Can We PLEASE Just Stop?

Have you noticed that it’s no longer enough to call this month June? However, that’s just the beginning, and really, describing the month we’re in as “June” doesn’t apparently do it justice. That’s why June is also called, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Men’s Health Awareness Month, Gun Violence Awareness Month, Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, Immigrant Heritage Month, and of course there is the always popular, Cancer From The Sun Month.

And shoot…we forgot about the 15,000 different things that are celebrated not on a monthly basis, but on a daily and weekly basis as well. Yes, there’s Father’s Day. It’s been lost among the thousands of other “days” out there. I’m talking about things like “Global Running Day”, who could bypass that day without a celebratory cake of some sort?

Like a lot of other things in our society, it seems to me that the naming of months has gotten to the point where if you’re not mentioned in a month, you have a better chance of getting remembered than if you do. June is the month, by the way, that all of these “woke companies” like Nike and Anheuser-Busch show how much they care by changing their logo’s to include a rainbow. Isn’t that nice? Now they can attract more gay customers! Of course, come July 1st, it’s back to the normal logo.

Personally, and it’s just my opinion, but I’ve never heard of half of these things. No, make that 90% of them. We hear about the LGBTQ+ thing because it’s jammed down our throats like… well, I’m not going to go there. Use your imagination. Frankly, I think we’ve all had enough. Have you been aware that this is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month? And is anyone outside of the Alzheimer Association doing anything about it? In fact, let me ask the question, how in the world do you celebrate that month? Same with Men’s Health Awareness Month. Do I get my prostate checked? It’s already a busy month for me. I’m not sure I can squeeze a doctor’s appointment in…especially for that exam!

Can we please erase all of these “month-long celebrations” and get back to living normal lives? We don’t need to know about Fried Donut Day (yes…you missed it, it was yesterday). While it’s cute to run across and I’m sure someone, somewhere stopped by Krispy Kreme to buy one, most of America was too busy to care. But you can make it up. Today is National Cheese Day. It’s also International Corgi Day, Hug Your Cat Day, and National Trails Day (for people on LSD?)

And I bet none of you were aware of any of those, right?

So, let’s do us all a favor, and put Chase’s Calendar out of business…they’ve had a good run. Let’s do away with all of these celebratory days, weeks, months, and years. Let’s all get back to living our lives. Who in the world cares if this coming Wednesday is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day? In my mind, it’s MUCH more important to know that Tuesday is the World War II D-Day Anniversary. Let’s spend our time remembering some history before the liberals rewrite it to the point that it never existed. Another example that George Orwell was right all those years ago!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

CNN Head Defends Trump Town Hall

Oh, there weren’t many employees of CNN that were very happy about Chris Licht’s decision to move forward with a town hall broadcast featuring the GOP leading candidate at this point, Donald Trump. Many of the employees thought that Licht was on some very powerful drugs. Some like Oliver Darcy, the CNN media reporter, got hauled into Licht’s office for a bitch session. He was berated for the way he covered the event, and tried to push back, but Licht failed to back down. People that watched Darcy come out of Licht’s office described him as “visibly shaken”.

Of course, the leftist socialists that comprise CNN’s audience couldn’t believe one of the left’s strongest allies was going to give a Republican time to spout whatever they wanted to on the channel. All sorts of leftist whack jobs came forth to complain. But it didn’t do any good. Chris Licht is trying very hard to make CNN a news channel to rival Fox News, not come in third behind MSNBC on a daily basis. So far, he’s met with a lot of resistance, and has had to fire a lot of personnel.

One that may end up being on the chopping block because of this is Kaitlan Collins, the 31 year-old that tried to fact check Trump in real time with terrible results. It got so bad that at the end of the broadcast, Trump called her “a nasty person”, and commented that she was a very bad host. It was very obvious to anyone that watched, and even those that only saw the highlights, Collins was way out of her league. The fact-checking didn’t go very well. She tried in real time to fact-check the former president, and failed miserably at it. Her style was anything less than professional, often arguing with Trump. That’s not a town hall, Kaitlin. That’s a debate, and you’re not running for anything (other than a job).

I do have to give Chris Licht some credit. He said when he came on board a year ago that he was going to make CNN more mainstream and less of a party platform for the Democrats and the Socialists out there. He has largely succeeded in that. When you look at the people that have left CNN in the past year, either of their own accord or by the boot, it’s pretty astonishing. Brian Stelter, Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo (though he left before Licht got there), and the entire CNN+ group except for Chris Wallace, who really isn’t really doing much of anything there are all gone or heading out the door. Now you can soon add Oliver Darcy and possibly Kaitlin Collins to the mix.

It’s all done by design. Chris Licht was hired for one very simple reason. Advertisers weren’t flocking to the news channel because viewers were leaving it in droves. Oh, it happens to every news channel after a major election, and 2020 was no different. But where the audience usually comes back after a couple of months (it took six months in Fox News case), they were flipped to MSNBC when it came to CNN. And the one-time king of cable news not only was dethroned, but was relegated to a daily third place finish. Licht’s job was to correct that. And he’s making strides.

CNN is no longer a bash-Trump, bash-Republicans channel. Oh, they still have their slant, and it’s decidedly liberal. But in the end, it’s a lot better than it had been. I still hate watching the channel because it is still a liberal bastion, just not a socialist liberal bastion.

The key for Licht’s success will be in the numbers. If the audience comes back, the advertisers will come back. And if that happens you can kiss any chance of CNN returning to it’s liberal ways anytime soon. And who know? They may just end up giving Fox News a run for their money!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

The End Of Conservatism?

If I were to ask you to name where it is you go to get the honest to God up to date news on the Conservative movement in America, where would you point me? Fox News? Well, not much any more. They’ve lost quite a few folks in the ratings since the 2020 election, though they are still number one in cable news. What about newspapers? I’m just joking. That has as much sense as saying CNN, MSNBC, or the broadcast networks’ newscasts.

You’d probably point me to AM radio…which since Rush Limbaugh went national, has become a juggernaut that the left hasn’t figured out how to defeat…until now.

And now, AM radio is starting to look like it’s going to go the way of Limbaugh…and be a thing of the past.

It’s sad for me personally because I made my living on News/Talk radio, both as on-air host, and selling advertising on it. Rush Limbaugh made me a ton of money in my career! But I wince as I watch what is currently happening. The first AM station I worked at, a small market station in southeastern Michigan, has “gone dark”. It was purchased by the rival FM station in town, and they basically just shut it off. It was also the place that gave Phil Donahue his start (though he became a LOT more famous than I ever did!)

But Joe Biden’s love of electric cars may be the death of AM radio. And with it conservative talk. That’s because the auto makers that make those electric vehicles are saying that AM has some sort of interference with their cars’ engines, and the interference makes it almost impossible to listen to AM. So, Ford, Tesla, Volvo, BMW, Mazda, and Volkswagon have all said they are not going to include the AM band in their cars. That means no (or very little) News/Talk. It could actually be the death of talk radio. 73% of all radio listening these days is done in a car. And you should know that no medium can survive when three-fourths of it’s audience goes away. So, if EV’s catch on, either now or in the future, you can say goodbye to the oldest form of radio broadcasting…the AM band.

Now, the question becomes, is this part of a wider conspiracy the left has to once again, take over ALL of the media out there? Or is this just a problem that the engineers at these companies are too lazy to try and figure out? My initial feel is this is a concerted effort on behalf of the leftist socialists in this country to take away one of the most important vehicles of communications the conservatives have…the radio. Remember, Joesph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda under Adolf Hitler said, if you’re going to take over a country, you first need to control the media. And that’s EXACTLY what this does. Take away AM radio, and you take away talk radio, which liberals have tried to compete with since the 1990’s. They’ve failed every step of the way. It’s amazing to me that the one thing that could allow them a victory in this realm would be that carmakers decide that they can no longer put AM in their vehicles.

If you take away the News/Talk format from AM radio, where does it go? Some would trickle down to the FM band. There are a smattering of News/Talk stations on the FM dial these days, but it’s rare. I would assume most of it would be found right here, on the internet. I’ve said for years that the internet is going to be the one source for all of our information and entertainment in the future…until something else comes along (there’s always something else that comes along). And who controls the internet these days? Companies like Microsoft, Alphabet Google, Meta, and Twitter. Those aren’t exactly the most unbiased companies in this country, are they? And when they see that they can control the content of what goes out on the internet, as we’ve already seen, you’re going to get the liberalization of the internet like you’ve never seen before. You’re going to think the left taking over your kids’ education is just popcorn and peanut butter compared to the indoctrination you’re in for up the road.

There has to be something that conservatives can do to stop this, and the easiest thing is do not even consider buying an electric vehicle. History has proven that there are always bad ideas that companies throw big bucks into that end up being trashed before something better finally comes along and I think that is right where the EV’s in this country are. They aren’t a great idea, but if you’re trying to find alternative fuels, they seem to be a decent first step. And the easiest way to get away from this whole takeover happening is not to buy what they’re selling. It’s just that simple!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Eating Their Own

I always knew the time would come when liberals would eat liberals. It was just as natural as the sun rising in the east. And the reason is simple. There are so many differing factions to the Democrats and the liberals out there that they are bound to run into each other on occasion. But this one may have taken the cake.

Now, they are upset at CNN!

Oh, it’s happened in the past. In fact, it happened on Joe Biden’s first day as president. Remember he decided his first act in the White House was to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline project? Up to 11,000 people, all union members (read that as liberal…though the members usually aren’t) lost their jobs when Biden cancelled the project. But it happened again after CNN ran a town hall gathering with Donald Trump.

CNN had a town hall meeting with Donald Trump?

Yup. It was hosted by Kaitlan Collins, and had a bunch of Republicans and right-leaning independents in the audience. Trump was Trump, eschewing the fact that he had the 2020 election stolen from him. And he went on to say time and time again that Joe Biden isn’t fit to be the president in the first place.

And oh, did the libs every attack CNN for even considering to hold the town hall. Here’s the tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “CNN should be ashamed of themselves. They have lost total control of this ‘town hall’ to again be manipulated into platforming election disinformation, defenses of Jan 6th, and a public attack on a sexual abuse victim. The audience is cheering him on and laughing at the host.”

And it went on like that as the normally socialist network was lambasted by it’s audience. How dare they give a speck of time to a Republican, especially someone like Donald Trump?! They should be ashamed!!!

And that in a nutshell is the difference between the leftist socialist news channels, and what you see on the more conservative side, like Fox News, and Newsmax. At least Fox and to a lesser extent Newsmax are attempting to bring in the liberal view from time to time. Fox does a much better job of it, but they still manage to mostly either get rather moderate Democrats like Harold Ford Jr. or Geraldo Rivera to expound the liberal philosophy, or they end up with die-hard socialists that really make fools of themselves. Marie Harf, Leslie Marshall, and Jessica Tarlov come to mind of folks that fit into that vein.

You never really see a network like CNN or MSNBC catering to the other side. And when you do, it’s usually because they are bashing something a Republican somewhere has done. Here’s an example. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican Chairman of the House Oversight Committee held a press conference on Wednesday to show the world banking records his committee has uncovered regarding the Bidens. He outlined how there were fifteen different shell companies set up, mostly by Hunter Biden, and a few by Hunter’s buddies, that ended up funneling the money to nine different Bidens. You didn’t even hear word one of that on CNN or MSNBC. I don’t think any of the traditional networks broadcast that either. What they were busy talking about was the indictment of George Santos, the Republican Representative from New York that lied throughout his campaign. No mention of the Biden scandal, but they spent oodles of time covering this numbnutz.

And there in a nutshell is the difference between liberal and conservative. You can’t do anything right if you even mention the other side if you’re a liberal. And if you DON’T cover both sides as a conservative you’re hammered, not just by your own side, but by the left as well. And that’s how the left is able to sweep a lot of their more damning scandals under the rug. The question is, are they really going to be able to do it with Joe and Hunter Biden? And if that day comes, do you think places like CNN and MSNBC and the three broadcast networks will actually mention it? Back in the days of Watergate, all of the broadcast networks suspended their regular programming to cover the investigations on Capitol Hill about Richard Nixon. The phrase, “What did he know and when did he know it” became a part of our lexicon that is still used today. I doubt seriously you’ll see any of the broadcast networks cut into their soap operas and game shows to cover Joe Biden’s trial.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Writers Strike. Is Anybody Listening?

The short answer to that question is probably not right now. Oh, there may be fans of late night TV shows like The Tonight Show, or Late Night that might. If you’re a fan of Saturday Night Live, you’re going to have to find something else to do at 11;30pm on Saturdays. But will it really effect any of us?

My bet is it will.

Well, let me qualify that. It will if you watch prime time TV at all. If you or your better half is hooked on some soap opera, you’ll notice pretty quickly that they’ll be airing episodes from the 1990’s very soon. As for most of the prime time line up, all of the big season ending finales have already been shot, edited and ready to air sometime this month. May after all is a sweeps period. It’s a big time for the TV networks because in May, the TV networks all show their fall lineups to potential advertisers. And they announce the new shows, and those that didn’t make the cut.

But will it effect you in the short term? Probably not. The Writers’ Guild of America is the group that has gone on strike. They did this back in 2008, and were out of action for about three months. Several shows got delayed in their fall debut, because they didn’t have anything to shoot when they don’t have a script. And a lot of the programs that are daily programs like the Tonight Show need a cast of writers just to make sure that the monologue goes smoothly and is reasonably funny.

So, no…in the short term, it’s probably the worst time for the writers to strike. In the long term, it could impact the fall premieres. And what is it that they want?

Well, this time around, they are looking to raise the minimums that they get for writing. They want to increase the number of writers on a show’s staff, and they want less “exclusive writers” meaning only one person gets to write a whole series type of thing. They also are upset because they don’t think they are getting a fair share from all of the streaming channels that are out there. Places like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount+, Hulu and the like are all running a little different pay scale when it comes to their shows.

In the long run, there will be a settlement. The writers will go back to work, and things will return to normal. But if you’re a couch potato, or you have a favorite show that you just can’t miss, you’re going to be out of luck for the better part of the summer, and probably into the fall unless both sides in this fight settle things quickly. That, by the way isn’t likely to happen. The last strike in 2008, lasted three months. And both sides are predicting that this time around it could go longer. That means you probably aren’t going to be watching your new shows in September…you may have to wait until January to see that cliffhanger that aired last night!

My question is, with all of the misery going on in the world between the economy going belly up and banks collapsing, interest rates at 16 year highs, economic growth slowing to the point of contraction, a southern border crisis expected to explode any day now, crime on the rise in amounts we haven’t seen in our lifetimes, a war in Ukraine that could very well be a precursor to World War III, China acting belligerent toward Taiwan, and making threats to take over the dollar with their own currency, and some of our allies climbing on board with that, and a presidential election that could see both candidates in orange jumpsuits by the time November 2024 rolls around, does anyone really care what a bunch of writers are saying? I know I don’t…and I do spend an inordinate amount of time watching TV at night!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Can Jean-Pierre Discern The Truth From Fiction?

I don’t think so. Karine Jean-Pierre took over about a year ago from Jen Psaki as the White House press secretary when Psaki wanted to leave the White House, and take on a much more lucrative and less time consuming job at MSNBC. She ended up getting her own show after a couple of months. For Jean-Pierre, it’s been anything but a sweet ride.

And it continues to be a daily lie-infested diatribe from the White House podium.

In a recent stab at twisting history and the truth, Jean-Pierre made this comment: “You’ve seen illegal immigration come down 90%”. When she was questioned where she got that number, this was her response,  

“The Biden administration deals with the immigration system in a humane way, a way that actually deals with what we’re seeing at the border. And that’s why you’ve seen the parolee program be so successful. It has. It has. It has,” she said. “When it comes to illegal immigration, you’ve seen it come down by more than 90%. And that’s because of the actions that this president has taken. But we know that more action needs to be taken. Congress is responsible to take actions further than what President Biden has done thus far, but this issue is important to this president.”

Yikes!

The outright hypocrisy of that statement tells us one of two things. Either Jean-Pierre is a mega-habitual liar and can’t be trusted to say anything truthfully, or she is totally being left out of the loop at the White House and has to fend for herself against an ever increasing group of reporters who are just trying to get to the truth.

At first it was just Peter Doocy at Fox News that was asking the tough questions, with a lot of others tossing softballs at Jean-Pierre. But soon, because of the lies and the mis-statement of the facts, others have chimed in. Now even the vaunted New York Times, Washington Post, and other outlets have questioned her ability to tell the truth.

Let’s be clear. She did find a nugget of truth in the comment above. The illegal immigration that has fallen 90% actually has occurred. It’s come from the four countries that are now supposed to use this White House app in order to schedule an appointment to get their asylum hearings held. They have to do that before they attempt to cross into the country illegally. If they don’t, they are supposed to be deported and not be able to return. But she never made that distinction. It sounded like she was trying to sell the notion that illegal immigration at the southern border was down 90% because of Joe Biden. Actually, it’s increased to record high levels.

Now, I will say that she’s right on one account. It is indeed up to Congress to come up with a bill that fixes immigration, and would also punish those that enter the country illegally. If Congress were to pass a bi-partisan bill in that regard, and there is some movement toward that, then Biden would have to sign it. To not sign it would be a travesty and would prove that everything his administration hasn’t done to fix the border crisis has been done intentionally. That would not only spell the end of Joe Biden’s reign, but K-baby Harris, and Alejandro Mayorkas as well.

But the overriding problem is that Jean-Pierre is either an habitual liar or just plain stupid and doesn’t care what the facts are. Either way, this is what happens when you hire people based on race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. You get people in roles that they are woefully not qualified for, and Jean-Pierre is just one example in this administration that that statement is true.

Carry on world, you’re dismissed!

Are You Sick Of The Mouse Yet?

I’ll never forget, as a kid, watching The Wonderful World of Disney on NBC every Sunday night. Yeah, I know, it was on the same time as Ed Sullivan, which meant I missed watching The Beatles, The Stones, and other groups Ed had on. But I got to see all the wonders Walt would talk about Disneyland (Disney World was just a dream at that point). And I wanted to go, like every other kid in America.

We ended up going when I was 14. It was everything I thought it would be. It was a two-day adventure of standing in lines (which I didn’t care about), and going on all of the rides I saw on TV. What a blast.

Fast forward a few years when I took my own two kids to Disney World in Florida. My daughter was in love with Minnie Mouse, and my son just loved all of the neat stuff they had. It certainly was a wonderful time. Then back in 1986, I was doing a midday show on a radio station. All of the on-air talent got invitations from Disney to fly down to Orlando, and do a show on a Friday from Disney World. Then we’d spend the weekend down there on Disney, and fly back on Sunday. We all did our shifts on Thursday, and then headed to the airport. We were treated like royalty from the moment we arrived. Over 10,000 journalists and radio DJ’s all broadcasting from Disney World. Then at 5pm, they shut the park down. On Friday it was the Magic Kingdom, and on Saturday it was Epcot. Only the media were allowed. You’d think 10,000 people would be a lot, but the park was empty! We rode the rides, ate the food, and watched the parades and concerts with people like Dolly Parton, Peaches & Herb, Crystal Gayle, Ricky Nelson, and a slew of others.

Fast forward again. Now, Disney is this “woke” company. They celebrate alternative lifestyles to the point it’s turned me and my family off of ever wanting to go there again. We basically refuse anything to do with the mouse. And we applauded when Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature basically denied Disney all of the perks they been enjoying since 1971, through the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was a five member board all from the Disney Corporation. They basically ran like their own government, and gave Disney free reign to do whatever they wanted. That is until this past February, when HB-9B was passed and signed into law by DeSantis. That took the board away from Disney and the members were replaced by DeSantis appointees. Now the state ran the district, not Disney.

But the old members knew what was coming and entered into a “contract” with Disney that basically gave them about 30 years to do what they wanted to do before anything DeSantis’ appointees could do anything to them. However, that one is going to wind it’s way through the Florida court system. Apparently, and I’m not a lawyer, the contract was illegally done, and the meeting it was passed in violated Florida’s Blue Sky Laws.

What a difference this company has undergone in just a decade or two. No longer is Disney seen as this family adventure park where everyone HAS to take their kids there at least once in their lives. Now, it’s become a haven for every left wing group seeking to get a hearing on why they should get their own twisted way. And Disney CEO, Bob Iger listens to everything they’ve got to say.

I’m not sure if you’ve decided to boycott Disney or not. It probably doesn’t matter. They are so huge now a days. They own some of the largest companies in the entertainment industry. They own ABC-TV. They own ESPN (which is why they no longer are a sports network, but now throw political commentary into every broadcast). They own Pixar, Lucasfilms, Marvel Entertainment, Fox Family Worldwide, and 21st Century Fox. So, not taking my kids and grandkids to Disney isn’t going to hurt them. And I doubt they’ll miss a few of my sheckles of not going to the movies or watching their TV shows. But it’s my of sticking it to the biggest entertainment monster on the planet.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Adios Tucker!

I always liked Tucker Carlson. I used to relish him being on Special Report’s all-star panel. He was very much aware of what was going on, and I’ve never heard anyone dice up Juan Williams quite the way Tucker did. But, as we used to say in the world of radio…all good things must come to an end. For Tucker Carlson, that was this past Monday.

So, why was he canned, and what’s Fox News going to be like without him there?

The first thing to understand is that no one in broadcasting is irreplaceable. Everyone said that Fox News was going to go in the dumper after they got rid of Glenn Beck. It barely caused a ripple. Then there was the sexual allegations going on surrounding Bill O’Reilly. He was fired, and everyone thought that was certainly going to hamper Fox News’ nighttime lineup. It didn’t. And replacing Tucker Carlson isn’t going to be easy, but isn’t going to be necessarily the end of Fox News either.

In case you missed the behind the scenes story, rumors are circulating that Carlson was fired by Rupert Murdoch for two reasons. First was the fact that there is a discrimination lawsuit pending against Fox and Tucker Carlson by former producer, Abby Grossberg, who also produced shows for Maria Bartiromo. That one is still pending, and Fox News is hopeful they can settle that one without going to court, much like they did with the Dominion lawsuit (though that set them back almost $800 million!)

The second reason Carlson was let go, supposedly, was Carlson’s description of the January 6th riots as “mostly peaceful chaos”. That may not have been the case, but it certainly isn’t something you get fired over. I mean, Democrats have called burning buildings during riots, “mostly peaceful” for years now. So what’s wrong with Carlson’s describing the events of January 6th that way? In my mind, this was an absolute overreach.

But what you need to understand overall is an almost $1 billion lawsuit settlement with Dominion needed to be offset one way or another. And Tucker’s $41 million annual salary certainly helps a little bit.

Will the decision hurt or help Fox News? Probably neither. I can’t see how it’s going to help in the short term, but you have to understand, there are about a thousand Tucker Carlson’s out there waiting to step into the spotlight, and grab some of that $41 million salary he was getting. I don’t think you’re going to see anyone new getting the timeslot however. My money is on Greg Gutfeld getting the nod to move his show, which is very popular in the 11pm slot, to be sandwiched in between Jesse Watters at 7pm and Sean Hannity at 9pm.

There’s also word on the street that Watters or Hannity may be asked to do a two-hour show. Both have terrific ratings, and that wouldn’t hurt the network a bit. But that leaves a little hole then at 11pm if Gutfeld gets the nod. But, as we’ve seen before when Shannon Bream was doing that evening news warp-up edition, you can pretty much put anyone there.

Then you’ve got a bunch of people that have been ancillary players that could get their own shows. I’m thinking Tyrus may get something, or maybe Kat Timpf. Both have been featured on several different shows from time to time, like Outnumbered, and The Five. Both are younger, and could fill in the 11pm timeslot where they are currently regulars.

Either way, the rumors of Fox News’ demise are grossly exaggerated. It’s not going anywhere. This is the latest in a long line of firings that have resulted in different people coming in to take over. And there will be more up the road. There always are. The only thing constant in media is change.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

What Is Going Thru KJP’s Head?

I will be the first to admit that I’m not a fan of Karine Jean-Pierre. It has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman. There have been several press secretaries that were female that did an awesome job. Kayleigh McEnany comes to mind. So does Dana Perino. And I would even say that Jen “Circle Back” Psaki did a MUCH better job than what Jean-Pierre is doing. It’s not that she’s black. I could care less what color someone is. And it’s not because she’s gay. Had she never said anything about that, I never would have guessed. No, I’m not a fan because she doesn’t make any sense.

Let me give you a recent example.

KJP wants to make sure that you understand that she isn’t going to comment on things that aren’t national in scope from the press room podium. She’s not going to touch anything dealing with Donald Trump’s indictment in New York. That’s a state issue and doesn’t concern anything she does. Except it does because he happens to be running for president. Yet, when the Tennessee State House was going to vote on a bill some saw as “anti-LGBTQ”, and then expelled two Democrats for violating protocol following that, she was quick to point out that in her addled mind, the expelling of Democrats was “undemocratic”, and the whole thing about anti-LGBTQ was wrong because “they are a very resilient.” And she added that the administration has their back.

How nice!

I have a couple of problems here. And by the way, none of the problems I have with her comments have to deal with the gays. It has to do with what she chooses to address from the podium. First of all, if you’re not going to comment on Donald Trump’s indictment, because “it’s a state issue”, fine. Then don’t address things that go on in the states. The vote in the Tennessee House was a state issue as well. Three people were called out for violating House protocol. All three faced expulsion. Two of the three were indeed expelled, but one, a white woman, escaped by one vote. Basically the three led a rather raucous protest on the House floor. They were asked several times to stop, and didn’t. So, two of them were voted out. The woman wasn’t because while she participated in the protest, she wasn’t disruptive. So, sorry, KJP, you can’t have it both ways. Either you don’t comment on states’ issues, or you do.

The other problem I have with this is that Jean-Pierre seems to want to tell people she’s already answered their questions, when she hasn’t done anything of the sort. I’ve watched several reporters, and for the record, most of them are NOT from Fox News, that are asking legitimate questions, and KJP refuses to answer them. When they continue asking the question, KJP lectures them that she has already answered the question, and moves on. No, that’s not right. Either you answer the question, or you tell them you’re not going to. It’s as simple as that.

A lot of what Karine Jean-Pierre is facing comes right from Joe Biden. You can see it in the way he handles questions shouted at him from the press. He basically ignores them. His predecessor didn’t do that. Trump would walk right up to the press line and take questions on his way to Marine One, or some other place. He didn’t shy away from the media. I think there should be a law that presidents, people that WE elect, should have to answer all questions. And press secretaries, who are nothing more than an extension of the person in the Oval Office should also have to answer all questions given to them. They work for us after all, not the other way around.

I’ve never thought KJP was a decent press secretary. She still spends way too much time reading her answers from her binder, and an awful lot of time lecturing the press on what she feels is proper protocol in the press briefing room. I don’t believe she is the one that sets the rules for that. It’s just one more example of why this administration is so far off base on pretty much everything they attempt. And it’s why I hope and pray each night, that someone takes their place on January 20th, 2025.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

TheTikTok Dilemma

The whole debate that’s raging now in Washington, DC over whether or not to ban TikTok, the Chinese owned social media platform has me thinking, and wondering whether or not a legal decision, a moral decision can be made on this front.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fan of the platform at all. I’ve never been on it. I never want to get near it. If what all the scuttlebutt is true, and that China can see what you’re visiting as far as websites, look at your keystrokes, follow you around as you wend your way through your day, it becomes a very scary thought. And the thought that they are sending rather inappropriate messages and videos to our kids is equally troubling.

But then on the other hand, we’ve got this whole First Amendment thing. And yes, we believe in free speech. We don’t care what it is you have to say, as long as you’re not yelling fire in a crowded theater, it’s legal. Well, is what TikTok has been alleged to do the equivalent of yelling “FIRE!” in a crowded theater? There’s the rub.

When all of the talk started of banning TikTok back when Trump was president, I was all for it. To me, most of social media is nothing but a large garbage pit. There isn’t much of value with any of the sites. I occasionally will visit Twitter to see what the latest news is coming out of DC, but it’s rare. I’m more apt to go on to slam some Democrat that makes a stupid remark or doesn’t do their homework before going on one of the cable news shows and they make a fool of themselves (I’m looking at you, Marie Harf!).

And then I was reminded that we have this little thing called a First Amendment. It’s the reason why people can burn a flag of the United States and not get beheaded like they could if they burned an Iranian flag in Tehran. It allows for opinions that are downright vile in some cases to see the light of day, even though most people with half a brain in their heads say that it would be considered totally inappropriate behavior.

One of my favorite all-time movies was “First Money In October” with Walter Mattheau and Jill Clayburgh. It dealt with a pornographic movie and whether it should be banned. Mattheau said it shouldn’t because “crap has the right to be crap”, while Clayburgh couldn’t see any reason for it to exist. And so it is with TikTok.

There is a very large part of the argument that says TikTok is helping our enemy gather information on us that they probably shouldn’t be gathering. And I would say that should be enough to liken it to crying FIRE! But is it? I can’t remember another episode in my life where a foreign government had the ability to influence the lives of half of the people living in this country. TikTok currently has about 150 million Americans tuned into it.

What’s also damning is that our kids seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time on their site. They watch video after video of “woke” people screaming how everybody but them is a white supremist. Or, why they are going to change their pronouns to clambake/fish monger today, and tomorrow it will be something totally different. Yes, from time to time, there is something funny on TikTok (I don’t watch the actual site, but a YouTube contributor that makes fun of the site from time to time).

So, is it enough to make a foreign government….check that, an UNFRIENDLY foreign government stop doing what they are doing, even though it may very well violate the most sacred of our Constitutional Amendments? I’m sure that before the whole TikTok thing is settled, the Supreme Court will probably be weighing in on it as well. It will just be interesting to see what it is they have to say about it.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!