It may seem odd to some, but we've been talking about the GOP's coming civil war for a long time. If you're someone who pays attention to state-level news from across America - as we do - it's obvious those previously quiet intra-party conflicts have now broken out from behind the doors of formerly smoke-filled rooms.
From the Minnesota Republican Party - where the GOP is seven figures in debt and in danger of losing their own state party headquarters - to the Ohio Republican Party - which as Politico reported yesterday, has been "in a state of open warfare for months" - the extremist Republicans have finally turned their dogmatic machine on their own party, with the kind of results we've been forecasting for years now.
In Nebraska, that battle has spilled onto the floor of the state Legislature, just as the 2012 session is about to end.
Nebraska Republicans in the Unicameral have decided to take up the topic of restoring funding for prenatal care to women living in Nebraska - an extension of the issue they warred over with the Republican Governor in early 2010.
At that time, after some changes in federal law affected a change in who Nebraska's prenatal assistance services covered, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman vetoed a bill put through by both Democrats and Republicans, to attempt to re-create the program Nebraska formerly had.
That previous Nebraska program covered pregnant women who needed to have prenatal care, but were in severe financial distress and could not afford it. That one-time Nebraska program also had one other key feature: it did not discriminate between long-time Nebraska citizens and immigrants to Nebraska. The program was simply designed to help women get prenatal care, in order to help decrease infant birth defects - and in turn, decrease the long-term cost to the state.
Back in 2010, the "pro-life" wing of the Nebraska GOP teamed up with Nebraska Democrats who cared about women, and went after Gov. Heineman to defend their bill - and lost.
This time, however, the forces in favor of helping women - and passing LB 599, a bill that would restore funding for Nebraska's prenatal assistance program - are being led by state Sen. Mike Flood, one of the most powerful other Republicans in Nebraska.
As the vote-counting on LB599 currently stands, it appears that the bill will pass the Nebraska Legislature solidly - but the bill still needs to have at least 30 votes, for a veto-proof majority.
That's a number the anti-immigrant faction of the Republican Party - including Gov. Heineman - is committed to making sure the Nebraska Legislature doesn't reach.
Meanwhile, pregnant women in Nebraska - who are in severe financial straits, for whatever reason - are still left hanging, as they have been for the last two years.
Anyone who hasn't been completely blinded by partisanship could have told you these kinds of battles were brewing in the Republican Party several years ago, just as we did.
After all, when the Nebraska GOP's methods have blinded them to the point where they simply throw bombs at anyone who disagrees with the party line - even when those people are their own members - what do they expect?
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Measuring Up
Our initial plan today was to talk about the Affordable Care Act - and the lack of any real alternative plan from the Republican Party. Regardless of the pending decision of the Supreme Court, the ACA will still be able to stand without the mandate. We'd be happy to compare President Obama's ACA and the plan of the Republican Party – but after nearly a year-and-a-half of chanting 'repeal and replace', the GOP still doesn't have a replacement plan.
We've chosen not to focus on a comparison of health care plans today, though. As veteran journalist Mike Wallace might have told us, that would be too easy for us.
So we're focusing on the more difficult-to-nail-down Wallace, who died over the weekend at the age of 93. Mr. Wallace is a hard subject to focus on, in large part, because he was the kind of journalist who so much of the media never really understood - and really still needs to.
Mr. Wallace didn't have formal training as a journalist. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts degree - not a journalism or broadcast journalism degree, as many thought he had. He became a pro by studying broadcasting and journalism - but not formally. Wallace simply found his way into the college radio station, enjoyed it, was good at it, and stayed in the media for nearly the rest of his life.
Frankly, our entire staff is familiar with stumbling into successful careers in media and communications, much like Mike Wallace did.
For all the incredible but hostile interviews he conducted, and for being credited with developing things like the "ambush interview" - where a reporter catches a subject off-guard - Wallace actually had an incredible sense of journalistic integrity. His colleagues Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner all shared that same journalistic integrity - as some like Dan Rather and Lesley Stahl still do.
While there were some notable times when Wallace fought against the corporate execs at CBS and lost, his own professional integrity never seemed to fail. So many in the media these days attempt to mimic Wallace's style and fail regularly - most notably, Wallace's youngest son Chris, who works for the right-wing propaganda distribution machine at Fox.
What most of them seem to have forgotten - or never learned - was that Mike Wallace's style may have been confrontational at times, but it was not his only journalistic tool, and not even his most commonly used one.
For those people who've studied Mike Wallace, and for those who knew him, they say his research and "homework" abilities were truly the key to his success. He worked hard to boil down complicated concepts and stories into understandable and relevant twelve or eighteen minute packages that would usually air just once, on Sunday nights. You can be sure that some of the millions of Americans who watched his work may not have even heard about some of the topics he reported on, before he introduced them.
Stories from Wallace's colleagues note how intent he was on getting things right. He was almost as focused on grabbing just the right story to tell, as he was about getting the story factually right. More than once, he was known to steal a story assignment from one of his colleagues - because he thought he could do the story better.
He usually was right to do so, something his colleagues have also admitted.
We've been proudly watching 60 Minutes lately, and to the eyes of our own staff, the current reporters on that show like Steve Kroft, Lara Logan, and Byron Pitts, seem to be measuring up very favorably to their more seasoned co-workers, like Leslie Stahl, Morley Safer - and of course, the late, great Mike Wallace.
More of our colleagues in the media should to try to measure up not to the flash and shock value of Wallace's most controversial interviews, but instead focus on getting their facts right while being able to tell the stories they choose effectively and quickly. By doing that they too might leave the ranks of the mere media figures, and legitimately join the ranks of real journalists, as Wallace himself did.
Here's to the hope more try to measure up - and succeed.
We've chosen not to focus on a comparison of health care plans today, though. As veteran journalist Mike Wallace might have told us, that would be too easy for us.
So we're focusing on the more difficult-to-nail-down Wallace, who died over the weekend at the age of 93. Mr. Wallace is a hard subject to focus on, in large part, because he was the kind of journalist who so much of the media never really understood - and really still needs to.
Mr. Wallace didn't have formal training as a journalist. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts degree - not a journalism or broadcast journalism degree, as many thought he had. He became a pro by studying broadcasting and journalism - but not formally. Wallace simply found his way into the college radio station, enjoyed it, was good at it, and stayed in the media for nearly the rest of his life.
Frankly, our entire staff is familiar with stumbling into successful careers in media and communications, much like Mike Wallace did.
For all the incredible but hostile interviews he conducted, and for being credited with developing things like the "ambush interview" - where a reporter catches a subject off-guard - Wallace actually had an incredible sense of journalistic integrity. His colleagues Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner all shared that same journalistic integrity - as some like Dan Rather and Lesley Stahl still do.
While there were some notable times when Wallace fought against the corporate execs at CBS and lost, his own professional integrity never seemed to fail. So many in the media these days attempt to mimic Wallace's style and fail regularly - most notably, Wallace's youngest son Chris, who works for the right-wing propaganda distribution machine at Fox.
What most of them seem to have forgotten - or never learned - was that Mike Wallace's style may have been confrontational at times, but it was not his only journalistic tool, and not even his most commonly used one.
For those people who've studied Mike Wallace, and for those who knew him, they say his research and "homework" abilities were truly the key to his success. He worked hard to boil down complicated concepts and stories into understandable and relevant twelve or eighteen minute packages that would usually air just once, on Sunday nights. You can be sure that some of the millions of Americans who watched his work may not have even heard about some of the topics he reported on, before he introduced them.
Stories from Wallace's colleagues note how intent he was on getting things right. He was almost as focused on grabbing just the right story to tell, as he was about getting the story factually right. More than once, he was known to steal a story assignment from one of his colleagues - because he thought he could do the story better.
He usually was right to do so, something his colleagues have also admitted.
We've been proudly watching 60 Minutes lately, and to the eyes of our own staff, the current reporters on that show like Steve Kroft, Lara Logan, and Byron Pitts, seem to be measuring up very favorably to their more seasoned co-workers, like Leslie Stahl, Morley Safer - and of course, the late, great Mike Wallace.
More of our colleagues in the media should to try to measure up not to the flash and shock value of Wallace's most controversial interviews, but instead focus on getting their facts right while being able to tell the stories they choose effectively and quickly. By doing that they too might leave the ranks of the mere media figures, and legitimately join the ranks of real journalists, as Wallace himself did.
Here's to the hope more try to measure up - and succeed.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Friday Funday: Finding Peace
Hunting through the weeds of the news as we prepped for today's edition, we were reminded that millions of Americans will be celebrating Easter or Passover this weekend. We immediately thought of all the Easter egg hunts, Passover seders, family dinners, and religious ceremonies - as well as holiday horror stories - that will be going on. We were also pleasantly reminded by our resident Rockies fan that it's also Major League Baseball's opening weekend, as well as the weekend of the PGA's Masters Tournament.
On top of all of those things, this weekend also begins with President Obama, Mitt Romney, and even Newt Gingrich all agreeing on the same topic: that women should be allowed to be members of the Augusta National Golf Club, where The Masters Tournament is held every year.
We're not thinking this single moment is a universal kumbaya moment that will suddenly turn the 2012 political season into a modern-day peace festival. It is, however, a moment that we'd like you to focus on for just a minute, if not in the spirit of the weekend, then because it's good to think of the potential, of what things could be.
As we noted, on Thursday, President Obama, Mr. Romney, and Mr. Gingrich all made comments or tweets regarding the issue of women becoming members at Augusta. All three men agreed, and none took a swipe at any of the others on the issue. For once, we had a moment of complete agreement, across the board, in the 2012 Presidential race, where everyone agreed: women are great people, they could be great golf club members, and there's no reason to deny women membership to the premiere course in the world of professional golf.
In short, women can golf as well as men. In truth, quite a few women golfers could beat the men on our staff, without question.
That didn't stop Billy Payne, the Chairman of Augusta National, at his annual press conference, from still trying to duck the issue of why women continue to be denied membership to Augusta.
Veteran journalist Christine Brennen wrote a fantastic piece about Payne, and how he used to be a huge advocate for women golfers - even pledging, long ago, to one day get women membership at Augusta. It may make you sad that he's apparently abandoned his former role as an advocate for gender equality in sports - but we prefer to focus on the positive this weekend.
Women have made huge strides in professional sports, and in professions of all kinds. IBM just named its first women CEO ever, Virginia Rometty - though unlike nearly every other IBM CEO, she has not yet been granted an automatic membership to Augusta. This snub, of course, does nothing to diminish her achievements, her experience, or her value as a woman or a professional. If anything, we think the prominence, clout, and visibility enjoyed by her and so many other powerful women makes Augusta - and other discriminatory organizations like it - look less and less relevant every year.
If you were watching the NCAA Women's basketball tournament this past week, you likely saw Brittney Griner and the Baylor Bears accomplish a feat NO other college basketball team - men's or women's - has EVER achieved: a perfect 40-0 season.
Make no mistake; even in the midst of all kinds of successes for women, there are indeed plenty of misogynistic men and women who continue to try and take away many of the hard-won rights of American women.
With all the talk of the 'War on Women' though, we wanted to point out that women - and even some men - who might not otherwise agree on almost anything, seem to have found some peace and common ground this weekend.
Hope springs eternal.
We hope you have a good weekend, and that you find lots of Easter eggs. Preferably fresh ones.
On top of all of those things, this weekend also begins with President Obama, Mitt Romney, and even Newt Gingrich all agreeing on the same topic: that women should be allowed to be members of the Augusta National Golf Club, where The Masters Tournament is held every year.
We're not thinking this single moment is a universal kumbaya moment that will suddenly turn the 2012 political season into a modern-day peace festival. It is, however, a moment that we'd like you to focus on for just a minute, if not in the spirit of the weekend, then because it's good to think of the potential, of what things could be.
As we noted, on Thursday, President Obama, Mr. Romney, and Mr. Gingrich all made comments or tweets regarding the issue of women becoming members at Augusta. All three men agreed, and none took a swipe at any of the others on the issue. For once, we had a moment of complete agreement, across the board, in the 2012 Presidential race, where everyone agreed: women are great people, they could be great golf club members, and there's no reason to deny women membership to the premiere course in the world of professional golf.
In short, women can golf as well as men. In truth, quite a few women golfers could beat the men on our staff, without question.
That didn't stop Billy Payne, the Chairman of Augusta National, at his annual press conference, from still trying to duck the issue of why women continue to be denied membership to Augusta.
Veteran journalist Christine Brennen wrote a fantastic piece about Payne, and how he used to be a huge advocate for women golfers - even pledging, long ago, to one day get women membership at Augusta. It may make you sad that he's apparently abandoned his former role as an advocate for gender equality in sports - but we prefer to focus on the positive this weekend.
Women have made huge strides in professional sports, and in professions of all kinds. IBM just named its first women CEO ever, Virginia Rometty - though unlike nearly every other IBM CEO, she has not yet been granted an automatic membership to Augusta. This snub, of course, does nothing to diminish her achievements, her experience, or her value as a woman or a professional. If anything, we think the prominence, clout, and visibility enjoyed by her and so many other powerful women makes Augusta - and other discriminatory organizations like it - look less and less relevant every year.
If you were watching the NCAA Women's basketball tournament this past week, you likely saw Brittney Griner and the Baylor Bears accomplish a feat NO other college basketball team - men's or women's - has EVER achieved: a perfect 40-0 season.
Make no mistake; even in the midst of all kinds of successes for women, there are indeed plenty of misogynistic men and women who continue to try and take away many of the hard-won rights of American women.
With all the talk of the 'War on Women' though, we wanted to point out that women - and even some men - who might not otherwise agree on almost anything, seem to have found some peace and common ground this weekend.
Hope springs eternal.
We hope you have a good weekend, and that you find lots of Easter eggs. Preferably fresh ones.
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