A lot has been made of the CNN debacle and we have certainly covered that here. However, there is one angle that hasn’t been addressed when it comes to the development of news and commentary industry. If everyone is anything like me, they can remember a time when there was no cable television. There were the major networks and the nightly news was a fixture during everyone’s evening. CNN didn’t even launch until I was seven years old in 1980. For most Americans that was about the time when most families started switching over to something more than basic cable.

The three major networks got to broadcast their programs for free over the airwaves. Families were able to pick up these programs for free as well. Implied in this arrangement was an agreement with the various governmental agencies that regulate the airwaves. In exchange for the freedom to broadcast there was an expectation of some minimal modicum of decency. That governed the news and the entertainment programs as well. Those networks would have to consider the value of these programs before deciding whether to broadcast them on the public airwaves.

Cable stations don’t have that same agreement. They have to jockey for position with the cable and satellite providers instead. Those are their direct customers. They grade everything based on the number of eyeballs they get. So, the idea of whether anything is newsworthy gets skewed by the eyeball test. Moreover, whether something adds to the public discourse and the general improvement of political commentary also takes a back seat.

Of course, one could debate whether cable and satellite television has been good or bad overall for the advancement of culture. With every negative has come some tremendous positives. We’ve watched more sitcoms and other dramas from cable and streaming services than from the basic networks over the years. They are able to take more chances and produce more challenging programming than the majors can. They can also give lesser actors a chance to shine. One could argue that these avenues have launched careers that would never have gotten off the ground otherwise.

Unfortunately, those that launched the 24 hour “news” platform probably miscalculated how these would develop over time. In the beginning we might have thought that they could go further in-depth and really educate the public on the source of numerous issues on the ballot and in society. We could have gotten background information on issues that would increase our collective understanding. We could have done a lot of things. Instead we get an amplification effect where our collective fears, slights, and grievances are magnified beyond any reasonable measure.

In this ecosystem it makes perfect sense that a CNN would give Donald Trump a platform. They might even convince themselves that they are doing right because he is a newsmaker and it would be wrong to editorialize by denying him that platform. The problem is the whole nonsense around bias and the mainstream media. Bias is inherent in the process. It is how we decide this story goes first and that story goes second. It is how we decide this story gets that oversized headline. It is how we decide these other stories are added to Friday story dump. At the end of the day it all goes back to who the customer is. On a national network the customer is the public. Our goal is to inform the public and do right by them. On cable and satellite the customer is the cable company and satellite company. They want eyeballs, advertising dollars, and attention. If we get there with quality programming then so much the better. If the programming sucks but brings eyeballs anyway then so be it.

One of the biggest pet peeves my better half has is when people complain about stuff. but never offer any constructive suggestions. It occurred to me that in my last little rant I mentioned that the Texas Democratic Party has been a dumpster fire over the past two and a half decades. So, I am offering a few suggestions to the party in case they are listening.

Craft a Consistent Message

The GOP does a few things well. The main thing they do well is repeat their message ad nauseum. How many times have we complained about their obsession about transkids using the wrong bathroom, wanting to play girls sports, or Hunter’s laptop. It’s all about distracting you from stuff we don’t want you to see. It is all about working you into a frenzy. Hell, they spent five decades trying to overturn Roe v. Wade. It took a long time but it worked. We can do the same thing.

Could you imagine if we could muster an anti-assault weapon message and keep sustaining it over years? If all you did is link the GOP and our state reps to gun violence and gun deaths then you’d go a long way. This is where strategy comes into play. We care about a lot of things. That’s good, but that’s not good for elective politics. If you care about twelve different things then you really don’t care about anything. If you care about one or two things and repeat that message over and over again you have a fighting chance.

Avoid the Labels

Most Texans are not progressive. At least they don’t label themselves that way. Usually when you describe a policy or idea they buy in even if it is a progressive idea. For the love of everything good and holy, please avoid catch phrases. Stuff like “defund the police” isn’t going to win elections. All it does it give the GOP more fodder. If you describe it then you have a fighting chance. It should go without saying but we cannot step too far away from the center in this state. I can’t speak for anywhere else, but when you start talking gun confiscation or anything else that sounds radical you’ve lost. That is why Beto got his ass beat. Too many people saw him as extreme.

Run your best

It drives me absolutely nuts when Democrats run people for statewide office that no one has ever heard of. It’s what I loved about Howard Dean when he ran the DNC. He had the 50 state strategy where you contested every election in every state. On a national level it might swing one state, but as we have seen in recent elections, one state can make a huge difference. At the state level it might be a handful of legislators. It might be a few percentage points here or there. When you run prominent people that can both repeat a message and offer a realistic alternative then you have a chance.

Last night, CNN stupidly handed TFG 70 minutes on the national stage to spew his bullshit and play his greatest hits of lies, big lies, gigantic lies, and intergalactic lies.  His “town hall” quickly became a TFG rally complete with mocking of the moderator and continued defamation of every perceived enemy from Biden to E. Jean Carroll.  What idiot at CNN thought it would be a good idea to fill a room with TFG supporters and unleash them on national television?  TFG began his stream of lies within one minute of taking the stage, and it continued for over an hour, completely running over moderator Kaitlan Collins, who’s effort to fact check TFG was an exercise in futility.

If there was any good that came from last night’s shameful display, it’s that TFG did a superb  job of burying himself in confessions of crimes and continued defamation of his enemies, especially E. Jean Carroll, to whom he already owes $5 million.  He openly celebrated the January 6th insurrection, calling it a “beautiful day”, and repeated his promise to pardon insurrectionists.  He admitted to taking classified documents and hiding them at Mar a Lago.  You can bet that Jack Smith and other federal and state prosecutors were listening very carefully and taking copious notes.  I have to admit one thing about TFG – he clearly understands his plight and has pushed all of his chips to the center of the table.  He knows that if he’s not successful at winning the presidency and taking down the US government, he’s facing the rest of his life either in jail or fighting desperately to stay out.  Without a win, his fate is sealed.

We may as well brace for almost two years of this rolling shitshow as it’s clear that TFG controls the former Republican party and no one will come close to taking him down in the primaries.  EVERY voter needs to understand the stakes here; you can bet that TFG does.

It is one of the more humorous phrases in the English language. Seems in Great Britain there are all kinds of signs on their subways to “mind the gap”. Of course, they are talking about the space between the sidewalk and the train. However, when I hear that phrase something a lot more sinister comes to mind. In the political science world gaps become a lot more interesting. This is particularly true when evaluating the past. At least then we aren’t in any danger.

I'm sorry, Texas but…

You re-elected Greg Abbott…and you thought somehow things would change?

You RE-ELECTED GREG ABBOTT and thought that mass shootings would magically go away?

You had a chance to do something…

BUT YOU RE-ELECTED GREG ABBOTT.

And it wasn't even close.

— Malcolm P. Johnson (@admiralmpj) May 7, 2023

Of course, the implication here is that Texans are getting what they want. Elections have consequences and we are obviously living through these times. I get the sentiment here and it obviously rings true when we look at the world from 30,000 feet. However, when we start magnifying the situation we see some cracks in that veneer. For one, we know that this is a singular issue and people obviously don’t vote with this issue in mind on election day. For another, we know that the Texas Democratic party is a mess and can’t seem to get out of their own way when it comes to winning statewide office.

As electrifying as Beto O’Rourke was and can still be, he seems to have “foot in mouth” disease when it comes to his position on things. There are a lot of progressives in Texas, but Texas just isn’t a progressive state and you aren’t going to win statewide office spouting views that most Texans find to be extreme. I can decry that and lament that fact, but wringing my hands over this point isn’t going to win any elections.

Politics used to be a lot simpler. People used to acknowledge reality. We got our news from one of the three major networks and from the local newspaper. We often felt differently about particular events and particular issues, but we all acknowledged that they happened and that they existed. We could all agree on a commonly agreed upon set of facts. We interpreted these facts differently and gave them different priorities, but we were a lot closer on these things. If you want to conduct an experiment then spend five or six hours watching MSNBC or CNN and then spend the next day watching Fox News, Newsmax, or OAN. It would be one thing if we heard a different perspective on the important stories of the day. After the experiment you would be convinced that these were either two different countries or two different times.

Far be it from me to identify reality through the noise. Maybe part of the problem is just naturally assuming we know what is right or wrong. That being said, we can see that both of those use fear in a way to reach their audience. One may focus on Hunter Biden and his laptop while another may focus on the former president and his many crimes. Yet, events like we have witnessed the past several weeks only gain significance when they are covered. If all I see is Hunter’s laptop then I am led to believe that Hunter’s laptop is the main thing that matters. It makes perfect sense. After all, why would you talk about it all the time if it didn’t matter? So, the above is not really what people want. It is what people are told they should want. Eventually the gap between objective reality and manufactured reality become untenable. That’s usually when there is some sort of revolution. We can only hope it is the non-violent kind, but I seriously have my doubts.

It was an awful weekend to be a Texan.

After the shopping mall massacre, a guy drives his mini van off the road to hit a group of people waiting for a bus in front of Catholic Charities.  He kills 8 people and injures more.

We are waiting for the third show to drop.

By the way, there is some information I got from the League of Women voters where voter fraud is broken down state, cause, year, and punishment.  Click right here.

The link will take you to Texas but you can change the state.  Click “details” to see … well, you can figure it out.  Warning: the information comes from The Heritage Foundation, so you’ll need cootie protector before you go.

Allen, Texas, is a Dallas suburb. Here is the gun used.

The shooter was a white male.

That’s all I know at 8:30 pm.