JATQ News Roundup 12.12.22
Making sense of the Musk, fixing the media and Happy Holidays!
Welcome back to the Just Ask the Question newsletter where we share insights on the White House and politics in general through podcast interviews, original articles and commentary.
And because everyone deserves a break now and then from all that is D.C., we will also share the lighter side of the news with exclusive interviews from leading pop culture figures. sign up here
Our biggest problem isn't Trump or Biden: The media is disconnected from reality
After 38 years as a political reporter, here's my assessment of the current D.C. press corps: A flaming car wreck
On Wednesday morning, I found myself driving down I-270 from my comfortable suburban abode to get to the White House.
It's a trip I've made literally hundreds, if not thousands, of times. This time was different.
It was rainy and foggy, and as I approached the cutoff that led to I-495, I was cruising along at a comfortable 75 mph. It was faster than the speed limit, but was commensurate with traffic flow. As I glanced in my rearview mirror after putting on my turn signal to change into the right exit lane, I saw a white sports car approaching at a high rate of speed. He passed me on the right, almost hitting me, then cut me off, passed another car, cut him off, and then was gone. He passed me as if I were standing still, and I knew he had to be going in excess of 100 mph — way too fast for surface conditions…
A nation of attention junkies: Trump and Elon are the perfect symbols of America's predicament
We can't give Musk and Trump the attention they crave (because it's literally impossible). We also can't look away
It seems we are a nation filled with people who desperately crave attention.
Consider me a casual observer and commentator on what I find alarmingly and amusingly stupid from those willing to walk into the public arena and drop their diaper in a bid for that attention.
Whether you're a 24-year-old ignorant racist, fomenting hatred and gaining attention by showing up at the former president's Golden Disco Palace in Florida where you can smell the spray-on '80s vibe as surely as you can identify the spray-on tan or you are the man who makes history by being the first twice-impeached former president to announce another run for the White House historically early because you crave the attention.
Either way? You're an attention junkie, whore or addict. Pick your title, it's the same thing — though "whore" may be more accurate as most of these people manipulate others for money and are not merely innocent junkies. An adult "political junkie whore" might actually be the most accurate term, though perhaps not the most favored. Julia Roberts played a hooker with a heart of gold in "Pretty Woman," but political whores in real life bear little resemblance to that. They're more like the toothless hookers (of all possible genders and orientations) in Nuevo Laredo's Boys Town, turning tricks for cheap makeup and dollar bills.
JATP EP 156: Did Sen. Sinema just screw the Democrats?How screwed up is the White House press corps?
Did Sen. Sinema just screw the Democrats? And how screwed up is the White House press corps - and who's watching the World Cup? All this and more this week on "Just Ask the Question".
Just Ask The Press - Will Donald Trump show up and answer the Jan. 6 subpoena?
Will Donald Trump show up and answer the Jan. 6 subpoena? Is Trump screwed because the DOJ has challenged the Special Master? This and much more on this week's episode of Just Ask the Press…
I give thanks for freedom of speech: If we still know what it means
Give me the right to speak freely, and I'll defend yours. Those who disengage are the real threats to democracy
In October of 1863, just three months after the battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the fourth Thursday in November to be a National Day of Thanksgiving. One hundred and fifty-nine years later, we're still celebrating it annually.
Abe's proclamation harkened back to a similar effort from George Washington just a few short years after our nation emerged from the Revolutionary War. The father of our country found the roots of his action in a famous meal shared by Puritans and Native Americans in 1621.
This national holiday has come to express sentiments many wish were seen every day: Giving thanks. There's no component of race or religion. No one is excluded. Just sit down and give thanks for what you have — no matter how little or how much.
Today we have much for which we can be thankful, no matter what we face from moronic politicians, the renewed threat of nuclear war, daily occurrences of mass shootings, a global pandemic and countless other trepidations.
Episode 155: Dissolving the Constitution, siding with seditionists, and can the Press do worse?
News in review.
Dissolving the U.S. Constitution, siding with seditionists, and can the press screw up the coverage of these events even more?
Get the perfect stocking stuffer this Holiday season! Grab a copy of Brian’s book “Free The Press” and help support independent journalism.