January 4, 2018 Page 5
Politically Speaking
One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion
Trump a Benefit to Real Reporting Triumphant Trump Continues to
By Cristian Vasquez
Thanks in part to the 24-hour news cycle
and propaganda networks such as Fox News
and MSNBC disguised as news outlets,
President Trump was able to make it to the
White House. While the 2016 Presidential
campaign highlighted the evident dismissal
of serious news reporting by most Americans,
the Trump presidency is having the
opposite effect. Whether it be the desire to
take down the sitting President or the will
To defend him, investigative reporting is
receiving more attention by the mainstream
media outlets (Fox News included even if
to debunk these reports). Newspapers are
again being looked to for reliable information
because of the quality of their reporting.
From the Russian investigations to Roy
Moore’s pedophile-tendencies tainted past,
it has been investigative reporters from different
newspapers that have given a new
life and meaning to the mundane news
cycle. Of course these serious reports will
be used by one network as “the nail in the
coffin” against the Trump Administration
and his army of evil destroying America.
Meanwhile, the other network will dismiss
them as nothing more than a witch hunt
funded by Soros and remind us that Hillary
somehow still matters. Regardless of
the freak show on television, people are
finally paying attention to newspapers and
the investigative pieces that come from
said sources.
The reason this trend is refreshing isn’t
based on the slight upswing in newspaper
subscriptions, but rather that we are finally
Confound Critics, Skeptics. CNN
By Duane Plank
When billionaire business mogul Donald
Trump announced his candidacy for the
presidency on June 16, 2015, the wheelerdealer/
turned reality television star knew
his candidacy was considered a dark-horse
stab at best by political pundits… and as a
pathetic joke, by many of those paid very
handsomely to espouse their view points on
the body politic.
Trump joined a field of Republican presidential
wannabees that was bursting at the
seams, featuring nearly 20 candidates. While
Trump had the name recognition garnered
from his success in the boardroom, and his
star turn on the popular The Apprentice, he
had no political gravitas.
He was considered an entitled tycoon who
would burn wads of his own Benjamins
attempting to nab the nomination and then
flame out/drop out to return to constructing
behemoth edifices, appear on TV and hobnob
with Miss America contestants.
The Republican field in the spring and
summer of 2016 included Jeb Bush, Marco
Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, John Kasich,
Chris Christie and Rick Perry--all experienced
politicians who knew how to play the game
inside and outside the Washington, D.C.
beltway. There were so many pols crowding
the field that the initial debates had to
be held in two sessions, with the men (and
woman, remember Carly Fiorina?) who were
polling the highest receiving a spot in the
main debate, while the candidates who were
invisible in the polls (think Jim Gilmore)
were banished to the kids’ table and forced
to take part in the “JV debates.”
Trump’s candidacy wasn’t given the pro-
verbial “snowball chance in hell” initially by
the entrenched media-ites. There may have
been a few on the Fox News Channel who
championed Trump, but who would fathom
that the Republican Party establishment would
allow such a political neophyte to somehow
wrangle the nomination from one-time
frontrunner and political royalty Jeb Bush?
Surely the GOP would not commit electoral
college suicide and send an overmatched
Trump out to confront Queen Hillary and her
well-honed cadre of hatchet-men and women
in the general election, which would surely
devolve into an apocalyptic meltdown for
the party and result in catastrophic “downthe
ticket” losses—meaning the country
would be looking at another eight years of
backpedaling under Clinton.
And that is when it started. The Republican
establishment underestimated Trump. The
media paid him little positive heed. The Dems
underestimated Trump so much so that they
didn’t even prop Hillary up and campaign in
key states she lost when she was electorally
steamrolled as Americans watched the results
confound the so-called experts as the polls
closed on that fateful Tuesday evening in
November 2016.
When the final votes were tallied, Trump
had an electoral landslide--and certain washedup,
big-mouth Libs (think Madonna), who
had threatened to leave the country should
Trump triumph, back-pedaled, saying they
were “just kidding.”
Two weeks after Trump’s big tax win,
the moral of the story is: Love Trump, hate
Trump, but don’t underestimate the man. He
has bamboozled a lot of people more than
once. Why should 2018 be any different? •
Anytime Egg Nachos
Preparation
Ingredients
• 2 Eggland’s Best eggs (large)
• 1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes,
washed and sliced into thin chips
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon pepper, divided
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup finely shredded red cabbage
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup guacamole
• 1/4 cup pico de gallo or favorite salsa
• Sour cream, jalapenos or other additions
for serving if desired
• Preheat oven to 400 F. Place sweet potatoes on a large
sheet pan in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil and
sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. Don’t overcrowd
the pan. (You may need to use 2 sheet pans.) Bake for
15-20 minutes. Flip sweet potatoes and bake for another
10 minutes or until potatoes are crispy chips.
• Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and bring
to medium heat. Scramble the eggs with milk and
remaining salt and pepper, and pour into skillet, stirring
often until cooked through. Set aside.
• Remove sweet potatoes from oven and top with half
of the cheese, followed by the eggs and beans. Top with
remaining cheese. Place back in the oven until cheese
is melted about 5-10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and place on serving dish.
Top with cabbage, cilantro, guacamole and salsa. Serve
immediately.
getting solid reporting. It is this type of
reporting we, as a nation, will need when
Special Counsel Robert Mueller finishes his
probe into the Russian interference case. We
can’t say with certainty how the propaganda
machines MSNBC and Fox News will present
the findings of Mueller’s investigation,
but we have a pretty good idea. However,
for full details and accuracy we’re going to
have to rely on print journalism. Yes, the
Internet can provide us up-to-the-minute
information, but the rabbit hole of absurdity,
lies and distortion that has become the Web
is a nightmare.
Don’t forget it was newspapers that broke
the Pentagon Papers and Watergate--not
television, not radio. While we can criticize
reporters, columnists or entire newspapers
for displaying bias, their record for accuracy
when printing investigative pieces is strong.
Furthermore, they are more effective than
what we see on cable news.
We don’t know what Mueller will find.
Maybe there was no collusion between
Trump’s campaign and the Russians, but the
Russians interfered in our election on their
own. That possibility is more than enough
of a reason for an investigation. We don’t
know what journalists will find when they
dig--and as of late, there have been some
interesting discoveries. Maybe investigative
reporting is up because journalism became
complacent during the Obama years. Maybe
journalists are fueled by the desire to destroyor
topple President Trump. Or maybe
we as media consumers are simply paying
attention to more reliable sources. •
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