SUMMARY: How much would you sell our democracy for? What’s the dollar amount you’d put on it? Apparently, our for-profit political press has opted for profits over professionalism. They’ve thrown over their role as the fourth estate. They no longer are acting as a check on our government by holding officials to account. Listening to two year old broadcasts of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me shows just how badly the press has obeyed in advance and not only became collaborators, but joined the fascists.
KEY TERMS: Fourth Estate Democracy Political Press Retirement MSNBC Podcasts Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me Joe Biden #COVID19 Student Loans 6 January Insurrection
COMMENT: How bad is the capitulation of the for-profit political press? Is it completely gone, or is there some hope?
- Filling My Spare Time
- The Real Problem: The For-Profit Political Press
- Profit over a Professional Press Corps
- Image Attribution
In my retirement, I’ve had some time to fill, but unfortunately, it’s not as predictable, frequent, or lengthy as I’d like. If I could better schedule my time and predict the demands of daily life — or even enjoy some reliable stretches of free time like I did when I was working — I could blog better. Honestly, I could. Honest. You gotta to believe me.
Seriously, my executive dysfunction really impedes my blogging. Oddly enough, my pathological demand avoidance hasn’t been as problematic, mostly because my tasks are so immediate that procrastination isn’t an option. For instance, I’ve spent the last five days trying to fix a leaky pipe. We got off easy; it only cost a thousand dollars to locate and fix the leak. Repairing the water damage will probably cost a couple thousand more. Although, in looking at it, I think I could hang and mud the drywall. We’ll keep you updated.
Filling My Spare Time
Backyard Water Feature
To fill my irregular but frequent moments of spare time and extended periods of mindless repetitive work — raking leaves anyone? Man, living in the tropics really spoiled me. The fall leaf colors are beautiful, but where did they all come from? And the water feature? The pond we have in the backyard? You actually have to keep the leaves out of it so the rot doesn’t muck up the natural chemical balance of the water and clog up the pump. I LOVE that pond, but I think it is going to kill me.
Podcasts: MSNBC, Commentary, and TTRPGs
To fill those moments, like many people, I’ve turned to listening to podcasts. I used to listen to a lot of MSNBC shows, but I have cut back. I’ll listen to Rachel Maddow every Tuesday and Jen Psaki or Nicolle Wallace’s shows once in a while, but I just do follow them as closely as I used to. I LOVE #Sisters In Law. I Don’t miss an episode. Heather Cox Richardson reads her daily letter, which is good for five minutes. And, I’ve listened to several fantasy table top role-playing game campaigns. They can be surprisingly entertaining when using comedians and voice actors as players. But, I seem to have run out of “good” ones. Suggestions of podcasts are welcome in the comments.
Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me
This brings me to Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me the NPR news quiz show. It’s funny — the panel is made up of comedians, the host in a comedian, and the writing is sharp. It’s topical because it focuses on the news from the week. But over the past month or so, I’ve just been binging on past episodes. I just let it run. I don’t have to do anything when an episode ends, it just rolls to the next. Believe me when you’re doing yard work, cleaning, or making repairs, you don’t want to be fussing with your phone every five minutes — Sorry, Heather, that’s the sad fact of the matter.
The Real Problem: The For-Profit Political Press
I’m all the way back to the end of 2022, and it’s been a bizarre time-warping experience listening to the panel react to years-old news. It’s opened my eyes to the central issue plaguing our politics today: the for-profit news media.
Biden’s Accomplishments
When you listen to a month’s worth of news in an afternoon, you get a different perspective on it. Each show brings announcements of Biden’s accomplishments, Trump’s indictments, the convictions of January 6 insurrectionists, the lingering effects of COVID, the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the economic recovery. It all comes flooding back. In addition to all of Biden’s major legislative accomplishments, I’ll highlight the news items that stood out for me.
Student Debt Relief:
Biden worked tirelessly to find a formula that would deliver meaningful student loan relief. The rise of student loans and increasing university expenses was the Republican (Reagan) way of turning higher education into a profit-making enterprise, edging out the the poor and marginalized. Hearing the announcements again was heartwarming. You knew Biden actually cared about people like you and me and was trying to do something tangible to help us.
Ukraine Aide Packages:
It seemed like every week, there was a new aide package for Ukraine to use in its defense against Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Despite the precariousness of the situation, the aide gave us hope that Ukraine could prevail.
Job Growth Numbers:
Each month, the BLS would release job numbers, and they were almost always good news. I’ve worked nearly every day of my life for the past fifty years. Having a job was a big source of security for me, even if I wasn’t making enough to do anything more than get by. Hearing about job growth after Trump’s #COVID19 disaster was especially meaningful.
The Severity of COVID:
I think we forget just how bad the Trump’s #COVIC19 pandemic debacle really was and how much it changed us as a society. One truth it revealed is just how pointless office work is — a fact our corporate overlords and their Republican allies are desperate to overturn. It’s not about losing money while we work from home; they just want to ensure we’re not having any fun during office hours.
Biden’s Effective Pandemic Response:
While Trump’s ineptitude led to the needless deaths of over a million Americans, Biden’s efficient vaccine rollout and promotion of public health measures quickly brought the pandemic under control. After the uncertainty and discomfort of lockdowns and reopening, it was a relief to have a science-based response that saved lives and got us back to work.
The Horror of the 6 January Insurrection:
Hearing about the prosecution and conviction of Trump and the insurrectionists was reassuring that we were heading in the right direction for re-establishing ourselves as a democracy. We were returning to the rule of law. We were returning to normalcy.
The news during Biden’s term made it clear that there was no way Trump should’ve ever been nominated, much less reelected. What happened? What explains the complete one-eighty that the country took?
Profit over a Professional Press Corps
The press caved to the Trump-MAGA-Republican narrative. By accepting the notion that the press has a liberal bias (it doesn’t), they felt compelled to report on Republicans’ doubts about Biden’s mental acuity even when Trump, who is the same age, was in worse physical condition and clearly mentally unstable. They wouldn’t even both sides the issue! That’s how bonkers the whole situation is.
The press, would however, bothsides the corruption and extremism that the Republicans and MAGA were foisting on us. Both sides have radicals, they told us. Both sides are corrupt. Both sides weaponized the DoJ and Congressional investigations. Yet Bob Menendez was prosecuted for corruption without a single Democrat coming to his defense. Hrmph. Go figure.
The press reported uncritically on Republican fear-mongering over divisive social issues and non-existent political crises. We were inundated with stories about how terrible immigration was, with no pushback on lies and misinformation, paving the way for an authoritarian takeover of our democracy. They were the chief normalizers of Trump’s cognitive decline, lies, corruption, and anti-democratic, racist, misogynistic behavior.
It’s as if the for-profit press is in the Epstein files, having just as much to lose by keeping those names under wraps as Trump and his cronies do.
Listening to people react to the news as it unfolded reminded me of the hope I had for returning to normalcy — recovering from the Trump-MAGA years and flushing that fleshy orange windbag down the toilet of history. But something funny happened on the way to the 2024 election: the for-profit press picked up the MAGA-Republican narrative that Biden is too old to be president and that the price of eggs somehow heralds the apocalypse. They seem to have forgotten the 6 January Insurrection, the fomenting of political violence, the weaponization of investigations, the demonization of political opponents, and the absolute corruption that occurred during Trump’s first term — evident to all but the most casual and disinterested observers. The only conclusion is that the Fourth Estate has sold our democracy and is as corrupt as Trump. They aren’t collaborators, they are fascists, too.
Image Attribution
The image is a picture that I took and isn’t licensed in the least, so you’re free to use it as you will.
The Psy of Life 
How long have the Republicans, conservatives, and “conservatives” been complaining that the press (with the notable exception of Fox “News”) has a “liberal bias”? I’m thinking it’s been at least since Eisenhower left office, but it might be far longer. It seems to stem from the nasty habit of real reporters to find and tell the truth.
One thing I’m taking away from your adventure in old news is that when Biden was in office, they reported on what he was doing, and when Trump was and is in office they report his doings in much the same voice, the normalizing voice.
I remember from growing up in and around Chicago that it had two newspapers. The Tribune was the Republican paper, and the Sun Times was the Democrat/Unions paper (in a very unionized town, with a very effective Democrat Party machine). Oh, there’s a difference from now, the coalition of the Democratic Party and Organized Labor.
It may be inevitable that the owners of the for profit media, whether privately held or publicly traded, will tend to kowtow to power and become instruments of or owned by oligarchs.
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Howdy Bob!
When profit is your motive, it is the thing that becomes most important. Everything else, including democracy and human rights become secondary. Corporate America is not going to save us, especially the corporate press.
I just listened to an episode of “This American Life” about Chicago’s first Black mayor, Harold Washington. I’m writing a post on the parallels between that time and ours. If you want to understand the effect of race on America, Washington’s story is a great encapsulation.
Huzzah!
Jack
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I have vague memories of that time in Chicago, although I wasn’t in the area then. That should be an interesting post.
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Two comments.
I feel you over the busted pipe.
In August I noticed that the area outside our kitchen windows seemed improbably lush (at that point we hadn’t had more than a smidge of rain since August of ’24) and when I checked more closely I discovered it was a swamp, more or less.. Called the plumbers and it was 70-year old corroded galvanized pipe that was not repairable. $14K later out house has been completely repiped (to go along with the $10K complete replacement of the water lines from the street to the house three years earlier) “Buy a house” they said “It’s a good investment” What they didn’t say as “And all the problems are yours to fix!” 🙂
Second, may I recommend “Have I Got News For You” on CNN. It is truly funny and biting.
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Howdy Bruce!
That’s right! CNN is producing a comedy weekly news quiz now. I heard the host interviewed on Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, the NPR news quiz just a few weeks ago. I couldn’t tell you what year, though, but I think it was 2025. I’ve been meaning to check it out.
Following the notion that it is better to laugh than to cry, we should focus on the humor in our situation.
When you buy something used, you’re just buying somebody else’s headache. That’s what I always say. Man. R piping the house. I just pray it doesn’t happen to us. Though, the longer we’re here, the more I realize that the previous owner was a DIY’er, and we got some good quality out of them and some questionable quality. Luckily, they are things that we can address over time. This winter, I’ll be amusing myself by hanging drywall. Great.
Still. I love the place and am damn happy to be here.
Huzzah!
Jack
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As do we…all the troubles aside…it is our home and it is our creaky, dusty, refuge from the world. It’s ours now, and that is a good feeling.
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Howdy Bruce!
I am loving being a home owner. We have rental properties, but it isn’t the same thing. Owning your home is different. I am so motivated to take care of the house and maintain it. It is our refuge from this crazy world.
Huzzah!
Jack
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First of all…. in the face of this kind of over-powering steam roller, it is better to join than to resist…it is a matter of survival, plain and simple. Not only that but no matter the honor or dignity (or lack thereof) of any situation, the ever-howling allure of cash always wins…and it is greed that formulates the basic foundation of American “Honor.”
Maybe we are on the cusp of seeing all that change.
Right now, I am not concerned about the loss of democracy because with the aggression of the Right and the Passivity of the Left, some dramatic changes in the status-quo was a foregone conclusion from day one
Besides which, there has been a very obvious global cultural shift going on for some time now with more and more people weary of democracy favoring more authoritarian forms of government. They do not know what they are getting themselves into, of course, because most of them think with their asses more than with their brains.
But one has to agree that with the failings of the system that we have been living under, there is every chance that a little tightening of control from the top may be exactly what is needed at this point. The way we had been going has been becoming more and more unsustainable.
In the atmosphere where the main concerns of life have been in (A) Finding the next meal, (B) Finding the next thing to blow your brains with (drugs), (C) Someone to spread their legs and to jump into bed with, and finally, (D) a warm place to shit (defecate)—-(These seem to me to be the subliminal over-arching driving forces that empower the intellect of 97% of Modern Americans — In this atmosphere the high and mighty far reaching realms of national politics somehow always get relegated to the elected so that the over-medicated general population can pursue their instant gratifications, more or less unencumbered and unimpeded.
So yes, the Fourth Estate have played their part, but I contend (Maintain) that the so called “Average Joe” bears his or her share of the responsibility because if they were at least a little bit aware and a little bit concerned about the tragedy that has befallen us all, perhaps this might have not gotten to the point that it has gotten us to.
Other side of the coin: The other side of this coin is that our present situation is totally uncharted waters, everybody is working on speculation more than on experience, trying to conflate what is happening here with what has happened in the world before… and this is a mistake. With all the show and blow going on and all the apprehensions, we might just wake up to the fact that we are on a more truly (albeit untried) path that could lead to a more glorious future.
Human nature says that people do fear change.
I say “Let us go forward with courage, hope, positive expectations and a willingness to do what we can to help benefit our fellow man with the tools that we are given.
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OMG I wrote a nice comment and it’s a little past bedtime and WP decided I wasn’t logged in and wouldn’t let Google enter my password and made me change it and now my comment is gone. I’m happy to hear from you and I’m goin’ to bed!!!🥴
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Howdy Ali!
As with gifts, it is the thought that counts. I’m sorry that your comment is now lost in the ether. It isn’t the first time that technology had eaten our thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, I wonder if it is as much of a boon as we think it is. It’s ashame to have wasted that effort and time, and I would’ve have loved to have read it.
Huzzah!
Jack
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That was the worst, especially because while I’ve read of such things happening, that was the 1st time. I knew, though, I could never duplicate it; it was past bedtime and I was getting rambly. I know I was complimentary about your outdoor amenities, and compassionate about their problems. I was dismissive of the press, as usual. I wish I could bring what I wrote back, but it was like the last gasp of the night, it flowed without redundancy or verbosity, and then it was gone. I guess it still bothers me, because I’m still complaining! It isn’t your hospitality, for certain-no worries! I probably hit a button without realizing it. I hope you’re getting a giggle, at least, out of this; I’m trying for the giggle.
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Howdy Ali!
I feel your pain. If you navigate away from the Word Press comment window, it will drop your comment. That’s been my experience. It’s annoying since that doesn’t happen on all platforms. I’ve also had other comments just disappear. It is one of the most annoying events in online life. I don’t find anything to giggle about, other than we are all eloquent in the comments that got away.
Huzzah!
Jack
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🌞
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Jack once Clinton signed that act that allowed corporations to own the media we have been stuck in this cycle of crap for news. You have asked some great questions and hopefully you will get some answers….Ukraine can only prevail if everyone keeps propping them up….Donny is weaponizing those insurrectionists against any protest in opposition…..all manure.
Love the water feature….that would a great place to sit and think…..
I know you probably have seen this pack of crap but it is too good to not share and often….Rfk strikes again…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-15178427/Children-circumcised-double-risk-autism-robert-f-kennedy-junior.html
I am starting to believe that his brain was eaten by a parasite.
Have a good day….nice to see you posting again…..chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
I had not seen the RFK circumcision hypothesis. OM goodness! Bless his square little heart.
The for-profit press is dedicated to maintaining the white status quo, meaning a white government whether it is the majority or minority. That’s what it gets down to. When you are just carrying on with the traditions of your profession and community, you don’t have to be on overt avowed racist to enforce racism. All you need is the systemic racism in your culture and then racism becomes normal.
We really had the epitome of the American ideal between about 1950 and 1980. We had a more neutral press. We had booming economics. We had affordable lifestyles. Our wealth gap was narrow. And democracy worked for the most part. It delivered the Civil and Voting Rights Acts. We reeled in the excesses of environmental degradation. We ended our longest war (to date). Who knew that was the acme of American might and society?
Now the press is more like it was at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Not surprisingly, that’s also the time period that the regressive forces of our time want to take us back to.
Huzzah!
Jack
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It is pathetic….I cannot stand to see what this idiot is doing to this country….watch for the ‘No Kings’ protests Saturday…..
One more for your check….
https://www.sciencealert.com/autism-is-more-than-one-condition-study-of-over-45000-people-finds
Jack did you see that RFK has said to not trust experts……what a douche chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
One of the autism advocacy groups recently got some press by saying that discovering the cause of autism is not helpful. People with autism need support in their daily lives. Autism is part of the human condition and has contributed mightily to the development of humanity. Accommodating and accepting autism is what is needed. Curing and preventing autism is not.
The No Kings event was really overwhelming. I know of one arrest of a woman in Alabama because she was wearing a penis suit. Of course a 56 year old woman in an inflatable penis suit needed to be wrestled to the ground and roughly handcuffed before being marched off to the pokey. Other than that, the biggest rallies were reporting no arrests. Seven million on the streets and no arrests. Amazing.
It’s confusing to me that we can have so many people on the streets, but Trump gets elected. How did that happen?
Huzzah!
Jack
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Jack I like that 7 million people hate America according to the idiots in the GOP MAGA….hope this pays off. chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
No Kings was definitely a feel good moment. We’ve seen these big protests lead to some big electoral changes like the Women’s March before the 2018 midterms and the BLM marches before the 2020 and 2022. What happened in 2024? I still have a hard time accepting that it was a free and fair election. And, it is the fear of whatever way they rigged the 2024 election that holds back any optimism for 2026. We should be able to take Congress back at least the House. With Section 2 of the VRA about to be gutted, creating 19 or so new Republican safe districts across the South, we’re fixing to return to the 1880’s just like Republicans want.
Huzzah!
Jack
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There is a fear by many for the 2026 mid-terms…..they are moving to rig the elections in many ways…..this needs to be watched and reported…..chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
If the Supreme Court rules as expected and guts Article 2 of the RVA, then the election is rigged. The Southern states will maximize Republican districts. I don’t think there is anyway that Democrats could gerrymander their way to the twenty districts they’d need just to break even. Given the way the Supreme Court evolved this case to allow them to gut Article Two, it just smacks of collusion between Trump and the Justices.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Morning Jack….These judges are political hacks and will bend to Donny almost every time….chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
The conservative judges are completely bought and compromised from the openly wantonly corrupt Thomas to the who paid off my debt Kavanaugh, what really is bribery Gorsuch, and groomed to return us to Jim Crow Roberts. They are all against democracy and for their own self interest. That they were appointed by and approved of by Republicans just points out how far the has spread.
It is for me the most appalling example of corruption in our government. Judges were supposed to be upholding the Constitution, but instead they uphold the oligarchs.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Jack I agree…..the GOP lets the Federalist Society pick their judges so they do not have to do the hard work….and this is what we have now….a bunch of political hacks. chuq
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In my wildest dreams, I never thought that the judiciary would be the ones selling up out. Not conservative justices, not liberal justices. I thought the oath to the Constitution would mean more than it apparently does.
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I agree….chuq
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