In February 2021, the month after President Joe Biden took office, unemployment was 6.3%, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that it would take until the end of 2023 for the nation to reach 4.6% unemployment.
I felt a huge sense of relief last night about the infrastructure bill, and excitement that there is agreement between the so called “warring” factions of Democrats to advance the Build Back Better bill. Thank you once again Heather for laying things out so clearly.
Now, it’s time to get Voting rights done! Pedal to the metal - all hands on deck!
Finally, thanks to you, Heather, I am seeing clearly the exaggerated drama in all the press coverage of Democrats. We need to be wary of the press’s addiction to drama. Slow and steady hard work does not make for great headlines, just for good legislation for our country!
Yes, to the max. The media is addicted to drama (it sells! it gets clicks!). While the outcome of the Virginia governor's race was indeed disappointing, it didn't justify multiple articles in the NYTimes or the lack of national coverage about the many people of color winning elections as mayors and other officials.
Yes, is the mainstream media so blinded by immediate gratification that they forget what an autocracy will do to their livelihood? By simply putting out “news” that the Dems are losers and can’t hope to keep the majority rather than putting out news that WE NEED TO WORK TO SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY BY PASSING LEGISLATION FOR VOTERS RIGHTS!!!! 🤯
Just a reminder — and not addressed to you, Ned, but you presented the opportunity by using the phrases “PRESS coverage” and “PRESS’s addiction”:
Many MANY of the journalists and owners and attendant editors and producers of legitimate, ethical, careful, labor-intensive, fact-based-news-producing newspapers, websites, cable channels, broadcast shows, newsletters, et al., struggle to stay in business and make enough money to continue to employ people who know what they’re doing and do it with integrity and passion.
MOST of these folks believe in American Democracy and believe that what they do — as enshrined in the First Amendment — is absolutely vital to a strong democracy. Over the last 20 years, fewer consumers are willing to pay for legitimate news. Heck, fewer citizens are even consuming legitimate news. The advertising foundation is gone. The industry is diversified to the point where it hard to distinguish between News and Entertainment, and nobody knows how to “monetize” TRUTH. To attract eyes and brains and, yes, clicks, in a semi-blind scramble to figure out what’s gonna bring in money, the journalism is getting BRASH sometimes and DRAMATIC and downright creepy. Many organizations are throwing whatever they can against the wall to see what sticks. And maybe turns out to be a revenue driver. It can get ugly. All the while, behind the scenes, really good, important, democracy-defending work is getting done and disseminated.
Let’s remember please that these newspeople are not ADDICTED to this shit, this drama, this noise, this attention-grabber nonsense. The owners and managers and journalists just don’t know WHAT ELSE is going to keep them in business.
One thing to do is keep subscribing to electronic or print versions. The lack of local papers is tragic. Consolidation by venture capital and/or whoever is killing real news outlets.
I have subscribed to both the electronic and print versions of our local newspaper for years, and have been happy with it. You're right about the killers of real news outlets.
Hence a major reason to keep reading and with children as they grow up. Not only does it help immensely with greater vocabulary skills, it teaches them to focus on a book or article for enough time to complete it. You wouldn't believe the amount of children who cannot focus on something for more than a minute or 2. Times it can be because of ADD, but most often it is because of lack of training.
Approximately 32 million adults in America are considered to be illiterate; about 14% of the entire adult population cannot read.
Between 40 and 44 million adults, or roughly 20 to 23% of adults in the U.S., are limited to reading at the basic or below basic proficiency levels.
Surprisingly, it's actually older Americans who most frequently lack adequate reading skills. Approximately one-third of adults who struggle with illiteracy are aged 65 or older.
Which political party do you think these people belong to?
A 2007 National Constitutional Center poll found that two-thirds of Americans couldn’t name all three branches of the U.S. federal government, nor a single Supreme Court justice. Another poll found that 91 percent couldn’t name the current Chief Justice, which is staggering considering the number of high profile, politically polarizing cases deliberated upon by the nation’s highest court in recent years – including the rulings on the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage and campaign finance laws.
The National Constitution Center also found that 42 percent of Americans think the Constitution explicitly states that “the first language of the United States is English;” and 25 percent believe Christianity was established in the Constitution as the official government religion.
Only 40 percent of adults know that there are 100 Senators in the U.S. Congress, while a great majority of Americans have no idea of when or by whom the Constitution was written. A 2010 Pew Research Center survey of Americans’ knowledge of public affairs and politics revealed that political literacy has been in rapid and continual descent since the high water mark of the 1950s. While one may be forgiven for not understanding all the quirky procedural rules of the U.S. Senate, one should be suitably embarrassed if one cannot at least correctly identify the number of votes needed to end a filibuster, but on that – more than two-thirds of Americans do not know the answer is 60.
Bertolt Brecht, the 20th century German playwright and poet, wrote, “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”
Which political party do you think has members incapable of reading? Guess what, the Democratic Party is a very close second.
This is to say all of this and much more is a condition that is prevalent in America. Bottom line is that America is a country of profound ignorance. The obvious question is why????
if you'd spent any time working in a NYC public school, you'd have a pretty good idea of why...there is literally NO immediate benefit for a student to learn ANYTHING that's not math or the ridiculous abbreviation ELA (English Language Arts, which of course means the opposite).
Watching WhiteHouse.gov live features Jen's press conferences. The spectrum of questions from the press, everything from baiting to whining to genuine inquiry about topics of interest - it's all there. Coming from a family of print and t.v. journalists, I know the dedicated, reasoned, articulate journalists are out there. Sometimes it takes a while to find them.
Yes there are great journalists out there---and op ed folks also. But the skewed narratives still are there, and the headlines. My father was correspondent for three papers (Ark Gazette, Shreveport Times, and Memphis Commercial Appeal) for decades, so I know the drill for good news. It's hard work, and we need to support them. But the media empires are something else (and the Ark Gazette a liberal paper, was bought and "consumed" by the must lesser Ark Democrat, ALAS......years ago)
Thank you for this link. As a former, longtime resident of nearby Emmet County I can’t wait to watch it. As you say, Independent local news is becoming a very rare bird, especially so in a red state like Iowa. Sadly I’ve watched other locally-owned newspapers fold in a couple of other small communities where I’ve lived through the years in Minnesota and Colorado. Each of these closings left a serious, detrimental void.
Jan, THANK YOU! Just this week I renewed my dormant subscription to my locally owned newspaper. 90% of the letters to the editor are from republicans in this 89% republican county; however, the owner/publisher/editor is a courageous guy who tells it like it is.
I shared your link with everyone I know who will actually read it, and copied the link to share with many via personal note.
Yeah, even a great deal of MSNBC is not worth paying any attention to, so what are we left with? Oh yeah — DR. RICHARDSON.
This tweet from Peter Baker ignores the fact that this kind of voting strategy is done all the time. Progressives, and Pelosi, knew they had enough votes without these 6 progressives who wanted to make a statement by voting no. There was no bucking the leadership. I think less and less of him and the NYT everyday.
Peter Baker
@peterbakernyt
·
14h
Enough Democrats bucked their leadership that the infrastructure bill would have gone down without the 13 Republican yeas.
Thanks, Gina. It gets so exhausting to read the gripes. I agree with you. This was designed to succeed without loss of face since the Progs had to back down to get the bill at all.
I agree. Tired to death of the negative spin on the news. It would serve the NYT, CNN, and others if their viewership/readership fell off. They're just as mean as they were to TFG, who richly deserved it.
Getting ready to cancel my subscription to NYT. But they are still reliable for the City news. Can’t seem to make up my mind! And, they do have brilliant investigative reporters. What to do.....
Well, wait a bit longer. You know how the wind changes, and maybe Joe will be back in their good graces now that at least one infrastructure bill has passed. It might help if you sent them a letter with your negative opinion. Can't hurt.
I should have said “media” instead of “press”. Writers are generally more thoughtful than talking heads. But there are also the “consumers” of the media who are often not readers - reading suggests reflection in a quiet atmosphere - but “consumers” of media are bombarded by music, flashing visuals, etc which often challenge reflection and independent thought. And the media barrage often activates the reptilian brain instead of the higher brain functions.
Ned, I really believe that's true. Something from PTSD group or long-ago PSY classes in college clicked on it. Rapid input, rapid motion, eye tracking.
Right in media's wheelhouse! This is how they do it. That also explains why I don't get that intensity of emotion when I just listen to the news on the Bluetooth speaker, right? I'm only allowed one hour of news, but even that can be a strain on the 'reactor.'
so they sell their soul for 'monetary crumbs'? other than writing for major publications, most employed as writers are lucky to make $50k a year! I had a relative in the business!
The cheerleading and B$ started with 'B-level' actor Reagan including the demonization of government (those workers are people too) begetting the hate monger liars on right wing talk radio!
Sadly, their are very few reporters writing and all too many people writing opinion pieces!
Does one really have to lie down in the muck with the liars in order to keep a job?
My post with the linked report was not directed at underpaid, hardworking journalists. They are assuredly NOT the ones who “sell their souls.” It is their employers/owners, the entertainment companies that gobbled up news networks and then muzzled those writers/reporters. I have nothing but respect for the small legion of serious reporters and investigative journalists who still work tirelessly to shine a light on the truth.
while we're on this, let's not forget that the once-feared FDA was completely de-fanged in the Reagen (who really DID deserve impeachment over the Iran/contra deal) administration and has not recovered. and of course, when we were kids (72 here), the three network news divisions were separately funded and deliberately exempted from the entirely commercial considerations that funded the rest of their programming. when is the last time any of those three networks had a news special on prime time?
But they won’t be in business if autocracy wins. Is it really worth putting “drama” out there for the subscriptions when the drama is working against them in the long run?
"We need to be wary of the press’s addiction to drama."
That's for sure. It's been a problem for a long time, probably starting in the late 1800's with the "yellow journalism" produced by William Randolph Hearst. He made quite a fortune from his trademark style of newspaper reporting. It was sensationalist, salacious, cruel, and self-promoting.
Today's TV reporting is a continuation of that style but handled in a slicker way. There is music added to set up the drama with news readers taking adding their countenance of anger, worry, puzzlement, and maybe a touch of happiness at the end to complete their newscast and add a little hope so the viewers are more likely to come back for more. I'd like to see news readers use the philosophy of Joe Friday (from the old TV drama "Dragnet") as he calmly probed a potential witness with "Just the facts, ma'am."
This is a good time to watch or rewatch the great 1976 movie "Network." It demonstrates the obsession with ratings to always get more attention and revenue. Great theme; great writing; excellent actors; and all the pieces fall into place. You can see "Network" on Amazon or perhaps your library has a copy.
The position of holier-than-coal Manchin, Later-Day-Saint Romney, and a few other senators that current Senate filibuster rules are sacrosanct is hooey. Most laughable is the argument that jiggling with the filibuster would open the door for future Republican manipulation. Huh? Were there in 2025 a Republican president and a turkey-chin McConnell Senate, the existing filibuster guidelines would be ‘Garlanded’ in an immediate turkey trot.
Phooey with this supercilious, unprincipled debate. Passage of the imperative John Lewis voting rights bill can be accomplished by a slight wiggle in the current filibuster rules—simply get a lockstep Democratic vote in the Senate that, as it relates to election voting rights, the filibuster does not apply. Protecting the right of Americans to vote demands no less.
Hey, Keith. I have this guy needs some "diplomating". Gonna be in West Virginia this month. Sound like a line right out of a Mario Pozo novel. I'd be happy if someone would have an adult conversation with him out back, behind the Rayburn Building. Just saying. 🤪
Leenie I must caution your that, in extremis, I make up a word that I feel is appropriate for a particularly heinous situation or individual. Example: Superbullshitsy Sinema.
Jeri I shan’t comment on the dippy dame in Arizona. With 74-year old Joe Manchin, ex-governor of West Virginia which voted nearly 2 to 1 for Trump last year, 2024 is a consideration. Were Manchin to seek re-election, his image as a feisty curmudgeon would help in a tough race. Were he not a candidate, 100% the Republicans gain a Senate seat.
Manchin made clear that he wouldn’t support ‘HR 1,’ which was a kitchen-sink bill on voting rights. He said he was a strong advocate of the John Lewis voting rights bill—perhaps with a tailored filibuster?
On the initial ‘$3.5 trillion’ social infrastructure bill, he said from the outset that it was about twice what he would support. He was peevish on climate change provisions, as he sought to protect the fast-dwindling WV coal industry and other fossil fuels. I believe that Manchin was taking the heat for a number of ‘moderate’ Democrats who were opposed to the magnitude and how this affected their local districts. Even now some ‘moderates’ are stalling on the $1.85 trillion bill, with excuses about Congressional Budget Office costing the sucker out and seeking to reverse the $10,000 Trump tax law list on deducting state income tax and property tax, and more.
Manchin has been a successful governor and re-elected senator in the scrubby state of West Virginia. He is the media target for views held by some ‘moderate’ Democrats who even now are trying to chip away at the current bill draft. Manchin may not be our cuddly Joey bear, but he is ours, warts and all. Would you prefer that he switch to Republican and make turkey-chin McConnell Senate majority leader?
"Would you prefer that he switch to Republican and make turkey-chin McConnell Senate majority leader?" That's probably going to happen anyway unless a voting rights bill can get passed.
If Republicans get control of the Senate they’ll ax the filibuster in a nanosecond. But for now maybe rules can change to limit its use to once per session much like reconciliation
The service for General Colin Powell this morning was a beautiful gathering of family and long time friends. It was great to see the Bidens, the Obamas, the Bushs, and Secretary Clinton on the other side of front row from the family. Described by his son as a great lion with a big heart. One euloger quote Gen. Powell: "We need to treat everyone with a little more kindness than we think they deserve because we never know what is going on." We need great examples of the best of humanity like Gen. Powell as role models for all of us in courage and decency.
Take a bow, Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer. Now, let’s get moving on voting rights and, as it appears to be necessary, getting rid of the filibuster once and for all.
This bill is a great step forward for America. House Speaker Pelosi stayed on the it with good cheer and remarkable energy until it passed the House and informally became law.
Joe Biden’s interventions didn’t help until they did. He too stayed with the bill when it appeared to be a dying quail. Congratulations to this man who stubbornly, one step at a time, works to restore dignity to the White House, and the power to nudge people to the side of their better angels.
It is especially ironic that his influence was wielded so staunchly in the case of this hard infrastructure bill. Under TFG America suffered through countless “Infrastructure Weeks”. These notable creatures of the GOP spin machine could hardly be objected to whatsoever, except for the pesky criticism of small-minded wet blankets, who would fairly observe that all of said “Infrastructure Weeks” passed quietly by without any actual infrastructure being initiated.
So it was a good day, capping what felt like a difficult lifetime.
It was a tiny bit of a hard pill for me to swallow that in the end the Progressives once again were the more adult of the two caucuses in the Democratic House. Once again they were persuaded to subsume any tendency to, God forbid, militancy. But it is a desperate time calling for militancy in defense of what desperately needs to be done, and I trust that the Progressives will in the fullness of what time is left be rewarded for their patience.
I have a question though and try as I might I cannot find the answer to it on the Internet. Please help. I see that Joe Manchin is crowing about the passage of this bill, being pleased as punch that it’s - gasp - bipartisan.
But is there any evidence that he will, with certainty, vote for the Build Back Better bill? Or Sinema, for that matter?
Because if he doesn’t and the Act is stillborn, this whole episode will turn out to be a “Peace in Our Time” moment, complete with requisite scrap of paper.
His tweet stream makes no commitment. Has he elsewhere?
I know. I know. Let’s just enjoy the day. But I would like some reassurance.
And further to that, the most pressing part of Biden’s agenda is the Voting Rights Bill. If Infrastructure gets done and Voting Rights are left in the dust, Americans will be materially aided, but morally stomped on by the sheer evil of Republican led legislatures who are making a travesty of democracy.
Does anyone know where Manchin and Sinema firmly stand on these two points?
"House Speaker Pelosi stayed on the it with good cheer and remarkable energy until it passed..."
Nanct Pelosi is a remarkable woman and possibly the most able politician in Washington. (The ADA could more righteously be called PelosiCare than ObamaCare for the effort she put in to its passing.)
I once lived in her district in San Francisco. I voted for her when she first ran and every election thereafter until I moved out of town, a fact I would announce with great glee to those of my fellow construction worker wearers of the Red Hat.
During an interview on MSNBC today, Pramila Jayapal said that President Biden promised to win agreement from the 'moderates' (a group, in addition to Manchin and Sinema) for passage of 'Build Back Better Plan'. They have backed him to the limit and are depending on him to deliver. So it goes...
It is a 'leap of faith' Eric. Some people, perhaps, would like to see criminal charges brought against 'those senators' or something more harsh, while wailing that life is not fair, asserting that democracy is doomed and snidely remarking that the democrats and Independents who are working endlessly on the behalf of democracy are too slow or inept. You know my opinion of 'the senators' and discomfort with the snide critics in the audience.
My daughter just sent me an article by Rebecca Solnit in The Guardian titled "Why does the media keep saying this election was a loss for Democrats?" They have been talking about these Dem bills the same way. Then The NY Times has an article titled "Trapped in a pandemic funk: Millions of Americans can't shake a gloomy outlook." Maybe because the media is making things worse! Or at least making the wrong things bad and ignoring the truly bad things.
They are making things worse, and they're influencing voters by the constant negative drone. As Robert Reich said last night on MSNBC, why not talk about all of the good things that are currently happening - distribution of COVID vaccines, two new drugs to treat COVID, the relief bill that saved us from falling into the abyss, the NJ governor defying the norm and being reelected, the great jobs report, etc.?
The media are getting it wrong but for them bad news and invented “controversy” sell papers. Good news is just——well good news yawn. Let’s hear one for Biden and the Democrats. Yea!!
As I read this I thought about what it actually means to be in a gloomy outlook. What are Americans gloomy about. Well, take a look around. Every single day a prominent Republican, like Matt Gaetz, is taking the stage and inciting violence. They hold massive conferences and every speech is about violence. They’re filled with lies. Their messages run free on Twitter and I’m sure it’s worse on every other platform. Then we have Tucker Carlson and Fox News putting huge shows out. Next, welcome Emerald Robinson the Christian diva hypocrite spouting vaccines are going to make you glow and put Luciferase in your body. Don’t people why they don’t see the glow when they look at vaccinated people. They allowed her to be a White House Correspondent and this is the culmination of giving her a voice. Newsmax has finally put her on a break but only because Smartmatic is suing.
Next Democrats are waiting for the leaders of 1/6 to have consequences. Some MOC should be removed already. The next election cycle is here and they’ll still be free and in office again by cheating.
I have been very gloomy this week about all of this. My representative Darrell Issa in CA50 was on a hateful tweeting spree yesterday. They show they’re terrified when they do this because it’s all just nonsense. I hate that he’s my representative but I am happy to be in California where the majority of government offices are filled with reasonable people. I’ve lived in 11 states and am glad we came back here from Texas in 2012. I’m one of those voters this week that felt, for awhile, that I could just turn off the news and shut out the rest of the idiots in the country. If the people of Virginia want to be left to the devices of education and science banners they deserve it.
It's important to remember that Virginia fought long and hard against Brown v. Board of Education and integrated public schools. Misbehaving parents and The Critical Race Theory outrage is in keeping with the zeitgeist of the state. However, democratic strongholds still persist in urban areas. I think the loss was due, at least in part, to McAuliffe himself.
Right!!! VA was a fierce resister. But …. The blue/red map repeats the National pattern—-non urban = red; urban=blue. The Challenge (where the dems are failing) is to regain the rural vote!! Good messaging would help!!!
Dems have a tendency to think that economics and education are the ties that bind us to BIPOC voters. I read a comment by David Lionheart@NYT that there may be an issue of "values," too. That fascinated me. While we are a stronghold for gay rights, voter's rights, BLM, immigration, and abortion, those groups would like us to offer some mid-ground, i.e. a demonstration that we are not so secular that anything goes. (These are my thoughts about David's comment.) That's not to say we should allow the very loud, very mean-spirited white rural folks to have their way, it means we Progressives should lean a little more to compromise, i.e. some limits on abortion, police AND social interventions, immigration with limits, et al. It's worth a thought because we can't press ahead without a wide spectrum of voters, including the average folks who don't grasp radical changes.
G Zinn has it right. The media is complicit in the state of our political discussions. They are desperate for eyeballs and $$. Controversy and horse races sell. They have jettisoned any fairness and accuracy standards. Although Fox is the worst and conservative talk radio is a huge problem, as many have noted in recent comments, even sources that were once considered professional and presented issues clearly and thoroughly (NYT, WaPo, NPR) have deteriorated and contribute to a totally false narrative on Biden's presidency. He has done a great job! I can't even think about what they did to Obama and HRC. It is an uphill battle countering these completely false narratives, but even my progressive friends complain about Democrat's bad messaging. There is only so much Democrats can do against an onslaught of false messaging.
I felt a huge sense of relief last night about the infrastructure bill, and excitement that there is agreement between the so called “warring” factions of Democrats to advance the Build Back Better bill. Thank you once again Heather for laying things out so clearly.
Now, it’s time to get Voting rights done! Pedal to the metal - all hands on deck!
Finally, thanks to you, Heather, I am seeing clearly the exaggerated drama in all the press coverage of Democrats. We need to be wary of the press’s addiction to drama. Slow and steady hard work does not make for great headlines, just for good legislation for our country!
Yes, to the max. The media is addicted to drama (it sells! it gets clicks!). While the outcome of the Virginia governor's race was indeed disappointing, it didn't justify multiple articles in the NYTimes or the lack of national coverage about the many people of color winning elections as mayors and other officials.
Yes, is the mainstream media so blinded by immediate gratification that they forget what an autocracy will do to their livelihood? By simply putting out “news” that the Dems are losers and can’t hope to keep the majority rather than putting out news that WE NEED TO WORK TO SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY BY PASSING LEGISLATION FOR VOTERS RIGHTS!!!! 🤯
In the Walter Cronkite, 3 TV channels era, news was not expected to be a money maker. I miss that.....
Those three news programs introduced me to the world, along with Life magazine.
they are leading the way for the autocrats to take back power.
Agree!
Interesting comment on CSPAN this morning that the Congressional Black Caucus played a key role in getting the bill passed last night.
Oh!
Just a reminder — and not addressed to you, Ned, but you presented the opportunity by using the phrases “PRESS coverage” and “PRESS’s addiction”:
Many MANY of the journalists and owners and attendant editors and producers of legitimate, ethical, careful, labor-intensive, fact-based-news-producing newspapers, websites, cable channels, broadcast shows, newsletters, et al., struggle to stay in business and make enough money to continue to employ people who know what they’re doing and do it with integrity and passion.
MOST of these folks believe in American Democracy and believe that what they do — as enshrined in the First Amendment — is absolutely vital to a strong democracy. Over the last 20 years, fewer consumers are willing to pay for legitimate news. Heck, fewer citizens are even consuming legitimate news. The advertising foundation is gone. The industry is diversified to the point where it hard to distinguish between News and Entertainment, and nobody knows how to “monetize” TRUTH. To attract eyes and brains and, yes, clicks, in a semi-blind scramble to figure out what’s gonna bring in money, the journalism is getting BRASH sometimes and DRAMATIC and downright creepy. Many organizations are throwing whatever they can against the wall to see what sticks. And maybe turns out to be a revenue driver. It can get ugly. All the while, behind the scenes, really good, important, democracy-defending work is getting done and disseminated.
Let’s remember please that these newspeople are not ADDICTED to this shit, this drama, this noise, this attention-grabber nonsense. The owners and managers and journalists just don’t know WHAT ELSE is going to keep them in business.
One thing to do is keep subscribing to electronic or print versions. The lack of local papers is tragic. Consolidation by venture capital and/or whoever is killing real news outlets.
I have subscribed to both the electronic and print versions of our local newspaper for years, and have been happy with it. You're right about the killers of real news outlets.
The Atlantic had an excellent article on this just this month. You can’t discount the rise of t.v., however. Most people don’t read anymore.
That's my biggest complaint about the public - not all, but far too many - they do NOT read enough. People here do!
Hence a major reason to keep reading and with children as they grow up. Not only does it help immensely with greater vocabulary skills, it teaches them to focus on a book or article for enough time to complete it. You wouldn't believe the amount of children who cannot focus on something for more than a minute or 2. Times it can be because of ADD, but most often it is because of lack of training.
Approximately 32 million adults in America are considered to be illiterate; about 14% of the entire adult population cannot read.
Between 40 and 44 million adults, or roughly 20 to 23% of adults in the U.S., are limited to reading at the basic or below basic proficiency levels.
Surprisingly, it's actually older Americans who most frequently lack adequate reading skills. Approximately one-third of adults who struggle with illiteracy are aged 65 or older.
Which political party do you think these people belong to?
A 2007 National Constitutional Center poll found that two-thirds of Americans couldn’t name all three branches of the U.S. federal government, nor a single Supreme Court justice. Another poll found that 91 percent couldn’t name the current Chief Justice, which is staggering considering the number of high profile, politically polarizing cases deliberated upon by the nation’s highest court in recent years – including the rulings on the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage and campaign finance laws.
The National Constitution Center also found that 42 percent of Americans think the Constitution explicitly states that “the first language of the United States is English;” and 25 percent believe Christianity was established in the Constitution as the official government religion.
Only 40 percent of adults know that there are 100 Senators in the U.S. Congress, while a great majority of Americans have no idea of when or by whom the Constitution was written. A 2010 Pew Research Center survey of Americans’ knowledge of public affairs and politics revealed that political literacy has been in rapid and continual descent since the high water mark of the 1950s. While one may be forgiven for not understanding all the quirky procedural rules of the U.S. Senate, one should be suitably embarrassed if one cannot at least correctly identify the number of votes needed to end a filibuster, but on that – more than two-thirds of Americans do not know the answer is 60.
Bertolt Brecht, the 20th century German playwright and poet, wrote, “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”
Which political party do you think has members incapable of reading? Guess what, the Democratic Party is a very close second.
This is to say all of this and much more is a condition that is prevalent in America. Bottom line is that America is a country of profound ignorance. The obvious question is why????
if you'd spent any time working in a NYC public school, you'd have a pretty good idea of why...there is literally NO immediate benefit for a student to learn ANYTHING that's not math or the ridiculous abbreviation ELA (English Language Arts, which of course means the opposite).
0
Watching WhiteHouse.gov live features Jen's press conferences. The spectrum of questions from the press, everything from baiting to whining to genuine inquiry about topics of interest - it's all there. Coming from a family of print and t.v. journalists, I know the dedicated, reasoned, articulate journalists are out there. Sometimes it takes a while to find them.
Yes there are great journalists out there---and op ed folks also. But the skewed narratives still are there, and the headlines. My father was correspondent for three papers (Ark Gazette, Shreveport Times, and Memphis Commercial Appeal) for decades, so I know the drill for good news. It's hard work, and we need to support them. But the media empires are something else (and the Ark Gazette a liberal paper, was bought and "consumed" by the must lesser Ark Democrat, ALAS......years ago)
Best explanation I’ve ever read about what has happened to “the media”. — https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-news-is-too-vital-to-be-left
Along this same line, catch this documentary film “Storm Lake” on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/storm-lake/
Independent local news is becoming a very rare bird.
Thank you for this link. As a former, longtime resident of nearby Emmet County I can’t wait to watch it. As you say, Independent local news is becoming a very rare bird, especially so in a red state like Iowa. Sadly I’ve watched other locally-owned newspapers fold in a couple of other small communities where I’ve lived through the years in Minnesota and Colorado. Each of these closings left a serious, detrimental void.
I’ve known the Cullens for forty years. They are a tenacious crew. If there are more like them, there’s definitely hope for us all.
Jan, THANK YOU! Just this week I renewed my dormant subscription to my locally owned newspaper. 90% of the letters to the editor are from republicans in this 89% republican county; however, the owner/publisher/editor is a courageous guy who tells it like it is.
I shared your link with everyone I know who will actually read it, and copied the link to share with many via personal note.
Yeah, even a great deal of MSNBC is not worth paying any attention to, so what are we left with? Oh yeah — DR. RICHARDSON.
Thanks for the link. I used to listen to Thom Hartmann on the radio. He is no longer on here. Signed up for now for the daily rants.
https://twitter.com/Thom_Hartmann
https://hartmannreport.com/
Thank you for sharing this, Jan. Very worthwhile.
Reading this now. Thanks.
This tweet from Peter Baker ignores the fact that this kind of voting strategy is done all the time. Progressives, and Pelosi, knew they had enough votes without these 6 progressives who wanted to make a statement by voting no. There was no bucking the leadership. I think less and less of him and the NYT everyday.
Peter Baker
@peterbakernyt
·
14h
Enough Democrats bucked their leadership that the infrastructure bill would have gone down without the 13 Republican yeas.
Thanks, Gina. It gets so exhausting to read the gripes. I agree with you. This was designed to succeed without loss of face since the Progs had to back down to get the bill at all.
I agree. Tired to death of the negative spin on the news. It would serve the NYT, CNN, and others if their viewership/readership fell off. They're just as mean as they were to TFG, who richly deserved it.
Getting ready to cancel my subscription to NYT. But they are still reliable for the City news. Can’t seem to make up my mind! And, they do have brilliant investigative reporters. What to do.....
Well, wait a bit longer. You know how the wind changes, and maybe Joe will be back in their good graces now that at least one infrastructure bill has passed. It might help if you sent them a letter with your negative opinion. Can't hurt.
I should have said “media” instead of “press”. Writers are generally more thoughtful than talking heads. But there are also the “consumers” of the media who are often not readers - reading suggests reflection in a quiet atmosphere - but “consumers” of media are bombarded by music, flashing visuals, etc which often challenge reflection and independent thought. And the media barrage often activates the reptilian brain instead of the higher brain functions.
Ned, I really believe that's true. Something from PTSD group or long-ago PSY classes in college clicked on it. Rapid input, rapid motion, eye tracking.
Right in media's wheelhouse! This is how they do it. That also explains why I don't get that intensity of emotion when I just listen to the news on the Bluetooth speaker, right? I'm only allowed one hour of news, but even that can be a strain on the 'reactor.'
so they sell their soul for 'monetary crumbs'? other than writing for major publications, most employed as writers are lucky to make $50k a year! I had a relative in the business!
The cheerleading and B$ started with 'B-level' actor Reagan including the demonization of government (those workers are people too) begetting the hate monger liars on right wing talk radio!
Sadly, their are very few reporters writing and all too many people writing opinion pieces!
Does one really have to lie down in the muck with the liars in order to keep a job?
My post with the linked report was not directed at underpaid, hardworking journalists. They are assuredly NOT the ones who “sell their souls.” It is their employers/owners, the entertainment companies that gobbled up news networks and then muzzled those writers/reporters. I have nothing but respect for the small legion of serious reporters and investigative journalists who still work tirelessly to shine a light on the truth.
Writers, good. Media monopolies, bad. Got it!
We should all be very, very careful about where we get our news and journalism.
I do remember Cronkite, and I miss Peter Jennings and Tim Russert terribly.
while we're on this, let's not forget that the once-feared FDA was completely de-fanged in the Reagen (who really DID deserve impeachment over the Iran/contra deal) administration and has not recovered. and of course, when we were kids (72 here), the three network news divisions were separately funded and deliberately exempted from the entirely commercial considerations that funded the rest of their programming. when is the last time any of those three networks had a news special on prime time?
Excellent point! 78 here😎
But they won’t be in business if autocracy wins. Is it really worth putting “drama” out there for the subscriptions when the drama is working against them in the long run?
So the answer to staying in business is to follow the Fox News playbook?
yeah, kinda, I'm afraid. it's built into television's dna.
Heaven help us!!
100%!!!
"We need to be wary of the press’s addiction to drama."
That's for sure. It's been a problem for a long time, probably starting in the late 1800's with the "yellow journalism" produced by William Randolph Hearst. He made quite a fortune from his trademark style of newspaper reporting. It was sensationalist, salacious, cruel, and self-promoting.
Today's TV reporting is a continuation of that style but handled in a slicker way. There is music added to set up the drama with news readers taking adding their countenance of anger, worry, puzzlement, and maybe a touch of happiness at the end to complete their newscast and add a little hope so the viewers are more likely to come back for more. I'd like to see news readers use the philosophy of Joe Friday (from the old TV drama "Dragnet") as he calmly probed a potential witness with "Just the facts, ma'am."
This is a good time to watch or rewatch the great 1976 movie "Network." It demonstrates the obsession with ratings to always get more attention and revenue. Great theme; great writing; excellent actors; and all the pieces fall into place. You can see "Network" on Amazon or perhaps your library has a copy.
The position of holier-than-coal Manchin, Later-Day-Saint Romney, and a few other senators that current Senate filibuster rules are sacrosanct is hooey. Most laughable is the argument that jiggling with the filibuster would open the door for future Republican manipulation. Huh? Were there in 2025 a Republican president and a turkey-chin McConnell Senate, the existing filibuster guidelines would be ‘Garlanded’ in an immediate turkey trot.
Phooey with this supercilious, unprincipled debate. Passage of the imperative John Lewis voting rights bill can be accomplished by a slight wiggle in the current filibuster rules—simply get a lockstep Democratic vote in the Senate that, as it relates to election voting rights, the filibuster does not apply. Protecting the right of Americans to vote demands no less.
Keith, will you please say what you mean and not beat around the bush?
Hahahahahahahahaha.
Love it! Phooey on dem congressmen laughing at LoudSpeaker Nancy when she was working the floor. She sent them right to the woodshed.
Check out Lynell’s song post with Fred and Ginger dancing’ up a storm.
Yes, I love it!
Love your phraseology, Keith!
Love this, Keith. Especially "turkey chin McConnell" whom I refer to as "McTurtleneck."
I've used that moniker for the senior Senator. (as well as others!)
Time to message for Biden and the Democratic Party, Keith. There'll be no hooey from you.
Fern Reminds of my ‘diplomating’ days in the Congo with a 9 mm Beretta, a M-16, and a .45 which facilitated swift and favorable conclusions.
Keith, you are the only guy with a gun that I trust.
Hey, Keith. I have this guy needs some "diplomating". Gonna be in West Virginia this month. Sound like a line right out of a Mario Pozo novel. I'd be happy if someone would have an adult conversation with him out back, behind the Rayburn Building. Just saying. 🤪
Ouch.
‘Supercilious’. These posts are expanding my vocabulary!
Leenie I must caution your that, in extremis, I make up a word that I feel is appropriate for a particularly heinous situation or individual. Example: Superbullshitsy Sinema.
'ridiculososo'
“Lockstep Democratic vote in the Senate?” Surely you jest…. Will die waiting for Manchin to do anything like that
I agree, Jeri. Manchin loves being the foil.
I have terrible thoughts about Manchin.
See comment above to Keith's. I heard your mind. Must be the micro-chip from getting the third Pfizer shot.
I disabled my microchip with bleach.....
Can’t hear anybody now...
Dear Fred and Gus, thank you for this fabulous banter!! It provided a much-needed laugh!
It's Fun With The Foolish here this weekend. Being appropriate is overrated. You think? Be well.
It's late...so I'll just LOL to all in close proximity
Jeri I shan’t comment on the dippy dame in Arizona. With 74-year old Joe Manchin, ex-governor of West Virginia which voted nearly 2 to 1 for Trump last year, 2024 is a consideration. Were Manchin to seek re-election, his image as a feisty curmudgeon would help in a tough race. Were he not a candidate, 100% the Republicans gain a Senate seat.
Manchin made clear that he wouldn’t support ‘HR 1,’ which was a kitchen-sink bill on voting rights. He said he was a strong advocate of the John Lewis voting rights bill—perhaps with a tailored filibuster?
On the initial ‘$3.5 trillion’ social infrastructure bill, he said from the outset that it was about twice what he would support. He was peevish on climate change provisions, as he sought to protect the fast-dwindling WV coal industry and other fossil fuels. I believe that Manchin was taking the heat for a number of ‘moderate’ Democrats who were opposed to the magnitude and how this affected their local districts. Even now some ‘moderates’ are stalling on the $1.85 trillion bill, with excuses about Congressional Budget Office costing the sucker out and seeking to reverse the $10,000 Trump tax law list on deducting state income tax and property tax, and more.
Manchin has been a successful governor and re-elected senator in the scrubby state of West Virginia. He is the media target for views held by some ‘moderate’ Democrats who even now are trying to chip away at the current bill draft. Manchin may not be our cuddly Joey bear, but he is ours, warts and all. Would you prefer that he switch to Republican and make turkey-chin McConnell Senate majority leader?
"Would you prefer that he switch to Republican and make turkey-chin McConnell Senate majority leader?" That's probably going to happen anyway unless a voting rights bill can get passed.
Like former President Clinton, Munchkin is a moderate Republican at best! Slick Willy wooed big business at Labor's cost! Just saying!
If Republicans get control of the Senate they’ll ax the filibuster in a nanosecond. But for now maybe rules can change to limit its use to once per session much like reconciliation
The service for General Colin Powell this morning was a beautiful gathering of family and long time friends. It was great to see the Bidens, the Obamas, the Bushs, and Secretary Clinton on the other side of front row from the family. Described by his son as a great lion with a big heart. One euloger quote Gen. Powell: "We need to treat everyone with a little more kindness than we think they deserve because we never know what is going on." We need great examples of the best of humanity like Gen. Powell as role models for all of us in courage and decency.
Very nice sentiment, Cathy! I just have no time or energy for fascists.
Take a bow, Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer. Now, let’s get moving on voting rights and, as it appears to be necessary, getting rid of the filibuster once and for all.
This bill is a great step forward for America. House Speaker Pelosi stayed on the it with good cheer and remarkable energy until it passed the House and informally became law.
Joe Biden’s interventions didn’t help until they did. He too stayed with the bill when it appeared to be a dying quail. Congratulations to this man who stubbornly, one step at a time, works to restore dignity to the White House, and the power to nudge people to the side of their better angels.
It is especially ironic that his influence was wielded so staunchly in the case of this hard infrastructure bill. Under TFG America suffered through countless “Infrastructure Weeks”. These notable creatures of the GOP spin machine could hardly be objected to whatsoever, except for the pesky criticism of small-minded wet blankets, who would fairly observe that all of said “Infrastructure Weeks” passed quietly by without any actual infrastructure being initiated.
So it was a good day, capping what felt like a difficult lifetime.
It was a tiny bit of a hard pill for me to swallow that in the end the Progressives once again were the more adult of the two caucuses in the Democratic House. Once again they were persuaded to subsume any tendency to, God forbid, militancy. But it is a desperate time calling for militancy in defense of what desperately needs to be done, and I trust that the Progressives will in the fullness of what time is left be rewarded for their patience.
I have a question though and try as I might I cannot find the answer to it on the Internet. Please help. I see that Joe Manchin is crowing about the passage of this bill, being pleased as punch that it’s - gasp - bipartisan.
But is there any evidence that he will, with certainty, vote for the Build Back Better bill? Or Sinema, for that matter?
Because if he doesn’t and the Act is stillborn, this whole episode will turn out to be a “Peace in Our Time” moment, complete with requisite scrap of paper.
His tweet stream makes no commitment. Has he elsewhere?
I know. I know. Let’s just enjoy the day. But I would like some reassurance.
And further to that, the most pressing part of Biden’s agenda is the Voting Rights Bill. If Infrastructure gets done and Voting Rights are left in the dust, Americans will be materially aided, but morally stomped on by the sheer evil of Republican led legislatures who are making a travesty of democracy.
Does anyone know where Manchin and Sinema firmly stand on these two points?
"House Speaker Pelosi stayed on the it with good cheer and remarkable energy until it passed..."
Nanct Pelosi is a remarkable woman and possibly the most able politician in Washington. (The ADA could more righteously be called PelosiCare than ObamaCare for the effort she put in to its passing.)
I once lived in her district in San Francisco. I voted for her when she first ran and every election thereafter until I moved out of town, a fact I would announce with great glee to those of my fellow construction worker wearers of the Red Hat.
Totally agree. She is the most able politician and obv can herd the cats.
Right on target RA.
ACA, not the ADA. My bad.
Yes, they do, but each could change one way or another. Hope this helps.
Thanks. Is there a latest citation which is unambiguous?
During an interview on MSNBC today, Pramila Jayapal said that President Biden promised to win agreement from the 'moderates' (a group, in addition to Manchin and Sinema) for passage of 'Build Back Better Plan'. They have backed him to the limit and are depending on him to deliver. So it goes...
I believe that.
The moderate Senators?
This still feels like a leap of faith.
It is a 'leap of faith' Eric. Some people, perhaps, would like to see criminal charges brought against 'those senators' or something more harsh, while wailing that life is not fair, asserting that democracy is doomed and snidely remarking that the democrats and Independents who are working endlessly on the behalf of democracy are too slow or inept. You know my opinion of 'the senators' and discomfort with the snide critics in the audience.
My daughter just sent me an article by Rebecca Solnit in The Guardian titled "Why does the media keep saying this election was a loss for Democrats?" They have been talking about these Dem bills the same way. Then The NY Times has an article titled "Trapped in a pandemic funk: Millions of Americans can't shake a gloomy outlook." Maybe because the media is making things worse! Or at least making the wrong things bad and ignoring the truly bad things.
They are making things worse, and they're influencing voters by the constant negative drone. As Robert Reich said last night on MSNBC, why not talk about all of the good things that are currently happening - distribution of COVID vaccines, two new drugs to treat COVID, the relief bill that saved us from falling into the abyss, the NJ governor defying the norm and being reelected, the great jobs report, etc.?
The media are getting it wrong but for them bad news and invented “controversy” sell papers. Good news is just——well good news yawn. Let’s hear one for Biden and the Democrats. Yea!!
As I read this I thought about what it actually means to be in a gloomy outlook. What are Americans gloomy about. Well, take a look around. Every single day a prominent Republican, like Matt Gaetz, is taking the stage and inciting violence. They hold massive conferences and every speech is about violence. They’re filled with lies. Their messages run free on Twitter and I’m sure it’s worse on every other platform. Then we have Tucker Carlson and Fox News putting huge shows out. Next, welcome Emerald Robinson the Christian diva hypocrite spouting vaccines are going to make you glow and put Luciferase in your body. Don’t people why they don’t see the glow when they look at vaccinated people. They allowed her to be a White House Correspondent and this is the culmination of giving her a voice. Newsmax has finally put her on a break but only because Smartmatic is suing.
Next Democrats are waiting for the leaders of 1/6 to have consequences. Some MOC should be removed already. The next election cycle is here and they’ll still be free and in office again by cheating.
I have been very gloomy this week about all of this. My representative Darrell Issa in CA50 was on a hateful tweeting spree yesterday. They show they’re terrified when they do this because it’s all just nonsense. I hate that he’s my representative but I am happy to be in California where the majority of government offices are filled with reasonable people. I’ve lived in 11 states and am glad we came back here from Texas in 2012. I’m one of those voters this week that felt, for awhile, that I could just turn off the news and shut out the rest of the idiots in the country. If the people of Virginia want to be left to the devices of education and science banners they deserve it.
It's important to remember that Virginia fought long and hard against Brown v. Board of Education and integrated public schools. Misbehaving parents and The Critical Race Theory outrage is in keeping with the zeitgeist of the state. However, democratic strongholds still persist in urban areas. I think the loss was due, at least in part, to McAuliffe himself.
Right!!! VA was a fierce resister. But …. The blue/red map repeats the National pattern—-non urban = red; urban=blue. The Challenge (where the dems are failing) is to regain the rural vote!! Good messaging would help!!!
Dems have a tendency to think that economics and education are the ties that bind us to BIPOC voters. I read a comment by David Lionheart@NYT that there may be an issue of "values," too. That fascinated me. While we are a stronghold for gay rights, voter's rights, BLM, immigration, and abortion, those groups would like us to offer some mid-ground, i.e. a demonstration that we are not so secular that anything goes. (These are my thoughts about David's comment.) That's not to say we should allow the very loud, very mean-spirited white rural folks to have their way, it means we Progressives should lean a little more to compromise, i.e. some limits on abortion, police AND social interventions, immigration with limits, et al. It's worth a thought because we can't press ahead without a wide spectrum of voters, including the average folks who don't grasp radical changes.
I would rather have said, "the ties that bind us to all voters, including BIPOC voters."
G Zinn has it right. The media is complicit in the state of our political discussions. They are desperate for eyeballs and $$. Controversy and horse races sell. They have jettisoned any fairness and accuracy standards. Although Fox is the worst and conservative talk radio is a huge problem, as many have noted in recent comments, even sources that were once considered professional and presented issues clearly and thoroughly (NYT, WaPo, NPR) have deteriorated and contribute to a totally false narrative on Biden's presidency. He has done a great job! I can't even think about what they did to Obama and HRC. It is an uphill battle countering these completely false narratives, but even my progressive friends complain about Democrat's bad messaging. There is only so much Democrats can do against an onslaught of false messaging.
Go to the PoliticsGirl for a great youtube on Dem messaging---i.e. lack thereof!d
https://www.youtube.com/c/PoliticsGirl
Thanks. She’s good!