February 2025

The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss

28/02/25 09:44

February 28, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 10) - There has always been a tension - and sometimes open hostility - between the American government and the journalists who cover it. No less than George Washington was subject to blistering attacks by Benjamin Franklin's grandson, who wrote in the anti-Federalist newspaper Aurora after Washington's Farewell Address that "if ever a nation had been debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington." Under the short-lived Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, a New Jersey tavern owner was fined $150 for suggesting that a cannonade in honor of President John Adams should have been fired into the Second President's butt. But even during Watergate, when Richard Nixon developed his infamous "Enemies List" that included prominent journalists, the government has largely kept its hands off the media. In fact, the greatest threat to the independence of the American news media has come from within. While media companies have been loathe to self-criticize from Day One, we began to see significant movement toward self-censorship in the 1980s, when America's transformation to a digital economy motivated big corporations such as Viacom, General Electric and Disney swallow up not only the content producers (publishers and film/TV production companies), but the means of distribution (newspapers and television networks). This was especially felt in broadcast news, where the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine by the Reagan Administration led to the rise of conservative talk radio and the traditional "hands-off-the-news division" ethic was abandoned in favor of a more intrusive "how-does-it-affect-our bottom-line" approach. Recently, it has been implied threats from the openly hostile Trump Administration that has forced digital media such as Facebook and even traditional media like The Washington Post to abandon their editorial functions for a safer harbor to avoid content that may offend Felon 47. As I have been observing this disturbing trend - on top of all of the daily atrocities that are coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - it has occurred to me that I have heard this all before.

Let me take you back to June 1, 1998. It was my first full day of my first of what would be four trips to St. Petersburg, Russia on behalf of the U.S. State Department to the newly-minted Russian Federation. These were the Boris Yeltsin years before the rise of Vladimir Putin. I was attending a "Free Press - Fair Press: Europe Conference" sponsored by the American-based Freedom Forum. (Photo above.) The attendees were grappling with the role of a free press in the less-than-decade old democratic Russia. In what I found strange to my American sensibilities, the Russian journalists in the room seemed more comfortable with government control of the media than the prospects of media owned by giant corporations. This was a period when the so-called "New Russians" benefited from a more open - and often corrupt - unregulated economy. To quote from a 1971 song by "The Who," it was a case of "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." After the thousand years of repression, the Russian people had gotten adept at reading between the lines no matter who was delivering them. And it was easier to decipher the many shades of gray when it came from just one instead of multiple sources. That's why Russian media are, for the most part, "All Putin, All The Time." In the context of today's perilous times, I am reminded of that song I heard in a hot, sweaty hall in St. Petersburg just before the turn of the century. Now, it seems that today's corporate American media - once priding itself on the diversity of voices in the marketplace of ideas - is reverting the to Russian model. (No surprise, considering who our President is.) Out of fear for retribution - Trump's word, not mine - and a threat to their bottom line - American media, especially broadcast media, are backing away from their traditional "public service comes first" position. We are not being well served by our news media at a time when we need them most. However, that is not entirely the media's fault. We, the people, have chosen to abandon many of our most basic America values of free expression, justice and compassion for the less fortunate to pursue short-term political gains. The Irony is that many of the people who have bought into the so-called "Make America Great Again" movement are the ones who will most victimized by the MAGA agenda. We are substituting the imagined oppression of the Obama/Biden years for the real thing we have today. It seems as if the new boss isn't the same as the old boss. He's much worse. And unless we openly challenge him and the media who are too scared to oppose him, the new boss will be living in Moscow or wherever the hell Elon Musk hangs his goofy hat. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.

When No One Is In Charge

19/02/25 08:23

February 19, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 9) - This picture from a recent Oval Office news conference tells you everything you need to know about the current status of the United States of America. A South African interloper - the richest man in the world who apparently can't afford a babysitter - drones on about how he is saving the country from unelected bureaucrats while a mentally unstable and cognitively impaired man, allegedly the most powerful man on earth, sits helplessly by. Elon Musk, the godfather of DOGE, the Department of Government Evisceration, has been sending out his minions to haphazardly cut government spending by gutting vital public and national defense agencies. It has been widely reported that Musk's teenage mutant minions have been surgically slashing what they recklessly have called government fraud with the same skill as a blindfolded butcher. They have had to backtrack on at least a couple of occasions after firing the people who oversee the nation's nuclear weapons program and those with the CDC trying to avoid the outbreak of global AIDS and Ebola pandemics. More ominously, Elon's marauding minions are demanding - and receiving - access to highly sensitive tax and defense databases. Is there waste in government? Yes, of course there is, as it is true in almost any gigantic organization. Does waste, in and of itself, constitute fraud? No, it doesn't. And the fact that Felon 47's press secretary, a clueless blonde bimbo who never gives a direct answer to any question, has provided no tangible proof that Musk's minions have uncovered fraud stretches credibility to its breaking point. If that is not bad enough, just yesterday the White House said in a court filing that Musk is not, in fact, in charge of DOGE. Nor did they say who was in charge. And lest we forget, DOGE is not an agency that has been legislatively created by Congress. To put it another way, it has no legal standing to be exercising the powers it has. So here's where we stand: The President, whose electoral campaign was backed by Musk's $240+ billion contribution, gives every impression that Musk is calling the shots. The optics from that ridiculous Oval Office news conference appear to confirm that. Meanwhile, Dr. Evil is financially benefiting from his mentorship of Felon 47 and even dictating U.S. relations with South Africa. Considering the reckless manner in which Felon 47's stealth administration is sowing chaos throughout government and now into American foreign policy, you have to wonder if anyone is in charge in Washington. Congressional Republicans are afraid to assume their constitutional role of oversight. The Democrats are impotent and still licking their wounds from last November. And who knows what the highly conflicted U.S. Supreme Court will do when challenges to Musk and DOGE reach their chambers? Just like the ill-fated Titanic, the U.S. government and economy appear headed into dangerous waters with no one clearly in charge at the helm. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.

Life in the Key of G

12/02/25 07:20

February 12, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 8) - I will never be confused with Glen Campbell, Ricky Staggs, Roy Clark or Jimmy Reed. But I love to play guitar and prefer acoustic music. It was in that context that I attended the Bluegrass Unlimited Workshop this past weekend at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. To be honest, I have only passing knowledge of Bluegrass music. I first became aware of it when I moved to Western Kentucky in 1974 to work at a country music radio station. I married a Kentucky woman and, thus, married into the Bluegrass culture. In recent years, my sister-in-law has been the director of development at the Hall of Fame and Museum. It was she who convinced me to attend the workshop. I went to Owensboro with some trepidation. After all, I am a self-taught guitarist who was joining far more accomplished musicians in playing a gendre of music mostly unfamiliar to me. However, any fears I had proved unfounded. That's because I found the Bluegrass community to be one that is very supportive and willing to embrace newcomers. Another attractive aspect of the Bluegrass culture is how it encourages collaboration. After two or more Bluegrass musicians get together, it doesn't take long before a jam follows. And because the most popular Bluegrass songs are found in the keys of G, C or D, it is relatively easy to pick up the tune and lyrics and to join in. On several occasions this past weekend, I witnessed and participated in these jams. I even played and sang Gentle on My Mind in public - something this self-conscious musical novice would have never imagined. Then, to top it off, I joined other students and the instructors at the end of a concert to perform Will the Circle Be Unbroken, pictured above. I still tend to be a folk-rock kind of guy. But, I left this experience with a deeper understanding and admiration for Kentucky and the music it has blessed us with. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.