The DNC e-mail hacks …

If your private company gets hacked it’s doubtful our nation’s intelligence agencies will launch an all-out investigation, nor will our government retaliate against the culprits. 

The Chinese hack our companies all the time. So do a wide range of other countries, including some of our staunchest allies. Does our government do much about it?  Nope.

So why is it such a big deal when the Democrat National Committee gets hacked and someone releases e-mails between DNC staffers and supporters? 

This has baffled me from the beginning when the first leaked e-mails went public.  It’s not as if someone hacked the Department of Defense or hacked the personnel files of millions of government employees – both of which happened. Those are serious and certainly worthy of intense investigation by our intelligence community.    

But the DNC is not a Federal agency or department. Something the DNC and the Feds forget. 

There were no state secrets revealed with the DNC hack.  Just a bunch of ill-advised e-mails showing how Democrat Party officials connived to ensure Hillary got the nomination. Sure, it exposed some nasty, petty backbiting and backstabbing, yet was anyone surprised?

More importantly, the released e-mails were true.  These weren’t fabricated or falsified. Nobody at the DNC ever denied the veracity of the leaked e-mails.

Again, why do hacks of a political party’s e-mails warrant a government threat of retaliation against the supposed culprits – the Russians?   That seems way out of proportion to what happened, in my opinion, assuming the Russians were somehow involved anyway. 

Is the DNC a de facto branch of the Federal government?  Granted, Democrats have long felt entitled to run our government any way they wish, whether they have the Constitutional standing to do so or not.  They don’t care if they are in the minority in the House or Senate, if Federal law is against them, or what – they feel they have the right to the reins of government, whether they are a career bureaucrat or actually elected. 

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that government service employee unions are big supporters of Democrats; most of their members depend on Democrats continuing to build the size and scope of government while preserving and enriching if possible their pay and benefits.   

Another thing the hacked e-mails showed was the contempt Democrat Party leaders have for the public at large, not just Trump supporters, and even those who supported Bernie in the primaries.  Once again, nobody at the DNC has denied the truthfulness of the leaked e-mails. 

Maybe that’s why I’m having such a difficult time understanding the outrage by Obama and the Democrats over the DNC hack. If the e-mails weren’t true – and just made up to embarrass Democrats in the middle of an election – then the outrage would make sense. 

But the emails were true. It seems ironic that showing exactly what party officials and supporters actually wrote to each other is an attack on our values. Doesn’t the truth set you free?   

Did the e-mails cause Hillary to lose the election?  I don’t think so; at worst it may have made some Bernie supporters stay home or vote for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein instead of Hillary – but the Democrat Party only has itself to blame for that. The Democrat Party poohbahs wanted Hillary. She single-handedly lost the election all on her own.

The popular Democrat myth right now it that the Russians interfered in our election and must be punished. How dare a foreign government interfere in our elections?

That’s rich.  Especially since the Obama Administration funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Netanyahu opponents in hopes of defeating him in the Israeli elections. And anyone who thinks our government has not tried to tamper with foreign elections – including the Russian election of Putin – is frankly too naïve at best, and disingenuous at worst, to be taken seriously.

Through the DNC hacks Democrats got caught in a web of truths. They ignored the first rule of e-mail – never put anything in an e-mail you wouldn’t want to see on a billboard.

BTW, during the campaign hackers tried to penetrate the Republican National Committee servers as well, but failed.  Just an interesting side note. 

Petty, childish crap …

It’s not unusual to be upset by an election when your candidate loses.  But I’ve never seen such childish and spiteful behavior by supposed adults after this latest one. 

It’s one thing to protest something by taking to the streets. Hell, I did that myself following the Kent State shootings when I was in college.  It would be the height of hypocrisy for me now to be against protest marches.

Still, it’s quite another to engage in what I can only describe as chickenshit stuff – petty, pointless and vindictive crap simply because you didn’t get your way.  It’s like an undisciplined brat screaming and throwing things because mom won't let them have Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs for breakfast.

You don’t expect behavior like this from adults. However, now a day doesn’t go by without a story about a jackass going ballistic and verbally – and sometimes physically – assaulting people that nutjob blames for having anything to do with Trump.

Recently Ivanka Trump, her family, and some of their cousins were boarding a JetBlue flight. Some jerk – another passenger – stood up and started publicly berating her about her father.  He did this in front of Ivanka, her husband and the kids, until he was removed from the flight.  The jerk’s husband on the same flight tweeted about it praising him for chasing down the Trump family to harass them, with the hashtag #banalityofevil. 

Yeah, that was a real act of bravery.     

Artists have sent letters to Ivanka telling her to remove their art – which she purchased and as such owns – from the walls of her home, as a sign of their displeasure with the policies of her father. One posted a note to her saying that seeing her next to his art embarrassed him.

Again, how brave.  Especially after they’ve gotten her money. 

The DC Metro System, which in the past featured the face of the incoming President on special inaugural day rail passes, this year only used a picture of the White House.  I suppose that’s to show their distaste for the incoming President.

Mind you, this is a taxpayer-funded system.   

A variety of celebrities are now publicly refusing to perform at Trump’s inauguration events. The list includes many who haven’t even been invited to perform.  And of course we also have fashion designers who say they won’t design clothes for the women in the Trump family to demonstrate their opposition to anything or anyone related to Trump. 

These are all meaningless acts.  Petty, vindictive and childish.  And to no purpose.     

The only time I can remember actions this childish was when Bill Clinton’s staffers, upset by the election of George W. Bush, intentionally damaged White House computer keyboards, removing the “W” keys on their way out so new Bush staffers couldn’t use them.

Maybe spiteful behavior is something in the liberal Democrat DNA. I don’t know. 

I can only speak for myself, but I voted less for Trump than I did to force dramatic change in government.  Trump was simply the vehicle to send the message that I wanted responsible adults in charge of things instead of pie-in-the-sky academics and perpetual apparatchiks mucking about. I wanted playtime to end, in other words, and new people – grownups with real-world business experience – in their place to make that happen. 

For far too long we’ve indulged, and as a consequence enabled, the whiners and complainers in our society and allowed them to make the rules.  We’ve created an entire class of pampered, petty tyrants who have no manners, no decency and no respect for the rights of others. The only thing they believe in is their right to do whatever they want, wherever they want, and to whomever they please with absolutely no remorse, much less shame, for their actions.

It's as if a large part of the population never grew up. Maybe they didn't. 

The solution is not to engage in a tit-for-tat with these arrested-development tyrants; that only encourages them by appearing to take them seriously. We shouldn’t do that.

The better course of action is to simply ignore them. Let them cry, let them whine, let them set up their “safe spaces” and take meaningless stands against their imaginary boogeymen until they finally realize no one who matters cares what they say or what they do.

Honestly, it’s a show we don’t have to attend. After a while, most of us won’t.  It will take a bit longer for the media to follow our lead, but they will in time. Remember Occupy Wall Street? What about Code Pink?  Even Black Lives Matter is becoming irrelevant.  I rest my case. 

At some point, it’s inevitable. Until then we just have to endure obnoxious jerks essentially threatening to hold their breath until they get their way.

That doesn’t work for kids; it won’t work for them either. 

All they want is attention. Refuse to give it to them and they’ll fade away.   

A form of mental illness?

When someone continually refuses to accept reality – and prefers to live in a fantasy world of their own creation, no matter how often that world is proven false, they have a serious problem. When they become violent in defense of their fantasy, we as a society have a problem.  

The past couple of weeks have made me rethink something I’ve only said as a joke for years: being a radical progressive liberal may be a form of mental illness. 

Now I certainly don’t mean to make light of people suffering with devastating mental issues that require medical treatment. I’ve had friends and co-workers with bipolar disorders as well as friends whose parents were clinically schizophrenic, which made their lives a living Hell. I have enormous sympathy for them and what they've gone through, and in many cases still have to endure.

Serious mental illness is not a joking matter.

But for the life of me, I can’t find another explanation for the actions of so many on the left – and even prominent Democrat politicians – in recent weeks.

It was clear by 2AM in the morning following the close of polls that Hillary lost to Donald Trump. She simply didn’t win enough states and their Electoral College votes. Her “blue wall” evaporated and one by one the states she and her supporters thought she had in the bag went to Trump. She won big majorities of the popular vote in California and New York – as expected – but that wasn’t enough, or even relevant, given the states she lost elsewhere.

And it wasn’t just her.  Republicans held onto the House and Senate, plus increased the number of governorships and control of state legislatures to historic levels. 

But her supporters – as well as others opposed to Trump – refused to accept reality.

Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, launched a costly campaign to force recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania based on an unfounded charge of Russian hacking of voting machines. Why?  Nobody is really sure, since there was no evidence of any hacking of voting machines anywhere and state voting officials said there was no evidence of voter fraud, either. 

Clinton campaign staffers supported the recount effort, nonetheless, even though they knew full well the recounts would change nothing.     

Predictably, the recounts failed. 

Then the radical left started a campaign to convince Electoral College Electors to change their votes. This, despite the fact that Electors are selected by Party loyalists – which would mean the Republican Electors were selected because they pledged to support the Republican candidate – Donald Trump, in this case. The probability of switching enough Trump Electors was between slim and none. 

But that didn’t stop an onslaught of letters, threats, a Hollywood celebrity video, and even personalized videos from Martin Sheen sent to some Electors urging them to change their votes.

Some Republican Electors reported receiving tens of thousands of emails and letters. In the end, that failed as well. Only two Republican Electors didn’t cast their ballots for Trump; more Democrat Electors defected from Hillary than that. Democrat Electors in Washington State, carried by Hillary in the general election, cast three votes for Colin Powell and one vote for Faith Spotted Owl instead of for Hillary.

Still the left keeps fighting on. I guess they hope the Republican-majority Congress will not certify the results of the election. I keep seeing items that Joe Biden will be presiding over the certification, as if Plugs McKenzie can somehow stop the inevitable. 

Not going to happen. 

I’m starting to see more articles online that the next phase of opposition will be a series of lawsuits compelling Trump to divest all his holdings or be impeached on the grounds of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Or the start of impeachment proceedings for “treason” because he wants better relations with Russia.

Seriously?  The guy hasn’t even taken office yet. 

I think this is insane. I’m starting to believe that there’s been an outbreak of mass hysteria on the left, and signs of group insanity as well.  Trump hasn’t done a single thing as President so far because – news flash – he isn’t the President until he’s inaugurated on January 20. And the left is already planning for his impeachment before he takes office? 

Forget for a moment that the ravings are coming from people who clearly don’t understand the Constitution, the purpose and function of the Electoral College, the rule of law, or the orderly and peaceful transition of one administration to another that’s been the hallmark of our American political system for centuries.   

Instead, consider what they really want – to overturn, by threats and intimidation, a completely legal and fair election won entirely by the established rules.

That’s what’s really frightening. They don’t see anything wrong in any of this. They refuse to give up their fantasy that somehow Clinton actually won but was unfairly denied the Presidency because of the Russians, James Comey, racism, sexism, a centuries’ old antiquated artifact created by dead white males, or something else.

Clinton didn’t win. Trump did.  He did it by winning more Electoral College votes. That’s how the game is played, and has been for over 200 years. And once again the Electoral College did what it was intended to do – ensure that a few highly populated states didn’t determine every election. 

We live in the United States of America; not the United States of California and New York, and for all the obvious reasons. All the states matter.         

The left also can’t comprehend that the unreasoning hatred and bigotry – and often violence – they exhibit toward anyone who voted for Trump, or even now accepts the outcome of the election however grudgingly, are the very same traits they said they despised in Trump supporters.  

The very same traits their chosen candidate – Hillary – disparaged as belonging to Trump’s “basket of deplorables.”  They don’t recognize these in themselves. 

I’m not sure where this all ends. I’m fairly certain that the longer the radicals on the left keep pursuing their same course, the more they’ll convince other Americans how off-kilter and out-of-touch the whole progressive movement is.  If they step up the vehemence and violence even more, as many in their camp have promised, they’ll face an even greater political backlash in elections to come.

They’ll be relegated to being no more than a lunatic fringe.

And I chose those words carefully.  

Lessons from the playground …

Somewhere along the line it became a bad thing to have winners and losers.

I don’t know when this happened. But make no mistake, it did. Now we have generations of people who don’t know what it is to lose.  Or how to handle losing. If they do lose they think it must be a mistake. There must be some other reason why they failed to win. There must be some technicality – some loophole they can exploit – they can use to reverse what to them is obviously not the right result. 

It makes no difference whether it’s fighting a traffic ticket, not being picked to be prom queen or king, being passed over for a job, or even losing an election. People who don’t know how to lose often claim whatever happened was unfair – not incorrect based on the rules, but unfair. They almost always claim the rules shouldn’t apply to them. 

What do we expect from people raised to believe that if you complain enough you’ll eventually get your way, regardless of the established rules?  Or that they always deserve to be a winner? 

Competitive sports we played as kids once taught us there were rules to every game Fairness came from everyone adhering to the same rules. The rules didn’t change mid game just because somebody didn’t like the way the game was going.

As kids we all played for fun, but also to win within agreed-upon rules set in advance. 

There were always rules; it didn’t matter if we were playing in a vacant lot, somebody’s backyard, or on a playground. Kids who didn’t abide by the rules were cheaters; kids who tried to change the rules when they were losing were whiners. There was no honor in winning by cheating or trying to win by whining.

We also learned over time – especially when some of us moved on to more organized sports – that you didn’t always get what you want. Sometimes you didn’t even make the team, and if you did, you got stuck in a position where coaches thought you could do the least damage.

Like deep center field. 

Or on the offensive line as center, as I did for many years. 

Or at least I did until the 9^th grade when in my first game I faced off as a 160-pound center opposite a 242-pound kid on defense who predictably beat the Hell out of me on every play. Now I wasn’t bad at my position, but he was much better – and bigger – at his. It wasn’t his “fault” or “unfair” he pounded me all game; it was my fault alone for not being up to the task.

I realized it wasn’t just him. Everybody on his team, and most of the players on mine, were also much bigger than me and would probably get even bigger the next year.  I probably wouldn’t.  

After that game – a valuable wake-up call to me – I quit the team and switched to marching band where the probability of long-term brain damage was significantly less.   

Lesson learned.   

In short, our sports taught us that not everybody was actually equal – maybe under the law, but not on the field.  There were superior athletes and inferior athletes.  And “heart” would only take you so far.  Sometimes you’d lose no matter how hard you tried, or how much you wanted to win. Sometimes your opponents were just bigger, better, stronger, faster, more talented, whatever.

You simply learned to deal with it. 

That was life then, and still is today. There are inevitably winners and losers for all sorts of reasons.  Enforcing artificial “fairness” to pretend everyone is and will forever be a winner no matter what sends the wrong message to anyone who expects to survive in the real world. 

Plus there are always rules to obey.  Fairness is not defined by individual circumstance, or need, but by the rules being applied equally to all.  Rules applied to some but not all are unfair.   

The latest generations seem to have missed that valuable lesson.  Maybe it’s because we’ve experienced a President who has made up rules as he went along, ignored some entirely, and applied others unequally to suit his political ends, making the concept of “fairness” a bad joke.

Maybe it’s because they were brought up on T-Ball where every game ends in a tie, or played sports with built in “mercy rules” to call games when one side’s getting the crap beat out of them.

Or maybe because someone, somewhere decided it was harmful to kids’ psyches to lose. 

Whatever.  Now we live in an era when kids on winning teams get rewarded with the same trophies as kids on the teams they beat. Everyone’s a winner.  

That’s a terrible message to send. 

That means you can get a trophy for just showing up. That’s sufficient.  And that’s the lesson taught to our latest generations: you don’t have to actually put in the time and effort required to succeed; you just have to show up.  Do that and the world is your oyster.  

I’m certain a lot of otherwise highly educated folks in the latest generations truly believe that. It’s probably one of the reasons why so many of them are unable to find anything but a minimum wage job where showing up is good enough. They are emotionally unprepared to compete for a better job. They aren’t ready to handle a tough job interview. They get flustered easily. They panic when someone asks them to explain exactly why they should be hired rather than someone else. 

“I get along well with others” while it might be true simply doesn’t cut it. The basements of middle-aged parents across the country are filled with their unemployed or underemployed offspring who “get along well with others,” but can’t make a decent living on their own.      

Are there exceptions? Of course.  I’ve engaged with some who are working their butts off to get ahead; they are smart and determined and give me hope. 

However, for every one of them, I see way, way too many who are completely and utterly clueless. Like those protesting the recent election, even though they themselves didn’t bother to vote; the truly sad – and revealing part – is they don’t think that should matter.

Huh?  That’s like expecting a trophy even when you don’t show up.

Then there are those who want to change the rules mid-stream, especially in the Electoral College, using threats and intimidation to bully their way to a different outcome. 

There won’t be a different outcome. The rules are the rules.  You win or lose by the rules, and the rules are only fair if applied equally to all. 

When anyone loses they can whine, complain and wallow in self-pity, which accomplishes nothing. Or they can pick themselves up, learn from their loss, figure out what they need to improve, and make the necessary changes to increase the odds of winning the next time.

Or entirely rethink what they’re doing and choose to do something completely different; something they may be better suited for. That can be positive, too.     

Many in my generation learned that on the playground or playing competitive sports where there were inevitably winners and losers. Losing sucks when it happens, but also teaches how to get over it and move on.  And maybe, just maybe, work harder to succeed the next time.       

I’m sorry so many young people today apparently were protected from that valuable lesson. Those who protected them from this reality should be ashamed of the disservice they've done, however well intentioned at the time.   

What happens when there’s no monster in the closet …

One of the more disappointing aspects of modern American politics is the demonization of others with opposing views.

Now, I’m not so naïve to think this is something brand new. It’s not. But it’s reached a level where powerful invectives like Nazi, fascist, dictator, racist, bigot, homophobe, xenophobe, white supremacist, and woman hater are used way too often.

So often, in fact, they lose potency. Plus, they create another problem: what do you do when your monster doesn’t turn out to be such a monster after all?

When Reagan was elected the left described him as a trigger-happy idiot who would cause World War III.  He would turn back decades of civil rights progress, ban abortions, and let poor people starve.  He was going to be anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-immigrant and worse. His proposed tax cuts would make the rich richer and plunge the country into an even deeper recession. 

Many on the left predicted he would destroy America.   

So Reagan was their monster. Then he wasn’t. None of the left’s or the liberal-leaning media’s dire predictions came true. 

In reality there was no basis for what they hurled at Reagan – no evidence that Reagan would ever become the monster they envisioned.  That didn’t stop them, however. It was just the result of where political discourse had devolved. 

There was then – and still is now – no room for moderation. No giving the benefit of the doubt. The powers that be on left and the right believe they can only rally their respective bases by making the other side absolutely evil.  

Nothing less will do. Every contest must be the ultimate battle between good and evil. 

It’s the very essence of political fundraising efforts. The left accuses those on the right of being soulless, hate-filled, bigoted monsters with no human decency; the right accuses those on the left of being the same. The pleas from the left are always based on fears that the right will take away everyone’s rights; the pleas from the right are based on fears that the left will do the same.    

The public has given up trying to discern who is right or wrong.  The public doesn’t care who follows traditional “Republican values” or “Democrat values.” Or even who rigorously adheres to the “principles” of the left or the right, whatever those are.

And the public doesn’t respond to the demonization by either side as much anymore.  Or the hyperbolic accusations of the far left or far right.  That’s because the “monsters” both sides routinely warned of have failed to materialize. As such, Americans have decided not to believe in supposed monsters trucked out every election cycle.     

That’s how you get a President Trump.  Enough people crossed party lines to elect a guy who is neither a traditional Republican nor a traditional Democrat; someone who is neither on the far left or the far right, but somewhere in between.    

This is devastating to both the far left and the far right, and in general to both the Republican and Democrat parties.  An important campaign tool has been lost, although they and the media don’t realize it quite yet.  So the dire predictions keep coming. 

They’ve yet to realize that playing the monster card to demonize your opponent so often simply doesn’t have the same impact now. You can only falsely cry wolf so many times before people stop believing you.  Nobody but the crazies, and some holdouts in the media, gives any credence to what the monster mongers in both extremes have to say.

Trump is becoming a near-perfect example of that so far. 

It was never likely Trump would be the monster portrayed by those still frustrated and angry he was elected. He’s not going to be a white supremacist. He’s not going to persecute law-abiding Muslims, gays, African Americans, women, Hispanics and other minorities. He’s not going to overturn decades of civil rights progress.  He’s not going to ban same-sex marriage. He’s not going to break down doors to grab up and kick out every illegal immigrant.

And he’s not going to send women to prison for getting an abortion. Nor is he going to stack the Supreme Court with far right loons and religious fanatics. Or give a free hand to corporations to pollute the air and water and poison the environment.

Or start a war just because someone got under his skin. 

Despite how he was portrayed by his opponents in the primaries and by Democrats, as President he’s not going to do any of these things.  I don’t believe he ever wanted to.  

Still, it’s Trump’s turn to be the monster. The left and many in the mainstream media are describing what they expect in the same terms they used to deride Reagan. And more. 

Trump’s not Reagan, by any stretch.  In fact, he’s unlike any other President in modern American history; there’s no other President with whom to compare him. No other person running for President in my memory has withstood such relentlessly vicious and personal attacks from both opponents and the media and won the Presidency anyway.   

Right now his popularity is almost at 50% -- up from the low to mid 30s – and he hasn’t even taken office yet.  This is in spite of the ferocious attacks and public handwringing by Democrats and many in the media over the people he’s chosen to nominate to his cabinet and to head up key government departments.  

The markets are way up – even though his critics predicted markets would crash if he got elected – and quite a few companies are rethinking moving operations offshore. Most telling is the surge in the value of small-company stocks because investors now believe cutting regulations on small businesses will increase their profitability and boost employment.

It’s not looking good for the Trump-as-monster mongers so far. They’ve been working day and night to find any cloud in the silver lining and they are still coming up short.  

This is what happens when your monsters don’t materialize as planned.

You look like a fool. And no one trusts you as much anymore.  

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

 Oh wait.  According to CNN and others the Russians are already here. Online. 

And guess what – the Russians are still working day and night – posting fake news – to fuel distrust of the mainstream media by many Americans. 

Wow.  As if the mainstream media here need any help in losing credibility. Our own mainstream media have done an excellent job of that without outside assistance.

But to listen to staff members of Clinton’s failed campaign and outraged reporters from several major media outlets, those crafty, evil Russians are really responsible. They believe the Russians routinely planted fake news that brought Hillary down and caused Americans to doubt the integrity of many major U.S. media outlets. 

One of the examples used by CNN was a news report, attributed to the Russians, claiming there was a pedophile ring run by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta operating out of a DC pizza shop.

That alone probably cost Hillary the election. Right.

I suppose it could have, if there are that many Americans who are complete morons.  Like those who believe there’s a simple miracle diet that trims belly fat, reverses male pattern baldness, and cures cancer at the same time.  Or rely solely on the Weekly World News or National Enquirer for their news.  Or respond to letters from a Nigerian prince. 

Seriously, what’s next? Blaming the loss of media credibility – and Hillary’s loss – on bogus Facebook posts supposedly by Russians that Hillary was part of a Satanic cult? That big-money contributors to her campaign partied at a Clinton-Foundation-run Orgy Island?  That Hillary had a campaign staff member killed because he was going to reveal she was secretly a reptilian alien? And that Chelsea Clinton married the son of a convicted swindler sent to Federal prison?

Oops.  That last item is actually true.    

Now, does anyone with even half a brain think outlandish stories posted on the Internet by whomever had any effect on the recent election?

Of course not.  It’s a joke.  Like a great Facebook posting I loved:  A photo of Abraham Lincoln and a supposed quote from him – “You can’t trust everything you read on the Internet.”

So let’s contrast those with actual reporting of “real news” by our mainstream media.

What about the stories that Trump tacitly accepted endorsements from David Duke and white supremacists? That he mocked people with disabilities?  Or that Trump sexually assaulted an underage girl and dozens of other women?  Or that Trump might be a cocaine user? Or that the violence at Trump rallies resulted entirely from his hateful rhetoric?  Or that his supporters held racist signs at his rallies?  

Or now, that the Russians were working behind the scenes to get Trump elected? 

I don’t know about you, but are any of those stories any less preposterous? 

The media are still trying figure out why so many ordinary Americans have lost faith in them. 

I’ll help them: it’s because the media either made up stuff or didn’t bother to check the facts – or both – and reported their own fake news.  And they got caught.

It’s not like this hasn’t happened before. 

Remember Brian Williams’ fake war stories.  Remember Dan Rather’s “exposé” on the military record of G.W. Bush.  Remember how they promoted the story that the Benghazi attacks were caused by an online video. Remember the fake news about the alleged rape of a black woman by white members of the Duke Lacrosse team.  Or the Rolling Stone feature about a rape at UVa that never happened either. Or that Trayvon Martin was just walking home from a store when he was shot and killed for no reason except he was black by a trigger-happy white wannabe-cop. Or that Michael Brown said “hands up … don’t shoot” before he was shot and killed by a white cop.   

These weren't mistakes. These were published with a clear intent.     

Then there were the sins of omission too numerous to recount – times when “objectivity” and “journalistic integrity” went out the window by members of the media consciously withholding information that would have contradicted the point they were trying to make.

These are the same people who still refuse to accept that Trump won the election despite their best efforts to defeat him with innuendo, half-truths and at times bald-faced lies. The same people who quoted one of their own as calling the election results a “whitelash” against people of color. The same people now reporting a spike in “hate crimes” and racist vandalism, without verifying if any of this is real, or the work of disgruntled Hillary or Bernie supporters to pin on Trump.   

After decades of shamelessly putting out a steady stream of misinformation, most often to advance a political narrative, our media wonder why Americans don’t trust them anymore.

It’s the Russians’ fault. Sure.