“The news media isn’t there to tell you what has really happened. It’s there to tell you what it wants you to hear. It’s there to make their editors and advertisers happy, not inform you.”

– Joan Wheston

Thomas Carlyle praised political philosopher Edmund Burke, who publicly recognized the press as gatekeepers of a democratic society to protect it from government. As Parliament opened in 1787, Burke proclaimed, “There are three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sits the Fourth Estate, far more important than they all.” Though the press, lawyers and other non consorts have had access to governments throughout most reported history, Burke designated the press, as the lynchpin to secure the people’s government. He conceded an ill informed public was the subject of tyrannical abuse.

“Education is the cheap defense of nations.”

– Edmund Burke

Before the 19th century, the U.S. press didn’t have much interest in the White House since Congress was so accessible and eager to trade scoops for votes. But in 1893 during Grover Cleveland’s presidency when economic chaos gripped the nation and reporter William Pierce bullied his way into the White House, things changed. As Cleveland failed to right the economic ship and sway public opinion, the reporters capitalized on this Panic of 1893. A hyperbolic press ruined the Democratic Party’s image, which floundered dismally for decades. The yellow dogging of these reporters helped incubate the ontogeny of the progressive era.

“A nation run by reporters is a nation run by fools.”

– Alan Strong

In 1904, Teddy Roosevelt invited rain-soaked reporters into the White House. They were awestruck as he offered them an office to work in and brought them coffee and a meal. And this was the birth of the White House Press Corps. But as always, when you give the press an inch they stretch it to infinity. Soon, reporters grew their presence and influence and shortly they weaseled into previously un-chartered “off limit” enclaves. It was this tradition that has morphed into an uncontrolled arm of government used to control public opinion rather than to report the news. Far too many of these former reporters have forgotten:

“A free press needs to be a respected press.”

– Tom Stoppard

By 1933 when FDR took office, he realized the powerful weaponry of the press in pitching his “Bad Deal,” which set the stage for today’s political news circus. By now, the charges of the White House press secretary environed dealing with newspapers as well as radio media. This fueled the engine for FDR’s fabinistic social re-engineering. Secretary Stephen Early was a coy and able hireling for a cagey FDR. As a former journalist and elected official, he held the tools to delude press releases and promote FDR’s agitprop to reporters. He was keenly adept in helping FDR to subvert legal protocol to suppurate progressivism.

“Dangerous masters depend on a few willing servants.”

– Aldo Dolores

Press secretaries cautiously grapple presidential antics to appease the press. At times, they must breach journalistic ethics to barter news releases. They obfuscate facts in a way that sounds more optimistic than misanthropic to these famished predators. Secretary Mike McCurry was the first to televise live press briefings under Bill Clinton. Little did they know the White House would become Peyton Place-East. One of these briefings opened the can of worms where Monica Lewinsky was hiding out. As this soap opera crept into every U.S. home, it became the hottest topic on the comedy circuit since Watergate. In an interview years later, McCurry said he and Clinton regretted they ever authorized broadcasting TV briefings. “That was the dumbest thing we ever did!” Obviously, there isn’t any doubt:

“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”

– George Carlin

The job of press secretary has less security than that of the guy who hired them. Most remain on the job only a few years because it’s impossible to continually sugarcoat the blunders of their boss. They are not only hired and fired faster than a Vegas comedian can tell a bad joke, they are under the scrutiny of social media and alternative journalism and can’t play hide and seek with the truth. Maybe that’s why few women have ventured into this dark field of journalism? Bill Clinton’s first press secretary, Dee Dee Meyers, abruptly quit without notice. Obviously, few people wonder why. Dana Perino was admirable under George W. Bush but left to take a position as a political analyst.

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult trade since it consists principally of dealings with men.”

– Joseph Conrad

Presidents have unique and combative affinities with the press and the secretary works for them.

It is the reporter’s duty to disregard party hype and report genuine news. Some secretaries lose sight of their journalistic duties but reporters can’t. Last decade proved presidents can’t effectuate while at war with the media. Media segued further left, and turned the other cheek to progressive failures and took the liberty to report them.

“Liberal news outlets and their activist readers routinely reiterate the incendiary rhetoric and accusations fed to them by progressive politicians.”

– R. Kliner

The presses’ romance with the White House has been checkered since it’s up to them what they spin and how they spin it. And since the recent political divide, it has festered into a mass-media infection. To insure a progressive victory, with the help of liberal White House cronies they turned an economic downturn into the “Eve of Economic Destruction.” And after eight years of helping Barack Obama rewrite the Constitution, confidence in media dropped to 32 percent, its lowest in Gallup poll history. Since the election of Donald Trump, it’s down another 8 points! With arrant assailing of Sean Spicer and their tenacious underpinning of his new press secretary, Sarah H. Sanders, the third woman in history to permeate their good ol’ boys club, their credibility has gone belly up.

“I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a b****, OK.”

Madonna

Author Bernie Mares wrote, “Thank God I’m a journalist and no longer a reporter.” Yes, a reporter’s job isn’t easy but it was their career by choice. A good one disseminates the truth, even it they fall in disfavor with their editor or the White House. When they sit behind a typewriter they know they have no friends. A bad one goes along to get along if it sells papers or increases ratings. He will prostitute his oath of truth and dignity to please an editor or the White House. A D.C.  press secretary dawns a dissimilar hat the day he takes the job. He’s no longer a good cop or a bad cop, but an employee on the payroll.

“The boss is always right even when he’s wrong.”

– Blaine Fulbright

The best press secretaries have seen their job as two-way streets: from principle or pragmatism. Not only to convey White House minutiae to the media, but to represent the press in high councils of the government. There’s much to be admired about their work and dedication. But even the best ended up pounding sand when they showed more loyalty to their master rather than their oath of allegiance to the Fourth Estate. When asked about Watergate, Nixon’s patriotic and competent press secretary retorted:

“If my answers sound confusing, I think they are confusing because questions are confusing and the situation is confusing, and I’m not in a position to clarify it.”

– Ron Ziegler

Plutarch wrote, “No man delights in the bearer of distorted truth.” White House press reporters are distorting news worse than a fable written by a bad comic book science fiction writer. The enemy is not the press secretary, they are only the messenger. Let’s not continue to kill the messenger, but reporters who breach the ethics of their trade.

“Journalism is a profession. It takes skill, courage and conviction. If a writer does not possess that talent, they become a news reporter.’’

– Carla Rice

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[Last] week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced President Donald Trump’s plan to distribute military gear to state and local law enforcement agencies. The rule change means weapons typically reserved for war-time use – tracked armored (tank-like) vehicles, weaponized aircraft and vessels, grenade launchers, bayonets, and firearms with ammunition of .50-caliber or higher – will start flowing to local law enforcement agencies through the Department of Defense’s 1033 Program.

Yes, the story is familiar. In 2016, we sounded the alarm at Forbes about the Obama administration sending heavy weapons to local police departments. We noted that people of good faith on both the left and right were raising serious concerns regarding civil liberties and the growth of government.

Today, the same questions are valid: What’s the legitimate law enforcement purpose for these weapons? Does the militarization of local police threaten our civil liberties?

Search our OpenTheBooks interactive map for all weaponry transferred to the 6,500 local, state and other federal police agencies across America since 2006. See it all – in your hometown, park district, forest preserve, junior college, university, county, state police – or federal agency such as Homeland Security, Interior and the Justice Department – across any ZIP code!

What military gear will you find in your local police department? Here’s a sample of our findings:

To read this full column, visit Forbes.com.

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 “As we celebrate Labor Day, we honor the men and women who fought tirelessly for workers’ rights, which are so critical to our strong and successful labor force.”

– Elizabeth Esty

The dynamic contributions of our ladies of past generations are overshadowed by today’s “mock feminism.” Real American women had a profound effect on our society, economy, and our liberty during the course of our history. One needs only to look at the strategic roles women played during our war times. From the Revolutionary War’s “Molly Pitcher” to the thousands in our military today, our nation’s women have timely impacted our historical conflicts. They transformed necessity into opportunities for women today. This was cogent during Worl War II, when more than 200,000 women served in the military, and more than 6  million flooded the American workforce from 1941 to 1945.

“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”

– Margaret Thatcher

Rosie the Riveter is a U.S. cultural icon, representative of the patriotic American women who worked in factories and shipyards during WWII. Many of these patriots produced munitions as well as other strategic war supplies to propel our troops to an allied victory. These women stepped up and took jobs their male counterparts left behind. Male workers in machine shops and foundries needed replacing and they answered the call. Rosie the Riveter became a symbol of our women’s new economic and social power. Her story spread worldwide as images of female war-workers appeared in allied countries. They became media icons on government posters that encouraged us to support the war!

“Strong woman harvest the spoils of war with coy ennobled valor.”

– W. Howard

Today, few Americans are fully aware that women played an important part in providing them with many opportunities in the workplace. These are a result of the strategic roles that our mothers and grandmothers played in WWII. Unfortunately, what little knowledge we have is often limited to those such as Rosie the Riveter. We hear of the wives and mothers left to manage households, waiting to hear from their soldiering spouses abroad. Rosie was a trail-blazing feminist who captivated the world with her female might. But there were many essential roles our patriotic women filled during the second Great War that contributed greatly to our labor force. They are the forgotten “faces of labor.”

“It is amazing what a woman can do if only she ignores what men tell her she can’t.”

– Chris Carns

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, our government called upon our factories to produce war goods. The workplace atmosphere was often tense. This was due to resentment of labor union bosses dictating policy to reluctant manufacturers throughout the 1930s. Many companies were feeling the sting of aggressive attempts to control free markets. The last thing they wanted was the feds flexing their mussel over production-line, war-time profiteering. To appease them and minimize past friction, they sent an olive branch to our zealous women. They trained them and helped care for their children. The UAW produced a poster in 1942 showing management and women aligned maintaining an assembly line. This powerful poster read:

“Together We Can Do It!”

– UAW

The need to mobilize the population behind the war effort was so compelling, political and social  leaders agreed men must change their perceptions of gender with a national emergency at hand. This brought about sacrifices, new jobs, new skills, and opportunities for America’s women.  The new U.S. secret weapon was the women who mobilized to meet the new challenges demanded of  them. As U.S. government and industry rapidly expanded to meet wartime needs, our women made this possible. Women were needed to fill traditional male jobs and roles during the war and needed little encouragement to answer the call. As each U.S. factory retooled for war production, this greatly expanded industrial output made women the nation’s most dominant labor force. Our women kept the country running, working night shifts and weekends to meet the pressing needs of our war machine. They showed the whole world:

“We make the things that matter, matter.”

– Teresa Funke

Before the war, many occupations were reserved for men in most states. But the war changed this quickly. Women contributed in a variety of ways to preserve world liberty and national peace. They labored in factories and became civic leaders. They sold war bonds, rolled bandages, coordinated blood drives, and ran civil defense teams. They tended Victory Gardens, and entertained returning troops on leave. They recycled scarce materials needed by our armies. They managed the strains of rationing gas, tires, sugar, meat, silk; shoes, and even “nylons” and many other necessary war commodities. And they did this while sustaining their families, though many knew they would face mourning after the war. They were aware that:

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

– Plato

Before the war, there were few opportunities for women to make full use of their academics. But the government knew they needed qualified leaders to teach and to train, and turned immediately to readily identifiable women. The government was fully aware of the unleashed power possessed by our women in scholastic institutions. They tapped into this energetic labor force immediately. And they responded with fervor from networks of university-trained women. Women were recruited for government service, education, military and civilian management jobs. Our “Government Girls” came from all over the country to Washington, and ran our ever-expanding war-time machine. They were the army fighting on the home front behind lines to defend us and support the war.

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.”

– Gloria Steinem

After the war, some women returned to their former places in society, while others refused to do so. Many had learned new skills and were prepared to use them, and they continue to contribute each day to our nation. Many knew they had finally achieved that economic and political clout they had not entertained before the war. They proved they were capable in any chosen role and have made remarkable contributions to industry, politics, and the military for decades since. And industry today is reaching out to qualified women as a result of the attainments of our WWII women. It was our American women who proved:

“Work is valued by the social value of the worker.”

– Gloria Steinem

The intent of Labor Day is to honor the social and economic achievements of American workers. It is a day of national tribute to the contributions so many made to the prosperity of our nation. The Industrial Revolution is considered the birth place of the modern labor movement. Although in 1830 women first appeared in this mechanized evolution, it was during WWII they brought the greatest influx of new faces in history to our workforce. They dispelled the mores and attitudes that reflected primeval values of past generations. They delivered lasting dignity to working women around the world. They opened doors that had been nailed closed. They challenged the credibility of social limitations with righteous indignation.

”Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.”

– Margaret Thatcher

America as well as organized labor benefited from these women. They voyaged into un-chartered waters and laid the cornerstone for modern labor today. Women are no longer an underclass in the work force because of these brave feminists.

“The abolition and suffrage movements progressed because we were never damaged by division; we should always remember that.”

– Gloria Steinem

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“Socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the Socialized State.”

– Vladimir Lenin

The Social Transformation of American Medicine, by sociologist Paul Starr depicts the rise of our sovereign medical profession and how it became such a vast enterprise. He claims the autonomy of our medical professionals has been responsible for its evolution. He establishes their role as unique in our society and details how they used private capital to do this. Starr, a liberal activist in healthcare circles, admits government contributed moderately in developing the world’s greatest healthcare industry. But he cautioned, to maintain it, it would take corporate control of healthcare under government supervision to maintain it as the need for increased services became necessary in the future.

“Some feel the only way to survive is to sell out to establishment politics.”

– Jeri Keys

Transforming our free-market medical industry into a socialized nightmare came with the passage of Obamacare in 2009. When Obama led his “hit-squad” to the torture chamber that Christmas Eve, he had secured deals with corporations and special interest groups like AARP, the AMA and insurance companies. With the stroke of a pen he turned Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hide. His hocus pocus pulled off the most dastardly hat trick in American medical history. Like Dr. Jekyll, he convinced major players they would reap big profits with federal mandates to buy products from them. But like Mr. Hide, he deceptively fooled Americans while embellishing corporate conglomerates the real benefactors.

“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it.”

– Robert Louis Stevenson

Obama knew he could not sell socialized medicine in a country built on a free market. He cleverly skewed his sales pitch claiming his magical healthcare elixir of federal pixie dust was the panacea. He rallied select target industry players to endorse his plan. Then he could take small incremental steps at “reforms,” regulations and mandates that would eventually lead to rationing services and coverage. This would allow government to ration medical care and liability by consolidating free-market medicine under corporate banners. His corporate comrades would love this since they’d be off the hook providing health benefits and send employees off to Obama exchanges. Obama gave them a double dose of Kool-Aid.

“Yes, you can fool some of the people all of the time.”

– Al Thorn

Walter Scott said; “O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!” Only a few years later people are waiting for the unicorns at their doorsteps to tote them off to local healthcare resorts, where mythical Tinkerbell wizards will cure them with magic wands. They’ll be waiting till the “12^th of Never.” Instead of increasing access to services, ObamaScare limited their choices in the free market. Now the feds are dictating the coverage we must buy, and what insurance must cover, and every doctor must write a thesis to justify this. What happened to the free market? If everyone sells the same product and they know you must buy it, they will just kick back and wait for the phone to ring.

“A monopoly renders people complacent with mediocrity.”

– Neil Parcey

To progressives, freedom means their right to usurp our God-given rights so they can exploit the vulnerability of the public. When their dream of socialized medicine forced our trusted PCPs to abandon their practices and join corporations, this was a perilous blow to all Americans. When the public saw them fall, one by one, they envisioned Obama’s ultimate goal was a single-payer type healthcare system. When all individual medical providers ultimately disappear and are absorbed into HMO’s conglomerates, they will administer healthcare under government jurisprudence. One Obama spokesman said, “We can no longer pay for healthcare under the current PPO model. We must phase out all fee-for-service care for us to survive. We’ll pay doctors a finite amount to take care of a defined population, within our parameters, not theirs.” Even communist Karl Marx realized the importance of our personal care physicians: “Medicine heals doubts as well as diseases.”

As America watched their healthcare system erode under the rubric of mandated insurance, they rebelled. The next general election they replaced most of the progressives that had ganged up on them and stole their free market health care. This new group of Congressmen promised to dump Obamacare in favor of a legitimate free market system to assist in providing healthcare for all. But these promises went the way of the corset. And we have been re-electing them as our insurance premiums go through the roof! Although the House voted to defend Obamacare four times since then, nobody has come up with an alternative plan.

“Sometimes is takes intuitive thinking to come up with a plan that really works. That is something Congress is incapable of doing.”

– Theo Blane

One of the key ingredients of President Donald Trump’s campaign whistle stomping was to repeal the dreaded ObamaScare Americans despised more than a trip to the dentist to get a tooth pulled.

He talked a good talk and the people listened, and he had grandiose solutions that would make everyone happy. His plan would reduce premiums and provide assistance for those in need, and not arm wrestle anyone into buying something they didn’t want. He wanted to reduce the work our doctors did for the government so they could work more for us. This sounded great until Congress stepped in, and fooled with his proposal to appease their favorite sons. By the time they got done detonating his bill, it was just another Obamcare in disguise.

“Whenever everyone puts their two cents in, you end up with a bank filled with depositors who get little or no return.”

– Roy Small

There is no question, Obamacare will soon self-destruct. And the Trump administration along with the Republican Congress is faced with a crisis when it bites the dust. Most of the co-ops are gone. A large portion of the exchanges have only one plan to choose from. Money earmarked to shore up insurance companies has dried up. All attempts to secure funds to support Obamacare have been challenged in court. Although our economy, our medical system and our patients must be freed from the grip of this monster, if Congress can’t fix it now, maybe they should just watch it implode. Then they will be forced to prudently address real free market healthcare reform.

“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”

– Milton Friedman

It is the essence of pragmatism to acknowledge ObamaCare is not working. From its inception, too many ingredients of Obamacare were consolation prizes to Democrats, insurance companies and big corporations. We cannot “tweak” or reform Obamacare, we need to wait for it to self destruct so liberal Americans who thought they were getting the deal of a lifetime understand that free market healthcare is the only real deal of them and our doctors. In America, nobody is denied medical care at a trauma center or a county hospital. And there are many state and federal programs to assist all those in need.

“Some people need a hand up for help but too many want a hand out.”

– Jill Provo

If we wait long enough, Obamacare will collapse. It’s a fact Obamacare is bankrupting the nation with disastrous consequences.  It is suicidal. But if that is the only way we can open up health care to more competition outside of federal mother-henning we must watch this happen. Healthcare is not a government responsibility. Each of us is responsible to buy our own. Let’s hope sanity prevails, before more doctors go belly up. Congress must repeal ObamaCare for the good of all. If you recall, Karl Marx said, “First you socialize medicine and everything else follows like night follows day.”

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Fake news is so passé, but we can’t get past it.

Seriously, it’s been probably, what, at least 15 seconds since someone accused someone else of stretching a story to suit their needs, twisting a fact, a comment or an image to fit nicely into their narrative, or engaging in an all-out peddling of baloney.

Or is it bologna? No matter.

The reason we can’t get past fake news is that we secretly love it. And we love to accuse each other of selling it. Yes, baloney and fake news. And neither is too terribly good for us, but that doesn’t stop us from consuming them when nobody is looking.

Let’s skip right past the blatantly awful and contrived stories that have no basis in fact. These are the clickbait stories of inland sharks, miracle pills and most outright political condemnations. These stories are so transparently untrue that a person of average wherewithal and news savvy can immediately determine they are false.

From there, they may have entertainment value in their creativity, but they present no reason for readers to accept them as factual.

Nonetheless, stories such as these entrap the casual news consumer, and those unwilling to think at a level that requires more than the ability to swipe left or right, or communicate effectively without emojis.

If this is you, and you can’t – or won’t – see through stories such as the ones I have illustrated, and still consider them as part of fake news, stop reading here. Please.

I can’t help you. You can’t help you. Nobody can help you, and you can return to whatever it was before I wasted the past four minutes of your happy existence.

No, when I think of criteria for fake news, I stop to ponder stories that have been twisted, manipulated or presented without regard for fairness or accuracy.

These stories would seem plausible, resonate as possibly containing the truth, but – upon closer inspection – are missing some details or pieces, or lack in context and completeness. They require further reasoning or research to confirm initial suspicion that the story is too good (or too bad) to be true. Remember the old game “Two truths and a lie?”

It’s reasonable to expect that a roomful of reporters can participate in the same news conference, take comparable notes, capture the quotations correctly and come away with different stories. Reportage is, after all, a human function.

Perhaps the reporters’ angles are different. Perhaps they represent publications with a specific focus or niche audience that cares intensively about a single issue. Perhaps their news outlet assigned them to focus on a subject that only was a small piece of the news conference because it has special import to their defined geography.

Or maybe these men and women with the notebooks and pens came with their story already written and weren’t really interested in what was said as much as what they think they heard. To think that some journalists don’t start with a story before their reporting begins is to be naïve.  We’ll leave that noble but insulated perspective to academia.

If you hold yourself to a journalistic standard, the goal always is to present your story truthfully. So if the reporter who authored the story you are reading consistently skips facts, lacks the intellectual ability to hold seemingly opposing concepts in their mind and then weigh them fairly or just wants to get home for dinner by 6 each night, well, their stories will fall short of the ideal.

And while there certainly are acts of commission in creating fake news, lazy reporting and inherent bias that goes unrecognized would be key contributors to why it continues to plague journalism.

Before this lands as an outright condemnation of reporters and their ability to perform without prejudice, consider that the rope they walk has been pushed farther away from the safety net. While your local news outlet may have managed to maintain the veneer of health by holding on to its top reporters, or replacing them when they’ve moved on, the backline defense of copy editors and fact-checking has all but evaporated. At the same time, the stakes for error-proof reporting have gotten higher.

In the context of a news operation, the vast majority of the content should be news. That is to say original reporting, or source-cited material, that attempts to identify the news fairly and with context.

Television and digital media are frankly awful at maintaining this measure, and for obvious reasons: Most do not have the financial capacity to invest in reporting, and instead lean on “experts” to riff on the news rather than report it. Newsgathering is expensive, relative to other forms of content for publication.

News ahead of an opinion on the news is good practice. Opinion leading news? Not so much. If your news source subscribes to this pattern, metaphorically (or perhaps euphorically), find a better source.

Reporters have to work hard to fairly create the stories on the beats or within the niche they cover. A story that took you 5 or 10 minutes to read may have taken 5 or 10 hours – and in some cases much longer – to report. They intrude into people’s lives for a living. Some do it far better and far more professionally than others. Some make the world a better place to live in by exposing truth. Some don’t and operate as if they are tenured and untouchable.

Journalism is challenging work. It requires intelligent people with curiosity, confidence and mental dexterity. It takes long hours, and the courage to ask difficult questions to people who oftentimes are difficult. Said another way, you have to give a damn about things that matter, while not giving a damn about what people think of you.

But don’t cry for people in the media. They know the job and its demands before they get into it, or soon after they start. They’re not providing a volunteer service, haven’t answered a calling from a higher power, and are compensated for their time and quality of work. The market determines their value, and they have the opportunity to apply for jobs doing something else, somewhere else anytime they’d like. Nobody is stuck in a journalism job that doesn’t want to be stuck in a journalism job.

In just about every conversation I have with someone who wants to know what they can do about fake news, I offer the same advice: Call it out as false, and detail why. Point out the flaws. Identify the errors of commission as well as those of omission, accuracy and context.

Above all else, stop sharing baloney.

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“Edmund Burk designated the Fourth Estate as watchdogs of government; the press.”

– Albert Clogen

The media has long been regarded as the most important force in government. It is considered the heart and soul of democratic egalitarianism. Thomas Carlyle is a legendary writer and considered the most conspicuous social commentator of his time. He saw the press as instrumental to the birth of democracy, spreading facts and opinions and sparking revolution against tyranny. Carlyle was the first luminary who recognized the importance of the press during the French Revolution. He said, “A Fourth Estate, of able editors, springs up, increases and multiplies; irrepressible, incalculable.”

It is a simple fact that a functioning democracy requires informed citizens. Since our coordination of jurisprudence is a government of “we the people,” rule by the people entails that the people should be informed. And no governing body can operate without knowledge of the issues on which it is to rule. In a representative democracy, the role of the media is a key ingredient to the success of this ability to rule. It not only has an obligation to inform the citizens, it is responsible for bridging the communications gap between the government and voters. It is their duty to indubitably elucidate complex national policy, and …

“Write to be understood, and speak to be heard.”

– Lawrence Powell

Singer Jim Morrison told us, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” It is the media’s responsibility to make the actions of the government known to the public. They have a duty to give equal representation to all opinions as a source of public information. Without media, the loop between the government and the public welfare no longer exists. This makes media indispensable in a functional representative democracy. Without an unbiased media, a utilitarian democracy has little chance of surviving. Regardless of public opinion, the media’s obligation is to report and inform not to trade appeasement for approval.

“Ratings don’t last. Good journalism does.”

– Dan Rather

Today the Fourth Estate has taken a back seat from professionalism. The evolution of the liberal media since the 1950s clearly validates how they have dishonored their once-esteemed vocation. The great “sell out” started after WWII. Media was used to promote the war effort and the networks took notice. And now with national TV in every home, our media outlets realized they had a captive audience. For most all national networks, this was a financial blessing, but for the public it was a curse as they traded ethics for dollars.

“Money often costs too much.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

But why did they choose the Left and not the Right? After WWII, there was a tremendous focus on higher education. And since many of our universities converged on teaching liberal ideology, they received grant money to promote the liberal model of the economy and its benefits to our society. As a result, new journalists, reporters and news anchors were indoctrinated by liberal professors about the evils of capitalism and the damage done by the free market. This played right into the hand of the left as these reporters became liberal robots.

“When yellow journalism replaced real reporting, it forever displaced the Fourth Estate in Parliament’s reporter’s galley.”

– Sir Walter Ebson

By the late 1950s, far left politics dominated most major national newspaper media organizations. And once television became popular, liberals saw how Americans could be influenced by it. This is when they made their move to gain control of the networks. With predominance over them, they controlled all prime time TV and used this valuable air time to sway a gullible public into believing the liberal ideologues would save them. And since news media and political parties share crucial geographic boundaries, this was an obviously beneficial marriage of influential entities. And because all “media markets” and “voting districts” share the same characteristics, they were collectively able to buy predominant market shares. It is with these combined resources they have been manipulating elections for decades:

“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.”

– Edmund Burke

The media also realized since the larger U.S. cities are controlled by the far left, the vast majority of newspaper readers and TV news-watchers in these cities must be Democrats. Since the media did not want to alienate their markets’ voters, they bought into the leftist agenda. Yet this is actually a bit of an oxymoron. What came first, the chicken or the egg? While both the media and Democrats are ultimately dependent on their demographics for survival, the Democratic Party is the one that controls the populations of the major cities; not the media. The media simply nurses from its udder, which keeps it nourished. The left must remain diehard bedfellows with the media to maintain their politically-social dominance.

“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”

– Rob Heinlein

Plutarch stated, “In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker.” Instead of liberating voters from perjury-emanating spin-hacks, the right of center depends on new age media to defy them. But this only reaches their base while the left sustains inclusive exposure. Traditional media is firmly entrenched in progressive ideology and willingly espouses this while the right-of-centers call talk radio hosts and vent about this bias. When the right has had occasions to retort, they failed to sway public opinion with mundane repartee. Liberal media continues to control markets by demagoguing half-truth opinionated news, claiming this aggrandizement is reporting.

“Truth does not sell nearly as well as a cleverly contrived disingenuous fairy tail.”

– Chadwick Black

The left keeps the wheels of deception running with well-oiled spin. They feed the media unlimited agitprop to enhance their rhetoric of helping the poor, punishing the rich, and chastening those who contribute most to our nation. The media in turn pontificates this re-branded federalism with gallant enthusiasm that helps them expand federal programs and bring federal dollars into urban markets that support their patronage. Now, reporters espouse more hyperbole than a science fiction writer. They’ve been trained liberalism is synonymous with journalism by federalist professors. CNN’s Jeff Zucker’s nose grew greater than Pinocchio’s when he said, “If it’s of real news value, we’ll cover it”.

In establishing our independence, the pen and the press had a merit equal to that of the sharpest sword. Newspapers were pivotal in the making of America. As the only mass media of the time, they fanned the flames of rebellion, which sustained loyalty and ultimately brought independence. Without the contributions of Ben Franklin, Tommy Paine and some of our lesser known writers, we would still be begging Parliament for tax relief so we could buy tea and crumpets!

“What motivated the British to colonize much of the world was they were looking for a decent meal.”

– Max Harrison

The progressive media has catechized our nation into divide. The last eight years of reporting was abhorrent. We had an administration that ruined free markets, the job market, ravaged national and international security, and was praised for it. Americans have been dumbed down by spoiled brats with typewriters. Anyone who has not discovered the many new sources for altruistic journalism is an obvious candidate to buy a 1985 Yugoslavian Yugo. Dr. King told us “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Republicanism can’t survive without a candidly ingenuous Fourth Estate.

“The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.”

– Vladimir Lenin

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“The gold standard kept us honest and forced us to control out of control spending.”

– Lane Brody 

Alan Greenspan told us, “Gold is a good place to put money, given its value as a currency outside of the policies conducted by governments.” This basic truism certifies that money has emerged by evolution from the market process. It was not invented by governments. For centuries, economic forces contributed to the evolution of world monetary systems. The security of nations has always been judged by how they manage their money. Those with stable economies have fewer social and political conflicts. Nations that don’t practice credible guardianship of their currency continually fight for survival. There is nothing more destructive to any society than a government that cannot manage their finances competently. Although we’ve been told “Money can’t buy happiness,” that wise comic Groucho Marx reminded us that, “It certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.”

Centralized banking systems have been around for centuries. Dutch merchant Johan Palmstruch formed Stockholms Banco in Sweden 1657. But this bank ended in disaster when the value of the paper currency exceeded the amount of dalers backing it. When customers learned this, there was a run on his bank and it collapsed. In France 50 years later, John Law, a Scottish womanizer and gambler once convicted of murder and exiled by England, talked the French into helping him open a central bank, the Banque Générale backed by government IOUs. His inept blundering caused the bank and the economy to collapse. Law was banned from France forever. Palmstruch and Law both forgot:

“Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No.1.”

– Warren Buffett

The first legitimate paper currency issued by European governments was distributed by colonial governments in North America. The shipment of goods between Europe and the colonies took so long, the colonists often ran out of cash. To pay for luxury items, due to a shortage of currency, the colonial governments used IOUs. This practice of “trading paper for goods” started in Canada, a French colony, in 1685. Military personnel were issued denominated playing cards signed by the governor to pay for goods instead of French coinage. Although primitive, this system of bartering worked well for their colonies: As Plato told us in 390 BC: “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

By the mid 1800s, most countries adopted the gold standard. This guaranteed paper money could be redeemed for its value in gold. This also facilitated trade since it no longer had to be done with heavy gold bullion. It increased trust in world currencies since paper currency had value tied to a precious commodity, gold. And in 1913, America created the Federal Reserve to stabilize gold and currency values. Since printing money not backed by gold created hyperinflation, their goal was to keep inflation low and guarantee the health of the dollar. But that did not last. We soon would learn that:

“Governments lie; bankers lie; even auditors sometimes lie: gold tells the truth.”

– Lord Mogg

In 1900, The Gold Standard Act officially placed the U.S. on the gold standard. America remained on the gold standard until President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Congress passed the Gold Reserve Act in 1933. It required all gold and gold certificates held by the Federal Reserve to be surrendered to the U.S. Treasury. All contracts and currency that required redemption in gold were declared null and void. He justified this claiming we wanted to stop the run on banks. But contrary to his populist propaganda, his real motive was simply to gain control of our money supply. He was planning massive, expensive socio-economic programs that required capital. Controlling the gold supply would give him money to do this. He knew:

“He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.”

– James Garfield

Before 1934, the government was allowed to print $20.67 in paper money for each ounce of gold.

After FDR did his damage, it increased to $35; a difference of $14.33. By doing this, the value of the gold held by the government increased by over $3 billion! This enabled FDR to create $3 billion in new money out of nothing. He then used it to fund his expansion of government. In doing so, FDR flooded the market with currency, which initially helped the economy. However, this cost us dearly. FDR devalued U.S. paper money by 41 percent to finance his “Bad Deal.” This brought more uncertainty to industry and discouraged investment. Like our former president, he was totally unpredictable? As author Ivan Panin commented, “Of the future, man knows least; yet, about this, he worries most.”

Reaction by the rest of the world to FDR’s actions was immediate. When they heard the U.S. pulled off of the gold standard, it stunned world leaders and seriously damaged world monetary markets. It also locked in pestiferous worldwide economic nationalism. Skyrocketing tariffs, trade subsidies, manipulated fiat currencies became universal and global leaders lost faith in the U.S. economy.

Sweden, Holland, and France shortly abandoned the gold standard. This fiasco left international financial markets demoralized. FDR’s idea of a one size fits all economy failed the international litmus test. Author Dean Koonts reminded us that, “One man’s idea of perfect order is another man’s chaos.”

Removing us from the gold standard caused irrevocable damage. And the passage of FDR’s next Bad Deal made matters worse. He spent like a junkie on a money fix. When the Treasury tightened its grip on currency, this economic uncertainly prolonged the Depression until WWII. FDR went too far. His credibility suffered ineluctable damage and the spell he cast over his Congress vanished quicker than Genie can go back into her bottle. Most of his legislation to expand government was rejected en masses by Congress. They knew we were headed to the “eve of destruction.” As Milton Freeman said, “The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus.”

Four decades later, in 1971, the remaining U.S. ties to the gold standard were severed by President Richard Nixon. Desperately in need of money to pay for the Vietnam War he dubiously inherited from former President Lyndon B. Johnson, he unilaterally canceled the direct convertibility of the U.S. dollar to gold.  And we have had wafting free floating fiat currencies since. Later, he told critics: “Well, I screwed it up real good, didn’t I?”

Since we’ve been divorced from the gold standard, we have suffered three atrocious recessions. Unemployment has been as high as 11 percent. These are horrendous numbers compared to the post WWII era, from 1947 to 1970, when we averaged less than 5 percent. Since government has the power to manipulate the quantity and value of our money, it controls the economy but not our free markets. U.S. Keynesianism has usurped the role of free enterprise and it has created a new era of austerity at the expense of prosperity.

“We pay dearly each day for the cost of free money.”

– Chadwell Black

It’s impossible to return to the gold standard now. But we can resurrect the “classical school” of economics. The health of our economy is dependent upon its valued-real money supply and our free markets must adapt to the changes in equilibrium necessary for “laissez faire” government to work. This is the only responsible way for us to remain independent and maintain individual liberty. Every country that has taken control of their economies also found it necessary to restrain freedom and re-engineer society.

“A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”

– Milton Friedman

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“At the height of its mastery, Rome was the pulsing heart of the earth. The day the empire fell the world learned even the most stalwart empires can fail if avarice replaces prudence.”

– Solon Greco

There is not a continent on this planet where one cannot unearth the fallen ruins and silent stories of forgotten great civilizations. Tales of their broken past lay buried deep within the earth under the canopy of the bustling industry, imposing skyscrapers and apartment duplexes of a modern world. These fallen empires that once stood mighty among the most prodigious and influential societies of their respective era, all met their eventual demise for various reasons. There is a salient consensus on one collective attribution for failure; delusive management of finances and excessive taxation.

“The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.”

– Plato

The overarching criterion for determining the collapse of these governments lays in their inability to deliver political goods and services coerced by their citizens. When supply doesn’t meet demand, it is impossible to sustain security and preserve law to regulate and supply blood to the arteries of its legislative body. This strangles their ability to officiate, and severely limits their functional capacity. It eventually cuts off their oxygen and they self-suffocate. There’s no timeline for failure. Some self-implode, with a total collapse of all institutions. Others fall without a whimper. There are no violent revolutions, or catastrophic natural disasters. Instead, they quietly fall victim to collapse unable to manage the central population. This is a consequence of man.

“In a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed defeats disorganized democracy.”

– Matt Taibbi

The Roman Empire reached its zenith in the 2nd century. At that time, there was unprecedented stability and prosperity. This powerful kingdom was an example of good stewardship. The Empire was ruled with authority and obedient restraint. Rome was a pillar of strength no man challenged. As their economy blossomed they became the world leader in the arts, education, and commerce. Their institutions and culture had a lasting influence on language, religion, architecture, and law. The value this brought to expansionism throughout the modern world was more significant than anyone will ever fathom.

“Rome was great in arms, in government, and in law.”

– Goldwin Smith

But the decline of Rome became inevitable due to its immoderate and unmanageable greatness. Once all foe had been conquered, prosperity ended. Its aftermath was moral decay. Rudimentary principles of governing the lives of citizens became irrelevant. Incompetent leaders led to political necrosis, corruption and instability. The Senate and the Emperors were sullied with power, and thought themselves as cardinal gods. Inordinate spending led to economic decline, skyrocketing debt, oppressive taxation, inflation, and a devalued currency. Class warfare and cuts in the military further burdened the republic. Increasing dependence on municipal gratuities stifled incentive in favor of support from the treasury.

“Rome was great as long as she had enemies who forced her to a vision of unity and heroism. When she had overcome them, she then began to die.”

– Webb Dante

Rome’s fall from grace as the epitome of world powers was less unpredictable than the weather in Tennessee. Who would ever think the mightiest of all mighty empires in the history of man would stumble into oblivious demise, without taking up arms to maintain its dignity? Although their future was clearly written on the Coliseum walls, they refused to remove the blinders that sheltered them from indulgent sins of omission. The magistrates frolicked in fruition, while intellectual mediocrity, over-population of the urban areas, disease ridden streets, prostitution, homosexuality, alcohol and drug abuse all led to social and legal putrefaction. This ultimately caused Rome’s collapse. This is what ended Classical Antiquity along with the fall of the great Roman Empire.

“Today, Rome has not seen a modern building in more than half a century. It is a city frozen in time.”

– Richard Meier

The history of this once great republic was omnipresent in the minds of America’s founders as they created our republic centuries later. As a consequence of their deliberations and obvious reliance on divine providence, our founders shaped the United States, fashioned as the modern equivalent of the Roman Republic. And the similarities are illusory and uncanny. The Roman Republic was established in 509 BC by the overthrow of Roman King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and expulsion of the Etruscan theocrats by the Latin Italic tribes from the south. And America is a prime example that history repeats itself. The Republic of the United States was birthed in a bloody revolution against the British King George over 2,000 years later.

“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience?”

– George Bernard Shaw

Despite the efforts of our founders to set a different course than that experienced by our Roman predecessors, an analysis of these two great republics is inevitable. There are stark congruencies between them. Both societies were the pre-eminent entities in military might and economic power. They were leaders in culture, commerce, technology and ideas. Today, the world turns to America for guidance and leadership. In the heyday of the empire, Publius Cornelius Tacitus claimed even “things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.” Thus today, as Romans claimed “all roads lead to Rome,” America projects the same image: All roads lead to the U.S.

“America, just as Rome envisioned, considers the U.S. unequaled in national character and strength.”

– Tibius Culens

Roman politicians had difficulty disjoining public and private liabilities. As a consequence, public services declined while pet projects of the public officials and their patrician sponsors grew at the expense of their citizens. Multitudinous failed reforms were resisted by the patricians that parrot the partisan battles in America today. Middle class Romans were cowed by slave labor much as rising technological change and the transfer of entry level jobs overseas threaten our middle class. The inability of the opposing political parties of the Republic, the Optimates and Populares focused on political gain rather than tasking the people’s work. America too faces a political system transfixed in political party idealism; too shamelessly egomaniacal to govern.

“To run an effective political party you need a degree of tribalism, it’s the glue that holds everyone together.”

– Charles Kennedy

Roman Senator Tacitus said, “Great empires are not maintained by timidity.” The Roman Republic survived 500 years and the American Republic has weathered around 250 years. America lingers on facing major challenges that could negatively affect its future. We lack the ability to satisfy the economic demands of too many at the expense of a few. Our social divisions over priorities and growing unrest caused by a negative political environment heighten the likelihood we could parallel the final stages of Rome. Let’s hope we heed this atrophy before we garner the fate of Rome. The power to do this lies in our hands, not in the politicians. A republican government belongs to we the people, not politicians. We can only hope we have the courage to stop history from repeating itself.

Thomas Sowell said, “Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.” If we lose sight of culpable governing, future civilizations will be walking on our memories.

“Our Republic has chartered a path similar to Rome. If we don’t change course, America will end, as a replay of Rome.”

– Tiberius King

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