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November 2016

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 21, 2016 12 Comments
The New York Times public editor Liz Spayd's op-ed contains a lot of harsh truths and realities for those who write for one of the world's most famous newspapers: drop the bias. Her office has received "five times the normal level" of complaints "and the pace has only just recently tapered off." Spayd does not flat out say that, but she portrays it in her eloquent article:
But I hope any chest thumping about the impressive subscriber bump won’t obscure a hard-eyed look at coverage. Because from my conversations with readers, and from the emails that have come into my office, I can tell you there is a searing level of dissatisfaction out there with many aspects of the coverage.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 21, 2016 13 Comments
President-elect Donald Trump's campaign website recently published an online survey. This latest survey seeks the options of anyone with an internet connection on how the incoming administration should prioritize their first three months. With a total of 29 questions, the survey doesn't seek opinions on the issues themselves, just whether or not particular issues are important to the respondent. A sampling:

Posted by David Gerstman on November 21, 2016 11 Comments
Early on in his first term, President Barack Obama suggested that in order to achieve peace between Israeli and the Palestinians, there needed to be more "daylight" between the United States and Israel. Obama, according to a report on a meeting between the president and American Jewish leaders, said, referring to the Bush administration, "During those eight years, there was no space between us and Israel, and what did we get from that? When there is no daylight, Israel just sits on the sidelines, and that erodes our credibility with the Arab states." During Obama's two terms in office, he made efforts to put daylight between his administration and Israel, and not just in terms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: in 2010 the administration harangued Netanyahu over a plan to build apartments in Jerusalem, the administration pursued the nuclear deal with Iran over Israeli objections, senior administration officials, on and off the record, have disparaged Netanyahu, and Obama is said to be considering a move in the UN to support Palestinian statehood.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 21, 2016 26 Comments
Recently, there has been one bright spot for me remaining a California resident: The sheer entertainment value offered by the dramatic response of our leading politicians to President-elect Trump. For example, our state's representatives are lining up to work actively against our new President. The apparent goal is to make California to Trump what Texas was to Obama.
In the early morning hours after Donald Trump became president-elect of the United States, California Senate leader Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon were on the phone grappling with what comes next.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 21, 2016 42 Comments
President Barack Obama has said that he will not constantly criticize President-elect Donald Trump once they transition, but he will speak up if a certain situation arises:
"As an American citizen who cares deeply about our country, if there are issues that have less to do with the specifics of some legislative proposal or battle or go to core questions about our values and ideals, and if I think that it's necessary or helpful for me to defend those ideals, I'll examine it when it comes," Obama told reporters.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 21, 2016 10 Comments
Oleg Atbashian is the creator of the satirical political website The People's Cube, which eventually spawned the satirical political website iOwnTheWorld. Atbashian was born in the former Soviet Union and knows the evils of censorship and unchecked government power all too well. As we mentioned in a recent post, he was arrested earlier this month for placing anti-terrorism posters on the campus of George Mason University. Now he's telling the full story:
Why I was arrested & thrown in jail by @GeorgeMasonU police As you may have heard, on November 4th I was arrested, handcuffed, and taken to jail for posting anti-terror stickers on George Mason University campus. I was charged with "class 6 felony for destruction of property," threatened with five years in prison, and released 14 hours later on $8,000 bail posted by my wife. The court date is now set for February 14th, 2017.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 21, 2016 22 Comments
Last week, we reported on Morning Joe ripping the notion of Rudy Giuliani as Secretary of State, with Joe Scarborough saying "he’s temperamentally not qualified to be, and he’s not qualified to be it based on any experience or training or any contacts." This morning, the show was still on its anti-Rudy rampage, with Scarborough stating: "it's one of these things that everybody says off camera. I'm going to tell you it to you on camera . . . Even people close to Trump say Rudy Giuliani mentally is a few steps slower than he was several years ago."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 20, 2016 79 Comments
The Hamilton Musical protest, in which the cast went political on VP-elect Mike Pence at the end of the show, certainly made the weekend interesting. Mike Pence this morning brushed off the event, stating that the boos were "what freedom looks like" and said he wasn't offended by the cast members actions; though he did say he'd "leave it to others" to decide if that was the right time and place for a political protest. President-Elect was less forgiving, sending out multiple tweets criticizing the protest. You can see additional reactions in our two prior posts (here and here). Most of those reactions miss the big point.
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