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Presidents Day 2022: New Documentaries On Abraham Lincoln And Lyndon B. Johnson, And New Siena College Research Institute Presidential Survey

Today is Presidents Day 2022, and yesterday and continuing are documentaries on Abraham Lincoln on History Channnel (Sunday to Tuesday); and on Lyndon B. Johnson on CNN (Sunday and Monday).

And Siena College Research Institute, which conducts a Presidential survey among historians, political scientists, and expert journalists, in the second year of each Presidency, just posted a new survey form, as they always do one year into a new Presidency.

So sometime later in the year 2022, the results of the survey will be announced.

And this Presidential scholar, a participant, has just indicated how he ranks the Presidents, including Joe Biden for the first time.

It will be interesting to see what, if any changes, will occur now that Donald Trump is out of the White House, and Joe Biden has served one full year!

CNN And Chris Cuomo Vs. Fox News Channel And Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity!

Cable News is in crisis, although one would not think so at Fox News Channel, while fully realistic of that fact at CNN.

Both cable news media corporations, as well as MSNBC, are far from perfect, but at least the culture around CNN is to take action when anchors at those channels become involved in “scandals” of one sort or another.

So CNN has fired Chris Cuomo, the highest ranked anchor, and brother of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August in the midst of a sex scandal, due to his brother Chris intervening to help his brother in unseemly ways.

On the other hand, Fox News Channel has consistently over the years refused to discipline or fire its top anchors in the evenings, despite their open nativism, racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, and homophobia, all of which should be grounds for termination!

So Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity spew forth constant lies, propaganda, and support Donald Trump and the January 6 Insurrection and the “Big Lie”!

There is nothing too low and disgraceful expressed by these three anchors to incite hatred and division that is not ignored by their company’s leaders, and including bitter attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci and the actions of the US government trying to deal with the fallout of the COVID 19 Pandemic!

No decent human being would act the way these three talk shows hosts behave, and yet millions upon millions of Americans believe Fox News Channel and its anchors are God personified, and their tactics could lead to the outbreak of bloodshed and violence yet again in America in the short term and long term future!

So yes, criticize CNN, but be thankful that they have displayed a level of ethics and accountablity, that one has never seen from Fox News Channel!

Fareed Zakaria CNN Special From May 2021 Updated: “A Radical Rebellion: The Transformation Of The GOP”

The Welfare State–Secularism—changing racial situation.

Fareed Zakaria on a CNN Special today, updated from May 2021, entitled “A Radical Rebellion: The Transformation of the GOP”, presented an analysis of the disaster that the Republican Party has become:

in an era of conservatism attacking the concept of the Franklin D. Roosevelt New Deal and the Lyndon B. Johnson Great Society;

allowing Right Wing evangelical Christianity and theocracy to take over the party in the name of God;

and working against the reality that the white majority face a future in America of minority racial groups together being a majority of the population in about 2040-2045.

He covers from the John Birch Society in the 1950s;
to William F. Buckley, Jr and the National Review;
to Barry Goldwater and the conservative takeover in 1964, leading to massive victory of Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society;
to Richard Nixon and the “Southern Strategy”in 1968;
to Jerry Falwell and the “Christian Coalition” and the “Moral Majority” in the late 1970s and early 1980s;
to Ronald Reagan and the “Reagan Coalition” in the 1980s;
to Pat Buchanan’s challenge of George H W Bush in 1992;
to Newt Gingrich and the “Republican Revolution” of 1994 and after;
to the promotion of right wing propaganda and lies by Fox News Channel starting in 1996;
to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the 2000s;
to the Tea Party Movement rise under Barack Obama’s Presidency;
to the rise of Donald Trump in 2015-2016;
to the “Big Lie” about the Presidential Election of 2020;
to the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection;
to the present extremism in the Congressional and State Republican parties in 2021;
to the constant threat to women’s rights, including abortion;
to the right wing rejection of Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney as not conservative enough;
and the growing racism, nativism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, misogyny, and homophobia that have become alarming realities for the future of American politics!

Renowned Journalist Dan Rather Reaches Age 90!

Renowned journalist Dan Rather, who became one of the “Big Three” Evening News anchors at CBS News, alongside Peter Jennings at ABC News and Tom Brokaw at NBC News from the 1980s to 2005, today reached the age of 90.

Still active, and often interviewed on CNN and MSNBC, Rather first came to notice in covering the aftermath of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, where he was a CBS correspondent at the time.

He would cover the White House for CBS News in the later 1960s and 1970s, and was most noticed for his challenges to President Richard Nixon.

Rather was elevated to the anchor position upon the retirement of Walter Cronkite in 1981, and became the center of right wing attacks, which continue even in 2021.

Rather was forced out of his CBS News anchor position in 2005 in a controversy over George W. Bush’s National Guard service, but in his so called “retirement” years, he has remained noticed in hosting radio shows, and commenting regularly on Twitter.

Rather also has won Emmy and Peabody Awards, and is the author of numerous books.

Happy 25th Anniversary For MSNBC: A True Treasure!

Today marks a quarter century of an exceptional news source, MSNBC, which began on July 15, 1996.

It started as a partnership between Microsoft and NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation).

It is one of the two major cable channels, alongside CNN (Cable News Network) to be committed to promote facts and truth, and the battle for facts and truth is a constantly evolving battle, due to the rivalry of Fox News Channel, which has spent its entire history since October 1996 to promote distortion, lies, and evade the truth.

It is hard to imagine news coverage in 2021 without appreciating the people and the coverage of news that MSNBC offers. It has enriched all viewers and readers, and is an indispensable source alongside CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the NY Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other online sources listed on this website, all on the right side of the page!

So congratulations to MSNBC in its constant battle against the forces of evil that are out there in the media world!

Journalism Essential Protection To Preserve American And Foreign Democracy From Authoritarianism

Journalism is an honorable profession, and the promotion and protection of the institution and the people who spend their lives promoting truth and facts is essential, in order to preserve American and foreign democracies from authoritarianism.

Of course, there are those journalism sites and individuals who choose to use their influence to peddle lies and mistruths, (such as Fox News Channel, Newsmax, One America Network), but it will not take away the validity and reality that major news sites ARE reliable, no matter how much naysayers claim otherwise.

All human beings make mistakes, and no journalism source is 100 percent accurate, but history tells us that reliable journalism sites are correct more than 90 percent of the time.

When one sees the shutdown of the Hong Kong democracy newspaper, and the crackdown on all expressions of truth, facts, and democracy in many nations around the world, it makes the defense of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right to vote ever more urgent into the future.

So the struggle against authoritarianism requires recognition in America of such news sources that have proved their value and accuracy over the long haul, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and a multitude of other news sources!

Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, And MSNBC Rise To The Top Of Cable Journalism!

Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and MSNBC have risen to the top of Cable Journalism in the first two months of 2021.

MSNBC has surpassed CNN and Fox News Channel in viewership, and Rachel Maddow is Number One, and Lawrence O’Donnell is Number Two watched news hour, and Rachel Maddow is more watched than any other show on Cable, news or otherwise!

This is a tribute to the brilliant journalism of both of them, and the station, and this occurs as Fox News Channel, continuing to spread lies and deceit, and emphasize preposterous issues, such as Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head, continue to dim the brains of their followers, who would not comprehend the facts or truth of public affairs, and what really matters!

First Joint Interview Of Joe Biden And Kamala Harris, With Jake Tapper Of CNN, A Homerun!

The first joint interview of President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris occurred on Thursday evening, with Jake Tapper on CNN.

Both Biden and Harris came across as fully engaged and planning for rapid action on four issues, in the First Hundred Days.

These are the COVID 19 Pandemic; the Second Great Depression, worst since the 1930s Great Depression; the Racial Crisis in America; and the Climate Change Crisis, which threatens the planet.

It was wonderful to see their smiles, kind faces, and the sense of empathy and competence that they both have displayed all of their political lives!

What a change from the monstrous Trump Presidency, and waiting out the 47 days to Inauguration Day on January 20 feels like an eternity!

The News Media And Public Opinion Polls On Trial On Election Day: Are They Reliable?

Today, Election Day 2020, it is clear that the news media, particularly the establishment media–the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC–need to be demonstrated to be reliable and accurate in their coverage of the 2020 election campaign.

Or will they have “egg in their faces” again, as in 2016, when there was total shock at the result of the election, the victory of Donald Trump?

And the same goes even more with the multitude of public opinion polls, which misjudged what was about to happen, and also the prognosticators, many well known, and some like this author and blogger, NOT well known, who all believed Hillary Clinton would win the Presidency!

A one time blunder, or error, can be explained, as it was in 1948 when no one thought Harry Truman would defeat Thomas E. Dewey!

A second time, when all evidence is that Joe Biden will likely win a landslide victory over Donald Trump, would be fatal in many ways, making Americans unwilling to believe the major news media and public opinion polls in the future!

Hopefully, the right wing news media, notorious for lies and deception, most notably Fox News Channel, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal, all Rupert Murdoch owned and operated, will be repudiated beyond any redemption! The same applies to right wing talk show radio hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, and a host of other extremists who exploit the American people on a regular basis!

Hopefully, we will know sometime tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4!

The Death Of Truth: Facts Are Facts, Despite Right Wing Attacks

America is in a sad time, when we have extremist Right Wing Talk Radio, Right Wing websites, and Fox News Channel creating fiction as truth.

If left up to them, we would have the death of truth, but facts are facts, despite the right wing constant barrage of propaganda, worthy of a dictatorship, not a democracy.

Errors are made by the major news media, but most of the time, what they report is factual and accurate.

When someone says do not trust the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN, along with lesser sources of mostly accurate news, the response must be to act vehemently in the face of those who wish to manipulate and lie and distort and divide America, and undermine its Constitution and Bill of Rights.

If not for the Washington Post and New York Times in particular, back in the era of Richard Nixon, Watergate would never have resulted in his resignation.

So hopefully, the readers of this blog are intelligent and educated enough to dismiss the right wing media, as pure propaganda and lies, and not to be trusted or believed.