Come Heller high water …
- Love it that more than 300 newspapers ran editorials today protesting Trump’s destructive “fake news” label. And when I say destructive, I don’t mean to media. He’s been great for media, financially. I mean destructive to the nation. We have no other check on government than a strong free press, but he’s convinced a lot of people media is the enemy. In reality, it’s a vital part of a free nation.
- To be clear, what Trump objects to as “fake news” is news that he doesn’t agree with. He also has blurred the lines between news and commentary. I’ve seen that at work on my own website and on Facebook where I host spirited debates. Because of Trump, people no longer seem able to discern between opinion, which is what I do, and fact, which is what the reporters at newspapers do. People, it’s not that hard. This is opinion: “I think Trump is a gibbering buffoon who is unworthy of leading a book club (not that he’d read one) much less the United States of America.” If I wrote that in a column in a newspaper, it wouldn’t mean the reporters who cover the news are going to change how they cover him. Got it?
- To be fair, CNN and Fox and Friends also intentionally blur the line between opinion and news by not labeling their talking head panels as commentary. That’s been incredibly damaging to real journalism, as well.
- More than 2 million voters turned out for the August primary in Michigan. That’s a record by a wide margin. But is it good? No. Not at all. There are just shy of 10 million people living in Michigan. About three-quarters of them are eligible to vote, meaning only about a quarter of the people who could have voted actually did. As the Trumpster would say: “Sad!”
- If you hooked them to a lie detector, people who habitually don’t vote would say, “I just don’t care” or “One vote doesn’t matter.” Which is sometimes true, but a whole lot of “just one” votes do matter. A lot.
- But another issue is summer. Why in the world does Michigan hold any election, much less a primary, in August? It makes no sense. People are on vacation, mentally or physically. Their minds aren’t on elections. So why do we do that? Part of the answer is because “that’s how we’ve always done it.” Another part is schools and other entities seeking money purposely get on the ballot in August precisely because there will be far fewer votes. All they have to do is turn out their core of supporters, and voila.
- Another reason people don’t vote is Tuesday. Who ordained that and why? It makes no sense to have an election on a weekday when most people are working. Elections should either be a week-long or on a weekend.
- Now that I’ve solved our election problems, let’s fix MSU. The cover of the current edition of the alumni magazine features a self-congratulatory, happy-talk quote from MSU president John Engler about the shameful Larry Nassar case: “The university, which faced the most difficult challenge in its history, has emerged and is going to be stronger, safer and more competitive before.” That may be true, but you also don’t erase stains by pretending they don’t exist, and that’s what this cover attempts to do. What’s worse is Engler nixed the original cover featuring a woman wearing teal lipstick, the color of support for sexual assault victims. And his comment suggesting this is about the university and not the girls and women who were assaulted is both appalling and proves that he just doesn’t get it and never will. Engler is not the one to fix the culture at MSU that enabled this scandal. In fact, he’s making it worse.
- You know what I miss? Old school miniature golf courses. The ones with right angles and 2x4s and windmills and clown faces. I don’t like the “new” ones that channel the ball to within a foot of the hole no matter how bad your aim is. Those were invented to feed more people through the course faster. Profit over fun. I doth protest.
- Why do colleges still start classes before Labor Day? Nothing gets done. It’s a waste of time and money. And wasting money is a crime when colleges are charging so much. When I went to school, a credit hour cost about $40. Not it’s more than $400. No wonder kids graduate owning the equivalent of a home mortgage. Student debt and bankruptcies will be the next great financial crisis. You watch.
- “From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do.” – Epictetus.
“Student debt and bankruptcies will be the next great financial crisis.” Both are the current financial crisis, it is just that no one is acknowledging it publicly. It is currently legally possible for the student loan folks to garnish 25% of social security income (when social security IS acknowledged by the social security administration as not adequate for elderly to live on) it is a crisis because they ARE doing it. When the average student cannot get adequate employment to pay back the loans, despite the various payback programs IT IS a crisis.
By crisis, I mean everyone’s going to be impacted, except for the rich. The next Great Recession (and I think we’re in for a cycle of them.)
You know, your hatred of any Republican is overwhelming. What do you want Engler to say? He’s NOT pretending the Nassar problem doesn’t exist. He is declaring a new beginning of sorts. It would do no good to sit with heads down and mope and say how terrible everything is. And since everybody blamed the University for the tragic happenings, then it IS about the university and how it changes and goes forward, not about the girls, on and on and on.
What the heck is wrong with him portraying a positive image for the school?
I don’t hate Republicans. I hate assholes. Engler is an asshole. There’s nothing wrong about putting a good “face” on anything, but that’s not what this is. This is bullshit happy talk and whistling past the graveyard. Wouldn’t giving a nod to the real victims (the women, not the effing school) have been the right and decent thing to do? Are you unaware of Engler’s truly callous comments prior to this? His nixing of this cover was about money – worrying that donations to the school would dwindle. Don’t give me that crap, Ann. I’m not a third grader.
Thank you Andy. That saved me a lot of typing.
Best column ever! I’m the son of a journalist and know how it works. The pushback by our Fake News spewing President and Faux News types is an abhorrent thing. Congrats to the Fourth Estate for doing their job and defending themselves.
I really wish you hadn’t mentioned “student debt.” It is a subject that really ticks me off. Here we have colleges running NFL& NBA training camps and charging students for it. Look at what the schools take in for running these sports. Then look at what the sports actually cost. Now, do either of the major sports make up the difference for the school? Hell no. Then funds needed are just added to the cost per credit hour for all students. Even those who couldn’t give a hoot about either sport. It should be time to either make the athletic programs self supporting or shut them down.
I agree. If a sport can’t support itself, get rid of it. And by supporting itself I mean all the costs, including buildings, roads , parking lots and anything else needed for the sport.
Amazing the salaries of these coaches. Also the professors that don’t teach.
Coaches and players make more money than cancer researchers make. As a nation our priorities are mixed up.
Agree with Tommie B. Best column ever. The press is our only hope of getting the truth to the people who seem to be in a hypnotic state of Trump.
It’s not news he doesn’t agree with. He knows it’s accurate. It’s news that calls him out for things he or his people said or did that he labels “fake news” in his effort to control our reality. That might work on his base, but not the rest of us. He has been lashing out an awful lot lately. I sense panic.
Aretha Franklin passed away today. That was the top story on every major news network, except Fox News. When Fox News finally mentioned her as a side story, they used a picture of Patti Labelle in the background, because, well all black people look the same to racists. Fox News is despicable, and anyone who considers them a reputable source of information can wear that label too.
R.I.P. Aretha…
Yes, a sad goodbye to “A Natural Woman.”
Another thought provoking article Andy…. kudos.
“Fake News” is any factual news that the fibber in chief takes objection to or disagrees with.
Fox News is the slanted news that glorifies and props up the fibber in chief to make him look and feel good.
CNN is mostly commentary on factual news that throws shade on the fibber in chief.
Fox News and CNN are polar opposites , fantasy and reality are both available by flicking the channel.
Vote, stand up and have a voice, a failure to vote is a failure to be heard.
The Larry Nassar case has been handled poorly by MSU since day one, they continue to handle the fallout in the same manner.
Student debt is a sore spot for me.
I have always been under the belief that if you take out a loan, you pay it back…. in full.
If you can not afford a loan, or think it will be a hardship to pay it back……. Do not take out a loan.
Student debt has become a loan that is proving to be too hard of a financial burden on those who take one.
Student loans should be more highly regulated to get a collar on them before they cause a massive crisis across the country, they already are on the road to one.
According to polls that have been taken and the information members of the media like Andrew belongs too have not been reporting is that the media has a 20% trust rating. That is ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and other liberal news sites.
Under the reporting of these agencies, obama could not do anything wrong. They published mainly positive news items about obama.
When it comes to President Trump in the eyes and opinions of the media President Trump cannot do anything right.
Right now they are in a fake uproar about OPresident Trump revoking the security clearance of Brennan. That such a revocation of Brennan’s security clearance is supposedly a violation of Brennan’s 1st Amendment rights.
Bull droppings! There is no violation of his 1st amendment rights. He still can speak his opinion. He longer has access to classified information. A security clearance is not a right, it is a government privilege. When you leave a company to go someplace to work someplace else do they allow you to keep the keys and access codes to where you used to work? NO! Turn in your keys and your codes are removed.
The media only reports what they want.
The comment about FOX news handling of the passing of Aretha Franklin is typical liberal Newspeak. As Joseph Stalin said about the death of FDR: “The death of one man is a national tragedy, the death of a million people a mere statistic.”
I liked Aretha’s music. Liked the role she played in the Blues Brothers films. But like the death of Elvis Pressly, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison is just a normal life event.
It is 9:00 a.m. time to go do some work.
The deaths of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley were normal life events? They were all overdoses. Shows how out of touch you are as most Republicans. So exactly what has trump done that he is so wonderful? Tell me one thing he’s done that isn’t going to cost you money in the end. Obama was a mediocre President as best but at least he had some class. Your president has made this country the laughing stock of the world. You should be ashamed. I am.
Right on, Jims! Aretha was different from everybody else.
Everything you said there is fabricated nonsense. Here is something real.
“I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.”
William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014. He oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
WOW Andy!! Good column and great debatable responses. As an avid newspaper reader all my life (74 years) I for one was very proud of all the newspapers large and small ( including my little home town paper) that joined in the statement that a FREE PRESS is NOT an enemy but a watchdog in a distressed nation today. Since this column was published on the 16th the US Senate has just passed a resolution stating that the “Press” is NOT an enemy of the public!! It should not take that measure to let people know that journalists are only trying to convey the facts. Some do it better than others. Thanks for your “Opinion”
Trump has become obsessed with power. In his mind it is the opiate of the privileged. Trump is the embodiment of his heartless world and a man with no soul. He is beginning to find other ways to use his power and I fear this will cascade into irreparable damage to this country.
Art Lewis on WSGW radio says that the editorials about Trump were “collusion”. Nice try but an organized effort is not necessarily collusion because you don’t agree with it.
Note to self: Quit listening to Art Lewis.
I agree. What crap.
Here is the future of the democrat party.
Ocasio-Cortez has banned the media from her future town hall meetings in her own district.
According to the Queens Chronicle reports: That’s because her campaign banned members from attending the event, which was otherwise open to the public. This was the first event that Ocasio-Cortez has excluded the media. How many more will she do so?
If this had been a Republican that had done this the media would be very upset, to say the least.
Liberal “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness has been raked over the coals for tweeting that not all republicans are racist, he also stated that believes that President Trump is a racist. Jonathan had a lot more comments hurled at him. I will not try to list them.
As far as President Trump supposedly trying to suppress the media, it is a charge that is baseless. In 2013 the obama administration DOJ seized -without notice- the cell phone and home phone records of over 100 Associated Press reporters. In 2016 Jose Pagleiry, a reporter for CNN reported that the Eric Holder has signed a number of warrants under the Espionage Act to search the records of any kind of more reporters.
What was the response of the media? A severely written letter to Eric Holder, signed by several media entities.
Anyone that has held a security clearance states that President Trump can revoke their security clearance should not have to make such a statement. Anyone who is no longer in the employment of the Government or has retired should have their clearance revoked.
Death is a normal event in life. Whether is a natural cause or some other means death happens.
I have buried 1 wife, both my father and mother, 3 brothers and various other relatives. A couple were suicides, one died in prison, my brothers died from stomach cancer. I have close to death on a few occasions.
There is a great deal to unpack in this rambling comment Jimiii.
Trump literally calls the media the enemy of the people, and jimiii thinks we are making baseless charges, and that it is somehow comparable to the legal action of obtaining a warrant to seize phone records under a Espionage Act .
Utter bologna, Jim-Boy.
you are the perfect liberal bot. You cannot form an intelligent thought process for yourself. Thr Brooklyn Chronicle does not like President Trump.
If President Trump had tried to use the Espionage Act against “reporters” like obama did the lamestream media would be screaming bloody murder and it would have gone downhill from there. The false outrage by opinion writers of these newspapers is foolish. If President Trump was anything like the liberal socialists of Russia, China, Cuba, and Venezuela a lot of newspaper editors would be imprisoned.
It is socialist/liberal/communist countries like China, Russia, Cuba and now Venezuela that suppress the free press.
No liberal/socialist/communist can explain why people are not migrating to these countries by the millions. If America is so bad why are millions trying to flee from those countries to come to America.
Life and death are tragic, Jimmy. You told us too much personal. info. Anybody who posts here has similar tragic stories. Stop with your personal sharing. We are not about to join a personal tragedy competition.
I am trying to figure out why many people like Trump… Maybe they like the way Trump sounds so certain about everything he says? Many of our fathers, guys from the World War Two era, and many of our bosses, back in the 20th Century acted this way. That was the face of authority, back in the day. Even when these guys were utterly wrong, they acted certain, demanded to be obeyed and believed, even when they themselves knew they were lying, or at least knew they were bull-shitting.
Maybe Americans admire that in a leader. Do we want certainty more than we want reality or truth?
That is exactly what I think. They like him because it feels familiar. He reminds them of the authoritative figures in their lives. He also validates the racism and bias of those who harbor them. He gives them a pass for their own unbecoming behavior; “If the President of the United States can say and do that, why can’t I?”. No we don’t all admire that in a “leader”, just those of us with inferior complexions, who need to follow the loudest angriest bully to feel relevant.
The Trump supporters lack critical thinking because our schools are churning out classrooms full of bubble students. If you ask them to explain why they still support Trump, they are incoherent and rambling, but in school they sure did learn how to fill in that oval.
And I might add, quoting from Mr. Spock, the Trump supporters are
“Highly Illogical”
It is not the President Trump supporters that cannot state reasons why they voted for him, it is the graduates of today’s schools that can not form a coherent thought as to why they support a liberal/socialist/communist agenda.
They have been taught through there school years that a capitalist system is bad. That socialism/liberalism/communism is supposedly a superior way of life.
In capitalism whatever you make/earn belongs to you. Your car, house and whatever land you are on.
In socialism, nothing belongs to you. The state bureaucrats will decide where you live, what kind of job you will have, how much you will be allocated for a salary.
If you speak out against the government you will be either jailed or sent to a re-education camp.
A lot of socialists are delusional and think that it would not happen to them.
By the time they figure it out it will be too late. They will be sucked into a life of slave labor basically, thinking that it would only happen to others and not them.
Andrew Heller would not be allowed to write his opinion on anything unless it is preapproved by a mindless bureaucrat.
You have a fundamental misunderstanding of liberalism and socialism. I will not try and educate you because you have been proven to be a Fix News spouting individual who lacks the education and understanding of basics. Good luck with your Trumpian belief system.
And pinched nerves tend to be tremendously painful.
Tommy B, you are a very intellectually challenged person. You suffer under the belief that you know more than what you actually know. You know so much that is not true.
My capacity to understand the difference between a Republican form of government that the founding fathers meant for this nation and what the liberals/socialists/communist want it to become.
My understanding of the difference between the various forms started way back in the 1960’s, long before FOX News was Started. If you cannot do the math that would be somewhere around 30 years before FOX News. FOX News started sometime in 1995.
I had teachers that were real fans of Russia, China and Cuba.
When the question was asked why did the East Germans build the Berlin Wall and the armed border between the 2 Germany’s they could not give a good answer.
The fact is someone like Tommy B., Fred, Native of Michigan, Mathew and other liberals posters cannot answer the question without attacking the person asking the question.
For your information, the wall and border were not built to keep NATO out, but to keep the East German citizens from escaping the prison that East Germany had become. I do not have the exact number of East Germans citizens that were killed trying to escape, but, I do believe it was over 300. That does not include those who tried and were captured by the border guards and sent to prison. No one killed or harmed trying to escape from West Germany into East Germany. Fact is that no one had tried to escape from West Germany to East Germany.
Same with Cuba. There have been numerous attempts over the years by the Cubans trying to escape the Castro terror regime. Some made it some did not, How many did not make it? We do not know. If they died while trying it, the bodies were never recovered.
China the same story since Mao took power. Ditto For North Korea.
Does the United States try to shoot those American citizens that want to leave this country for good? No! So long as they have a passport, can pay their airfare to whatever country they want to go to, they can. However, the country that they want to go to may or may not allow them in.
If the lot of you think that socialism/communism is such a great thing, why do you not emigrate to those countries? If not them then head for the latest country that went from a Constitutional form of government to a socialist/liberal/communist form of government with a dictator for life in charge.
Venezuela went from exporting various food products and other items, with grocery stores shelves filled with various goods, to a country that cannot even produce enough food to feed its citizens. Store shelves are bare. Doctors cannot do operations because there are no drugs available to do them. Zoos have been looted of the animals by the citizens looking for food to feed their families. No toilet paper available to the citizens.
Andrew thinks that Sam will flourish under a socialist/liberal/communist type of government. That Sam will have a 6 figure salary. If the socialist/liberals/communists take charge Sam will find himself working for pennies on the dollar. I cannot give an exact amount, but it will not be a 6
figure salary. I think Andrew mentioned that Sam plans on being a lawyer. Under a socialist/liberal/communist government, Sam might not be allowed to be a lawyer. He just might be assigned to another career path.
You conflate Communism with Liberalism and Socialism. They are not equal or the same. I am a liberal and I do like some aspects of socialism but my desire is to keep the best of capitalism as well. Communism is an authoritarian construct and is rejected. All of the crap you spewed was about Communist countries. So, you clearly don’t understand liberalism and the difference between these things.
I’ve been around long enough to remember the Cold War and the threat of Communism. I reject Communism. Yet you support Trump who has authoritarian tendencies and loves Vladimir Putin who was Soviet Union (Communist) KGB. The intellectual dishonesty or at best misunderstanding you have is mind boggling Jimiii. Good luck and I pray that you come to your senses.
Unfortunately, critical thinking is inexorably dissolving in the sewer of Trump’s ineptitude.
Talk about being in a state of denial. Marx and Lenin both stated that the goal of socialism is communism. They are your heroes. Marx laid out his theories in the 1800’s. Lenin took ahold of them and carried out the take over of Russia. As soon as Lenin gained power he executed those who helped him gain power. They were called by him “useful idiots”.
You and the rest of the liberal/socialist posters here do not understand that you are the useful idiots. Yes, that does include Andrew Heller.
Republicanism and socialism cannot co-exist. It can only be one or the other.
Socialism may appear for a while to work with a republic form of government, but in the long run, it will overtake and destroy the republic.
Like a lot of socialists, you think that under your guidance that you will do a better job of becoming a socialist state and making it work. After all, in your mind, you are superior to everyone that tried it before. Name one country where it worked.
President Trump is a fairly good businessman, however, him and his team around are political know-nothings. By voting for him, we the deplorable that hang on to our Christian religion and our guns, have upset the power brokers that infest Washington D.C..
IF Hilliary had one the election, there would be no special counsel looking into Russian meddling in the election. All those in the FBI and other agencies that have either been fired or transferred to other positions would still have their jobs. Donald Trump would have gone back to running his businesses.
Anti-fa would not exist. Dictator Hilliary would be busy squashing their movement. Andrew Heller would be informed that any criticism of her royal highness would not be tolerated.
Again, a lot to break down here. I’m going to make one last comment because it is clear to me you have nothing better to do and you aren’t that bright. I’m on lunch so I have a couple of minutes.
This Democratic Republic has held socialist aspects for many years. Think The New Deal and the various programs that helped us out of the Great Depression. Think of Social Security and Medicare. Most of the great nations of the world have some sort of socialized medicine and are happy to have it. They aren’t Communist either. Examples are all over Northern Europe. The Scandinavian countries seem to have done it best, but look across the border to Canada and there is a good example too.
I won’t bother to argue how well Donny is as a businessman but to say, several bankruptcies, no real reveal of wealth or where he gets his money (tax returns), and if he is such a great businessman than why did he move more toward licensing rights to Trump brands and becoming a Reality TV Star?
If Hillary won there would not have been a Mueller Investigation, but there would have been an FBI Investigstion toward Russia, and Donny Little Hands might still have been implicated. Also, it is very likely that she would have pushed a much harder line toward Russia.
Lastly, perhaps ANTIFA would not exist, but remember what it means. Anti-Fascism. Who pushes a Fascist type of agenda? Why Donald Trump of course. The rise of Corporate Power and Oligarchs with a strong authoritarian and nationalist bent. That’s what Trumplethinskin has been pushing.
Well, back to work for me. Have a nice day.
No, there would have been no Russian collusion investigation of anybody.
Hilliary and slick willey had more ties to the Russians than Donald Trump.
Hilliary along with others in the obama administration sold a majority share of the
Uranium assets in America to a Russian shell corporation. After that deal was sealed the
Russians paid slick willey $500,00.00 for a talk to some Russians.
The alleged dossier on President Trump was paid for by the DNC and the hilliary campaign. ABC, CBS, NBC along with the other lamestream media continue to ignore the story completely.
This nation was founded as a REPUBLIC. You cannot find a democratic meaning in the Constitution.
The democrat addition did not start being foisted upon this nation until after Woodrow Wilson.
Yes FDR did start a good thing with Social Security in the 1930’s. It started out being tax exempt and not under the control of CONgress. FDR knew that any CONgress that got their greedy hands on the SS funds, they would waste the funds that were in the fund.
After LBJ became president he needed funds to fund the Vietnam War, a war that we should not have gotten into. Also to fund the “war on poverty”. Another war that accomplished nothing. It did not lift everyone out of poverty. How many people did it help? Not that many.
Then in the 1990’s slick willey and the CONgressional democrats needed more funds for some basically useless projects. So they changed the status of SS payments from tax-exempt to being taxable income.
So when you and other like-minded liberal/socialists/communists sign up for SS you stand a good chance of having to pay taxes on your SS payments.
Yes, a lot of the European nations have socialized medicine and other socialist programs, some of it is good, some of it is bad. The whole downside is the high taxes the citizens have to pay for the socialized programs.
I noticed that they had a march for 2nd Amendments rights in Oregon. The 2nd Amendments marchers came to town peacefully.
Anti-fa showed up with various weapons, plus they wore masks and hoods to hide their identities. Anti-fa did a lot of property damage protesting the 2nd Amendment marchers.
President Trump s not pushing a fascist movement, that is a liberal/socialist/democrat/communist lie.
You and the other writers on this blog have no real concept of a fascist really is.
IF the 2nd Amendment marchers wanted to finish the fighting the anti-fa started, a lot of the anti-fa would have been seriously hurt.
Funny the anti-fa’s are acting like the brown shirts of hitler’s NAZI party. And they dress similar to the democrat kkk members from way back when. The kkk wore hoods and costumes to hide their identities. It was the democrats that turned the attack dogs and the fire hoses and so forth, on the Rev.Martin Luther King Jr. and his marchers on the road to Selma.
If any naive misinformed people read this rambling non-sense, I want to make sure you know that these “2nd Amendment Marchers” jimiii keeps referencing to in here are white supremacist. KKK and neo nazis. This is his lame attempt to put a friendlier label on them and change your reality. This is not a matter of difference in opinion. It is a matter using andrewheller.com for a platform to outright and knowingly lie and spread misinformation in his efforts to encourage hatred and division in America. It makes me very sad that rhetoric like this has found a home on this nice blog.
Well said Fred. (No, I did not mean for that to rhyme.)