Candid assessments and bold reforms are necessary in order to save civilization from climate change, restore the Constitution of the United States, establish peace, and resume the course for economic justice.
Believing this quotation warrants an Internet meme, I set it over one of Gilbert Stuart's portraits of this nation's second president, who penned the words in a letter to his wife Abigail on April 26, 1777. They are especially appropriate to consider at this time of year, as we are close to Election Day.
Benjamin Bradlee died Tuesday. He was editor of The Washington Post when its coverage of the Pentagon Papers survived a legal challenge by the administration of President Richard Nixon. Those documents had been leaked by Daniel Ellsberg PhD and exposed dishonesty by the government of this country about its war in Vietnam. Bradlee's tenure continued as said newspaper broke the Watergate scandal, which resulted in the resignation of the aforementioned president.
The choice by Pres. Obama to award the Medal of Freedom -- the highest civilian honor in the land -- to Bradlee last year was ironic given that thisadministration is morehostile to themediathananyotheradministration of the US was since that of Nixon. Despite such hostility, the media should learn from the example Bradlee set when he demonstrated he understood that the responsibilities of journalism include to critically question and aggressively investigate, not to blindlyaccept as fact the word of officials in government.
In order for freedom of the press to have meaning, reporters must prioritize the publicinterest over theirdesireforaccess to -- and over their instinct to cave to intimidationtactics by -- officials who are supposed to serve the people; and the voters must elect candidates who oppose such tactics, which include surveillance of journalists and which include (threats of) punishment for leaks of information that need not be secret.
The only debate in which Governor Andrew Cuomo (Republican -- Oops, I meanDemocrat) will participate as he seeks re-election will be aired live on October 22.
The event will include Green nominee Howie Hawkins, whoisontrackto break the record for percentage drawn by a candidate of any left-wing third party in a general gubernatorial election in the Empire State. I dedicated the pictured pumpkin to the contender in that race who has my support.
Reportedly, former secretary of State HillaryClinton might begin anothercandidacy for president sooner than expected were her party to hit a new level of lameness by losing the Senate to the Republicans next month. To help clarify who is likely among those eager for the former first lady to again seek the highest office in this land, I enhanced an image from the "Ready for Hillary" super-PAC.
The super-PAC known as "Ready for Hillary" tries to own the idea of support for a female candidate for this nation's highest office. But the two latest presidential (and vice presidential) nominees of the Green Party are women, most recently JillStein MD, who drew a higher percentage of the popular vote than any other woman had in a general election for president of the United States.
With hope for her to again run for the White House, I revised an offending ad by said committee, which learned the hard way it is in no position to sue over this.
This graph I made puts into some perspective the start of the 14th year of the United States'long-pointless occupation of Afghanistan -- an operation very much overshadowed by President Obama's latest misadventure.
October 24 will bring the opening of a documentary about massiveabusebytheNationalSecurityAgency being disclosed by then-contractor EdwardSnowden to director Laura Poitras and to journalist Glenn Greenwald, both of whom would, for their coverage of this issue, win the Pulitzer Prize and the Polk Award.
UPDATE:
For Best Documentary Feature, this production won awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the International Documentary Association, the Houston Film Critics Society, the Saint Louis Film Critics Assoc., and the Utah Film Critics Assoc., and won the award at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. For Best Non-Fiction Film, this production won awards from the National Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assoc., and the New York Film Critics Circle.
For Best Documentary, this production won awards from the Int'l Press Academy, the British Academy of Film & Television Arts, the Austin Film Critics Assoc., the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Assoc., the Detroit Film Critic Society, the Iowa Film Critics, the Kansas City Film Critics Cir., the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the London Critics Cir., the San Diego Film Critics Society, and the San Francisco Film Critics Cir., and won the Gotham Award and the Independent Spirit Award.
For this work, Poitras won the Directors Guild of America's award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, the Palm Springs Int'l Film Festival's award for Filmmakers Who Make a Difference, and the Santa Barbara Int'l Film Festival's award for Outstanding Director.
As positive myths about Christopher Columbus are disproved and momentum therefore builds behind the idea to turn this holiday -- Columbus Day -- into one that honors the indigenous peoples of the Western hemisphere, I launch this blog. It is devoted to the effort to move US politics beyond the status-quo as more evidence mounts that proves the necessity of such an effort in order to spare the human race from environmental doom, allow opportunity for all citizens of this land, and uphold the principles that made the constitution of this country the best in the world.
Please always feel free to comment on and to share this blog. I look forward to fact-based and constructive exchanges of information and of ideas with you. For now, several of my previous works are posted and backdated here so some substance is offered immediately. Thank you for visiting!
Picture courtesy of ushistory.org
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin said of this feature of the presidential chair, "I have often and often in the course of the session, and the vicisitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that, behind the president, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun."
The only debate in which Governor Andrew Cuomo (Republican -- Oops, I mean Democrat) will participate as he seeks re-election will be aired live on October 22.
The super-PAC known as "Ready for Hillary" tries to own the idea of support for a female candidate for this nation's highest office. But the two latest presidential (and vice presidential) nominees of the Green Party are women, most recently Jill Stein MD, who drew a higher percentage of the popular vote than any other woman had in a general election for president of the United States.
With hope for her to again run for the White House, I revised an offending ad by said committee, which learned the hard way it is in no position to sue over this.
