CENSORSHIP

I have been complaining the past few years that the media has become selective as to what we see, read and hear. When I speak of the media, I reference its owners also. Corporate America. They decide what we see, read and hear.

Freedom of the Press no longer applies solely to the right of the press to observe and say whatever they want. Assuming its is correct. Freedom of the press today refers to censorship, the right of the media to pick and chose what we shall see, read and hear. Not as the Founding Fathers intended.

A perfect example is what occurred a few days ago on Morning Joe. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius was a guest.

Joe has consistently in recent weeks referenced the Hillary e-mail problem as a bad one. Ignatius wrote a Washington Post op-ed 8/28 wherein he argued that “this scandal is overstated.”

Joe and Ignatius on opposite ends of the spectrum re the issue.

Morning Joe’s 6 am hour is rerun at 8 am.

In the 6 am broadcast, Ignatius said…..As I talked to a half dozen lawyers who do nothing but this kind of work, they said they couldn’t remember a case like this, WHERE PEOPLE INFORMALLY AND INADVERTENTLY DRAW CLASSIFIED INFORMATION INTO THEIR PHONE CONVERSATIONS OR UNCLASSIFIED SERVER CONVERSATIONS, WHERE THERE HAD BEEN A PROSECUTION. (emphasis added)

In the 8 am rerun of the 6 am hour, the emphasized portion was edited out. Note that the Ignatius paragraph above was part of an ongoing dialogue between Joe and Ignatius. More followed.

Selective reporting? Yes. The better description is censorship. The new media freedom of the press.

Everyone should be pissed off at this type thing happening!

David from Kentucky is a loyal blog follower. Also, a frequent visitor to Key West. He lives in Kentucky. He e-mailed me regarding Kim Davis, the clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Kim Davis’ clerk office is located in Medford, Kentucky.

With David’s permission, I quote…..Morehead Kentucky has had more press in the last few weeks than they will have in the next one hundred years, whether they want it or not. I’ll go with the words of President Johnson after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and following trial, execution and imprisonment of the conspirators. “We wish to hear their names no more.” I wish to hear “Kim Davis no more.”

Today the anniversary of 9/11. May we never forget. Continued vigilance required.

Won all three bocce games last night! Keith was exceptional. He played all three games. The best bocce I have ever seen anyone play.

Excellent football. I enjoyed watching the second half of the New England/Pittsburgh game which New England won 28-21.

My KONK Life column this week is published in E-Blast this morning. About Tennessee Williams and one of his loves. Read it and enjoy.

Enjoy also your day!

 

FROM A SIX YEAR OLD TO DAVID IGNATIUS

 

 

Yesterday was a pleasant uneventful Sunday.

The day started with Sloan in the morning. We worked long and hard on You Tube. I had thought we would be ready to go live by the end of the week. Now it looks like some time next week. There is a lot more to it than I had thought. Lighting, where I sit, introduction, etc. I was under the impression I would download or whatever You Tube and speak.  It is that simple. But not if you want the product to have a quality to it.

Walked. The Casa Marina area. Parked my car and started with a walk through the Casa Marina grounds. The Casa Marina is one of Key West’s finest hotels. Then around the neighborhood. I ended up at Salute’s, a beach side restaurant near the Casa. Sat outside at a little round table and watched the ladies in their swim wear. A pleasurable activity for a senior citizen!

Sunday dinner once again at Lisa’s. Ally is six years old. In the first grade. She was doing homework. She had to write a sentence using the word “grip.” She did not know what the word meant. She did not ask anyone. She walked over and picked up this big blue book. I asked what the book was and what she was doing. She said I have to write a sentence using the word grip and I do not know what it means. The book was  a dictionary.

Some TV commentary.

I love Mad Men. It is a 1960s story. I started practicing law during that decade. The show has been a hit for several years. Last night I got the feeling it might have run its course. The show is becoming unreal.

I watch at least the first hour of Morning Joe every morning. A guest this morning was The Washington Post’s David Ignatius. He was being interviewed about a column he recently wrote. It had to do with where the United states would be/could be by 2020. Only eight years away.

A couple of his opinions I found interesting and informative.

Ignatius says that our national gas production will be so significant by 2020 that the United States will be exporting natural gas to the same extent that Saudi Arabia is oil now.

Another was that international companies are beginning to change their minds about opening plants in China. Labor in China is 60 per cent of what it would cost in the United States. There has been a slowly  increasing cost to Chinese labor.

So why the United States over China for a new plant? Productivity. United States workers turn out more and better. The difference in labor costs is overcome by the productivity factor.

Both of these opinions is dependent on a separate and distinct factor. Washington must get its act together. It will only happen if the politicians work together.

My day is starting rapidly. Lisa telephoned that Robert is upchucking. Buy popsicles. Yesterday one of my implants broke and the teeth don’t stay in. I just called the dentist. I have to be in his office at nine.

Enjoy your day!