Since 2016 I have been looking for the Edward R. Murrow of our times. Newscaster Murrow was took down Senator McCarthy in a broadcast on March 9, 1954, mostly in McCarthy own words. and lancing the boil of McCarthyism.
Close to the end Murrow said: “We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men -- not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result.”
Seated next to Senator McCarthy in his hearings on communism was Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn was Donald Trump’s lawyer and the person who taught him to double down. One person linking McCarthy and Trump. Both talking about witch hunts.
I think Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC may well be the broadcaster who will take down Trump and lance the boil of Trumpism in this time. He was on that path in his broadcast this evening when he talked about Trump and his birtherism. I looked into Trump’s claim that Obama was not born in the United States. I asked the question, where was his mother when he was born? The answer was she was in Hawaii enrolled in the University there. As a piece of personal trivia it also turns out that Obama’s mother was born in the same hospital in Wichita, Kansas, where I was born 7 years later.
Something happened yesterday which I believe can change the dynamics of the election. Biden visited CS Wind in Colorado which is the largest manufacturer of wind towers. Thanks to Biden’s IRA program an over $200 million expansion will take place which will create 850 new jobs. They have already hired over 500 new employees. This solar project happens to be in the district currently represented by Lauren Boebert who voted against the project and called it wasteful. Here is my point instead of responding to the Republican rhetoric we need to point directly in individual districts and communities what the Biden administration programs have done for job creation in that community and highlight the fact that a specific Republican voted against it. Just yesterday the Biden administration approved funding to replace and fix 9 million water pipes in the country that could cause water pollution like in Flint Michigan. The message is clear look at what the Biden administration is doing in your community and BTW what has your Republican representatives done for you lately?
I watched Lawrence, as he he laid it down. He is priceless. He is much too calm to look like the one to take a baseball bat to quite a few knecaps, but his words might have that effect.
The Orange Jesus was angry at Lawrence because he was so right that it DID sting, standing out from the otherwise silent MSM.
Blasphemy is the new Republican Covenant. The Orange Jesus will save them all.
You are on top of it all Robert. That's another classic breakdown that I will have to forward widely. Thank you for all the work you put in and get a bit of rest. You will need it at the rate you are cranking.
Magnificent essay, Robert. I agree with every single word of it and thank you for taking the time to explain it all so eloquently. we owe it to the past, and to the future not to look away.
At a time, as Robert notes, when “the media has lost its collective mind,” the latest newsletter of Heather Cox Richardson notes that David Andelman, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and CBS News, now writes Andelman Unleashed. He noted today in CNN that “President Biden has brought a very clear-eyed set of principles to foreign affairs, making him ‘one of the rare presidents who has accomplished something quite extraordinary: He has carefully defined and quite successfully defended democracy and democratic values before a host of existential challenges.’” Andelman goes on to write that defending democracy “is something that makes [Biden] tick and remain appealing to others, as I’ve seen in so many parts of the world.”
Each of us needs to yell this accomplishment of the President from the rooftops! Biden’s approach to governing at home, as Cox Richardson explains, “is also designed to protect democracy by demonstrating that democracy can do more for people than an authoritarian government.” If the majority of the media cannot (or are unwilling) to report these accomplishments of the Biden administration, then we, as Americans, have been deputized to take every opportunity to point out these facts in any way that we can.
I used to take pride in the efforts of the 5th Estate to protect and inform us, to speak truth to power. The gumshoe reporters like Woodward and Bernstein were my heroes during the Watergate era. Today I am astounded by the abject failure of mass media to do their job. I have cancelled my subscriptions and turned off the TV (preferring to get my news and insights through the efforts of individuals I trust on SubStack). History will not be kind to today’s mainstream media that missed their chance to shine.
It is brilliant. Robert, so sorry you’re not feeling well. I woke up with sneezing and a runny nose but feel its allergies. Anyway, I wanted to mention that Henry Kissinger died at age 100. I shed not one tear as he was as evil as they come. He was an embarrassment to Jews here foremost but also one of the reasons we were involved in the Vietnam War. To quote Clarence Darrow “ I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.”. :)
Thank you for this essay and thank you for the many helpful links you provide. They really help. I am reminded of something I read in a Steady essay by Dan Rather. “ This is a relay not a sprint.” Sometimes you simply have to rest and recoup a bit. While you’re doing that , someone else will carry the ball until you get back on your feet. That’s what friends are for. The Trumps and Musks of this world make so much noise and have so little to say. Just focus on doing the hard, quiet, often tedious work of winning one election at a time.
Nov 30, 2023·edited Nov 30, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
“I am glad to be in this fight with you,” Robert. And with Jill, as I am with your entire family – for whom you began ‘Today’s Edition Newsletter.’ As I am with this community of readers committed to preserving the freedoms of our democracy. This day-to-day experience helps to sustain me in ways for which I remain deeply grateful.
Your words reminded me of when I was a visiting author at an elementary school in Texas with a wonderful principal who'd coined a school motto of two-letter words that even the youngest kids could read, "If it is to be, it is up to me." A motto for our times!
What if Trump called for “the government” to “come down hard” and “punish” The New York Times??? Or the Washington Post??? Is it only because it is MSNBC that the other newspapers say nothing???
This from Lindsey Graham who miraculously has managed to serve as a US Senator for almost a jillion years.( exaggeration noted)
"I don't know who you're trying to please. I don't know what group is going to feel better because we're doing this on your side but you're pleasing like none of us," Graham fumed. "This is about an ongoing effort to destroy this court, to destroy [conservative Justice] Clarence Thomas's reputation."
No external effort is needed to destroy Clarence Thomas's reputation. He has destroyed that all by himself. Wake up Lindsey! Wake up Anerica!
I agree with you, Robert, that the former president is hellbent on stripping us of our rights and our freedoms, and the media is frequently an accomplice. Working together towards protecting our rights and our freedoms is the mission of Democrats from now until Election Day. I'm looking forward to the forum this afternoon - to be in touch with the many who are doing this work. It might be that this forum becomes a regular support group and a call to action for those who haven't yet become engaged in this vital work.
Thanks, Robert, for gathering up the news each day and keeping our conversation going. It's encouraging to know so many are on the same page. But there's hard work ahead. You can't put democracy on autopilot.
Since 2016 I have been looking for the Edward R. Murrow of our times. Newscaster Murrow was took down Senator McCarthy in a broadcast on March 9, 1954, mostly in McCarthy own words. and lancing the boil of McCarthyism.
Close to the end Murrow said: “We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men -- not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result.”
Seated next to Senator McCarthy in his hearings on communism was Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn was Donald Trump’s lawyer and the person who taught him to double down. One person linking McCarthy and Trump. Both talking about witch hunts.
I think Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC may well be the broadcaster who will take down Trump and lance the boil of Trumpism in this time. He was on that path in his broadcast this evening when he talked about Trump and his birtherism. I looked into Trump’s claim that Obama was not born in the United States. I asked the question, where was his mother when he was born? The answer was she was in Hawaii enrolled in the University there. As a piece of personal trivia it also turns out that Obama’s mother was born in the same hospital in Wichita, Kansas, where I was born 7 years later.
Here's this evening program: https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-media-still-not-ready-to-cover-trump-after-years-of-his-lies-199042117756
Lawrence, are you ready to take on my challenge to you? The time feels right. Are you ready to take down “Orange Jesus”!?
I encourage everyone to read one of my favorite biographies of a man I greatly admire: Murrow His Life and Times by A.M. Sperber. See pages 429-439.
Here’s the half hour broadcast by Mr. Murrow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dMgoi9pBRwg
Here is the transcript of the broadcast if you’d prefer to read it.
http://www.plosin.com/beatbegins/archive/Murrow540309.htm
Something happened yesterday which I believe can change the dynamics of the election. Biden visited CS Wind in Colorado which is the largest manufacturer of wind towers. Thanks to Biden’s IRA program an over $200 million expansion will take place which will create 850 new jobs. They have already hired over 500 new employees. This solar project happens to be in the district currently represented by Lauren Boebert who voted against the project and called it wasteful. Here is my point instead of responding to the Republican rhetoric we need to point directly in individual districts and communities what the Biden administration programs have done for job creation in that community and highlight the fact that a specific Republican voted against it. Just yesterday the Biden administration approved funding to replace and fix 9 million water pipes in the country that could cause water pollution like in Flint Michigan. The message is clear look at what the Biden administration is doing in your community and BTW what has your Republican representatives done for you lately?
I watched Lawrence, as he he laid it down. He is priceless. He is much too calm to look like the one to take a baseball bat to quite a few knecaps, but his words might have that effect.
The Orange Jesus was angry at Lawrence because he was so right that it DID sting, standing out from the otherwise silent MSM.
Blasphemy is the new Republican Covenant. The Orange Jesus will save them all.
You are on top of it all Robert. That's another classic breakdown that I will have to forward widely. Thank you for all the work you put in and get a bit of rest. You will need it at the rate you are cranking.
Magnificent essay, Robert. I agree with every single word of it and thank you for taking the time to explain it all so eloquently. we owe it to the past, and to the future not to look away.
At a time, as Robert notes, when “the media has lost its collective mind,” the latest newsletter of Heather Cox Richardson notes that David Andelman, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and CBS News, now writes Andelman Unleashed. He noted today in CNN that “President Biden has brought a very clear-eyed set of principles to foreign affairs, making him ‘one of the rare presidents who has accomplished something quite extraordinary: He has carefully defined and quite successfully defended democracy and democratic values before a host of existential challenges.’” Andelman goes on to write that defending democracy “is something that makes [Biden] tick and remain appealing to others, as I’ve seen in so many parts of the world.”
Each of us needs to yell this accomplishment of the President from the rooftops! Biden’s approach to governing at home, as Cox Richardson explains, “is also designed to protect democracy by demonstrating that democracy can do more for people than an authoritarian government.” If the majority of the media cannot (or are unwilling) to report these accomplishments of the Biden administration, then we, as Americans, have been deputized to take every opportunity to point out these facts in any way that we can.
I used to take pride in the efforts of the 5th Estate to protect and inform us, to speak truth to power. The gumshoe reporters like Woodward and Bernstein were my heroes during the Watergate era. Today I am astounded by the abject failure of mass media to do their job. I have cancelled my subscriptions and turned off the TV (preferring to get my news and insights through the efforts of individuals I trust on SubStack). History will not be kind to today’s mainstream media that missed their chance to shine.
Ransom is right, I listened to Lawrence tonight also and he was so powerful! He also mentioned, David Andelman who has written about how the media has not given Biden any credit. He discussed it with CNN here: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/opinions/biden-democracy-israel-ukraine-taiwan-andelman/index.html
It is brilliant. Robert, so sorry you’re not feeling well. I woke up with sneezing and a runny nose but feel its allergies. Anyway, I wanted to mention that Henry Kissinger died at age 100. I shed not one tear as he was as evil as they come. He was an embarrassment to Jews here foremost but also one of the reasons we were involved in the Vietnam War. To quote Clarence Darrow “ I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.”. :)
Thank you for this essay and thank you for the many helpful links you provide. They really help. I am reminded of something I read in a Steady essay by Dan Rather. “ This is a relay not a sprint.” Sometimes you simply have to rest and recoup a bit. While you’re doing that , someone else will carry the ball until you get back on your feet. That’s what friends are for. The Trumps and Musks of this world make so much noise and have so little to say. Just focus on doing the hard, quiet, often tedious work of winning one election at a time.
“I am glad to be in this fight with you,” Robert. And with Jill, as I am with your entire family – for whom you began ‘Today’s Edition Newsletter.’ As I am with this community of readers committed to preserving the freedoms of our democracy. This day-to-day experience helps to sustain me in ways for which I remain deeply grateful.
I initiated a conversation with the NYT concerning their coverage of Biden vs Trump's attacks on our democracy and the general bias against Biden. The response, to give them credit, was almost immediate, but quite bland and pretty much a denial of any bias. I most recently sent this article https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/28/2208487/-Media-s-treatment-of-Trump-s-vermin-versus-Clinton-s-deplorables-shows-how-the-decks-are-stacked?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI11292023 that provides an analysis by Media Matters to give him something specific to respond to. I will let you know if I get a response.
Your words reminded me of when I was a visiting author at an elementary school in Texas with a wonderful principal who'd coined a school motto of two-letter words that even the youngest kids could read, "If it is to be, it is up to me." A motto for our times!
What if Trump called for “the government” to “come down hard” and “punish” The New York Times??? Or the Washington Post??? Is it only because it is MSNBC that the other newspapers say nothing???
“the banality of crazy”. Perfectly terrifying.
This from Lindsey Graham who miraculously has managed to serve as a US Senator for almost a jillion years.( exaggeration noted)
"I don't know who you're trying to please. I don't know what group is going to feel better because we're doing this on your side but you're pleasing like none of us," Graham fumed. "This is about an ongoing effort to destroy this court, to destroy [conservative Justice] Clarence Thomas's reputation."
No external effort is needed to destroy Clarence Thomas's reputation. He has destroyed that all by himself. Wake up Lindsey! Wake up Anerica!
I agree with you, Robert, that the former president is hellbent on stripping us of our rights and our freedoms, and the media is frequently an accomplice. Working together towards protecting our rights and our freedoms is the mission of Democrats from now until Election Day. I'm looking forward to the forum this afternoon - to be in touch with the many who are doing this work. It might be that this forum becomes a regular support group and a call to action for those who haven't yet become engaged in this vital work.
Thanks, Robert, for gathering up the news each day and keeping our conversation going. It's encouraging to know so many are on the same page. But there's hard work ahead. You can't put democracy on autopilot.