The Newsroom: The Idealist vs. The Realist: News vs. Opinion

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Derik Schneider
Attachment-1-607

Source:HBO– Jeff Daniels, as Will McEvoy

“Key scene in Episode 1 of HBO’s ‘Newsroom’, in which there ensues a heated argument between Will McAvoy, the anchor and star of the newscast, and his new Executive Producer, MacKenzie McHale. This argument essentially poses the question ‘what is the news?”

From The Newsroom

I could write a whole piece about the idealist vs. the realist and idealism vs. realism and how the realist lives on planet Earth. And that the idealist lives on planet Zodar or whatever, so far away that you couldn’t find that person with a made-up spaceship. Or is so high on pot or something that they could take a nap on cloud nine.

Which I gotta admit, that would be a hell of a lot more fun to write about. The person who lives in realty and believes in facts and makes the best of that world that they can. And the person who sees the world that they want and tries to force it on everyone else.

But what the two actors in this show were talking about was essentially news and facts vs. half-truths or even commentary. To put it simply, real news hard news vs. FOX News and MSNBC.

Not putting down NBC News, which I believe is still a fine news organization. But their so-called news network isn’t and instead is a twenty-hour a day five-days a week talking head for the Far-Left in America telling them what they want to here. Brought to you by the people who live on planet Zodar or high up in clouds looking at the world from the way they want to see it. Not the way it actually is.

And to be fair and balanced which FOX News isn’t and there’s my lead in about FOX News, they simply aren’t a news organization. You take Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace away from them and they don’t have one real news anchor in their so-called news division. And are left with a bunch of talking heads for the Tea Party and Far-Right in America.

And that is essentially where we are as a country politically. Where the fringes from both wings now look like the mainstream. And it is to the point the fringes have their own networks to represent their messages.

We live in a country where way too many Americans are not interested in the news. But for someone to represent what they want to hear and represent their political points of view. Not interested in facts, but information, even if you want to call it that which backs up their political points of view. And anything that contradicts their ideological and partisan viewpoints is treated as nothing more than bias media coverage from the opposition. Even if that information is actually true.

You want to know why Americans get stereotyped as dumb, I’ll tell you anyway: its because too many Americans the hyper-partisans on the Right and Left aren’t interested in facts and information. Especially when that information hurts them politically. They want half-truths so that so they can say: “See I told, they are really as bad as I’ve been saying all along”. While ignoring the evidence that perhaps completely contradicts their partisan or ideological argument.

And mainstream America as a result is turning off the news including cable and instead watching so-called reality TV, or finding other better things to do with their time.

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Reason Magazine: Nick Gillespie Interviewing P.J. O’Rourke On Millennials & Baby Boomers

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Ederik Schneider

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Source:The New Democrat 

I feel kind of strange talking about the Baby Boom Generation since I’m a Gen-Xer born in the mid-1970s the tail end of even my generation and come from parents who aren’t Baby Boomers born in the the 1930s. So I didn’t grow up with boomers in my family, at least in the household, even though I have uncles who are Boomers. So what I know about this huge generation the Baby Boom Generation, is what I’ve seen from talking to Baby Boomers as an adult and what I’ve read and heard about this generation. What I’ve seen from the news and movies.

But here’s what I like about the Baby Boom Generation. The 1960s generation which is really what I call them, is the generation that freed Americans to be Americans. Pre lets say 1963 or so America was in long extensive era from the early teens or so and on where the country didn’t seem to change at least culturally. Where the idea of what it meant to be an American was universal. Guy grows up goes to college, gets a good job, marries a young women. They have kids, the women stays home and raises their kids. No romantic couples living together pre-marriage and certainly no pre-marital sex.

The Boomers finally blew up the 1950s and moved America away from that with the Cultural Revolution and created an era where Americans became free to be Americans. And what I mean by that is that we are supposed to an individualistic society where Americans are supposed to be themselves and live their own lives. But we really didn’t become that society until about fifty-years ago. Which in the grand scheme of American history is a fairly short period of time. Since then if anything Americans have become freer culturally and personally.

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Patrick J. Buchanan: Rogue President

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Rik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat 

You know what the difference is between President Obama giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in America and giving President George W. Bush giving amnesty to illegal immigrants in 2006 and President Ronald Reagan giving amnesty to illegal immigrants in 1986, President Obama gave amnesty to five-million people. I believe roughly twice the size of President’s Reagan and Bush combined. America is a larger country in 2014 then it was even in 2006 only eight years ago. 315 million now compared with, I don’t know 305 million back then and 250 million or so back in 1986. And besides this is not amnesty.

What the President did was tell these illegals that if they come out of the closet so to speak and report to the U.S. Government and they aren’t criminals, people with serious felony records and they are currently working and pay whatever taxes they currently owe and continue to do that, the U.S. Government won’t deport them. He is giving them probationary residency, which I guess it would be called. The people under this system would have to meet the conditions of their probation in order to continue to live and work in America.

But what is the real difference between Reagan, Bush and Obama? Two of them are Republicans and President Obama of course is a Democrat. It is really that simple, President Obama is being treated by a separate standard by Republicans because he is not a Republican. Where was the uproar when President Reagan rewarded illegal immigrants with amnesty or probation? Same thing with President Bush, it was as quite as a death mute person who is sound asleep. We live in a different time with a different Republican Party. Where Democrats are no longer consider the opponents or opposition, but the enemy. And Republicans hold Democrats to new-made up separate standards as the GOP.
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USA Today: Susan Page Interviewing Howard Dean on the State of the Democratic Party

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Erik Schneider

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Source:The New Democrat 

I’ve been somewhat reluctant to write about why the Democratic Party lost so badly, because it was an election where I don’t know how they could’ve done better considering the state of the country and with all the issues that President Obama was having to deal with and not looking good on really any of them other than perhaps Ebola. I think they could’ve used the President more, but more from behind the scenes and getting base Democrats to the polls and fundraising. Perhaps not using him with vulnerable Democrats in swing states and districts, but using him in those states perhaps at separate rallies to get Democrats to vote.

Now where I agree with Howard Dean is where he talks about message. The Republican Party didn’t have one and really hasn’t had one since 2004 when President Bush ran for reelection. Their campaign strategy was, “we know you don’t like Obama, we probably dislike him more. Vote for us and we’ll stop him. Oh by the way, the other guy voted with Obama 97% of the time”. With Democrats saying “we disagree with the President on some things as well”. But not explaining why the voted with the President so much and how those votes benefited their district or state.

What I think Democrats could’ve done was to say, “yeah the President and I agree on this and this is why and this is it benefits you Mr. and Mrs. taxpayer. And this is what I’ve done for you in Congress the last two or six years and how I’ve served you well. And oh by the, my opponent would’ve voted against you and your interests on all of these key issues like infrastructure, minimum wage health care, environmental protection. Which is why you should vote for me for reelection”. That wouldn’t of won back the House, but perhaps saved enough Senate seats to keep the Senate in Democratic control.

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The Newsroom: Will McEvoy On America

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Derik Schneider

Why America is NOT the greatest country in the world, anymore_Source:The Newsroom– Jeff Daniels as Will McEvoy.

“Why America is NOT the greatest country in the world, anymore.”

From Abu Wadee

I actually really disagree with the Will McAvoy character here. ()layed by Jeff Daniels) And as far as this scene, I would’ve been more impressed if the people saying America is the greatest country could do that in more than one word. As McAvoy said most of the world now lives under some type of system that promotes freedom at least in their own country. But what this show did was brought out a couple of people to essentially represent FOX News Tea Party talking points. With a couple young, hipster-leftists, representing what left-wingers don’t like about America.

America is the greatest country in the world and I’ll tell you why and it could be summed up in one word with freedom being the perfect word. Whenever there’s a crisis or huge problem economic or militarily or some natural disaster, they turn to us and Americans taxpayers bail people out around the world that is going through some crisis that the country at issue and in many cases is a democratic country with a private economy, but can’t handle by themselves. Greece and Italy with the IMF financial bailouts are perfect examples of that.

The world doesn’t turn to Canada or Britain or Australia or France or Japan or any other country with a large developed economy, when there’s some huge militarily or financial crisis around the world. They come to America and expect our taxpayers to bail them out of their own problems. You won’t find another that is our size or anywhere close to it that has our living standards across the board or even comes close. Brazil is the closest country to our size that it is democratic and has something that looks like a developed economy and they are still officially a developing country, if not third world.

You don’t see poor people trying to escape their poor country or an authoritarian country and risk their lives to try come to Australia or Canada or Japan or Britain or Sweden or France. At least not in the numbers that they come to America. Why, for one thing those other countries probably won’t take them. If you are familiar with Europe, you know they are losing people, not adding to their populations. And a big part of that has to do with their lack of immigration to their states. And another one has to do with the fact their economies aren’t doing well right now and haven’t been for about fifteen-years now. Germany would be an exception to that.

As much as today’s so-called Progressives (Democratic Socialists, in actuality) like to put down America and say how bad of a country that we are and we are bad at this and that and we should be like someone else, (and of course Sweden is always their first choice) you don’t see them making a run for the border to Canada or emigrating to Britain or Sweden, countries that all speak English at least as a second language. And by the way, comparing America to Sweden is like comparing Florida with Vermont. You know, it just doesn’t work, two completely different states with different populations, cultures, lifestyle, economies and politics.

America is not the greatest country in the world because we have the largest economy or military. And besides, one of the reasons why we have the largest military in the world, because our taxpayers are responsible for the national defense of developed countries like Canada and in Europe that are more than economically capable of paying for their own national defense.

America is the greatest country in the world because of our opportunity and potential for the most people possible, to live in freedom in a developed free society and for what we stand for. Which is and there’s that one word again, freedom and freedom for all and responsibility for all as well.

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Late Night With Conan O’Brien: P.J. O’Rourke Interview (1998)

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Ederik Schneider

PJ O'Rourke interviewSource:Late Night With Conan O’Brien– Political humorist and comedian P.J. O’Rourke, being interviewed by Conan O’Brien in 1998.

Source:The New Democrat

“PJ O’Rourke interview. September 25th, 1998.

From Lalarikyu

Imagine trying to live in America and then trying to following American politics without a sense of humor, actually try living in America without a sense of humor by itself and all of the garbage (to put it mildly) that we have to see and put up with.

But just to talk about American politics, try following and keeping up with that without a sense of humor. We would probably be a country of Michele Bachmann’s and Michael Moore’s. Not just a nutty country, but a country of nuts. It would be heaven only for squirrels, but in actuality a country of mental patients and hell for everyone else.

If you can’t laugh at American politics especially with a lot of things that government does, you have to pay for it, you’ll be in hell all of your life and never be able to laugh at anything, because you would have no sense of humor.

I agree with P.J. O’Rourke about eating the rich. If you want people to be successful in life and not live in poverty, then you need to incentivize them to be. And not take most of their money away from them when they are successful. Good parents at least don’t punish their kids when they get good grades.

Good parents don’t say: “god dammit Joey (or Sally)! What the hell are you doing getting straight A’s (or mostly A’s and some B)? What are you trying to do, go to college and get a good job so you can move away from your mother and father?” They encourage them to do that and incentivize them to keep it up and if anything do even better.

Well, similar to people who are rich and financially successful. Instead of putting Uncle Sam’s big fat greedy hand down a wealthy woman or man’s pocket and take that money from them to people who need food stamps just to eat, we say being financially successful is a good thing and we want more people to be rich, not less.

Now socialist parents might say to Joey or Sally or DeAndre or Laquisha: (you know whoever it might be) “God dammit! What the hell are you thinking getting great grades? What are you trying to do, go to college or something and not have to live off of the welfare state like your mom and dad?” Because Socialists tend not to like individualism, self-determination others ways of saying freedom. They like collectivism and that no one should be so free that people don’t need others, meaning government in order to take care of themselves.

Which is why Socialists slap the hands of rich people with a whip so they never want to make another dollar on their own and want government to take care of them instead. We should encourage people to be successful in school and in life, including adults who haven’t made it yet and empower them to finish their education. So we have more successful people and not less. And more parents who praise their kids for doing real well in school and gotten themselves a good education themselves so their kids can just focus on getting a good education as well.

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Eagle Forum: Phyllis Schlafly: The Mistake of Unilateral Divorce

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Rik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat 

Again what I call the Traditional Values Coalition like to talk about the dangers of big government when it comes to taxes and the economy in general. While at the same time on perhaps even on the same hand like to talk about benefits of big government by sticking into the personal lives of married couples and telling people when they can end their marriages or not. And then they say that so-called “no fault divorce is bad because it means that more women will enter the workforce. And as a result more people will be working and paying taxes”. Perhaps funding their own big government policies.

You start down the road of big government telling people when they can get divorced or even married and then you build a new road and deciding when romantic couples who perhaps aren’t married yet, can decide to move in with each other. Or when they can have kids, perhaps even make love. Forcing free Americans by law to live up to their marriage vows and making adultery illegal. Perhaps a national curfew law and telling Americans when they need to be home at night.

If you want to have a free society, you don’t create that by telling people who you want to be free how to live their own lives. Either from an economic and yes personal perspective. Economic freedom without personal freedom is not freedom. It is half the pie and one without the other is like burger without cheese or bread, you would be missing big chunk by at least not having the bread. You need both for it to be whole and real and you don’t create freedom by having government decide how adults should live their own lives.
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The New Republic: Brian Beutler: ‘Six Reasons I’m Thankful for a Republican Congress’

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Erik Schneider

Six Reasons I'm Thankful for a Republican CongressSource:The New Republic– Speaker of the House John Boehner (Republican, Ohio) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky) the two Republican leaders of Congress.

Source:The New Democrat 

“I generally don’t go in for sentimental holiday rituals like announcing New Year’s resolutions or giving children candy on Halloween. But in the interest of promoting counterintuitive thinking about American politics and juicing this website’s holiday traffic, I’m making an exception this Thanksgiving. So here goes:

Today, I am thankful that Republicans won the midterm elections and will soon control the U.S. Senate.

I’m not arguing that a fully Republican Congress will produce better policy than a divided Congress, or that Democrats should feel relieved to have lost the midterms so badly. All I’m suggesting is that a Republican Senate is the best outcome for me, personally, and for the growth interests of my employer. And also, maybe—in the longer term—for the country’s fragile, wheezing political system.”

You can read the rest of Brian Beutler’s piece at The New Republic

Here is sort of what the lighter more positive side of a united Republican Congress at least for Democrats, but perhaps bad for the rest of the country.

A party that now doesn’t believe in government will somehow have to govern, at least at the legislative level. That means finding ways to fund things they don’t believe in. Because the President is still a Democrat, at least until Congressional Republicans finds a way to impeach and convict President Obama. And they’ll have to work together to make anything law really.

Senate Republicans will have to work with Senate Democrats at least to pass just about anything that doesn’t have to do with the budget and appropriations. Unless Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take the cynical route and say:”You know what, go ahead and pass that, we won’t stop you, we’ll just use it against you and your vulnerable members in the election.”

America will truly get to see how divided and childish the Republican Party has become. With House Speaker John Boehner and new Senate Leader Mitch McConnell playing my two dads with their Tea Party, anti-government children who hate school so much and just want to stay home and play video games and eat cookies. And mess around on their smart phones. While debating among themselves, especially in the Senate about whether they should vote on nominations to government agencies that they believe shouldn’t exist in the first place, or voting to eliminate those agencies all together.

Democrats at least in Congress will get the next two-years off and be able to plan their path back to power. With House and Senate Republicans giving them boatloads of material everyday and commercials to use against them in swing districts and swing states. And I’m thinking especially in Democratic leaning states like Illinois and Pennsylvania where Senator Mark Kirk and Senator Pat Toomey who both have been in Congress for a while, will have a choice to make. Figure out how to govern and make government work with a Democratic President and risk a Tea Party primary challenge. Or go with the Tea Party and put their reelection in jeopardy against a mainstream Democrat.

The good news for Democrats, is that now they get the ten-percent or so Congressional approval rating off of their backs and put it squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Party. With a divided Congress they couldn’t do that, because they were in the Congressional Leadership controlling the Senate. Now they are essentially along for the ride with 188 or so seats in the House in the next Congress and 45-46 seats in the Senate in the next Congress. With Congressional Republicans having clear majorities and responsibility to figure out how to govern. And to figure out how to govern with members who don’t believe in government. At least when it comes to the economy. Good luck, GOP!

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The Late Show With David Letterman: Jon Stewart (November 13th, 2014)

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Derik Schneider

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The New Democrat

As far as kids, glad I don’t have any! And so far I’ve done a hell of a job up achieving one of my goals in life which was not to have kids. I’m not even crazy about being an uncle, as my two nieces and nephew may tell you. Not saying that having kids is not important and that kids don’t have a place in the world. Last time I checked, people don’t start off as adults in life. I’m a perfect example of that and some may say I haven’t finished childhood yet. I’ll say one thing nice about kids. I’m glad my parents decided to have them and more importantly at least to me, I’m glad they had me.

As far as Halloween, I’m glad that’s over for me. I mean it was useful to me as a kid, because it meant about a week or a few days of free candy. Depending on how successful I was at tricker treating and not scaring the hell out of people who may give me candy. Like dressing up as Charlie Manson, Ted Bundy, Saddam Hussein. But one thing I discovered as an adult with a job, that if I want candy, I don’t have to ask my parents. I can just go buy it, like I did on Friday and besides candy is not that important to me anyway. A couple of things you learn as an adult.

As far as freedom in Egypt and the Middle East, or Arabia. This may sound harsh, but are they ready for freedom, I mean what would happen if all the sudden they had it, would they know what to do with it? I think freedom to people in that part of the world they where they grew up and living as adults in such an authoritarian statist environment, where you are told what to do by your own damn government all the time, you come to expect that. It is a reason why these countries are called police states. Because it essentially like living in prison where you don’t have to make decisions for yourself.

I think learning to live freely for people who’ve only known an authoritarian system, would be like trying to learn how to drive without an instructor right after you learn how to, well drive for lack of a better word big wheels. I think their would be a real learning curve there. And if you free the people there, then you are also freeing authoritarian radicals who want to tear down the current police state to establish their own. Not saying that freedom couldn’t work in a large like Egypt to use as an example, but there would have to be smart people there who have to know how to establish it. And an overwhelming majority of the country that actually wants it.

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CBS Sports: NFL 1986-NFC Divisional Playoff-Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears: Art Monk Highlights

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Ederik Schneider

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Source:The New Democrat 

What you are seeing in this video is that how great of an all around wide receiver that Art Monk was. And how good Jay Schroeder was when he was good. Perhaps as athletic, strong and accurate a quarterback as John Elway when he was on. But what we also saw how great a receiver Art Monk really was. Someone who was stereotyped as a possession WR. You go to him when you need a first down or you are in the red zone or going to a possession passing game. When the fact is he was 6’2-6’3 210 pounds or so of muscle with great track and football speed.

Art Monk was an all-purpose receiver and how the Chicago Bears stayed in man-to-man coverage against him in this game, when they didn’t have a great cover corner, I may never know and perhaps only head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Bill Tobin of the Bears knows that answer. But Monk was big and fast, which meant if you play him man-to-man, you need a great cover corner. Like a Rod Woodson of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Someone who can run and tackle with real size. The Bears didn’t have that at corner, at least in 1986.

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