Who is investigating the political investigators?

By Dan Barber

Political journalists aren't "burning the midnight oil" in their writing craft as evidenced by the incomplete reporting below. In my opinion, omission of facts is the same thing as error if fact. It is becoming harder for people to wade through the minutia of biased nonsense in today's news media to get the real story

Justice Department ramps up scrutiny of candidates and independent groups

This would be a good idea if the investigations were conducted without political party bias. The Obama administration has demonstrated nothing but hatred toward the GOP. When he can't get his way through normal legislative work he just issues an Executive edict. Another way to govern is through the judicial branch of government by searching out a judge who might be on the side of whoever is looking for a favorable ruling. If all else fails put political pressure on a government committee that is supposed to be shielded from such pressure. Recent history also shows how the Internal Revenue Service is used by its high-level supervisors to force oppression against like-minded citizens who try to organize into "patriotic" or conservative ideals. When anyone points out how this administration is wrong, liberals accuse them of being stupid, racist, and corrupt or just mean. This threat of criminal prosecution seems to be aimed only at the Republicans as indicated in this article published in a liberal leaning newspaper. What is really going on is the Democrats are getting worried because their base is shrinking so they need to do everything possible to counter that shrinkage.

How outraged should you be about foreign donors to the Clinton Foundation?

Everyone should be outraged. Here is another go at repeating the 1996 campaign finance controversy involving the Clintons and the Democratic Party allegedly accepting "donations" from the Chinese government. I also seem to remember Al Gore's attendance at a fundraising event at the Taiwan-based in. I wonder if our Internal Revenue Service took away this religious organization's "tax-free status" because of their political actions. This article glosses over the "political controversy" and fails to include the 's history of being indulged with foreign contributions to any number of political actions or causes not to mention the 's fixation on money. Perhaps they should go back to their very successful, but short-lived career, as cattle future traders.

Our government is looking out for us

By Dan Barber

Why some taxpayers are in for a big shock this year

Remember when Nancy Pelosi, said “The bill has to be passed before we know what's in it.” Apparently people still haven’t read what's in it! It is becoming clear that Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Jonathan Gruber was accurate when he said that many lawmakers and voters didn't know what was in the law or how the financing worked, as reported in an online issue of “The Hill.”

The article written by Elise Viebeck and published in November of last year provided these quotes, “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” Gruber said. “And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass.”

If you have an issue with Obamacare, don’t blame the Republicans for your troubles contact the lawmakers who pushed it through, but good luck in getting a straight answer.

Nancy Pelosi

233 Cannon H.O.B.

205

Phone: (202) 225-4965

Harry Reid

522 Hart Senate Office Building

Phone: 202-224-3542 

Lessons From Scott Walker's National Media Baptism

I believe is a communications genius when dealing with the media... The more he gets asked stupid questions that he ignores, the more positive he looks to me. In an attempt by some to push him into a corner with baited questions, gives the opportunity to generate more exposure by ignoring the bait.

Investigators probing for criminal activity with Lois Lerner’s missing emails

Someone might be going to jail. Ms. Lerner has to be concerned because her hero likely will not grant her a Presidential Pardon because it "might" make him look guilty. This administration is getting by from using subterfuge, diffusion, illusion and deflection. If none of those things work they just deny any scandal even exists.

Lessons in Crisis Communications

By Dan Barber

A brief history of the ‘gotcha question’

From my past experience as a public affairs practitioner in the employ of the Federal Government, the "gotcha question" was mostly used by journalists to further pile on to the negative image the journalist had of the individual or agency. Here is an attempt by the Washington Post to excuse or justify their employee’s use of this "journalistic club" on someone they don't agree with.

VA chief Robert McDonald apologizes for misstating military record

Why do people lie? I believe it is because they want others to view them in a positive light, or they may be driven by a need to succeed and they suffer from a lack of self-confidence. According to this article, Secretary McDonald is a 1975 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.  The author of this story also points out that McDonald completed Army Ranger training before being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until his "retirement in 1980" but he was never in the Special Forces. To "retire" from military service after only serving the minimal time required, in this case, 5 years, to "pay back" the Army for his education at the Military Academy McDonald might have received a serious disabling injury from his service. Ms. Emily Wax-Thibodeaux you need to flesh out this story to prevent a disservice to McDonald, American Veterans, and your readers.

Crisis management, Fox News style: Bill O’Reilly goes for the jugular

I find this "communications war" fun to watch. In my government career, I always advised others to be truthful, because lies will destroy the individual and threaten the mission of the organization. It takes less energy to tell the truth, even if it is painful, then to lie because if you lie you have to remember the imaginary scenario and might have to build upon it...as what happens with a brainy character on one of my favorite sit-com TV shows.

Lies, accusations, deflections and truth

By Dan Barber
 

White House defends U.S. VA secretary after false statement

Politicians and journalists have a tough time with lying. Why can't they just admit they lied when caught? Dishonesty is a personal character flaw that indicates people may not be able to trust the inflicted individual. A misstatement is a spoken typo... a false statement is a lie.

Scott Walker’s insidious agnosticism

How you can tell when a news media organization is losing its grip on reality?

When they continue to beat a “dead horse.”

Dana Milbank writes... “I don’t know.” Thus proclaimed Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor and Republican presidential hopeful, when asked by The Post’s Dan Balz and Robert Costa on Saturday whether President Obama is a Christian."

Milbank went on to explain that Walker's lack of knowledge of Obama's religious beliefs give cause to shut down debate on what Walker knows about our President and to label Walker with all sorts of insidious titles. Milbank writes, “This is an intriguing standard. I’ve never had a conversation with Walker about whether he’s a cannibal, a eunuch, a sleeper cell for the Islamic State, a sufferer of irritable bowel syndrome or a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. By Walker’s logic, it would be fair for me to let stand the possibility that he just might be any of those — simply because I have no personal and direct refutation from him.”

What are you trying to do Milbank, mislead or manipulate voters/readers of your newspaper or provide a journalism 101 lecture on how to ask misleading questions?

Kerry picks Foreign Service officer to be State’s first special envoy for gay rights

Our current administration and state department can't prevent an out of control religious sect (Islamic terrorists) from taking over most of the Middle East through mass butchery of people. What are the odds of an LGBT special envoy of successfully pushing a gay rights agenda upon any foreign country? This leads me to believe that Obama and Kerry are not only afraid of offending peaceful Muslims, but they can also be easily frightened by any loud noise from just about any special interest group.

This is the business presidential candidates have chosen

I have often wondered why anyone would want to become President of the United States. This article explains the "side shows" of how media behavior shapes the communications. Sometimes that behavior can disingenuously mislead the public. Politicians count on public relations people to manipulate or promote a message to a selected audience. What "the base" sees or hears may be understood entirely differently in another group. It's the journalist's job to objectively report facts. If the journalist is a member of the candidates "base" and cannot identify their own political leanings and overcome their biases to do an honest job they then need to find another job.

Washington Post selects GOP Frontrunner for 2016

By Dan Barber

 

It seems that the Washington Post believes that Scott Walker is a viable candidate for the 2016 Presidential race. This becomes apparent because of what I read in today’s online edition. But, just in case the political and opinion writers at the paper have missed their prediction they threw in a bit of 15-year old Bush bashing, but this time the victim is Jeb Bush’s wife. To read the articles in today’s newspaper click on each headline.

Scott Walker’s cowardice should disqualify him

Dana Milbank is trying to manipulate American voters! He accuses a Presidential candidate of cowardice just because that candidate refuses to answer a STUPID gotcha question from a biased journalist.

Scott Walker’s spineless silence

This opinion in the Washington Post is NONSENSE! Walker is not SPINLESS for not answering a series of STUPID gotcha questions from BLATANTLY liberal journalists who are trying to manipulate naive Americans into accepting a false narrative. Walker is demonstrating superior intellect by ignoring, at best, stupid or at worse, DNC planted journalists.

Walker’s anti-union law has labor reeling in Wisconsin

Here is another example of a liberal media hatchet job on a GOP Presidential candidate. If Public employee unions are such a great benefit for employees then people would be flooding to them to join. When a union forces membership dues to work, then maybe it's not such a great deal.

Documents show the expensive tastes of Jeb Bush’s low-key wife

The liberal media is nitpicking for GOP scandals in the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election season. Shouldn't they be focused on where Clinton's foreign money is coming from? Sorry, I couldn’t find that story in today’s Washington Post.

I'm with you God

By Dan Barber

If God knows all, sees all, and is all wouldn't it make sense that all humans are inclusive with God?

One basis of physics deals with quantum physics where really smart people think that everything is made up of atoms and other matter that’s so small we can't see them… this small stuff is expected to behave or just be present in some mysterious way to serve a purpose.

This quantum phenomenon has been used by Hollywood to create some really cool Science Fiction television and film. On a long cancelled television program a fictional scientist accidentally finds a way to transport himself by altering the “small stuff” of quantum physics into the persona of another human being in a different time and place to affect some action to change history and to improve that person’s life. In a 1996 film with the title “Phenomenon” staring John Travolta explored the effects of someone with superhuman ability in understanding everything. Another recent movie titled “Lucy” that I recently added to my library also deals with knowledge and the feel of everything throughout time and the need for every living cell to survive.

So much has been blamed on religion recently that is wrong. Religion has never been the cause of war. However, it has been used by powerful people or politicians as an excuse to execute war. Evil people use religion as an excuse to butcher innocent people in an attempt to manipulate others. If we are all made up of the same stuff with God, wouldn't that butchery that is meant to manipulate us also influence God?

I have always viewed religion and a sort of guide in how to live and get along in society. The Ten Commandments have always been a pretty simple list to try to live by:

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make idols.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet.

For the times, the Commandments as put down in stone by God made sense. I’m pretty sure God included the second Commandment because he did not want to be depicted as a Mountain Goat. But, I’m sure He is also just as angry at being depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling as a fierce looking old white man with long grey hair.

I don’t feel anyone has complete knowledge of all the important questions humans have been seeking since they first started using the organ located between their ears. I believed the importance of that organ, the brain, is proven because even if we lose one of our senses of sight, sound, smell, taste or touch, in most cases, we have a magical way of adapting to keep feeding our thinking organ’s insatiable appetite for knowledge. Perhaps our brain is an important part in the Gathering of Data (GOD) of everything to include our soul that will leave our body upon death and connect to GOD… if the data is worthy.

Emotion is a very powerful but overlooked sense that should be counted as the sixth sense. Emotion allows us to love or hate, which can drive a feeling of guilt and pain.

By trying to affix a collective guilt or pain on Americans today because of past crimes or bad actions some of our ancestors took against some of our other ancestors in history is a “low-brow” approach and could doom us to relive that history. No one alive today is responsible for what happened during the Crusades. Yes we can feel bad about the treatment our ancestors suffered, but we can also feel a great deal of pride that our ancestors took to overcome mistreatment and hardships to survive. I would encourage anyone searching out a cause and effect of today’s troubles on history, but don’t use it to place blame on America for those troubles.

I believe that every speck in the infinity of space and time had or will have some purpose.

Conscious thought is a mysterious and mystical thing that has infinite potential limited only by fear of the unknown.

The most important thing an American can do is to pay attention because we are all doomed if we put blind trust in our elected leaders to do the right thing.