Month: March 2020

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Message from Vin Scully

His voice is one of my earliest memories. No matter where I am or what I am doing, when Vin’s voice comes over the radio it transports me to a special and private vacation spot of the mind. Somewhere Vin is out at the park, it is a bright sunny day, the crowd is swarming in, the organ is echoing in the stadium, and your only concern is what you are going to have on your hot dog.  I miss his calming presence on the radio and TV.

Special bonus – one of the great moments in baseball:

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CBS faking news – journalism

The media are determined to blame Trump for the virus and any negative thing they can find to drive Trump from office. May media efforts fail miserably.

Here is their excuse:

CBS Blames ‘Editing Mistake’ for Italian Hospital Footage in Report on NYC Hospital Conditions

Funny how these editing mistakes always go in the same direction

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Epidemic of Media Partisanship

Richard Benedetto:

“…So, what should we make of all this negativity on the part of The Washington Post and other national news organizations? (The Post is hardly alone.) As a newspaper reporter on the local, state and national levels for nearly 40 years, and as a journalism and political science professor for 15 years, I find it highly disturbing. I am reminded of a course I took in graduate school that focused on the responsibility of the media. I recall the professor noting that with the American press enjoying such great freedom, it becomes even more important that it wield that freedom judiciously.

“With such great freedom comes even greater responsibility” is the way that professor wisely put it. It is a lesson I never forgot. Of course, there is no law against the Post or other news organizations framing its coronavirus coverage with a highly negative and anti-Trump slant. But there is obligation to readers to present its information in a fair and balanced manner.

This is not to say that the media should be painting rosy pictures of a very dangerous situation. At the same time, they should not be using the crisis to frighten people and further their own political agenda.The American public, which is anxious enough in these perilous times, doesn’t need its trusted news sources to be playing political games…”

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The unbearable pettiness of the Washington press corps

Worth clicking over

Patricia McCarthy:

“…Those of us who have been watching President Trump’s daily press briefings on the Covid19 virus have not been surprised at the appalling disrespect the reporters show the man. They have behaved this way since Trump became a candidate for the office of the presidency.

As the world now grapples with this pandemic, each day the President and his team patiently explain to these people everything they know to date, and then he takes questions. Nearly every question is an attempt at a gotcha moment. They read part of a statement the President made, often an edited statement, then challenge him to defend that which needs no defense. He has defeated them, but they have yet to realize it…

…But every question from this press corps is meant to impugn the President’s handling of this global event. They make fools of themselves day after day and are apparently too dim to realize that fact, so they show up the next day and embarrass themselves again. They ask questions that simply cannot be answered at this point. They ask for speculation then attack him for speculating.

The President mentions a possible successful treatment and they denounce both him and the drug — which has so far turned out to be very successful. No matter how many times he explains that the team is doing its very best to come up with appropriate guidelines as new data is revealed, they seem to think Trump should be able to answer the unanswerable. Like a cackle of hyenas, they shout at him, each asking the same questions over and over again. He patiently answers or has one of the virology experts present address the question, but no answer pleases them.

Each one of them wants to catch him in a mistake so the clip of their question will go viral. But what has gone viral is the absolute inanity of these people and Trump’s restraint and aplomb before them. Most people could not, would not put up with such a despicable colony of weasels…”

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Doug Santo