Category Archives: Media

The Ides of October

Media

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

~Posse Comitatus Act of 1878

I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical-left lunatics.  And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by [the] National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.

~Donald J. Trump/Fox News, October 13, 2024

I start today’s blog with the above quotes for context.  The first, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, states, “In practice, this means that members of the military may not participate in civilian law enforcement unless doing so is expressly authorized by a statute or the Constitution.”  The second is Trump’s exact words during an interview on “Fox News Futures with Maria Bartiromo.” And though Trump and his surrogates try to “sanewash” this clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, claiming he was referring to illegal immigrants already in the country, Trump debunks his own argument by citing Congressman Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi among these bad, sick people who make up “the enemy within.”

To be sure, there ARE enemies within, determined to gaslight Americans and undermine the institutions that ensure domestic tranquility.  Except they are the same people who accuse others of doing just that.  And they were on full display over the past four days.

First, public officials who once warned us of the dangers Donald Trump represents, but since hooking their political stars to the former president, cower at every chance to stand up and say, “We told you so.”  As Joe Scarborough pointed out on social media, the facts never keep Trump surrogates from making fools of themselves.  He summarized Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s effort, during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, to excuse Trump’s threat of turning the military on American citizens, as follows.

The Trump Apologist’s Playbook
Apologist: “He didn’t say it.”
Reporter: Here’s the quote.
Apologist: “I didn’t hear it.”
Reporter:  Here’s the quote.
Apologist:  “He doesn’t mean it.”

However, the award for “sycophant of the week” goes to Brett Baier and Fox News.  During a 30-minute interview with the Democratic nominee, the once reputable  journalist tried to bait Vice President Kamala Harris by asking her to refute one after another of Trump talking points.  At one point, he even showed the Trump television ad about transgender affirming treatment for incarcerated individuals, to which she reminded her host, she was simply following the law, which Trump also did when he was in office.  Although Baier tried again and again to get her to lose her cool, she refused to take the bait.  When senior campaign advisor David Plouffe was asked how he would describe her performance, he gave a one-word answer, “Presidential.”

18 and ½ Minutes – The Museum of Portable SoundHowever, the cherry on top of the sundae came when the discussion turned to Trump’s comments about “the enemy within.”  As I watched that exchange, I harkened back to the accompanying picture used to explain how Richard Nixon’s executive secretary Rosemary Woods “accidently” erased 18 minutes of Oval Office tapes just as the then president was about to instruct his chief of staff to commit a crime.  That is when Baier and Fox News initiated a game of “Can You Top That,” which they did.  

After introducing the topic by reminding Harris (as if she needed it) that she had told rally audiences that Trump threatened to use the military against his political opponents, Baier showed an edited clip from a Fox News town hall in which the moderator, Harris Faulkner, host of the network’s “The Faulkner Focus,” asked Trump about his “enemy within” comments.  The screened version contained only references to illegal immigrants, and according to DEADLINE.COM, included “Trump laughing off his ‘enemy within’ statements and accusing the Democrats of weaponizing the government against their political enemies.”  

Let’s be clear.  Imagine Trump was on trial (not that hard to imagine) for violating the Posse Comitatus Act.  Ignoring the direct evidence (i.e. video of the defendant making the threat), the defense lawyer presents an interview in which the witness says (per Joe Scarborough), “He didn’t say that and, if he did, I didn’t hear him say it, and what’s more, he didn’t really mean it.”  But Harris, the forever prosecutor, was prepared.

Bret, I’m sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy within that he has repeated when he is speaking about the American people.  That’s not what you just showed.

Do Fox News producers honestly believe that if you edit one copy of a video, every other copy is likewise modified?

The banner headline on this morning’s Drudge Report says it all.  “CAT EATS FOX”  The only question left is whether those who believe Harris’ interviewer is in a different class from Fox News‘ nighttime hosts, an objective journalist instead of a MAGA cheerleader, are asking, “Et tu, Brett Baier?”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

The Civics of Disaster

Media, Politics

In the past few weeks, current events have grabbed my attention and taken me away from the topic of demands for more civics education in schools.  In an August post, “Civics Advocate, Heal Thyself,” I argued much of the research on which this movement is based asked the wrong questions.  To understand the Constitution and governance based on that document, the names of certain office holders are temporal and therefore less important than the processes by which these office holders make decisions.

Just as current events took me away from this topic, a current event, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene brings it back in focus.  Response to a natural disaster is the perfect opportunity to educate people how government works.  And whereas I often turn to experts and their research to bolster an argument, today I will speak from experience.

In April 1983, Texas Governor Mark White approved my appointment as state director of housing and community development.  My team’s primary responsibilities included distributing $41 million/year in HUD block grants and tracking Section 8 housing expenditures.  In December of that same year, Texans experienced the most severe cold snap in the Lone Star State’s history.  The citrus and produce industry along the Rio Grande border was devastated when the high temperature on December 18 was less than the previous all-time low for the same date.

The next morning Governor White invited program directors from several agencies to his office to discuss a recovery plan.  The common denominator among the invitees was each “controlled” a significant amount of discretionary funds.  After being briefed on the economic stress in South Texas including 27 percent unemployment in Starr County, the governor then asked us “to start writing checks” so impacted residents could purchase essentials during the recovery period.  My counterparts in other agencies and I had to remind Governor White that our programs, authorized by federal or state law, restricted both the uses and recipients of the legislatively appropriated funds.

For programs my team administered, eligible recipients were local governments and qualified expenses were limited to public improvements or services.  Within hours we were on the phone with mayors and county judges (Texas’ equivalent to county commissioners who also have some judicial responsibilities).  We were able to identify qualified projects and activities for which displaced farmworkers could be hired and paid at prevailing wage rates.  One example was removal of freeze-damaged trees along U.S. Highway 83, which parallels the Rio Grande River from Brownsville to El Paso.  The State Transportation Commission had federal funds under a “transportation enhancement” program which could be used to purchase trees and other flora to reduce soil erosion or beautify highway corridors.  Therefore, we were able to provide additional income to workers who helped with reforestation of the most impacted areas.

Concurrently, FEMA brought in trailers and heated tents to house residents with inadequate home heating to counter the arctic-like temperatures.  No one person or agency had all the answers or resources.  But many of us could pick a niche and did what we could.  To coordinate the effort of so many agencies (federal, state and local), a control center was established at the National Guard Armory in McAllen, Texas where progress was monitored and lingering problems could be addressed.

Equally important, the only two phrases I ever heard from elected officials in the region were, “Thank you,” and “What else can we do to help?”  If Donald Trump understood what it takes to respond to an unprecedented natural disaster he would be ashamed of his rhetoric since Helene uprooted communities, business and families in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.  But he has no shame.  Nor do his enablers who have repeated and amplified his lies.

Which is why I am grateful for the few Republicans such as Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis, and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp who have all shared stories about the effective involvement of a host of public and private responders, including FEMA.  The most damning description of Trump’s irresponsible behavior comes from the editorial board of the Charlotte Observer.

This is not a situation to capitalize on for political gain. But former President Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together…There’s no evidence to support any of those ridiculous claims. And by every indication, state and federal agencies have been working to help people in need.

One more reminder to voters they have a choice on November 5.  On one side a candidate who understands that government, more than at any other time, can and should help Americans when they face hardship which is no fault of their own.  On the other, a candidate who when informed of an imminent pandemic declares, “It is only one or two cases and will be over soon.”  Who when told his own vice-president is in danger of harm  says, “So what?”  And this week falsely accuses immigrants of syphoning life-saving resources being sent to disaster zones.

What better civics lesson than one you can see unfold in real time.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Media, Politics

The purpose of today’s post is not to make light of the second attempt to assassinate former president Donald Trump.  Political violence, under any circumstances, is not acceptable in a democracy where their vote is the only weapon citizens should wield.  Nor do I have the definitive answer how the Secret Service can guarantee the safety and security of any public figure.  My goal, as always, is to ask questions that no one else seems to proffer.  But first, two important facts.

#1: The following picture taken by Palm Beach Post photographer Thomas Cordy shows the section of the perimeter where Ryan Routh camped out for close to 12 hours on Sunday morning.

This photograph also appeared in an article by BBC News correspondent Madeline Halpert in which she describes the situation Sunday morning as follows.

The gunman – who investigators say did not fire any shots – was concealed by the well-manicured shrubbery and tall palm trees that line the perimeter of the 27-hole course.

He had been lurking there on the public side of a fence since 01:59 local time on Sunday morning, according to mobile phone records, cited by federal officials.

#2: Unobstructed line-of-sight photographs of a golfing Trump taken from outside the course’s perimeter set off alarm bells among those tasked with the president’s security.  On Monday, Washington Post investigative reporters Carol Leonig, Josh Dawsey and Isaac Stanley-Becker reminded readers these concerns existed from day one of the Trump presidency.

Soon after Donald Trump became president, authorities tried to warn him about the risks posed by golfing at his own courses because of their proximity to public roads. 

These two facts raise the question, “If security was such an issue when Trump was playing golf, no infrequent situation, why would HE permit those responsible for the perimeter of HIS golf course, to configure the barrier between public roads and his private property in such a way that they literally created a shooting blind for a wannabe assassin?”  If only the “well-manicured shrubbery and tall palm trees” had been INSIDE the fence, there is no way anyone on the public side of the fence could go unnoticed, especially if he camped out for 12 hours.

What’s more, putting the bushes and trees INSIDE the fence would add an additional level of difficulty for anyone targeting Trump.   The gunman would have to aim and shoot through the shrubbery, not from it.

One answer, of course, is vanity.  It is easy to imagine the conversation between Trump and course designer Jim Fazio back in 1999 when Fazio was commissioned to lay out what became Trump’s first golf property.

Jim, you know, it’s not enough for the course to be beautiful.  I want all those people who cannot get in, but pass by, to see how magnificent it is.  We need to surround the course with the most perfect, beautiful landscaping in the world.  It can’t look like a prison.

That may have been acceptable when the owner was a bankrupt real estate developer turned reality show host.  But not as president or now former president/MAGA party nominee.

There is one other option.  The next time Trump hosts a rally at Mar-a-Lago, he can reach deep down into his bag of greatest hits and revive the chant, “Build that wall.  Build that wall.”  To save money, he could replicate the winning design from the border wall competition, 30-feet high, black paint with spikes on the posts.  And he could sell official DJT golf apparel and equipment to pay for it.  Maybe even auction the polo shirt he was wearing at the time of the intended assault.

Of course, the fence might serve a future and quite different purpose.  Trump International could become his personal minimum security prison, if Judge Merchan and others sentence him to house arrest.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

The Wall Street Enquirer

Media

The Past Is Prologue.

~William Shakespeare/The Tempest

For those with very short-term memory issues, let me remind you of the three key elements in the conspiracy between Donald Trump and America Media, Inc. publisher David Pecker for which Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges.

  • Publish good stories about Trump.
  • Kill bad stories about Trump.
  • Make up stories about Trump’s opponents.

After such a decisive verdict from 12 of Mr. Trump’s peers, one would think “main stream media” outlets would understand the difference between journalism and propaganda.  Based on the June 6, 2024 front-page article about President Joe Biden’s mental acuity in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), it is obvious publisher Almar Latour and editor-in-chief Emma Tucker did not get that message.

The article titled “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping,” according to the WSJ, is based on “accounts from both Republicans and Democrats.” It did not take long for real investigative journalists to provide evidence that the only thing happening behind closed doors is that MAGA interviewees were telling the WSJ the exact opposite what THEY were saying in private.  The best example involves former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He told the WSJ that “[Biden] would ramble.  He always had cards.  He couldn’t negotiate another way.”

Kevin, it was a frigging budget/debt ceiling negotiation.  Could you reel off revenue, expense and interest numbers from memory?  And there are innumerable photographs with you speaking from cards.  Then you complained that he seemed to rely on staff.  If it was so important that the president be the only spokesman for the administration, was not the same true for you?  Yet you delegated further negotiations to representatives Garret Graves (LA) and Patrick McHenry (NC).  But don’t take my word for it.  Immediately following the debt agreement, McCarthy told Capitol Hill reporters that Biden had been “…very professional, very smart.  Very tough at the same time.”

And look at the results. Biden got a two-year debt ceiling deal the House Democratic caucus would support, and Kevin McCarthy lost his job.  How ironic is it the Wall Street Enquirer questioned Michael Cohen’s veracity in order to exact revenge against Trump because the latter did not offer him a White House job?  Yet, never considered McCarthy’s motive for changing his tune to bolster the WSJ’s hit job might be the fact Biden ate his lunch and cost him the third most powerful position in America.  Is this not just one degree of separation from the National Enquirer’s making up stories about Trump’s opponents?

To recap, Rupert Murdoch and the WSJ have grabbed the baton from David Pecker and the actual Enquirer.  In fact you can make the case based solely on one edition (June 14, 2024).

  • Print good stories about Trump.  “Virginia Hasn’t Backed a Republican for President in Two Decades. Is It About to Flip?”
  • Kill bad stories about Trump. No mention of Trump’s calling Milwaukee, the site of the Republican National Convention, a “horrible city.”
  • Print bad stories about Trump opponents. “Merrick Garland Earned Congress’s Contempt.”

The only difference is we do not know (yet) if the similarity is based on a unilateral decision by Murdoch and the WSJ to boost their preferred candidate or a meeting between WSJ operatives and the Trump campaign.  For all we know it might have been hosted by Harlan Crow at Bohemian Grove.

POSTSCRIPT: I KNOW IT’S WRONG

Georgia O'Keeffe on the Art of Seeing – The MarginalianI find it hard to pass up a great joke just because it is politically incorrect.  This morning I crossed that red line when I learned that Georgia O’Keeffe was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, a one-hour drive on I-94. west of Milwaukee.  My first thought?  Instead of the actual headline in yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Donald Trump calls Milwaukee ‘a  horrible city’ weeks before RNC comes to town,” would a more appropriate headline be, “Trump Grabs Milwaukee by the O’Keeffe.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

The Truth and Consequences

Media

Like many anxious Americans, I spent much of this past week flipping between MSNBC and CNN looking for the best coverage of the Trump falsified business records/hush money/election interference trial.  MSNBC provided the best analysis with its stable of experienced former prosecutors and defense lawyers including Lisa Rubin, Neal Katyal, Harry Littman, Joyce Vance and Barbara McQuade.  However, the quality of their coverage depended on a full house of distinguished attorneys and journalists, who not only knew the law, but knew how Donald Trump responds to it.  Andrew Weissman, lead investigator for special counsel Robert Mueller.  New York Times investigative reporter Susanne Craig, who shared a Pulitzer Prize, with two colleagues, for their coverage of Trump’s finances including the fact he paid a total of $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and paid none in 10 of the 15 previous years.  Tristan Snell, a former New York state assistant attorney general, who lead the successful prosecution of Trump University which resulted in a $25 million settlement to the enrollees he defrauded.

The MSNBC coup d’état was snagging Lachlan Cartwright, the assistant editor at the National Enquirer during the period publisher David Pecker and editor Dylan Howard, in his words, “…transformed the grocery store tabloid into a criminal enterprise.”  He wrote a detailed memoir of his time at the National Enquirer in an April 2024 New York Times Magazine article “What I Saw Working at the National Enquirer during Donald Trump’s Rise.”  On Friday’s edition of “Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace,” Cartwright revealed he was the source who provided information for the November 4, 2016 Wall Street Journal article, “National Enquirer Shielded Donald Trump from Playboy Model’s Affair Allegation,” which first exposed the “catch and kill” conspiracy.

Where CNN excelled was in the most up-to-date blogging of testimony from the overflow room at the courthouse.  (NOTE TO MSNBC HR:  Hire faster typists.) Moreover, CNN anchors, before analyzing the testimony, read the blogs as they came in, which proved indispensable for SiriusXM listeners who could not see the running dialogue on a sidebar.

For my regular followers, do not worry.  I am not planning to become a full time media critic.  As always, my goal is to find the story that everyone missed or got wrong.  In this case, it was the propensity of reporters and pundits on all of the media outlets to downplay the importance of this trial.  I realized how ludicrous this was when MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos described how he thought trial judge Juan Merchan might calculate appropriate punishment for the crimes committed.  He tried to explain how this was different from most false business records cases because the crime is usually tied to some monetary benefit (e.g. inflating value of an asset or tax evasion).  At which point, he said something that struck a nerve.  I do not have the transcript so I can only paraphrase.  Cevallos suggested there were no victims other than the voters because no individuals lost money as result of the conspiracy.  And the consequences of the January 6 trial and the classified records trial are more apparent and serious.

Sorry Danny.  You can only reach that conclusion, if you do not look hard enough.  I would argue this crime was the most consequential of any of the charges against Trump.   Why? The violent insurrection failed and Joe Biden was sworn in as president two weeks later.  He may have pressured Georgia election officials to change the vote count, but, in the end, he failed to get the state’s electoral votes.  The on-going investigation of the documents case may reveal more serious crimes based on who may or may not have been given access, but Trump is certainly under constant scrutiny to ensure he can do no further damage.

In this case, despite being found guilty, the conspiracy worked.  He became president of the United States.  He appointed three individuals to life-time appointments to the Supreme Court who perjured themselves before the Senate Judiciary Committee when asked about the legal precedent of Roe v. Wade.  Danny, do you think nobody has suffered monetarily from the Dobbs decision?  Or there is no financial element to the Court’s consistent judgments in favor of business over labor.

And how about the non-monetary consequences?  Do you think it makes no difference when individuals are denied a constitutional right when the Court dilutes minority voting power based on Supreme Court decisions nullifying the Voting Rights Act and refuses to acknowledge racial gerrymandering?

What about the hardship for families and friends of the 250,000 individuals who died of COVID during Trump’s last year in office when, in March 2020, Donald Trump told Americans there was nothing to worry about despite telling Bob Woodrow the opposite in two months earlier?  And how about the financial stress of those still suffering from long-COVID because of a man whose criminal behavior may have made the difference in the outcome of the 2016 election?

Are there no consequences when he gave away millions of dollars in federal revenue through tax cuts he lied would pay for themselves?  Instead, he added eight trillion dollars to the national debt.  Again Danny, do you really think there are no monetary consequences to the higher interest rates resulting from that gift to the “one percent” and major corporations?

Danny, I could go on and on about the monetary and non-monetary damages caused by this convicted felon, but hopefully you now see the whole picture.  This was the MOST consequential of all the charges against Trump when it comes to impact. 

Though I doubt it will make a difference, the public can send letters to Judge Merchan which will be part of the sentencing input.  I will be submitting a version of this blog for his consideration and urge others, especially if you have evidence that you have suffered from having a truly illegitimate president in the Oval Office.  Address your correspondence to: 

The Honorable Juan M. Merchan
Supreme Court of the State of New York
100 Centre Street
New York, NY  10013

NOTE: You know who got it right?  That liar, cheat and thief Michael Cohen.  In his first interview following the guilty verdict, Cohen urged listeners “not to handicap this trial against the others as if it was a horse race.”  His point, each of Donald Trump’s crimes have serious consequences. 

All you have to do is look.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP