Tag Archives: Watchdog

The Truth – How do we find you?

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You read or see a report in the newspaper, on TV, or hear it on the radio. Do you accept it as true or do you dismiss it as propaganda?  In the last few years you cannot accept anything at face value anymore.  You will actually find more truth at the local coffee shop or gossip mill than you will find in print or on the boob tube.  Gone are the days when you could pick up the paper or tune into the news on the television and be confident that what you read or heard was the truth or really, really close to the real truth you would ever get to outside a courtroom or a church confessional.

We used to rely on the Media to gather all the facts and then present them to us as un-biased as they could. Now, they would rather speculate some out of this world story that fits their agenda.  Remember when they would do all sorts of things to get ALL the facts before trying to tell us what has happened?  Some of those reporters really went too far at times but the Truth or as close to the Truth came out.

Do you remember growing up and first learning about the Truth? As we got older the Truth started to have varying degrees of Truth to fit the needs of the one telling it.  As it stands now, you cannot trust what the media is telling us and you most definitely cannot believe what our elected officials keep spouting.

We need to take every story told to us and do our own research to try to find the real TRUTH. Unfortunately, most people today cannot handle the Truth.

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Same Old Rut

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What is this country coming to? Before the election we had mainstream news reports flying all over telling us that Hillary Clinton, in her position of Security of State, had a private email server and some classified documents somehow got routed to it.  The FBI was not allowed to check it out but somehow everything that was in this server got hacked and released to the public by possibly Russian hackers.  We had people showing us the law that says it is illegal to send classified stuff to or from a private server.  We had hearings in Congress about this and the FBI could not find anything was wrong.  The Press had a field day saying or printing things from known “sources”.  These same “sources” hinted to the Press that there where agents, possibly foreign or domestic, trying to get information on Trump at the time.  I remember seeing or hearing something like this but unable to find any proof at this time, but I digress.

Now we have Congress having more hearings about the possible wire-tap on Mr. Trump before the election and the same Director of the FBI cannot find any truth to this? We have been hearing from “Sources” within the CIA and NSA that officially nothing of the sort was happening but the same “Sources” from both said it did happen.  It is kind of funny because the CIA, from what I have always heard, are supposed to do all their work outside the borders of the United States.

As a private citizen, it is getting to the point where it is time to just shut off any national news coverage and when the next elections come around, vote for anyone not holding office. That is an option.  Congress was scared right after the elections but they are falling right back into that old groove. The Judicial branch is legislating from the bench again and not even trying to hide it.  You thought the results from the last election was bad.  The next one might be over the top.

Why?

The American citizen is getting tired of all that is happening in Washington. We have permanently elected officials that will not change.  They are not there to represent the people that elected them but are only there to fill their own pockets.  We have political groups that have no idea what they are doing.  We have department Directors that are even now checking which way the political wind is blowing before doing anything.  The propaganda machine is getting ready for another round.  The question is: Will the American Citizen continue to sit and wait?

Is the News really News

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As we read the news, the question is, is this True?  It seems that we never get the whole story or get to actually see the facts.  We are supposed to make a life decision after only seeing or hearing one part of the puzzle.

There are those that will take that one piece of the puzzle and fabricate a story that is bent to their views, their way of life, and their way of thinking. There are those that see profit from doing this.  There are those that see fame from doing this, and all of them come from both sides of the political pendulum.

As a reader or viewer of the news we get we have to look at several different sources to even try to get a part of the whole picture but when both sides are against the middle it seems that the only good thing to do is turn it off or throw it away and just continue to live in our own little world. What we need to do is start calling all these media sites out.  Rather than respond to hate or anger that they are trying to instill in you, ask for the source, or request to see the proof.

It is surprising how many people think an editorial or an opinion piece is real news. It is just a person’s opinion about a situation.  The author may have some facts to start their opinion but the article is just an opinion and are not required to name those fact’s sources.  You may disagree with the article but you don’t have to riot in the streets.  If you wish to protest, why don’t you do it for a purpose?  Don’t go off halfcocked with only a piece of the puzzle.

Maybe it has been so long not seeing an actual news item on the national media that we have grown accustom to only getting the opinion of someone in the media, that if we actually get real news, we will kick it to the gutter.

Privacy Bubble Popped?

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How secure do you feel being in your own home with the doors and windows locked? You have the top of the line home defense system, best that money can buy.  You have a smart phone, smart TV, smart stereo, smart kitchen appliances, and all in all, a smart home, with all the cable and wireless devices all wired together.  Congratulations, you bought and set up your own surveillance system that Big Brother can now access, without getting a judge’s approval.

You can be sitting in your “own” living room with family and friends, any one of them may have one of these “smart” items and big brother can now use them to at least hear anything you say. What is this world coming to?

Don’t get me wrong, advances in electronics have helped in many ways improve the lives of many. Everyone feels much safer.  There have even been new languages to communicate in.  Everyone seems connected in a good socialist ways and they don’t even realize that no one actually talks to people one on one any more.  Everyone is in their own little bubble.

You can now go to work, the store, or even walk down the street, you will see people that can walk and text but are still unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. At work, you see your fellow workers constantly texting and talking with their friends and really accomplishing anything and still getting paid for it.  At the stores, you cannot get any help because the associates are always on their personal phones and can’t be bothered.  This is our safe society.

 

With the Wikileaks release of possibly classified documents and such, we are finding for the first time that the majority of people have no idea what is going on about them. They are shocked and dismayed.  Everything they have in their hand or home can and probably and will be used against them at one point or another.  Welcome to the new world.

Congress was put on Notice

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A show of hands, for those that watched President Trump’s address Tuesday night?

Did you enjoy the floor show that Congress put on?

Did you know that the President could have done the same thing by inviting the congressional leaders and small groups to the White House and spent the next four years trying to get a consensus for his agenda?

Did you know he could have done a Press conference and we would not have heard exactly how something was going to get done? We would have heard a different version, I bet.

Both houses of Congress were present, along with the members of the Supreme Court and some invited guests. President Trump was not there to talk to them.  He did talk about some of the life changes of the invited guests as bullet points to his speech.  All of this was done on live television without the ability of the Press cutting up all the sound bites.

President Trump was talking to the American People. Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever political affiliation you want to name them.  He presented his plan to the American Public in the name of talking to Congress.  Because it doesn’t matter what the Congressional members political affiliation is, if the people they represent, start yelling at them to go with or fight this plan, when it is time for reelection, you may see many just quit or actually start listening to their constitute.  President Trump has just put the political elite on the proverbial hot seat.

It is the job of the American Citizen to make our thoughts heard by them in a legal way. Not like some of those so called protesters that some say are being paid to riot in the streets in the name of free speech.  Change is not made overnight but if we keep Congress’s nose to the grindstone, we may see the light at the end of the pit we are in.

The Fear of Change

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We have all had to watch that movie where a common man gets elected to Congress. How that person is all full of spit and vinegar to change things and is fully confident that they know how things are going to be.  Upon arrival as a first term Congressperson, is alienated by the old timers, the Press and by the all-knowing bureaucrats.  It takes them a whole term just to learn all the nooks and crannies of being a politician.  Oh, they might find a platform or idea that they are trying to champion but it is under the watchful eye of their fellow politicians.  They might even get that Hollywood ending to their first term if they are careful.  This is the way of politics.

On the news now, many of Congress are trying to have a town hall meeting and some people are perplexed and overwhelming them with questions that they themselves, being worried, have no answer. Why are they worried you ask, because something is happening that is not the normal way things have been done for many many years.  Something our founding fathers wanted to see happen all the time.  A successful business person, taking time out of their business to step up and take a swing at running this country.  Not some insecure lifelong politician.

Congress has had an easy life up to now. They had the press in their pocket.  They treated the bureaucrats like the maître d.  With the press at their side, the citizen had no real knowledge of what was going on in Washington.  The Press had turned from being the watchdog for the people to being the mouth piece for the establishment.  Now with a newly elected President, who is not a lifelong politician, is actually using the laws passed by Congress to his advantage, is trying to change Washington to what it is supposed to have been doing all those years.

The bureaucrats, that when told to do something have been smarting back, “That’s not the way things are done.” Are being given ‘Pink Slips’ and shown the door.  Smart Bureaucrats are still doing their job.

The Press is still whining. They were making easy money by being the establishment’s propaganda machine.  Now they need to work for a living being the watchdogs they are supposed to be.  You want me to listen to you?  Start putting facts and figures that will stand up in a real court.  Not the court of public opinion.  Put your job on the line for your story if you know you are lawfully right.

For you members of Congress, it may be time to throw out your party lines and actually work for your constituents. You may have gotten there by party line but you work for everyone in your district.  Since most of you use your position as a career instead of an actually job.  Maybe it is past time for the establishment to feel real fear by actually having a President that actually does something and is not beholding to the political line.

Cry Wolf

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I was reading a story this morning about the Associated Press fake news by Andy Cush and it got me to thinking about the boy who cried wolf. You can see that the media is a cut throat business.  First one with a story wins.  And here lies the problem.

Any good reporter or news agency knows, you must have hard confirmation of any fact or facts before you run it. As a reader, I expect the story I am reading to be true and factually.  If it is a theory or an opinion piece, it should state that at the beginning and ending of a story to let the reader know.

In any administration or business you get “idea” or “draft” memos flying around. These can be anything from “good” thoughts to “are you out of your mind” thoughts.  These are not the final run or signed executive actions.  Even if this was a planned event to try to find a “Leaker” in what is supposed to be a working administration, a good reporter should have not run with a draft copy.  I just hope the Reporter who got this leak did not pay cash money for it.

The Media is crying wolf too much now that the public had no idea what is true any more.  What will happen when they actually write a truth and nothing happens.

American Press: Help I Have Fallen and Can’t Get Up!

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For the many months before the election, the Press was touting that another candidate would win and the glory of the one side would continue to run America. On Election Day, they found that a majority of their readers, listeners, and watchers, had decided that all their propaganda and slanted stories was nothing but trash and some of the worse kindling that had ever come out.  They voted the other way.  It has been over three months since the presidential election that was said by the Press to go the other way.

They are still in the deep hole they dug themselves. Very few readily accept what is being told to the masses is true.  Even if one reporter or paper does find something criminal, with proof, on an elected leader all the rest slide away to another story because it does not fit their agenda.  We never see if justice is done or was it all a propaganda ruse.

It is bad when you can find more truth in a supermarket tabloid than in what the leading news media puts out.

There are many of our government officials that really need to be put under a microscope.  Not just the President.  I am talking about all elected and appointed positions in government.  Some of them need a real vetting themselves.

Locally, we have a reporter that really does some good digging and reporting on what he finds. You know when watching his report and he finds that person that it is going to get dropped on, you get to see that deer in the headlights look as they see their career, job, or elected position yanked out from under them.  Sometimes, they even go to jail.  That is a good reporter.  Why can’t we have that on the national level?

Have the national media dug themselves so much of a hole that they can’t get out?

Will the Press ever become the watchdog they are there for again?

Will the Press become respected as a whole again?