As I write this, NPR (National Public Radio) plays in the background and CNN's website is open on my laptop in a different tab. Both of them are still airing reports that Trump falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen. If by "stolen" they mean dead people voting more than they always do in America or China hacking into computerized voting systems, then no, the election was not stolen. But there are more subtle ways to shift a close election, especially by shaping media coverage. In fact, the major media tilted the election in Biden's favor by depriving Trump of the chance to make his best case for reelection to the American people. They did so in these ways: Burying Trump's antiwar stance, one that appeals to broad sections of both the liberal and conservative wings of the American public. Airing false claims that Trump called neo-Nazis "very fine people." Mishandling the Hunter Biden laptop story I. Trump's Antiwar Stance ...
Back in 2016, Trump managed to knock 15 other Republican opponents out of the race and went on to win the presidency. He was able to do so because he had a genius for galvanizing listeners. Some of what he did was ugly--the "Lock her up" chants come to mind as well as his incessant ranting about immigrants. Perhaps the ugliest event was Trump offering to pay the legal bills for anyone beating up an African American heckler. In other ways, he had a visceral feel for the pulse of the nation, especially working class and middle-class men whose wages had not kept up with inflation and who feared losing their well-paying factory jobs and being forced to work as Dollar Store cashiers. He touched anti-war voters with his promise to end the conflicts that drained America of its blood and treasure. On a personal level, he acted like he was having fun at his rallies, that he liked his supporters and enjoyed being with them. He had a marketing genius as well--those red MAGA hats....
Last night, September 24, 2024, Marcellus Williams was executed. He had been convicted of the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle Picus, a journalist, who was stabbed many times--some sources say 16 times while others claim 43 times--with a butcher knife taken from her kitchen. She had lived in a gated community in the city of University City, Missouri. A photo of Felicia Picus appears below. She should not be forgotten because of the controversy over the execution. She had worked as a journalist for the St. Louis Post Dispatch . She was also a social worker. Her husband found her body when he came home. Williams's conviction relied on the eyewitness testimony of two people, both of whom were "incentivized" to testify against him. Both had long arrest records. An analysis of the murder weapon revealed male DNA that did not belong to Williams. Picus's family did not want Williams to be executed. The Innocence Project supported Williams's claims but this blogger insi...
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