Don''s Tuesday Column

         THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   1/02/2018

          More water; more truth in media

Among the indicators of improvement that can be reasonably ascribed to having President Donald J. Trump in office is the story just published in Saturday’s Daily News, “Pumping from biggest federal water project may be hiked.” “The Trump administration said Friday it will look at revving up water deliveries to farmers from California’s Central Valley Project, the largest federal water project in the United States…”

Environmentalists decry it, of course, but they are simply reacting out of ideological pique and umbrage over no longer being the fanatical “tail” wagging the resource “dog.” Let’s hope the predictable litigation quickly finds a federal judge, and eventually the Supreme Court, that has not been steeped in the obsession with putting critters, bugs and fish over humans.

For a refreshing bit of what used to pass for common sense, you should stop at the commemorative display at the south end of the Whiskeytown dam. Listen to what used to be a mainstream Democratic sentiment, expressed by President Kennedy, that water should serve the needs of farmers and people. Will Gov. Brown, and the nature purists in Sacramento, take a hint and prioritize human food over phony “endangered” delta smelt? I’m not holding my breath.

A blatant, clarifying moment occurred in the widespread anti-government protests in Iran over a pathetic economy and nonexistent political freedom, all an outgrowth of having hard-core Islamic mullahs ruling every aspect of Iran and its people’s lives and fortunes. Obama’s Iran “deal,” as well as his under whelming non-response to the 2009 protests compares very poorly to Trump’s bold, tweeted statements of support and approval of their rightful insistence that, under Iran’s own constitution, they be allowed to voice their dissent. What a contrast to Obama’s despicable dismissal of the Iranian desire for freedom and self-determination, followed by Obama sending pallets of cash to the mullahs. He had taken their pulse and assured everyone that not only would the Iranian people benefit but also that no terrorism would result. What a liar!

The news media mostly took the knee-jerk approach advanced by the Obama/Hillary acolytes among them: that Iranians were happy with their lot in life due to Obama’s “deal” and cash, and that the staged “pro-government” rallies were the real story. It was a stark reminder of how spot on Trump has been. Fake news all the way, except for the proper prominence given the massive Iranian protests by, yes, Fox News. Headlines tell the tale: “Why Can’t the American Media Cover the Protests in Iran? Because they have lost the ability to cover real news when it happens.” (Lee Smith) “The US media’s blackout of massive Iranian protests going on right now is a fascinating thing to behold” (Kyle Becker). “Iranian Protestors Rally for Regime Change and Freedom, Trump Calls For Support” (Nina Bookout). CNN, New York Times were the worst.

It bears reminding that these same guardians of “the people’s right to know” have yet to find their journalistic “cajones” and tell their audience how Obama undermined the anti-Iran/Hezbollah/drug/terrorism programs of our law enforcement at the FBI. He would apparently rather have seen black men die and black communities languish from Hezbollah-provided drugs than to have to get tough with his buddies, the Iranian mullahs, whom he obsessed to please.

Last year’s Fake News reached its peak (or nadir) over the phony Democrat-inspired-and-paid-for Steele dossier, which was real Russian collusion to affect the election. They exchanged money for salacious and utterly unverified dirt on Donald Trump provided by “high-ranking Russian officials;” it became the basis for launching “wire tapping,” FISA surveillance warrants, and ultimately, the entire Mueller special counsel probe into, ostensibly, whether Trump colluded with Russia to get elected.

That bald, fallacious, disgusting lie exists solely because the Democrat “deep state” of FBI higher ups, Obama holdovers and Hillary Clinton partisans concocted out of whole cloth a “that’s the ticket” narrative for why she lost to Trump. They scream “Carter Page, Mike Flynn and George Papadapulous;” there isn’t one iota of proof in those indictments and guilty pleas that they or anyone conspired with Russians to hurt Hillary and help Trump get elected. No one iota.

Much of the (Hillary/Obama/Democrat) news media has covered itself, not with glory, but with perfidy. They fancy themselves latter-day Woodwards and Bernsteins charging the battlements of the fascist Trump, a usurper of the elective throne whose occupant only they have the right to pass approval on. Meanwhile, their corrections, retractions and memory-hole insertions of erroneous, fake, slanted and ill-sourced dirt pile up, beginning with:

“Trump lied about the crowd size for his inauguration.” He said, “most viewed;” we were part of that vast online crowd that would never travel to D.C. but, from Florida to New Hampshire to the West Coast, many millions watched and recorded the Trump swearing in. That the public sector employee buses from throughout the area (the D.C. mass transit moved tons of Obama voters) swelled Obama’s crowds was not fake but the media got caught spreading photos from hours before Trump’s ceremony, while people were still arriving. That’s fake.

Then came the media derision of Kelly Ann Conway’s “alternative facts,” as if the legal and scientific fields aren’t always weighing sets of facts against each other. The media simply wants to be the judge and jury over the most relevant facts, and the accepted story line, disregarding inconvenient truths. It’s been stated that the news media considers its job to be covering the important stories, with a pillow, until they stop moving; or, deciding what things the public shouldn’t know because it would make Democrats look bad; or, just think of them as Democrat activists with bylines, and you’ll get their angle on most stories. (More to come.)