It's time for another edition of me offering my thoughts and comments on some topics in the news these days. Opinions are mine and mine alone. Read at your own risk.
Fox News - Can we now officially remove the word "news" from the title since they have admitted what many of us have known all along: that they were a propaganda organization relaying BS conspiracy theories and half-baked lies instead of reporting on actual facts? We now know for certain that many of the personalities on the station were intentionally peddling lies and untruths that, behind closed doors, they KNEW were BS? For all of the Right's finger-pointing that the "mainstream media" is merely a mouthpiece for the Left, the recent lawsuit and related data show that Fox News knew what they were selling was complete garbage and completely false but they knowingly did it anyway. Millions of viewers ignored countless, obvious factual statements about the election results pointing to the Tucker Carlsons, Laura Ingrahams and Sean Hannitys of the world and saying that everyone else was lying and those three jackals were the ones telling the truth...only to find that those Fox News folks acknowledge that the Trump election conspiracy theories were lies and they kept repeating them anyway. While I'd like to think that those viewers are intelligent enough to realize that they were snookered and that maybe they should do a little more critical thinking, I fear that will not happen and those people will continue to fall hook, line and sinker for more Fox News lies for no other reason than those lies are in line with their personal biases. Think about it: we had people attack the capitol and try to overthrow the government based on lies that the people saying them KNEW AT THE TIME were lies? I know they have to pay a $787 million fine but given the long-term damage they've done to our country, that somehow doesn't seem like enough. These partisan hacks have done enormous, long-lasting damage to our country by undermining the very bedrock of our government and political system: free and fair elections. They did that not because they actually believed what they were saying but rather because it paid the bills, albeit with paychecks tainted by the support of bigots, racists and morons.
Transgender Care - Can someone explain why too many state legislatures are spending way too much time on restricting/outlawing medical care for transgender people? What percentage of people are we talking about here? 1%? 2%? And yet our state governments are spending hundreds or hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars "addressing" this "issue!" I will be the first to admit that I don't really understand the whole transgender issue and I struggle with the notion that God created people who have a gender and a biological sex that don't match. But I'm also not out there advocating for restricting their rights or their access to medical care. In a country that has so many issues from infrastructure to education to crime, it is appalling that so called conservatives (who purport to advocate for small government) have focused so much time and effort on something simply because they don't understand it and they are scared of it because of that.
Guns and Mental Health - Do you ever notice that the politicians and people who want to argue that mass shootings are a mental health problem rather than a gun problem are the same people that are always trying to cut funding for those very same mental health services?
Crime - In large cities and suburbs across the country, crime is out of hand. Shootings, robberies, terrible car accidents caused by criminals and things are as bad as they've ever been. Perhaps defunding police isn't a good idea? I'm not saying that the police are perfect and that they never make mistakes or employ bad actors, but I do not think it's a coincidence that defunding police and forcing them to operate under an ever more scrutinous microscope has resulted in in more crime and more violence in our cities.
Missouri - I remember when Missouri was a purple, middle of the road, bellwether state politically. Now it's run by a rural lunatic fringe that spends all of their time dictating what people do in their personal life, cutting funding for everything from schools to public libraries while cutting taxes in a ridiculously ill-fated attempt to make the state more attractive to businesses. Because what businesses really want to do is relocate to a state run by a bunch of bigots that has crappy roads, crappy schools and that views anything forward thinking as the spawn of Satan.
Cardinals baseball - Gee, who could have predicted that not signing any top shelf starting pitchers and instead sticking with the bargain basement quantity over quality approach might be a bad idea? I remember back in the 2000s when the Cardinals under GM Walt Jocketty actually tried to win it all every year. They wanted to win championships and weren't content with just maybe making the playoffs. It showed in 6 playoff appearances in 7 seasons between 2000 and 2006, advancing beyond the 1st round of the playoffs 5 times and winning 2 pennants and a World Series. Now, the team hasn't been to a World Series in a decade and has only won 1 playoff series in the past 8 years. They aren't BAD by any means, but instead of actually aiming for the sky and winning championships, they've settled for merely being competitive while counting the money rolling in from the 3 million plus fans coming through the turnstiles every year. It's very frustrating.
Succession - This must watch show has somehow made millions of people care about a family full of insufferable, rich, spoiled, out-of-touch-with-reality characters who have very few, if any, redeemable qualities. That is a testament to tremendous writing, storytelling and acting. There are only 6 episodes left before the show ends and my television viewing will not be quite the same once the Roys exit stage left.
Matthew Rhys - This incredible actor may be the god of TV period dramas. After six stellar seasons starring as 1980s era undercover Soviet spy Phillips Jennings in The Americans, he is now killing it as the latest incarnation of the titular character in HBO's Perry Mason, set in LA during the 1930s. While the first season of the show was a little disjointed (despite stellar work from Rhys), the second season has been terrific.
Jeopardy! Hosts - While no one will ever match the wit, wisdom and style of Alex Trebek, it is clear to me that Ken Jennings is a much better successor than Mayim Bialik. He seems more comfortable and natural in the host role, which is a bit surprising considering their respective backgrounds. Bialik often seems like she's forcing things and trying too hard and she has a weird penchant for delayed acknowledgements to correct or incorrect responses by contestants.
I think that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed hearing my take on these topics and I welcome your comments if you agree or disagree with any of my thoughts.
Thanks for reading!
