Truth and Consequences

            I land somewhere between amused and alarmed at the media and administration’s current relationship with each other. On the one hand the media doesn’t seem to understand that their credibility with over half of America is completely shot and on the other hand, half of America still wants Trump pursued aggressively by the media. This according to a Fox poll this past week of 1013 individuals. (For those of you used to watching CNN, that’s called “attribution.”)

                Now the President has banned a couple of news sources from his press briefings which I understand but which I do not like. I understand it because in the face of the media being caught red-handed making things up, leaving things out and twisting things to fit their narrative instead of being contrite or at least professional enough to try and do a more honest job, they continue to double down on their anger and moral outrage and merely ratchet up their inability to tell an emotion from a fact.

                I don’t like it because I think the freedom of the press—even when horribly abused as it is currently —is what separates us from the Iran’s and old Soviet Union’s of the world. Granted, you have to be willing to believe your eyes and ears over your heart in many cases, and you have to do more research than you should have to for different points of view, but all-in-all I think the American people are able to discern shine from shinola in the great exchange of ideas.

                Otherwise Donald Trump wouldn’t be president.

                All we heard for a year were disparaging things about the guy who is now our President. We heard how incompetent, untrustworthy, racist, misogynistic, narcissistic, blah-blah-istic, and generally inferior to Hillary Clinton he was. But we also heard every word he said because replaying it was narcotic to a media and the liberal base to whom they pander, both of whom hate his guts.

                And those of us between California and the five boroughs heard something else.  Distilling actual words from media filters we heard—most of the time--exactly what we’ve been thinking and feeling for eight years, or at least close enough to it we bought it over what the other side was selling.

                We were the only ones that bought it but in the end we were all that mattered. In fact, in the Fox poll February 17^th, 86% of the republicans polled said they were more likely to believe the President than the media.  86%!

                Lest we get carried away with ourselves, however, that same poll revealed 79% of democrats are more likely to believe the media over the President.

                I think those numbers are accurate. (Lesson #2 for liberals, the words “I think,” make that an opinion, not a fact from God. Sorry Don Lemon.)

                I think that because, as I’ve mentioned before, I totally subscribe to the theory that all political thinking is circular.  We tend to listen to and agree with points of view that match our own and reject those that do not.

                But in the margin is where the battle is won. With those who in spite of what they may want to believe can’t deny what they see to be true. In that same Fox poll 52% of independents are more likely right now to believe the President than the media while only 26% are more likely to believe the media.

                More of us, at least in the heartland, want a President concerned with border security as opposed to the passionate voices crying out for open borders in between trying to decide what to tell their daughters.

More of us want safe cities as opposed to rights for criminals.

                Once upon a time we all wanted manufacturing jobs kept in the U.S. Now only those of us who can’t smell sea air seem to want that v. the desire for globalism the left has now embraced in an effort to hate President Trump.

                And more of us believe the Russians had nothing to do with how we voted than those who simply can’t believe they were beaten. Those same ones who think the sky is falling as the EPA is held in check v. those of us who believe the EPA had overstepped its authority in regulating a world about which they knew not nearly enough to put handcuffs on American Industry. We should still keep a watchful eye on things there though, I think.

                So when Froma Harrop of the Creative Syndicate ran her guest editorial in mainstream newspapers across the country last week declaring liberal victory in the war of words because ratings are currently way up for all electronic media and subscriptions for many major newspapers she and the rest of the media once again missed the point. The army of Trump haters isn’t growing, the fascination with unfolding events from day-to-day is growing. The same mechanism that got Trump elected on half of Hillary’s budget is gaining momentum. A media that can’t ignore him unwittingly aids him by carrying his message, filtered though it may be, to all corners of the country.

                More people didn’t become liberal lovers of CNN product. More people have become interested in the narrative, the battle, the story.

                Don’t get me wrong. I know that most of the new viewers, listeners and subscribers are liberals. And I say welcome to the arena. You are going to hear how awful and horrible the President and his policies are from a blindly hateful media machine. For most of you that’s only going to reinforce what you already believed anyway.

                But some of you are going to notice that what the media is telling you isn’t necessarily what’s going on.  The media will tell you there is no danger whatsoever from open borders. But you might hear that in fact 72 terrorist acts by immigrants from the seven countries the President wants to vet more carefully were stopped in the last year, according to the Department of Homeland Security. You might hear some parents or loved ones speak of their murdered children, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers at the hands of illegal immigrants with violent criminal records from South American countries and you might wonder how that represents no danger.

                You might wonder why you had to notice those facts in news briefs on page 20A that got by the editor when the front page of your local paper trumpeted something altogether different.  You might wonder, if you bother to check out the opposition, why only Fox news or Limbaugh or Levine report such things.  Of course, if you’re a real dyed-in-the-wool liberal you will simply dismiss those sources as unreliable because to believe things other than what Anderson Cooper and Seth Meyers want you to believe would shatter so much of your belief system you simply couldn’t accept it. (One is a newscaster, one is a comedian. Guess which is which.)

                I join Froma in welcoming today’s new audience. I welcome those new to the experience of exploring the world around them instead of getting most news at the water cooler or on Facebook. I am not so delusional to believe a significant number of liberals new to news will convert to conservatism.  In fact, I think only a small single digit percentage will. Say 5%.

                Five percent of the 66 million votes cast for Hillary would be 3.3 million voters. A few more than were part of the “massive” popular vote the left is convinced it won.

                Beware libs. Some of the sheep you’ve been able to tow along in your wake may prove capable of thinking for themselves. They may hear how awful Trump’s economic policies are and then wonder how for the first time in their lives jobs are available in the inner city. They may hear how ridiculous his anti-crime ideas are and wonder why their kids have been playing outside in those same cities for weeks without anyone getting shot.

                They might watch a news clip and hear what Trump has to say and be able to recognize that what Joy Behar said he just said isn’t anything like what he really just said.

                They might even notice that there really were Muslim riots and crime sprees in Sweden in spite of what the media told them and that some people in France, Germany and Belgium (and not just the murdered ones) think their immigration policies may have been a little lax.

                They might change their entire point of view.

                You just never know.

The Presser

                I happened to be between cities in northern Colorado on Thursday when President Trump conducted his impromptu news conference so I got to hear about half of it live. That lifted my spirits so much I You Tubed (is that the correct usage as a verb?) most of the rest of it later.

                I know you heard about it because the media has been going crazy ever since.

                I’m actually not sure if I did more cheering for The President or laughing at the media. I loved Trump’s line that “Tomorrow’s news will be about how I was ranting and raving about the media. I’m not ranting and raving, I’m telling you you’re dishonest.” He sounded very calm when he said it.  I’ve heard President Trump rant and rave and it sounded way different than this.

                Sure enough, the opposition newsletter (The Denver Post) Friday morning featured a number of stories highly critical of the President’s remarks. (I’m capitalizing President every time because it pisses liberals off.) True to form the AP story above the fold, this time written by Julie Pace who possesses a special kind of omniscience, was predictably more of an editorial than news. At this point though, that’s just becoming entertaining.

                Julie’s hard-hitting, pure journalistic style informed us that the President’s speech featured “his signature hyperbole betrayed by reality.” Now that is hard news by any definition. Or maybe it’s something else. (Catch my play on the Audi commercial there?)

                Julie is especially upset that Mr. President would dare to claim his administration “is running like a fine-tuned machine,” when clearly she and her recycle guy feel it is not. She is also vexed that her nation’s President will not just admit that the Russians rigged the election and that he will soon be turning the country over to them. And she had a real “Ah-ha” moment over Trump’s erroneous claim that he won by more electoral votes that any previous republican President.

                Also sticking in her craw, as well as the rest of the media, was the President’s invitation to a black reporter (I’m sure she has a name but I can’t find it and that’s how Erica Werner of the AP identified her in her hard news editorial) to arrange a meeting between him and the Congressional Black Caucus after she asked him why he had not met with them. The silence was funny enough but I wish I could have seen that reporter’s face.

                Trump says he had a meeting for after his inauguration arranged with Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) of said CBC but Cummings backed out because someone advised him it could hurt him politically. Cummings quickly found a reporter after the presser to tell that never happened so I guess you have to decide if you want to believe the President with the longest three-week accomplishment list in U.S. history or the congressman whose been around since the 90’s and who finally admitted he was aware the IRS was targeting Tea Party groups for 27 months through 2012. At least one (True The Vote) at his specific direction.

                Now the CBC says they had sent the President a letter asking for a sit down and he never responded. One has to wonder if that was before or after they boycotted his inauguration. Should the President reach across the aisle if no one is going to reach back?

                Listen, the media think they are all showing us how great they are and how awful The President of the United States is. They think that somewhere in this country there are people not directly related to them who respect them and trust them to tell the truth in an objective and impartial way. They still have absolutely no clue how Donald Trump got to be President and how irrelevant they have become.

They can’t believe any of us want this man for President nor how we can think he is worthy when they have plainly told us just the opposite and after all, they are the media and we are completely dependent on them for whatever they want us to know.

                They continue with their poll numbers showing that only one third of Americans approve of President Trump. They’ve been throwing numbers like that around since the week after the election when the ABC and CNN polls had his approval rating at under 40%.  Of course, both of those polls included in their sampling only 23 and 24% Republicans. These are the same pollsters who predicted Hillary would win the presidency by a landslide.

                That was the week after the election! It would make one wonder who voted for the President besides all the Russians. I guess they have been telling us all along that Hillary had the popular vote. Yup, true story.  She had 3 million more votes.  Even if you don’t try and adjust that number for illegal aliens in California that got to vote, folks who voted multiple times and dead people who voted there were 129 million ballots cast. 3 million is only 2.33% of total voters. Hillary won by 5 million votes in California alone. I forget by how many in the five boroughs of New York but it was a lot. How many people between La-La Land and the Land of How You Doin’ must’ve voted for him if Hillary ended up winning the popular vote by only 3 million people?

                Friday Rasmussen and Pew both released polls on President Trump’s approval rating. Pew had him at 39%. Rasmussen had him at 55%. I’d say they might be asking two different groups of people.

                It makes it hard to know who to trust. I say, just like I did when Obama first lied to tell us he’d fixed the economy or maybe when he promised you could keep your doctor, you can always trust your own eyes, ears and gut.

                The media is trying to make you feel like you are the lone ranger if you feel any kind of support for Trump.  They have to. They are in a battle for their survival—they’ve already lost the one for their credibility and the battle for their souls has been a no contest for years. But you are not alone. Realize who is telling you that you are. The lowest and most despicable profession on the planet today.

                I have so much more I want to say but I’m trying to observe my around 1000-word pledge.

 

               Despite the brave face CNN is trying to put on their sudden uptick in ratings since “false news” entered our vernacular, consider this: Donald Trump is the guy responsible. The guy who won the presidency by spending half as much as his opponent because he got so much news coverage and the media can’t figure out how it happened when they were blaring his message to America for free. And now CNN can’t afford not to cover him or they’ll lose all viewership which must drive all of them crazy.

                In spite of CNN’s uptick Fox News still enjoys a daytime viewership of 1.4 million viewers to 651,000 for CNN. Fox has an evening viewership of 2.4 million to CNN’s 1.3 million.

                Sean Spicer’s press briefings are drawing audiences between 4.3 and 4.5 million viewers. Each. I am pretty sure that is unprecedented.

                It’s ok to feel good America. When your eyes and ears tell you things are getting better it’s because they are. And they are going to be great. Unless you live in California. There I’m pretty sure you’re going to think things suck.

Oh, Those Super Bowl Ads

Ok, so the discussion of immigration goes on hold for another week because the left can’t quit finding new more time sensitive things to piss me off.

                Since Colin Kaepernic was nearer the toilet bowl than the Super Bowl not as many of us boycotted it as was feared. So I’m trusting many of you had an opportunity to view the famous Super Bowl Ads going for a rate of $5 million per 30 seconds. I’m guessing if I asked, “Did you see the Audi ad?” that many of you would know what I’m talking about.

                As the narrator began the ever-so-supportive dad was there to watch his daughter in the go-cart race: “Should I tell my daughter her grandfather was worth more than her grandmother?” At first my wife and I just looked at each other in disbelief. But it continued, “Should I tell my daughter that her father is worth more than her mother? Should I tell her that she will be valued less than any man she’ll ever meet?’

                My daughter, who was watching the game with us, asked the question that was on all of our minds, “What the (heck)?”

                Breathlessly now, with the back of your hand against your forehead and your chin tilted slightly upward, “Maybe I’ll be able to tell her something different.”

                Yeah, maybe! Maybe if Social Services doesn’t come take her away from you because you are a candidate for Worst Father of The Year! Your daughter’s vagina is not a handicap. What the hell is wrong with people?

                What a horseshit commercial (excuse my language but I couldn’t find a better word than horseshit in my thesaurus). If you’re raising a daughter and you have actually had to debate whether or not you should tell her grandma was valued less than grandpa, mom less than dad, your daughter herself less than children with penises, and you finally reached the conclusion (either on your own or with the help of your therapist) that maybe you should tell her something different, well congratulations Einstein but you still need to put that child up for adoption to someone with an entire brain.

                I don’t want to belabor the obvious but it’s all I’ve got in this case. How many people reading this are wondering who wouldn’t tell their daughter that she can be or do anything she wants? The dumbass in the Audi commercial, I guess.

                Our daughter, probably like yours, is one of the strongest, most confident young women I know. From before she could speak words of her own she heard that there was no ceiling to what she could accomplish. We encouraged her to do her very best in everything she did, even pole vaulting in track in high school (thank God, we all survived that).

                That daughter has now coached State Championship pom squads three of the five years she’s been coaching. Three out of five state championships. I’m her dad so I’m over the moon about it but no one can argue that in the waters in which she currently swims there is no bigger fish than she.

             
               And that’s not even the important part. The important part is that for five years she’s been teaching young ladies life skills and teamwork they aren’t even old enough to appreciate yet. A few have gone on to college on dance team scholarships. All have gone on knowing that discipline and hard work pay off and coasting and slacking stay home.
 
               And our daughter is actually in the process of paving a new road for herself of which I am so proud it’s all I can do not to violate her trust and print it here but I won’t. But I can say I am so proud of her for continuing to challenge herself; to set new goals and dream new dreams and reach for any damn brass ring she sets her mind to.

                Barb and I are good parents but we wouldn’t claim to be exceptional. Most parents, I suspect, have encouraged their daughters to pursue their dreams. Maybe not that piece of feces who wrote that Audi ad.

                Oh, and Grandma? My maternal grandmother was treated like a queen for over 60 years by my grandfather. He worshipped her and was a role model par excellence for how to treat a woman with love and respect. And oh yeah, Grandma made more money than Grandpa. A lot more. Enough that they were able to buy a house and an additional empty lot in Florida and semi-retire there in their 50’s.

                Since wage equality seems to be the big issue here (thank goodness we’re giving who should pay for abortions a rest for a week) let me just throw out that my wife currently makes more money than I do. Probably will from here til we retire. Wasn’t always that way. Is now. I’ve got no problem with it.

                In fact I wish she made twice as much as she does so I could retire early and she could keep me in the style to which I have grown accustomed. That is probably not going to happen. Oh she may make twice as much as me. I mean the other part.

                My point is that we function as a team. All boats float at the same level. I respect her. She respects me (well, as much as you can respect a 60-year-old guy who still blows bubbles in his milk). There are not a lot of thoughts about explaining to our daughter that Mom is valued at something less than Dad.

                Oh, I’m aware of the statistic—women are paid 21% less than men. I’m not so naïve that I don’t think the fight to win wage equality in the work place is still alive and well and for those of you who love to hate me, I’m actually in lockstep with that effort and hope that one day soon it’s won.

                I’m also kind of in line with the battle to encourage people not to see another person’s self-worth in terms of their paycheck but we’ll go there another day, perhaps.

                When asked on Twitter if their Super Bowl ad meant Audi had just recently awakened and was now complying with the law requiring them to pay women equally for doing the same job as men their reply was, “When we weigh all the factors that go into compensation our women are paid a competitive wage.”

                That actually does not sound like a straight answer to me.

                Two in twelve of Audi’s executives are women. They have zero female board members.

                Occasionally my daughter still asks for my advice which is extremely gratifying. If her paycheck ever affords her the opportunity to buy a luxury vehicle and she asks my opinion you may be assured I will recommend the 500SL.

Screw the A8.

I Have A Grandson

I had a great blog all ready to put online—it had  practically written itself—about the pause in immigration until we can make sure we aren’t ensuring multiple Bataclan Theater incidents of our own across the States. But those who hate conservatism with all their black little hearts will just have to wait a week to learn how very wrong they are again. Hopefully, that issue will still be timely but at the speed President Trump is moving who knows what the left may be rioting about in a week?

Anyway, today I don’t really care because I have a grandson. Well, not just me, my wife Barb too.  And my daughter-in-law Emma’s parents. But I get to write this.

                I am immensely proud. That isn’t even a big enough word. And those of you with half a dozen or twenty grandkids or even some great grandkids who are rolling your eyes at my giddy enthusiasm will have to forgive me. I know I’m over the moon and you’ve been there, done that, literally have the T-shirt.

                But he is perfect, as I’m sure they all are.  From his little frog legs to his thick mop of black hair that will probably fall out and grow back blond, to his extraordinarily long little monkey fingers (I am sure he could palm a ping pong ball) he is perfect. I loved him before he was born but now I am a prisoner for the rest of my life. William Grant Arnold. William or Will. Not Bill.

                He was two weeks early at 2:15, 2/3/17,  hence, very slightly undersized for a child of Russell’s but at 21” and 6 lbs. 11 ozs. if he were a trout we would most assuredly not throw him back.

                He is born into a family that I can only describe in glowing terms. He’s a lucky guy. From having a mom and dad I would bet the farm on to his perfect grandparents, aunts and uncles and beyond to an extended family that numbers over 100 if you count all sides he will be accepted without reservation and loved and nurtured and shown how it’s done.  I do not see play-doh, post-election therapy or the need for safe spaces anywhere in his future.

                In anticipation of his birth I sent Russ and Emma my thoughts on how to raise a child from birth to adulthood without him turning out in an episode of Criminal Minds. It’s not something they asked for. You really don’t have much of a choice on what I’m going to share with you when you’re related to me.  I probably left out the most important ingredient though: have someone like Barb around to fix the things you screw up. Russ has handled that in Emma and when Britt gets around to making babies (no pressure) it is already inherent in her DNA and no doubt Bryan will make a great father.

                So I hope I’m not violating something that should have remained secret and sacred to our family but here’s what I think it takes to do the job right. If any of it gives anyone else some insight into something you haven’t already thought of, you’re welcome. If you know of other things, more power to you. If it reinforces anything you already believe then good for all of us.

                Parenting Advice For When You Have Kids or When You Need or Want It

(Some of these may be more appropriate when Will gets a little bigger.)

No matter how tired you are or how much you may not want to, read to them every night until they won’t let you anymore.

Clear the coffee table out of the way and roughhouse with them after dinner until they start to get big enough to break expensive things or hurt you.

Tell them you love them so often they roll their eyes. Whether they know it or not they need to feel secure and safe in that fact. They need to hear it so often they will forgive you when you screw up as a parent.

Tell them how proud you are of them every time you feel that way. If they know you believe in them they will dare to believe in themselves.

Let them know you will be disappointed if they behave in a way that doesn’t reflect their values.  Let them know there will be consequences.  Let them know there will also be forgiveness.

Support their dreams even if they aren’t your dreams or you know things may not pan out.  Show them success is only a celebration if you have someone to share it with.

They will not be perfect children and you will not be perfect parents but always strive to be a perfect family. When there is nothing else, you won’t need anything else.

Eat dinner together as a family as often as you can.  Sometimes the silences will be awkward. There will be lots of eye rolling and one word answers. There will also be a sense of belonging and knowing that what they have to say is important to someone.

Go camping or to the movies or hiking or something regularly as a family.  They don’t have to like it and frequently won’t. What’s important is that they remember it.

The above are just suggestions based on what I think your mom and I did right.  The only thing you absolutely have to do is love them.  Everything else is just a guess. But if they know you love them they will still come home for Christmas and everything ought to turn out ok.

(More than 10 pieces of advice is too many.)

                I have a grandson. Can you believe it?