a major choice America has!

 O. Binkey

If you hate woke education now, wait until Biden is done with it   "Academia has long been the incubator for some of the worst ideas in American society. Since World War II ended, America’s colleges and universities have been indoctrinating young Americans with economic and cultural Marxism, including, among other things, hatred for America, white people, straight people, gender norms, and Christians and Jews. President Trump has finally begun pushing back, but you can expect the Biden administration to double down on this madness if Biden wins.

"Every bit of warped thinking in America started in academia. It started simply enough with economic Marxism. Academics began attacking capitalism and free markets after World War II. The trend accelerated rapidly during the 1960s and became the dominant mindset by the end of the 1990s." . . .

https://www.lucianne.com/

Biden, Never

 National Review

On Election Day, this #NeverBiden voter will vote.

. . . "It is one thing to exaggerate your class standing, to manufacture teen tough-guy stare-downs at the public pool. But this is a wholly different strata of lying in which Biden engaged. Nearly 30 years after his wife’s death, he began telling audiences that Dunn had been drinking, that he had had the old liquid lunch (I wrote about this for NR last year). The Dunn family called out Biden — the boozed-up story was a lie. It denigrated their late dad, who lived out his years bowed by the heaviness of the tragedy. Biden ignored repeated requests to end the fictional death tale. Eventually he stopped (without apologizing). But he should never have started.

"Joe Biden embellished a profound tragedy, he persisted at it, he repeatedly lied in the face of all known evidence, his exaggerations pained actual people, whose cease-and-desist requests were ignored for years. To be Joe Biden means at times to be a twisted Walter Mitty, a contriver who thrills to go down fantastical alleyways. His thought processes, his motivations, his objectives — it can combine, and does, to produce a deeply disturbing package."

. . . 

"A few years later, still the Senate Committee’s chairman, Biden outdid his Bork performance when he oversaw the lurid confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas, which the nominee aptly described as a “high-tech lynching.” Among his many unctuous acts, Biden’s eager and prolonged questioning of Anita Hill on things explicit and pornographic brought at least one viewer to tears, bemoaning how low this hack and his sidekicks had brought the Republic." . . .

Motion for Justice Barrett to Recuse Is Withdrawn

Volokh Conspiracy

Attorneys for Luzerne County are no longer asking the newest justice to recuse from Pennsylvania election litigation. 

"Earlier today, attorneys for Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, filed a notice of withdrawal of their prior motion seeking the recusal of Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett from  Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar. As I noted here, after the initial motion was submitted, the Luzerne County Council voted in support of withdrawing the motion.

"The notice of withdrawal makes no mention of the County's vote. It reads as follows:

Given the Supreme Court's safety protocols, I understand that the Motion to Recuse which was electronically submitted on October 27, 2020, has not yet been officially filed. Given the Supreme Court's refusal to expedite consideration of the petition for a writ of certiorari, thus allowing the Order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to stand presently, we therefore request that the Motion be considered withdrawn.

"The docket for the case now indicates that the prior motion was not accepted for filing.

"For reasons I explained here, I do not believe the applicable standards or relevant precedent supports Justice Barrett's recusal, though each justice ultimately decides whether to recuse in a given case."

Voters’ Guide to 2020 Ballot Initiatives

 Reason 

Voters' Guides on ballot proposals from across the nation to help voters as they research and make decisions on these initiatives.

"Voters planning to participate in the 2020 election have more to consider than who they will vote for in the highly contentious presidential election. In addition to the election of national, state, and local leaders, this year, voters in many states have a number of ballot initiatives to consider. Statewide ballot initiatives typically allow voters to decide on changes to their state constitutions and laws.

"Reason Foundation’s policy analysts have created Voters’ Guides examining over 40 different ballot proposals from across the nation to help voters as they research and make decisions on these initiatives. These guides aim to:

• Provide plain-English explanations of what a given ballot initiative would do, stripping away the jargon and complex language that can make many of them hard to parse through.
• Fairly summarize the pro and con arguments being made, putting an emphasis on what each side puts forward as their strongest arguments but stripping out ad-hominem and attack arguments so it stays focused on substantive policy arguments.
• Provide an overview of the key issues involved, summarizing what data and research say about the arguments of both sides, flagging experience other states may have had with similar laws, and offering other information that might help voters decide about the initiative.

Ed Markey fails his oath of office in his vile attack on Amy Coney Barrett

Chris J. Krisinger

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

" Among the many Democrats throwing fits over Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation, one glaringly stood out.  Sen. Ed Markey, the Democrat from Massachusetts known for his liberal progressive bona fides, issued a bitter judgment of Barrett's judicial philosophy in a Senate floor speech hours before her confirmation last Monday evening.  He specifically took aim at Barrett's embrace of constitutional "originalism," which is the theory that the Constitution's text ought to be given the original public meaning that it would have had at the time it became law.
"Markey then took to Twitter.  "Originalism is racist.  Originalism is sexist.  Originalism is homophobic.  Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination."

"With that tweet, Markey has essentially said our nation's Constitution is "racist."  By his logic, any effort to understand it, and understand its words at the time they were written, is itself racist, sexist, and bigoted, thereby implying that our Constitution itself is imbued with those traits.  Markey's words are no less than a modern-day challenge to the primacy of the document as the foundation of our national rule of law and system of government, which can then only be construed as attempting to undermine the foundation and efficacy of our constitutional republic.

"Progressives like Markey have long derided the theory of "originalism," often arguing that the Constitution is an imperfect document written during a different time in American history and should be interpreted based on the "spirit of law" rather than the written word.  But Markey's attack takes progressives' animus toward the Constitution and its rights contained to new levels." . . .

Senator Ed Markey Slams Judicial ‘Originalism’ as ‘Racist,’ ‘Sexist,’ and ‘Homophobic’

High Noon in America: Will You Fight or Hide?

The question is whether the American people will back the president by getting out to vote. 

Jeffrey Folks . . .  "Though painful, Will Kane's position is not impossible.  His path is clear because he lives by an unwavering code of values.  He remains in town to defend his fellow citizens, even the many who don't appreciate his efforts.  When everyone abandons him, he faces overwhelming odds — four to one — with only the help of his wife, who returns without his knowledge and saves his life in the shootout.

"President Trump faces the same overwhelming odds.  The political establishment, the Deep State, practically the entire media, academe, unions, minorities, environmentalists, foreign nations, and special interests of all stripes have piled on, outraged that the president would actually stand up for ordinary Americans.  They thought Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" was just words — the usual political rhetoric that would be forgotten as soon as the candidate took office.  That's what Joe Biden —" friend of the working man" — has been doing for 47 years.  But President Trump is not a typical politician, and the establishment hate him for it because he exposes what they are.

"The question is whether the American people will back the president by getting out to vote.  In High Noon, a crucial point was that the citizenry of the fictional Hadleyville were too timid and afraid to join in the town's defense.  Now is the time to defend America, and the only way to do so is by casting a vote for President Trump. " . . .

If CNN-Lemon says he has many pro-Trump friends, surely you won't believe him?

Going forward, Lemon doubted if he would be able to enjoy friendships with such people ever again.

 Weasel Zippers   

Speaking of CNN: Lemon, Cuomo, and...Acosta; grave marker for a once-great news source  Excerpts from this article:   “ 'You’re a partisan and biased hack. The world knows it and wants to remind you that we all know that your nothing but a Democratic Party propaganda minister,” tweeted “FreeSpeech.' ”

“What’s wrong is a once great network @CNN spewing bile & trashing the President of the United States 24/7! You reap what you sow!” tweeted “Gailtalk.”

"CNN reporter Jim Acosta took to social media to whine about his job. It seems the 49-year-old Trump hater is perplexed about how Trump supporters treat him and his network at rallies. Poor Jim was searching for a “friendly face” in the midst of a Trump rally."

Biden says Catholic faith guides policies but gets hit on abortion, religious freedom

 Fox News

Biden would be the second practicing Catholic president but many find his policies to be antithetical to the faith

. . . "Ashley McGuire, senior fellow with The Catholic Association -- which has endorsed President Trump's re-election -- told Fox News Biden's candidacy has been confusing to Catholic voters "who believe that being Catholic is more than just another label."

“Joe Biden has campaigned on his Catholic faith while promising policies that contradict Catholic teaching and even threatening the Little Sisters of the Poor," McGuire said. "The Bishops Conference has warned of the devastating consequences of the Equality Act for religious liberty and for girls and women but Joe Biden supports it."

. . . On the issue of abortion, which Biden didn't mention Thursday discussing his devout faith, Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, an anti-abortion organization, tweeted a clear-cut message to the Democratic nominee.

" 'You cannot claim to be a practicing Catholic and support the slaughter of children in the womb. To do so is heinous and despicable. And you cannot claim you 'didn’t know' when your faith, and basic moral law, is telling you loud and clear: You shall not kill," Rose wrote.

"Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, a conservative political advocacy group, said Biden "has put himself on a collision course with the Catholic Church by promising to pass the Equality Act in the first 100 days of his presidency."

"Biden's aggressive support of the Act, together with his extreme abortion position, opposition to school choice, and pledge to restart the war on the Little Sisters makes clear his Catholic faith will be readily sacrificed at the altar of political expediency," Burch added. "Come Tuesday, Catholics must understand the existential threat posed by a Biden-Harris ticket. Donald Trump remains the best – and only – choice for Catholic voters this election.”

"The Catholic vote has been almost evenly split between the two parties. According to Fox News' 2016 exit polls, 50% of Catholics who voted supported Trump and 46% cast their ballots for then-candidate Hillary Clinton." . . .