Lessons To be Learned

There are times when there are just too many important topics, happening all at once, for the massive media machine of this country to focus its efforts on just a small few.

Today is one of those days, in case you couldn't tell.

To start with, in Chicago, the teachers union is striking for the first time in twenty-five years. Contrary to the tired anti-union propaganda, the Chicago teachers aren't primarily looking for more money. Both sides have already agreed to a raise. What the Chicago teachers want is simple.

They want to limit class size - a proven technique for improved learning, air conditioning, and a pay structure that isn't chained almost exclusively to standardized testing. In other words, Chicago's teachers want a new contract that will allow them to do their job of educating kids.

Meanwhile, the members of Congress have flooded back into Washington, DC like a pack of wild monkeys. No one is really expecting much, as lawmakers simply want to get in, handle the minimum of business, and get back home to keep campaigning for their jobs. Long and short, they'll grab their crayons, scribble out some short-term "solutions" - like an overdue Farm Bill and and a resolution to pay for the government's bills for the next six months - and they'll high-tail it out of town by next Thursday afternoon.

The fact that eleven years ago today, the entire world changed in a span of minutes, will likely only stop most of those legislators for a single moment of silence.

Today is 9/11/2012, eleven years after the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, on the Pentagon in DC, and on a plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania. It's also officially designated as National Day of Service and Remembrance, an action taken just a few years ago on a bipartisan vote in Congress. Remember when we had bipartisan votes of Congress...?

We're not sure if you remember where you were that day, what you were doing, or what you had planned on doing. We know that at least some of our current staff did what many members of the media, from all ideological corners, did on September 11, 2001.

When the planes hit, we rushed to our media jobs, to help calm and inform the people. We worked together with those who normally were our competition. The name of the company on our paychecks didn't matter nearly as much as making sure we were all publishing and broadcasting accurate news and information instantly. We called each other, sent e-mails, and helped communications between the public and the first responders in cities across America, as air travel was immediately grounded and parts of the nation effectively went into lockdown status.

It didn't matter what political party someone favored. It didn't matter what their religion was or who they loved. We were ALL Americans that day, before we were anything else. Like Americans in many industries, in the media, we ALL held each other to a higher standard that day - and virtually every media outlet stepped up.

As we all know, the first responders in New York and DC stepped forward more than any of us.

Now, it's eleven years later. Osama Bin Laden is dead, Al Qaeda is nearly wiped out, and there's a new World Trade Center building nearly completed in the heart of New York City. Our media hasn't improved, though. Neither have our politics. We're still electing some of the worst idiots - and you're still paying attention to them in the media too.

There were a lot of lessons to come out of that day eleven years ago. It's too bad Americans don't yet seem to care enough as a nation to learn them.

Things Are Better - But For Whom?

As the ninth week before the election gets rolling, it's important to note the Presidential campaigns on both sides were already getting out to the public over the weekend, trying to sell their plans - with noticeably different responses.

Not too far from our South Florida offices, a Sunshine State business owner was so excited to see President Obama over the weekend, he picked up the "Leader of the Free World" in a giant bear hug. Thankfully, the Secret Service knew the man was no danger to the President. While the President was exciting voters in South Florida, Vice President Joe Biden convinced some bikers in Ohio to sit down with him - including one who sat on his lap.

At the other end of the emotional spectrum, Republican candidate Mitt Romney sat down for two quiet private interviews with NBC's David Gregory, one a dual interview with Mitt and his wife Ann. It was not the best move for the Romney campaign, in our opinion.

Mitt and Ann came off as arrogant and disconnected in their dual appearance. In his solo interview, Mr. Romney said there were things about Obamacare he liked - even though last week he'd told the audience at the Republican National Convention he would kill Obamacare. Mitt also threw his running mate under the bus, calling Paul Ryan's vote for Congress' defense cuts "A big mistake."

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan didn't fare much better, as he kept attempting to peddle the empty Romney/Ryan plans on other Sunday shows. His worst moment came when Paul Ryan told CBS' Norah O'Donnell that he didn't vote for the defense cuts - which can be factually proven that he did vote in favor of, thus proving him a liar once again.

None of this surprised us one bit.

If you remember, during the start of the two conventions, we said that we'd begin ignoring most of the polling for each candidate and their party until after their conventions were finished. Both conventions are now blessedly over, with final poll numbers in for the RNC, and nearly final numbers available for the DNC.

In short, the Romney/Ryan ticket is in trouble, possibly major trouble.

After the Republican National Convention, and after the hoopla died down, Romney, Ryan and the Republicans got at best a 2 point bounce in the polls. Some polls had them at a net zero bounce - or worse.

As the final polling from the Democratic National Committee rolls in, the bounce for Obama, Biden, and the Democrats ranges from a four point bump to as much as a ten point bump from Gallup, a poll that has tended to lean Republican this cycle.

What's more, President Obama's approval rating on Friday, just after the convention, was at 52%, the highest it has been since the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

In short, Democrats planned and executed a better convention than Republicans did. Further, Americans appear to like not just the Obama and Biden plans, but the men themselves. That's easy to understand, considering the empty promises and draconian cuts proposed by the Romney/ Ryan team.

Now that the top of the ticket is sorting itself out, maybe everyone in the media can start focusing on the down ballot races for House, Senate, and local contests, too.

We know that's something we're planning on tackling ourselves.

Friday Funday: Cheap Shots & Kudos

After two weeks, too much travel, too little sleep, and more politicians in two places than fifty U.N. world summits, the quadrennial political party conventions for the Democratic and Republican parties are done.

If you're one of the approximately 15,000 members of the media who have invaded both Tampa and Charlotte over the last two weeks, we'll be raising our glasses to you this evening, in a collegial salute. Whether you support the conventions or not, most of you in the media were simply trying to produce and publish top-notch work in incredibly trying conditions over the last two weeks.

For those of you who chose the high road and didn't just take the cheap shot, write the trash story, grab the easy footage, or slap together some clickbait for the web, thanks. For those of you who actually tipped your waitstaff - in both cities - twenty percent or more, our thanks go out to you as well.

Not everyone in the media chose the same path these last two weeks.

Some of our colleagues reached for the easy shots these last two weeks. They didn't bust their behinds for the good interviews, didn't push their deadlines to the wall. They reached for the cheap shots of racism, fear, and lies - or they swallowed whole the poison fed to them by the worst members of the political establishment.

Frankly, covering the Republican convention was much harder to do this year than the Democratic convention. The sheer amount of lies pouring from the GOP candidates and pundits this year was not only astounding, but sickening. Contrast that with multiple fact checks from the Democratic convention that effectively said, 'Nothing really to check here.'

In Tampa, the mood was dark, filled with anger and racism, and both attendees and members of the media felt like they were in some kind of demilitarized zone.

In Charlotte, the atmosphere was positive, even jovial. We even know of one particular hole in the wall which hosted both left and right leaning journalists, having a few drinks and talking with one another - though for the safety of their jobs, we won't reveal who those folks were.

No matter whether you're tipping Macallan 18, a Miller or Bud, or a cool iced tea this weekend, if you're a member of the media - or you're someone who enjoys high quality news coverage - we hope you enjoy every last moment of this weekend, preferably away from most media sources.

This is the last chance you'll get to breathe for another ten weeks.

The real campaign begins now.