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A thought-provoking “must-read” piece from David Horsey…

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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« on: August 25, 2017, 11:53:21 am »


from the Los Angeles Times....

Sean Hannity hits a right note in a discordant time

By DAVID HORSEY | 5:00AM PDT - Thursday, August 24, 2017



I HEARD SOMETHING from Sean Hannity on Monday night that gave me a glimmer of hope for our fractured and fraught nation.

President Trump had just read a carefully crafted speech from a teleprompter in which he re-upped on American military engagement in Afghanistan, and I was sampling the commentary on MSNBC and CNN. After a while, the experience of having my liberal biases reinforced by one talking head after another grew tedious, so I switched to Fox News.

Hannity was on, doing an interview with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. These are two men with whom I have a lot of disagreements, but it actually felt good for my brain to have my assumptions challenged. Hannity, in particular, was very pleased with the president's speech, giving Trump more credit than I think he deserves for setting a resolute new direction in a war that has been careening on and on since 2001. Still, his argument inspired me to come up with a counterargument of my own — a healthy intellectual exercise.


An earlier take on the political leanings of Romeo and Juliet from David Horsey's 2007 book, “Draw Quick, Shoot Straight”.
An earlier take on the political leanings of Romeo and Juliet from David Horsey's 2007 book, Draw Quick, Shoot Straight.

Then, the subject shifted to the tragedy of Charlottesville and the provocations of white nationalists. Hannity noted that there had been several protests against racism and neo-Nazis earlier in the day. He went out of his way to tell Fox viewers that the people engaged in these demonstrations were almost all peaceful and that they were properly exercising their rights of free assembly and free speech. And he repeated that point a few minutes later.

I took it as a moment of grace. I am sure most of the people demonstrating were no fans of Trump or Fox News. Hannity could have mocked them and played up the antics of the handful that were troublemakers. But he didn't. He did the right thing, the American thing.

Or at least it used to be the American thing.

Having largely abandoned the common ground where the hard work of our nation gets done, Americans are retreating into tribes — Trump lovers versus Trump haters, city liberals versus country conservatives, whites versus nonwhites, do-nothing Republican politicians versus do-nothing Democratic politicians. From micro-aggression-monitoring students on college campuses to fearful Bible-believing folks in farm towns, everybody seems to want a safe space. Everybody wants to hear views they agree with and a version of the news that fits neatly into their predispositions.

What I heard in Hannity's words the other night was that it is OK to disagree, that the people on the other side are not all demons and traitors. Combined with the president's unusually sober speech, it felt like a good sign. Even in this discordant time, maybe we can all find a way to get along, even find areas of agreement the way Americans are supposed to do.

Sadly, and unsurprisingly, Trump went from sober to intoxicated the next night at his campaign rally in Phoenix and proved he still has no inclination to be a president for all of us. He spent much of his time ranting about the “fake” news media. He singled out the “failing New York Times” for abuse and wildly accused The Washington Post of lobbying for its parent company, Amazon. He jabbed at ABC's George Stephanopoulos by name, deriding his short stature. He bashed the media in general for making up stories and claiming sources that are bogus. (Trump seems to have the illusion that every mainstream news outlet operates with the same low ethics as his favorite newspaper, the National Enquirer.) His careless tirade revved up the crowd, prompting a chant of “CNN sucks!” Some in the audience turned toward reporters in the hall to demand that they stop asking hard questions about the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia.

Amid all this slander, perhaps Trump's lowest point came when he said of journalists, “for the most part, these are really, really dishonest people. And they're bad people. And I really think they don't like our country. And I do not think it will change.”

Are journalists truly dishonest, bad people? Tell that to the hundreds of reporters who have given their lives covering the news in dangerous places. And, please, Mr. Trump, do not question the patriotism or the love of country of the men and women who cover our wars, who monitor our government and who investigate and expose those who abuse the public trust. Defending the principles that make this nation a beacon of liberty is exactly why journalists do what they do.

Of course, people like Sean Hannity and me are not straight news guys. We are paid provocateurs (thought he's paid quite a bit better). Our job is to express our opinions as boldly as we can to encourage public debate about the big issues of the day. So, it is notable when a liberal cartoonist and a conservative TV commentator are driven to explain tolerance and free speech to our disgruntled citizenry. That should be the task of the president, but, apparently, the current occupant of the White House has no interest in that part of his job.


http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-hannity-20170823-story.html
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Donald
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« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2017, 01:27:05 pm »

Ktj....of journalists “for the most part, these are really, really dishonest people. And they're bad people. And I really think they don't like our country. And I do not think it will change.”


...yes..I agree🙄
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2017, 01:51:57 pm »


Yes, we already know you are stupid, and generally as thick as the dog-shit I sometimes have to scrape off the soles of my work-boots.
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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Having fun in the hills!


« Reply #3 on: August 25, 2017, 01:57:47 pm »


Ooops, is that the time?

Gotta go....working an extra shift on the first rostered-day off of a rostered five-day long weekend.

Those extra non-rostered shifts are a good lurk....money for shit. Around $440 in the hand (after tax and all other deductions) for two return runs to Wellington ($110 for each one-way 91km trip). It's good that there is a world-wide shortage of qualified, experienced locomotive engineers and that the labour market for experienced rail operations workers is global, 'cause it means the company have to pay us really good money to give up our rostered days off due to their staff shortages. Long may it continue, at least until I retire in a few years time, although I'll do about five years double-dipping once I get the Winston Card in a year-and-a-half before I finally chuck it in. Thank you taxpayers & suckers.

With the current excellent weather I might head out to my beach house and relax for the rest of the long weekend after I get today's shift out of the way.
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Donald
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« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2017, 02:12:38 pm »

I guess now that you have been sucked into paying subscriptions for the leftist yankee rags you gotta try and get your money's worth eh boy.....beats thinking for yourself😉...just take the stance that the Yankees tell ya😉
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Donald
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« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2017, 07:27:37 pm »

Ktj...."Around $440 in the hand"

...jeezzz...is that all...you poor bastard....

...when I was doing NDT in Australia we we would get in excess of $AU1000 per shift...which was about $NZ1200😜
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aDjUsToR
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« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2017, 11:27:57 pm »

Most journos go through Marxist brainwashing at the humanities courses they do at uni. So they are essentially cult members who are unable to think for themselves.
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