Wake of Echoes

Do you feel the need to be rescued? Chivalry by Francis Bernard Dicksee I ask because I'm confused by all the feminine outrage I've read since Donald Trump was elected. I mean, I get not liking Trump -- I don't like him either. And I still can't quite wrap my head around the idea of him being our president, but I suppose I'll get used to it. If you were a Hillary Clinton supporter, I even get being upset that your candidate lost. I remember how I felt when Barack Obama won. I was worried about what kind of policies he would enact and how they might infringe on my personal freedoms. So you're worried about Trump's leadership? How he'll interact with Russia? Or how his economic policies will affect us?  That's totally valid as far as I'm concerned. But how far do we take our concerns? How much hand wringing should we do? Should I be weeping and wailing like a damsel in distress? And just how much time should we spend protesting, ran...

I don't know if I can do it. I just don't know if I have the stomach to watch tonight's debate. Just to remind you of my position on the upcoming presidential election, this pretty much sums it up: via GIPHY My niece, Amy, who will be voting in her first presidential election this year, put it this way: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump might be the most un likable, un trustworthy and un sympathetic presidential candidates in the history of forever, leaving most of us completely  un enthusiastic about how this election is going to turn out -- no matter how it turns out. And yet, tonight's debate is expected to have as many viewers as the Super Bowl . So we hate them, but we love to watch them? I guess so. Which leads me to these questions: What can we expect from Hillary and the Donald tonight? More specific to our discussion of fairness and bias, what can we expect from the media during and after the debate? The media are already showing their...

When Norma Desmond famously declares “ I’m ready for my close-up ” at the end of Sunset Boulevard , she’s full-on crazy pants and headed for a padded room, which means she’ll probably never know how "those wonderful people out there in the dark" truly see her. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been labeled “crazy” during this election season (it’s attached to Trump more often, while other adjectives plague the former First Lady) but how they are truly seen by the public depends to a large extent on the “close-up” photos shared by the media. Today we are going to talk about images and how they can be used to manipulate people into viewing a political figure either positively or negatively. Say Cheese! Let’s start with photos our candidates love to share – the ones on their bio pages. For a politician, nothing says “I love this country!” more than having their photo taken in front of the stars and stripes.  Can’t you just hear the fireworks?  ...

How long has it been since you’ve read what Jesus said about hypocrisy ? You know, the speck and the log thing? Go ahead and read it now. I’ll wait. When you read it, did you picture yourself with the log in your eye, or someone else?  Because when we talk about hypocrisy or fairness or bias , I am afraid that I mostly picture myself as the victim rather than the perpetrator, all while knowing these things about myself: I make mistakes I change my mind I don’t always have all the facts I haven’t experienced everything I can be stubborn I am not always fair I am not always honest If nothing on that list applies to you, then feel free to skip this post. Next week I’ll go back to talking about THOSE OTHER GUYS who write BIASED stuff. But for today – just for today – I want to talk about MY bias. (For you , that’s your bias, by the way). I am not trying to be condescending. I know we all know we have biases. I’m only hoping that seeing it in ourselves first...