Rational Nation USA

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Chris Cuomo has it exactly right. Although his words were much to polite in describing the constant allegations of "fake news" trump uses in his attempt to delegitimize journalists and news organizations that disagree with his agenda and policies. While this site absolutely agrees that the Office of the President is always deserving of respect the present occupant of the Office of the President  is deserving of little to no respect whatsoever . Attacks on the press for being ‘fake news’ have become a staple of President Trump‘s rhetoric, with  CNN — hosts/reporters included — often being  called out by name . “The only thing that’s bothersome about it, is that I see being called ‘fake news’ as the equivalent of the n-word for journalists, the equivalent of calling an Italian any of the ugly words that people have for that ethnicity.That’s what fake news is to a journalist.,” CNN’s  Chris Cuomo told...

   By (O)CT(O)PUS If this title caught your attention, you have come to right place. The art of headline writing is a lesson learned in Journalism 101 and a convention of 'yellow journalism' born in the Gilded Age. Yellow journalism is a derisive term that has become synonymous with sensationalism, pandering, and journalistic misconduct. When discussing the failings of contemporary journalism, the era of the yellow press is likely to be invoked. The criticisms are valid because the conventions of yellow journalism continue to live and thrive in the age of cable TV news. My purpose in writing this post is to critique a column by Paul Janensch that appeared in the pages of our local newspaper: "Trump understands how to feed media to his advantage" [July 22, 2015]. Everyday we witness examples of cringe worthy headlines turned into newsworthy events. We understand how charlatans and shameless hacks play the media; but how many journalists ask the more pertinent qu...

By: Pamela D. Hart President Obama released his long form birth certificate yesterday and said , "This issue has been going on for two, two and a half years now. I think it started during the campaign. I have watched with bemusement, I've been puzzled at the degree at which this thing just kept on going." He’s correct, the issue has been going on since the campaign, and during that time-frame, no one, not even lawyers, have been able to get the President to release his birth certificate. Then, Donald Trump comes into the arena and the media gobbled up and promoted him and the Birther movement because he packaged it with a pretty bow and powerful words, which gave it serious momentum, and ultimately forced the President to release that mysterious piece of paper that those Birthers were certain had invisible script which proved Obama was an alien from outer-space. This entire Birther movement is ridiculous to me in more ways than one. First, I do NOT believe tha...

By: Pamela D. Hart As I mentioned in a previous post , Media slants, omits, and to be perfectly blunt, lies. There is no way the American public can make a rational decision when we can’t get unbiased details pertaining to important issues facing our country, and quite frankly, our lives. There is a state war brewing in Wisconsin, which is probably the first in many to come, with states being cash strapped and cuts imminent. Governor Walker is under attack by many on the Left because he’s taking on the Union. Public workers-- teachers, police officers and fire fighters, are being called “bottom feeder free loaders” by Rush Limbaugh , because they are protesting at the state capital. And the media, both Left and Right, is making it worse by not giving the public the FACTS. Rachel Maddow and some left-winged blogs have informed their audience that Governor Walker inherited a surplus of $121 million, and gave away $140 million in tax breaks (there are tax cuts, but they don't go into...

By: Pamela D. Hart It’s not unusual to find a story about how Fox News needs a Geography lesson. There are many on the Left who live to bash Fox News for just about-- everything. What IS odd is that the story is from 2009. Fox News misrepresented Egypt on the World Map, showing it to be where Iraq actually sits. Now, this IS a problem, considering most Americans probably don’t even know what states make up the Midwest and have been hit with the latest winter blizzard . It’s sad, quite frankly, that there are adults that can barely name all 50 states, let alone tell you the location of Egypt or Pakistan. So, yes, Fox was wrong, but what’s even MORE appalling is there were probably very few viewers that even noticed! (Hey Rasmussen do a poll on THAT!) Okay, Fox was wrong-- can’t defend them. Now to be “fair and balanced”, I’ll admit that it must be challenging to be 100% accurate with 24/7/365 day a year coverage, after all, it IS performed by HUMANS, and people AREN’T perfect. So, whi...