Random thoughts from this past week
Journalism dies, Is Bill Barr really Trump's enemy, Trump win in AZ GOP Primary, Is Amazon trying to rule the world, Dick Cheney savages Trump for LIz's primary,
The day Journalism died!
Ex-Time reporter: The day I knew journalism had died in America
We truly have come to the place where government, deep-state actors have the Rubicon when it comes to the media. But this isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Former Time Magazine reporter Kenneth Timmerman saw it happening as far back as the Clinton administration. And the issue then has just re-emerged as a critical issue which is about to explode into chaos.
Timmerman had begun working on a serious story midway through Clinton’s time in office:
As I investigated [midnight visits to an Ohio B-1 Bomber plant in Ohio by Chinese intelligence officers], encouraged by Time editors, I uncovered and documented a massive effort by China to buy sensitive military production gear from US weapons plants, seemingly with the benediction — or at least, a blind eye — from Clinton administration officials.
Eventually, along with other reporters, I put together a four-page story on the scheme that was scheduled to run in mid-July 1994. After a Friday lunchtime staff meeting, the Washington, DC, editor, came into my cubicle. “You’ve pissed off people in the administration with your questions,” he said.
“I thought it was my job to ask difficult questions of the administration,” I said.
He fired me on the spot and pulled the story, which ran a year later under the title “China Shops” in the conservative American Spectator magazine.
Remember Chinagate in 1996? The DOJ was looking into illegal funds going into the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee (DNC) coffers. Timmerman was asking the “tough questions,” and he got fired.
Media these days is largely beholden to a certain viewpoint (typically leftist, Democrat views) which is also beholden to government actors by choice. There was a time that left- or right-leaning media would never allow themselves to be coerced by politicians about their editorial process. And the First Amendment was designed to keep their power off-limits from political coercion. That has changed completely since it began to emerge in the late 20th Century.
Has Bill Barr really become an enemy of Donald Trump?
Former Attorney General Bill Barr says Jan. 6 grand jury activity suggests prosecutors "taking a hard look at the group at the top, including the president"
Bill Barr seems something of an enigma at times. Do you know what he’s really thinking behind that quiet demeanor? That’s a good question. He’s a combination of transparency and reserved opinion. Take the linked article for example. He says clearly his opinion on what he things Merrick Garland’s Jan. 6th investigation is trying to do, but he doesn’t give a clear impression of whether he thinks Trump is complicit. On the other hand, he expresses his opinion that the DOJ will have problems bringing criminal charges.
Bill Barr has two opinions on the Trump Administration. He reveals them in a fascinating interview on the Hoover Institution’s Uncommon Knowledge YouTube channel. He is clearly critical of Donald Trump in key areas. He also reveals he endured personal sacrifice to take the Attorney General position to get at the Russia Hoax scandal. After watching the video, you realize that Barr set some real land mines for Deep State actors through the Durham investigation.
Is Amazon really a monopoly out to steal all your data?
Amazon's iRobot Deal Would Give It Maps Inside Millions of Homes
For alot of people, this article is alarming. Amazon is buying iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba vacuum cleaner. Those who don’t have this device (and some who do) may not be aware that Roomba makes a map of your home to help the device efficiently sweep your home. This is a map of the interior of the home. And that’s valuable data which Amazon will now own.
The article if filled with cries of an Amazon “monopoly” and creepy tales of Amazon controlling your life. I reject that. Have you ever heard of Facebook, Google, and Apple? There are no monopolies on data today. Your data is everywhere. And many companies have it already.
Kari Lake wins the GOP primary for Governor in Arizona. Trump also wins: again
Trump ally Kari Lake wins GOP primary for Arizona governor
Whatever you think of GOP Gubernatorial Primary winner Kari Lake, the former Phoenix newscaster turned pro-Trump candidate is on the ballot thanks to help from former El Presidente.
I wonder if Mike Pence and Doug Ducey will be campaigning for Lake in the Fall after going all-in for her opponent. They should if Lake wants them to do so.
Dick Cheney did himself no favors calling Trump Dangerous
Ex-VP Cheney calls Trump ‘coward,’ ‘threat’ to US in ad backing daughter Liz
Whatever shred if respect Dick Cheney still had after helping to send our troops into unnecessary wars that enriched many and killed and wounded thousands is now completely gone. Is Dick Cheney as dangerous to freedom as he says Donald Trump is? Let’s take a look
He was the main driver behind the Patriot Act which was the greatest legislative assault upon American freedom in our history (and remains so).
We now know Bush’s Iraq War was started using a false pretext: WMDs. They just weren’t there.
The Bush Administration doubled our national debt. They came into office when we were on a trajectory to be at Zero Debt. (This one doesn’t help Trump’s case, but expanding government is always a decrease of liberty).
You may not like Donald Trump. But no rational person can call him a coward or a threat to our liberties.