...huh. Would ya look at that.
Turns out those that sling mud from the shadows do eventually get dragged into the light after all.
And to think, I wanted to quit this thing for good.
Watch this space... I ain't dead yet.
Monday, December 4, 2017
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Yesterday's Presidential Presser And Blurring The Line Between Real And "Fake" News
The circus has come to town, and the sideshow was about everything one expected, and then some.
Going into Donald Trump's first press conference, it certainly had the potential to be explosive, given the president-elect's contentious-at-best relationship with the media. Then, CNN supplied a lit match and BuzzFeed provided a whole damn tanker of gasoline, in the form of a report on a dossier with some potentially damning allegations about Trump, and the alleged dossier itself, respectively. It's been all over the news the last 36 hours or so, and depending on your point of view, it either confirms everything you believed about the media, or everything you believed about Trump. A few takeaways from the whole thing:
-Good to see BuzzFeed taking time out from endless "You might be a 90's kid if you remember..." lists to do some shoddy journalism instead. "We can't verify this at all, but screw it, we're gonna run it anyway!" Isn't that, like, the exact same thing we slam the fake news sites of the world for? They clearly want this to be true so damn badly they didn't do their homework before posting. Not to mention, it's probably not a good idea to throw out unverified info against the most litigious guy to hold the office. Hell, other "news" websites have been sued out of existence for less!
-As for CNN being singled out for reporting that Obama and Trump were briefed on this thing, a story that has been picked up by major news organizations of every political leaning, and that appears to be true despite the president-elect's denials and raving about "fake news"... well, so far, they've been proven right. Trump and Obama were indeed briefed; Joe Biden confirmed as much to the AP. The FBI has known about it for months. (Though, go figure: James Comey had no problem going to the press and talking about Clinton's emails during that investigation, but this didn't come out until well after the election.) The Director of National Intelligence also confirmed the report. And the operative that created the dossier has since been outed. Note that even Fox News, of all outlets, is defending the CNN report.
-And just to be clear: The CNN report didn't go into specific allegations listed in the Buzzfeed report, despite the Trump team's best efforts to confuse and conflate the two. And make no mistake, that's exactly what they're trying to do. It's standard operating procedure for the Trump team, really; blur the line between real and "fake" news. And thus far, it's clearly worked; it's hard to see any other candidate having these kinds of legitimate allegations tied to them and still winning an election.
-Naturally, that didn't stop plenty of right-wing folk from getting overwhelmed with glee at Trump dressing down that CNN reporter and threatening to kick him out. Good to know that this is how the leader of the free world is going to deal with any reporter that runs a story he doesn't like. And no doubt his supporters will eat it up. This still does not bode well for anybody interested in the president being held accountable for what he does going forward, and makes it that much harder for the free press to do their job.
-As far as whether there's anything to the actual contents of said dossier... that's hard to say. I'm skeptical, particularly of the more salacious bits, but at this point I'm not sure I'd be surprised either way. Clearly the intelligence community isn't dismissing it entirely, nor taking it completely at face value. Note that Trump's not even denying at this point that his campaign ever had contacts with the Russian government. And Trump isn't doing himself any favors by blasting his own intelligence agencies over both this leak and the information they've attempted to present him, and that could present some problems for him down the road, whether it's defection from said agencies because they're tired of being made his scapegoats, or the possibility of more damaging leaks from within, or even the possibility that Trump hurts his own credibility down the line when he wants to act on the intelligence provided to him after repeatedly attempting to discredit the people that supplied him with said intelligence.
-What's getting a bit buried in all this, though: the entirely laughable way in which the issue of his many business conflicts of interest are being addressed by... not really being addressed. Sure, his kids are going to keep running the company, he will still hold stock in it, and there are plenty of ways in which he can benefit himself financially through his policies, both foreign and domestic. But you can totally trust him, because reasons. Of course, that doesn't drive the ratings or get the clicks like those other stories do, so it gets lost in the shuffle.
And that might be the most worrisome part of all this. There's obviously already plenty of people that won't believe anything that doesn't come from a source that confirms their bias, and a good chunk of people that will take Trump at his word no matter what. I've written at length here about this election being the one where the American people finally decided that facts no longer matter, and this whole incident is reinforcing that like no other. And despite them being not so much a "news" outlet as much as a purveyor of nostalgia-based listicles, BuzzFeed having run with a story of such questionable veracity is only going to serve to make people more skeptical of the media's credibility should another potential scandal arise.
Which is truly the greatest gift they could have given the president-elect.
Going into Donald Trump's first press conference, it certainly had the potential to be explosive, given the president-elect's contentious-at-best relationship with the media. Then, CNN supplied a lit match and BuzzFeed provided a whole damn tanker of gasoline, in the form of a report on a dossier with some potentially damning allegations about Trump, and the alleged dossier itself, respectively. It's been all over the news the last 36 hours or so, and depending on your point of view, it either confirms everything you believed about the media, or everything you believed about Trump. A few takeaways from the whole thing:
-Good to see BuzzFeed taking time out from endless "You might be a 90's kid if you remember..." lists to do some shoddy journalism instead. "We can't verify this at all, but screw it, we're gonna run it anyway!" Isn't that, like, the exact same thing we slam the fake news sites of the world for? They clearly want this to be true so damn badly they didn't do their homework before posting. Not to mention, it's probably not a good idea to throw out unverified info against the most litigious guy to hold the office. Hell, other "news" websites have been sued out of existence for less!
-As for CNN being singled out for reporting that Obama and Trump were briefed on this thing, a story that has been picked up by major news organizations of every political leaning, and that appears to be true despite the president-elect's denials and raving about "fake news"... well, so far, they've been proven right. Trump and Obama were indeed briefed; Joe Biden confirmed as much to the AP. The FBI has known about it for months. (Though, go figure: James Comey had no problem going to the press and talking about Clinton's emails during that investigation, but this didn't come out until well after the election.) The Director of National Intelligence also confirmed the report. And the operative that created the dossier has since been outed. Note that even Fox News, of all outlets, is defending the CNN report.
-And just to be clear: The CNN report didn't go into specific allegations listed in the Buzzfeed report, despite the Trump team's best efforts to confuse and conflate the two. And make no mistake, that's exactly what they're trying to do. It's standard operating procedure for the Trump team, really; blur the line between real and "fake" news. And thus far, it's clearly worked; it's hard to see any other candidate having these kinds of legitimate allegations tied to them and still winning an election.
-Naturally, that didn't stop plenty of right-wing folk from getting overwhelmed with glee at Trump dressing down that CNN reporter and threatening to kick him out. Good to know that this is how the leader of the free world is going to deal with any reporter that runs a story he doesn't like. And no doubt his supporters will eat it up. This still does not bode well for anybody interested in the president being held accountable for what he does going forward, and makes it that much harder for the free press to do their job.
-As far as whether there's anything to the actual contents of said dossier... that's hard to say. I'm skeptical, particularly of the more salacious bits, but at this point I'm not sure I'd be surprised either way. Clearly the intelligence community isn't dismissing it entirely, nor taking it completely at face value. Note that Trump's not even denying at this point that his campaign ever had contacts with the Russian government. And Trump isn't doing himself any favors by blasting his own intelligence agencies over both this leak and the information they've attempted to present him, and that could present some problems for him down the road, whether it's defection from said agencies because they're tired of being made his scapegoats, or the possibility of more damaging leaks from within, or even the possibility that Trump hurts his own credibility down the line when he wants to act on the intelligence provided to him after repeatedly attempting to discredit the people that supplied him with said intelligence.
-What's getting a bit buried in all this, though: the entirely laughable way in which the issue of his many business conflicts of interest are being addressed by... not really being addressed. Sure, his kids are going to keep running the company, he will still hold stock in it, and there are plenty of ways in which he can benefit himself financially through his policies, both foreign and domestic. But you can totally trust him, because reasons. Of course, that doesn't drive the ratings or get the clicks like those other stories do, so it gets lost in the shuffle.
And that might be the most worrisome part of all this. There's obviously already plenty of people that won't believe anything that doesn't come from a source that confirms their bias, and a good chunk of people that will take Trump at his word no matter what. I've written at length here about this election being the one where the American people finally decided that facts no longer matter, and this whole incident is reinforcing that like no other. And despite them being not so much a "news" outlet as much as a purveyor of nostalgia-based listicles, BuzzFeed having run with a story of such questionable veracity is only going to serve to make people more skeptical of the media's credibility should another potential scandal arise.
Which is truly the greatest gift they could have given the president-elect.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Lions Back Into Playoffs, But Don't Expect Them To Win Saturday
It's hard to argue that this is a football team deserving of a postseason bid.
Certainly the last three weeks wouldn't indicate as much.
With their fate firmly in their hands, assured of the NFC North title with just one more win, they crumbled.
And yet, the Detroit Lions are playoff bound, if only because a Dan Snyder-owned football team once again underachieved, one of few things you can always count on in the NFL. Sunday's win for the Giants made it official before kickoff at Ford Field that night, and the Lions came out and played like they had something to prove... for the first two quarters.
After the half, however, it was almost as though a completely different football team had replaced them.
Whether it was the coaching staff failing to make adjustments or simply playing not to lose, the third quarter saw the Lions with a total of eight offensive plays and no points, as the linebackers and secondary (save for Darius Slay, who managed to keep Jordy Nelson off the scoreboard) had no answers for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' offense and the worst pass defense in the league played like it. Zach Zenner shined in the first half, then disappeared in the second, much like the week prior, which is more an issue with the coaches then Zenner. Matthew Stafford played well, save for a few miscues, missing a wide-open Golden Tate early on and nearly throwing a pick-six to Clay Matthews. But when you're facing a QB like Rodgers that stymies defenses like Detroit's and simply doesn't make those kinds of mistakes, the margin for error is a thin one.
But, despite their best efforts, the Lions are headed to Seattle this Saturday for what figures to be another one-and-done playoff appearance, the second of Jim Caldwell's tenure in Detroit. The diehards among this fanbase, however, will tell you that a win at CenturyLink Field is entirely possible, citing a couple prior Super Bowl champions, the 2009 New Orleans Saints and the 2012 Baltimore Ravens, that also tanked to finish off their seasons.
This, of course, is a ridiculous argument on a couple different levels.
For one, it's not just the last three weeks that should inspire doubt in this team; the Lions haven't beaten anybody of consequence this year. Not a single win over a playoff team or a team with more than eight wins this season, and they only have only two of them, both against the Packers, in the time Caldwell has been coaching here. Taking on the Seahawks in Seattle, where they've only lost one game this year, doesn't look to go well at all for them. In four of the last five seasons, including this one, the Seahawks have lost one or fewer games at home. Even going up against a mediocre offense like Seattle's, Detroit's defense simply isn't good at all. If you're a fan of advanced metrics, the Lions rank 27th in Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. Their offensive line is essentially being held together by duct tape and chewing gum. Even with the emergence of Zenner, this team still desperately misses Theo Riddick, who could be counted on to bail Stafford out under pressure. Even for a Seattle defense missing Earl Thomas, there's plenty of holes to exploit here.
And any comparisons to the '12 Ravens and the '09 Saints are ludicrous. The Ravens beat two other playoff teams, and a few others with records of .500 or better, during the regular season, and they won their second-to-last game of the year. Hardly a comparison to this team. As for the '09 Saints, they started the year 13-0, beat three other playoff teams and two others with winning records in the regular season. And while one of those late-season losses was to bottom-feeding Tampa Bay, they destroyed that same Bucs team earlier in the year. They didn't back into the playoffs; they clinched the top seed in the NFC well before. This isn't even close to what the Lions did this year.
Of course, the excuses are already being made for this team; the officials were just announced, and they've apparently already blown this game for the Lions. Seems to be a reflex (or perhaps a coping mechanism) from being a long-term fan of this team; before the game is even played, start looking for a reason for the inevitable loss to not be the fault of the team or coaching staff.
Is the season a success if this team advances no further? Maybe if you're going by lowered pre-season expectations, but otherwise, it's hard to make a case for it. Going out losing four in a row would suggest this team never belonged in the playoffs at all, and that the late-game comebacks earlier in the season were due more to a combination of good luck and inferior competition.
The Lions won't be seeing any more of the latter this year.
And all indications are that they've run out of the former.
Certainly the last three weeks wouldn't indicate as much.
With their fate firmly in their hands, assured of the NFC North title with just one more win, they crumbled.
And yet, the Detroit Lions are playoff bound, if only because a Dan Snyder-owned football team once again underachieved, one of few things you can always count on in the NFL. Sunday's win for the Giants made it official before kickoff at Ford Field that night, and the Lions came out and played like they had something to prove... for the first two quarters.
After the half, however, it was almost as though a completely different football team had replaced them.
Whether it was the coaching staff failing to make adjustments or simply playing not to lose, the third quarter saw the Lions with a total of eight offensive plays and no points, as the linebackers and secondary (save for Darius Slay, who managed to keep Jordy Nelson off the scoreboard) had no answers for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' offense and the worst pass defense in the league played like it. Zach Zenner shined in the first half, then disappeared in the second, much like the week prior, which is more an issue with the coaches then Zenner. Matthew Stafford played well, save for a few miscues, missing a wide-open Golden Tate early on and nearly throwing a pick-six to Clay Matthews. But when you're facing a QB like Rodgers that stymies defenses like Detroit's and simply doesn't make those kinds of mistakes, the margin for error is a thin one.
But, despite their best efforts, the Lions are headed to Seattle this Saturday for what figures to be another one-and-done playoff appearance, the second of Jim Caldwell's tenure in Detroit. The diehards among this fanbase, however, will tell you that a win at CenturyLink Field is entirely possible, citing a couple prior Super Bowl champions, the 2009 New Orleans Saints and the 2012 Baltimore Ravens, that also tanked to finish off their seasons.
This, of course, is a ridiculous argument on a couple different levels.
For one, it's not just the last three weeks that should inspire doubt in this team; the Lions haven't beaten anybody of consequence this year. Not a single win over a playoff team or a team with more than eight wins this season, and they only have only two of them, both against the Packers, in the time Caldwell has been coaching here. Taking on the Seahawks in Seattle, where they've only lost one game this year, doesn't look to go well at all for them. In four of the last five seasons, including this one, the Seahawks have lost one or fewer games at home. Even going up against a mediocre offense like Seattle's, Detroit's defense simply isn't good at all. If you're a fan of advanced metrics, the Lions rank 27th in Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. Their offensive line is essentially being held together by duct tape and chewing gum. Even with the emergence of Zenner, this team still desperately misses Theo Riddick, who could be counted on to bail Stafford out under pressure. Even for a Seattle defense missing Earl Thomas, there's plenty of holes to exploit here.
And any comparisons to the '12 Ravens and the '09 Saints are ludicrous. The Ravens beat two other playoff teams, and a few others with records of .500 or better, during the regular season, and they won their second-to-last game of the year. Hardly a comparison to this team. As for the '09 Saints, they started the year 13-0, beat three other playoff teams and two others with winning records in the regular season. And while one of those late-season losses was to bottom-feeding Tampa Bay, they destroyed that same Bucs team earlier in the year. They didn't back into the playoffs; they clinched the top seed in the NFC well before. This isn't even close to what the Lions did this year.
Of course, the excuses are already being made for this team; the officials were just announced, and they've apparently already blown this game for the Lions. Seems to be a reflex (or perhaps a coping mechanism) from being a long-term fan of this team; before the game is even played, start looking for a reason for the inevitable loss to not be the fault of the team or coaching staff.
Is the season a success if this team advances no further? Maybe if you're going by lowered pre-season expectations, but otherwise, it's hard to make a case for it. Going out losing four in a row would suggest this team never belonged in the playoffs at all, and that the late-game comebacks earlier in the season were due more to a combination of good luck and inferior competition.
The Lions won't be seeing any more of the latter this year.
And all indications are that they've run out of the former.
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