We have a focus meeting during the week of teacher orientation every year. A focus meeting is a district wide department meeting where we focus on curriculum and new instructional approaches. They have breakout sessions and this year they had a breakout section on media bias. Of course, the session was led by an instructional specialist that watches Fox News regularly. So, going in I wasn’t expecting much and I probably would have skipped it if I had been warned beforehand.

Yet, it was through this 45 minute session that I was able to cement something I have thought for a long time. We are teaching bias wrong. The materials included an infographic with all of the major media outlets being split into left, right, and center. It registered from far left to far right. Naturally, they put CNN and MSNBC on the far left with NewsMax, Fox, and OAN on the far right.

The implication was already clear based on looking at the infographic, but the instructor hammered home the point anyway. Fox News and CNN (or OAN and MSNBC) are basically the same thing. They are mirror images of each other. Simply seeing that straight off pissed me off. I’m not sure if that was the effect the instructor was going for. Even though I’m sure she was well meaning, the concept of media bias is a complex one. It exists on a number of fronts, and the lesson seemed to focus on one dimension.

Bias seeps into media in a number of different ways. The traditional way regards story choices and charged language. That’s what she showed us. The problem is more pervasive than that. Some networks/media outlets use facts and form opinions around those facts. It is rare to watch CNN or MSNBC and see them report something that wasn’t true. Sure, they focus on storylines that fit a particular narrative. They may pump up an issue as being more important than what someone else would report. However, they print and/or broadcast facts.

The outlets on the far right of the spectrum don’t. In particular, when you leave the news divisions of those particular networks the ratio of fact to fiction levels out significantly. Equating CNN and Fox News is itself a show of extreme bias. Certainly putting NewsMax and OAN in the same category as Fox News is problematic. Heck, they didn’t even mention Breitbart or InfoWars. Accounting for the bias in story selection or perspective is one thing. The lesson never accounted for the bias in whether reporting is actual factual.

Unfortunately, any kind of balanced approach to bias fails to capture what is really going on. This is one of the reasons why the media itself fails so often. They are dedicated to a both sides game where both sides are playing the game in the same way.That might be a balanced approach, but it certainly isn’t a truthful one. Sadly, the answer is not to fight fire with fire. The solution involves damning the torpedoes and telling it like it really is. Fox lies. OAN lies. Newsmax lies. Alex Jones lies. Breitbart lies. It’s one thing to simply disagree on how to interpret a fact. It’s another to make up our own facts. Sadly, as long as this is allowed to continue I’m not sure if we can ever really solve our country’s problems.

Yesterday, a parent responded to his refusal to mandate masks in schools despite the CDC recommendation that all schools must do so to protect the health of children against the delta variant. His response to his constituent on his official Facebook page starts with “WTH is wrong with you?”

Chris Hill also campaigned maskless in November, shaking the hands of many of his constituents. He later discovered he had COVID during this time, and then deleted all of the photos of himself campaigning without a mask.

Elections have consequences, Collin County. Specifically, tent hospitals, refrigerated body trucks, children on ventilators, and 870 fatalities.

Senator Ted Cruz representing the formerly Great State of Texas is totally up in arms about your children being mandated to wear a mask at school.

His daughters attend a ritzy private school in Houston and … oh, I don’t even need to finish that sentence before you start cringing.

Of course, they mandate masks.  This is the same school where parents were warned about international travel prior to spring break and they were not real happy about his daughters and Cancun.  They asked them to isolate for ten days when they returned.

You can see a screen shot of the school’s mask policy by clicking here.

I’m proud to let you know that my own personal county judge has filed a lawsuit against Governor Abbott’s cockamamie idea that he can control county government and schools with the wave of his hand.

But I’m not finished with Ted Cruz.  That hairy chunky guy with the enormous patootie totally shut down the voting rights bill.

There will not be a debate or any discussion because he’s that scared of reason, logic, and facts.  Honey, he’s stirring the fire with a sword and it’s gonna take some doing to get a consensus on anything with that kind of crap happening.

The news today was simultaneously shocking and expected all at the same time. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation. It will officially take effect in a couple of weeks. His statement came with the usual caveats. He was doing it in the best interests of the state. He gave what seemed like a non-specific apology that admitted nothing. You know the drill.

For those that haven’t been paying attention, the writing was on the wall when an official investigation revealed that he had sexually harassed a number of women on his staff over the years. Add to that the scandal over a cover up on deaths in retirement homes and there was really no other direction that this could have gone for Cuomo.

Except, we all know that isn’t true. That’s what makes handicapping this thing so very hard. On the one hand, a resignation is the bare minimum that could have been expected, so praising anyone for the bare minimum seems ghastly. Yet, so many of our current politicians can’t be bothered to do the bare minimum. I suppose it’s the absence of shame.

We begin with the former president and the over twenty women that accused him of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and whatever else falls under that umbrella. We continue with Matt Gaetz and the persistent charges that he recruited underage women to travel and have sex with him. There is Jim Jordan and his role in the sexual abuse scandal back when he was a coach.

Then there are the numerous politicians that continue to kill their constituents. Cuomo is definitely responsible for his own decisions. Still, what’s the difference between that and Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis? The difference is that one of them is at least doing the bare minimum to own his shame.

We have seen a shift in American politics. The party of personal responsibility has become the Democrats. Al Franken resigned when he was ambushed by a series of charges. Now, Cuomo has resigned. The Republican party seems incapable of feeling shame. They double down on shame. They project that shame to others. They do everything but accept their own shame.

This creates a complex series of emotions. It’s hard to feel sorry for anyone that has been outed for bad behavior. It’s the kind of behavior that would get any of us fired a lot sooner. In some cases, it would land us in jail. Yet, it’s difficult to suppress the feelings for empathy for a group of people that take responsibility for things that others refuse to do for themselves. It’s hard to know what to do with these feelings. I guess I’m open to suggestions.

We returned today for the beginning of teacher orientation. So far, it has gone about as well as can be expected. Judging by the masks, about twenty-five percent are continuing with the mask policies of the past year. As everyone is undoubtedly aware, the governor signed an executive order forbidding districts from having a mask mandate.

Additionally, the legislature did not provide funding for online educations, so most school districts are not offering it. Even those offering it are permitted to add more restrictions this time around. The district where I live enrolls students in their own program, so they are no longer a student at the brick and mortar school.

The district where I work is not allowing it. So, essentially they are not enforcing mask wearing, they will not force students or faculty to get the vaccine, and you cannot learn from home. Additionally, the TEA says that schools do not have to alert parents if someone in the school tests positive, and they do not have to do any contact tracing.

Additionally, students that have been in close proximity to students or faculty that test positive do not have to remain home. Of course, some districts will continue to do what they did last year. Essentially, those districts have made no bones about going against the governor’s ruling and the guidance from the TEA.

I say all that to say this: take a few minutes to check out your local district’s policies as far as your children are concerned. That is especially true for those that have children under twelve. Also, while the governor said that we cannot mandate people to wear masks, we can certainly encourage it and I’d strongly encourage children under twelve to wear masks until such time as all children can safely be vaccinated.

Beyond that, we just have to hope for the best. We also have to remember these times when we vote in 2022. We have to remember that most of our legislators and statewide officials seem more concerned with who goes into what bathroom, who gets to play sports, and whether Cletus can shoot off his big toe. They honestly don’t care whether we live or die.

Everybody is just ganging up on Greg Abbott.

Late last night three of the Texas Democrats holding up in Washington to protect to my voting rights filed papers in court saying that Greg Abbott did not have the power to arrest them if they return to Texas.

“The men and women of the Texas House, many of whom are Black and Brown Democrats, are not animals or property to be corralled by law enforcement and cabined against our will. It is morally wrong to believe otherwise. We will not allow our democracy to devolve into dictatorship,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer

State District Judge Brad Urrutia agreed and signed a 3-page order late Sunday that was filed Monday in Travis County District Court. So Greg can just take off his Stalin boots and roll his butt someplace a little calmer and far less smug.

Then to make matters even more embarrassing.  He had his bluff called by the Dallas school superintendent.

Governor Abbott decided that no school in Texas can mandate masks when school starts.  This is particularly troublesome in Texas because the Governor has destroyed our electrical grid to make his friends rich so there’s no way you can depend on a ventilator working if weather happens.

Part of the Governor’s threat to make the schools safe for Covid included a $1,000 fine if a school decides to fight him on it. Dallas schools are mandating masks.

DISD Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa said the would pay the $1,000 fine under Abbott’s executive order out of his own pocket if necessary.

Whacha gonna do, Abbott, go to Dallas and rip masks off of kindergarteners? Governor, Dude, do not take on Dr. Michael Hinojosa because that guy is as tough as a $2 steak.

Hey, Abbott, time to give up and go take a nap.