WHEN TRUTH MATTERED

THE KENT STATE SHOOTINGS 50 YEARS LATER

Author Bob Giles tells the story of tireless work and unsung heroes in the newsroom of the Akron Beacon Journal, the once agenda-setting newspaper awarded the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the May 4 tragedy.

Giles, a young city editor at the time, went on the be an executive in editing and publishing with what then was Knight Newspapers.

Pat Englehart, the state editor in 1970, led much of the coverage of the shootings on the day of and through dozens of investigations. He was a mentor when I was in Journalism School at Kent.

Giles recounts the behind-the-scenes pluck, hard work and doggedness that had the Beacon Journal consistently beating the largest news organizations in the U.S. and the world, on countless stories that told about mistakes and dastardly behavior that spilled blood at a place of learning in Northeast Ohio.

Ohio National Guard -- Kent State -- May 4, 1970

Giles’ book also compares the trust between newspaper of record and local community a half century ago, vs. the chants of fake news and worse today.

Giles wisely notes the dire consequences of the 21^st century, where Donald Trump labels provable facts he views as negative toward him as “fake news.” 

He addresses 50 years change, culminating in an era when Trump and his authoritarian ilk recklessly betray the U.S. Constitution and label the essential free press as the enemy of the people.

He also shares the sad news that newspapers, once the bedrock and essential fourth estate, are now hamstrung with deep cuts. 

The 1970s newsroom that told the world about the horrors, blunders and cover ups at Kent State, had a staff of 150. Today, the once strong newspaper has a staff of 35.

Read my full essay at:

https://stevewright-1964.medium.com/when-truth-mattered-the-kent-state-shootings-50-years-later-d9e6b8e5ae09

Robert Giles

FLAWED LOGIC

FROM A SUPPORTER OF A DEEPLY FLAWED PRESIDENT

I wrote last weekend about my challenging an acquaintance to explain if he regretted voting for Trump.

I usually don't do these kinds of things.

I'm not a "I told you so," scorekeeping, gotcha kinda guy.

But I am watching an insane person and his right wing sycophants destroying good things that took decades to build in the nation I have lived in for more than half a century.

They big ah-ha ammunition my former friend came up with.

That he did us all a big favor because Trump, while a little Twitter rant addicted and not quite a statesman, is not Hillary Clinton.

That's it.

Pure and simple.

She would have been the devil.

And that's all my acquaintance needed to tell me.

Like I would smack my hand upside my head and totally get it.

That's right, it is perfectly logical to prop up Trump's rating by creating a mythological narrative for what the Hillary Clinton presidency would be like.

What a mind meld miracle, I thought.

This puts a whole new light on everything.

Fire the Dolphins coach because he had a cocaine addict right hand man on his coaching staff.

Hell no, if it been the coach behind door #2, the assistant coach would have been a mad sniper picking off people from the top of a college tower....so by this new Trumpian tribal logic, the bad guy is the good guy...simply because a presumed, never to play out in reality, path taken by the runner up would most certainly be much, much worse than the reality being crapped out by Trump today.

Wow, who knew this bit of mind trickery would work out so air tight logically.

In this mode, my former friend, who is Jewish, should build a monument to Hitler.

(are you crazy Steve, I hear you asking?  are you a neo Nazi nutcase?)

Nope, I say.

I'm simply applying the new -- Trump is good for America because Hillary would have been the Devil -- logic to world history.

You see, Hitler and his Nazis that killed and tortured -- Jews, disabled people, gay people, mentally ill people, etc -- did everybody a big favor.

The other potential leader of Nazi Germany, hiding behind door #2, would have slaughtered 60 million.

So by comparison, we should rewrite the history books and crown Hitler the king of humanitarians of the first half of the 20th century.

But why stop there.

If the Trump supporter logic is spot-on, then we need to do a whole lot of re-framing of history, simply because the Hillary of the time....clearly would have been much worse if they grasped the reins of power.

Jerry Sandusky?  Swing open the prison doors and let him run a Boy Scout Troop.  Yeah, he used his power to rape, molest and destroy little boys put in his care....but hey, the runner up "Hillary" coach behind door #2 would have victimized 10 times more boys than Sandusky.

Sandusky, in an exemplary showing of restraint, only robbed the innocence of a dozen or so.   Better build a statue of him on the Penn State campus -- because he saved more than 100 boys from falling prey to that Door #2 predator that he admirably took the place of.

There's more.

John Wayne Gacy.  A monster. The Trump school of faulty logic thinks not.

He strangled his sex torture victims before stowing them under his house.

The evil, "Hillary" hiding behind Door #2 clown-cloaked killer would have buried the boys alive.

See, by comparison, Gacy's damn near a stand up guy.

I mean, when you find out someone's kidnapped, raped, tortured, killed and buried your son.....wouldn't you feel so much better knowing that the bizarro world, Hillary-esque, lying in wait behind door #2 predator didn't get the chance to do terrible things to your boy before burying him alive.

See, Trump supports aren't crazy.

It all makes perfect. Sense.

Just trot out some insane, never will be realized terror scenario of what Evil Hillary (and is she so evil because she's progressive, or because she's a woman.  We all know their role is to take a grab by the P---y, not to perpetuate the old white male indignity of first living under and African American president, then living under a woman in the White House) and Trump looks like the second coming.

Yep, that's it.

I know see the light of day.

In fact, I'm going to catch the next flight to Ohio to thank the insane, cruel, hateful boss that treated my wife like dirt when she was working her tail off in one of her first jobs out of school.

Why, under the prism of this new Trump supporter enlightenment, I now see that the boss was a stand up person.  A true mentor and humanitarian.

I mean, they didn't toss my wife out of her wheelchair.

They didn't toss acid in her eyes.

But surely, the #2 candidate, the monster who they were blocking because they got the job, would have beaten my wife to death and hidden here where I could never find her.

Yep, sure hope that old Bastard is still alive.

Gotta fly up and thank them for being an a-hole, yes, but not nearly as bad as the Hillary that could have wrecked everything, if given the chance.

Disability References Removed From White House Website

THE FIRST OF MANY ATTACKS ON DISABLED PEOPLE BY PRESIDENT HITLER

As President Donald Trump took office, nearly every reference to disabilities on the White House website disappeared.

The online presence of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. got a revamp tailored to its new resident after Trump’s swearing in on Friday and, with the changeover, came a noticeably reduced emphasis on disability matters.

A section on disabilities was one of more than two dozen issues listed prominently on the homepage of whitehouse.gov during former President Barack Obama’s tenure.

The full story from Disability Scoop

DUMP TRUMP

SO I'M IN ISTANBUL, TRYING TO GET A BREATHER
FROM THE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION...

And I'm in Eyup, looking across the magnificent Golden Horn.

Seeing great mosques and traditional architecture.

Marveling at all the cultural richness in Istanbul.

And there, jarring the historic skyline, I see it.

Trump Towers.

The guy ruins everything he touches.

Pretty damn galling to earn a hefty licensing fee from you ugly name.

In a city that is probably 90% Muslim.

Guess you can take in their dollars.

But then talk cowboy tough about banning all followers of the Islamic Faith from your Aryan Nation vision of the U.S.

What a disgrace.

What proof that money doesn't by class or grace or wisdom

Blowhard dictator. Stop barfing your KKK era vision of the past on my great nation.

WHY CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG?

A MESSAGE OF LOVE FROM ISTANBUL

It's a Moslem woman. Donald Trump and other right wing reactionary crazies have told me all I need to know. She's up to no good. She hates America, Christianity and small animals. She probably has a suicide bomb under that hijab.

This can't end well. Poor little cat. This Moslem monster will probably twist its head off and drink its blood in some kind of Godless ritual.

But wait. She seems to be gently petting the little creature. Like the millions of strays on the streets of Istanbul, this sweet purring kedi is getting affection. The locals, an overwhelming majority of whom are Moslem, are famous for being kind to animals. A recent award-winning film documented the uncommon kindness shown to stray cats in Istanbul.

So maybe Trump and the bigoted people who would ban Moslems from entering our nation of immigrants and otherwise demonize followers of one of the major religions of the world are out of their mind. Or maybe they simply cannot do math. Maybe they never learned that a tiny fraction of evil people who kill and maim in the name of Islam are just that -- a tiny fraction who are not emblematic of the peaceful overwhelming majority.

Let's face it. If a small fraction of monsters automatically tainted everyone from the much larger group, then Oklahoma City bomber terrorist (and bronze star-awarded military veteran) Timothy McVeigh's actions would mean we should ban all military vets from air travel and perhaps round them up in internment camps. But that would be insane. Just as insane as broadly defining all observant, loving, family-oriented Moslems as evil simply because a small fraction who allegedly share their core religion have misused it as an excuse for bombings.

So maybe this gentle woman, giving unconditional love to a little cat wandering the marbled and magnificent grounds of the Eyup Sultan Mosque, is more typical of Moslems. Maybe, if we worked daily to remove hate from the world, we could appreciate others. Maybe should try harder to teach our fellow Americans that someone whose religious garb is different is NOT a terrorist, evil doer or person to fear.

Sorry bigots, fanners of the flame and embracers of hate. I reject your venom. I respect all peaceful people. I thank the heavens above that I have a brain capable of recognizing statistical outliers -- so I don't brand every person of an identifiable group because of the malicious actions of a tiny few.

I see this Moslem woman for what she is: a loving fellow human being, taking time out of her busy day to give nurturing kindness to a cuddly critter. Maybe we could all try a little harder to coexist.