Fake News: Using The World As His Stage

I've never been one to accept things as they are presented.  I ruin magic shows because I always seem to be the one who sees the slight of hand, notices too much, or looks to closely in the background and figures out what's not being seen.  It's not intentional; I simply do not like to be deceived and I'm conscious of my surroundings. 

https://youtu.be/LAk6dXEzIUo?si=hZQ2mnzLvv-TP8kZ

I am genuinely amazed with Donald Trump and his ability to befuddle the world with his blatantly transparent deceptions.  I'm sure that he sits back every day and laughs at just how well he is able to manipulate the masses as he dances on the world stage.  He is a mastermind at giving the public just what they want in order to get exactly what he needs in return.

When I saw the special report that interrupted our day in ordervto announce the assassination attempt on his life, I scoffed, "Fake news!" before the broadcast was a minute into it's description of the event.  Why?  Well, although the event seemed to play itself out right before our eyes, the actors did not execute their performances to the very best of their abilities. Let's examine why I say this together.

1.  Trump looks expectantly in the direction of the shooter and it is not in his behavior to look away from the crowd.

2.  Trump could have easily used something in his hand to cut his own ear.  There is no blood splatter on his hair, neck or shirt and his ears really don't stick out that far.

3.  During an active assassination attempt when secret service does not know how many active shooters there are, they should have been concerned with getting the former President off stage in a covered, cowering position instead of standing straight up and making him a target for a second or third sniper before knowing (with certainty) that the event was over.

4. Armed secret service would have used a exit route that would have avoided walking into a crowd.

5. Armed secret service would have pushed the crowd back and away from the stage and run to cover immediately instead of allowing him to say, "Wait, wait...  Fight!".

6.  Visible, armed guards would be closer to the former President as a pathway was cleared.  None of the secret service men were armed, yet snipers were posted visibly in several directions.

7. Seconds after being shot, Trump was more concerned about getting his shoe before leaving the stage than he was his own personal safety.  They forgot to turn off his microphone.  He never once says he's been shot, but refuses to leave thevstage without his shoe or before speaking to the crowd once again.

8. The crowd never moved nor were they asked to move by those protecting the "target".  If nine shots were fired into the crowd, where did the other seven bullets go?

9. The only building that did not have secret service snipers on the roof just happened to be the building that the assassination attempt came from.

10.  The sniper directly behind the former President was already in position to kill the shooter and end the event immediately.

11.  Although media was present, there is no footage of the aftermath of the shooting, the former President's exit, no spent bullet cases, no idea why this sniper sought to shoot the former President, no interview with the injured or the man's family who died, no scenes of  ambulatory response, no footage of the assassin's body or guns, or even the area the sniper shot from...  and what good journalist would miss so many golden opportunities?

12. The photograph of the bullet as it passes behind Trump has been edited so that the crowd is no longer there.  Maybe the editing is done too well because you can see the bullet clearly as well as a trail of smoke...   hmm...  Either that was a great camera or maybe the crowd was never there.  Or maybe it was just an amazing magic trick and the public was fooled by a quick slight of hand.  To me, it was no more than staged, transparent, fake news.

13.  Not only did he narrowly escape an assassination, get his court cases dismissed, but he also galvanized the Republicans empathy enough to secure the Presidential nomination  just three dsys after this attention-getting campaign.  This yime, hes running hid campaign on "unity" insteadvof the hate rhetoric he used to win the election previoudly.   I can almost hear  George Bush saying, "Fool me once, dhame on you....  Fool me twice?  Well, you can just fool me again."

This was no more than a poorly performed one-act stage play.  The country is doing well under Biden.  With no inflation, higher pay for all, nationwide medical coverage, low unemployment and a great economy, there is really nothing negative for an opposing candidate to pounce upon and create a platform for his candidacy.  Building a hate campaign that will divide the country may not be quite as easy as it was before.  

No sexism.  No racism.  No fear factors.  After somebreview, Trump's campaign manager may have realized that both candidates look alike, and targeting Biden's weaknesses would only expose Trump's as well.  So, in walks Olivia Pope.  By creating a diversion with one bullet, Trump's court cases and negative traits can be swept away while America gobbles up "fake news" about a textbook lone wolf assassination attempt.

What do I mean?  Well, just two days after this assassination attempt,  all of Trump's court cases were dismissed.  Although therevhas been a year of coverage dealing with  Trump's mishandling of thousands of top secret documents while serving as President, the cases were quietly removed from the court docket during the mayhem and aftermath of this failed attempt on his life.

Allegedly, he cannot be prosecuted by the same court justice that he appointed while he was in office.   In addition, it was unconstitutional for this same person to file the initial charges and demand rails.  Because of this, nothing discovered in the last year is admissible in court and all charges must be dismissed. The focus of the campaign will now shift to galvanized justice for a victim of an assassination attempt instead of focusing on how he mishandled the Office of the President previously.   My question is:  "Didn't they know this a year ago?"  It was all a charade to appease the American public while we waited for this later act of "fake news" on the Tru-Trump Show.  

Do you find it odd that an untrained gunman had access to a high powered rifle just 400 feet away from a potential President?   The textbook twenty year old, white, male, registered  Republican voter  had to be executed on-site so that his story, court case, and trial would not distract from the center ring as the ring master has to be the focus of this circus. Did he even fire a gun at all?  Didn't he know that he was surrounded by snipers?

We have neither seen nor heard from anyone else in this fiasco because their relevance is minimal or truly non-existent.   If a man was shot and killed as he protected his family, why was there no outburst, no running and screaming, no ambulance at the time that it took to get Trump to safety?  The crowd was unmoved, contained, and even cheering as Trump slowly rose to his feet, put his shoes back on, and slowly left the stage waving at his minions.  And all of this was done without anyone ever stating that the assassin wastruly immobilized, acting alone, or a statement alerting the masses that it was safevto move about because the event was over.  No one on the "grassy knoll" was stopped for interviews or eye witness accounts? No official statements from Trump's campaign; just a two sentence Tweet from his X account.

Remember, this is the same man who paid a crowd of people to wave signs and wear his T-shirts as he announced his initial run for President on a downward descending escalator in a shopping mall...  By comparison, the staging of this shooting looks just as transparent, staged, and unworthy of applause.  Years from now, it is very likely that we'll find out that the shooter was really a staff members son and he's been away in college overseas for a decade - all paid for by the Trump 2024 campaign.

This played out like a rushed episode of Scandal and I found myself looking through the crowd for a woman in a white jacket trying not to make eye contact with the camera.  And foolishly, many Americans will miss this slight of hand and remain amused at the fanfare instead of looking closely at the non-reaction of the crowd, the quick de-escalation of a major event, and the idiotic reasonings given for each typecast nuance containedvwithin.  I just know that if there are gunshots in any crowd, people commonly run and scream, knock down cameras, stop staring at the stage, protect themselves and (did I mention) scream and run away from danger? None of that happened.  

But, what do I know?  I must watch too much Worldstar.  And Trump knows how to put on a great show for the world's stage.

American Justice: In Black And White

Racial disparities in America are not an issue; however, the laws that govern our people are...

A Wikipedia search substantiates the fact that racial rioting is not new to America.  Since the early 1800s, this country has gone through over more than 120 racially motivated riots that disproportionally left thousands of minorities dead although they, themselves, were rarely the catalyst for the violence that ensued.  Tear gas, live ammunition, fires and smoke bombs seem to be "standard procedure" in instances where race is the dividing line in any given issue.

So-called Native Americans have been reduced to living on reservations.  Hispanics remain uneducated and under-employed in vast numbers.  And, history has all but forgotten that Tulsa, OK, was the first city in America to be bombed from the air -destroying an entire city of African Americans simply because they were more successful than their surrounding non-black neighbors who were jealous of their economic success.

At some point, we have to review the commonalities of these racial riots and begin to seek a real resolve.  Short-term laws and public apologies are simply "band aids" that pacify problems.  However; we never deal successfully with the problems at hand.  If America is to attempt to "fix" the issues of policing in minority communities, we must, first, change the stereotypical perception of our American minorities.

We must offer solutions for the underlying issues of poverty, mis-education, and unemployment that systematically plague communities of color and the poor.  It is necessary to deal with these issues of head first.  Policing in under-served neighborhoods (be they black, white, or brown) is the same across the board.  But, acknowledging that we have an issue with race seems to spark debate solely because few are willing to endure the initial rush of emotions that result from beginning a conversation.

Both, classism and racism combine to produce a perfect storm of mixed emotions that erupt into civil unrest.   More than any other country in the world, the "land of the free" has continually promoted racial oppression, and a segregated justice system.   Oddly enough, the only common denominator in all of these riots is "fear of what could have happened".

And our American history, as it is recorded, almost always describes the victims of oppression as people with prior police records, a menacing demeanor, or those who were "acting suspiciously".   In short, the American justice system is a direct reflection of the old adage, "He who has the gold, makes the rules".  I prefer to say, "He who has a goal, manipulates the rules...".

The 2016 election cycle has begun to chip away at the iceberg of mis-information spread across this country.  By exposing the extremist ideology of the right and left,  America is forced to have conversations about topics we have been afraid to approach for decades.  Now, daily talk shows and news outlets openly deal with educating the poor, policing habits and brutality, and the disproportionate wealth distributions in America.  But, alas, we sometimes get distracted by the more obvious themes of racism, prejudice, and fear.

 If we choose to focus solely on the symptoms of this disease, we will never find a cure.

Yes, we need to address the obvious; but, we also need to look beyond the surface issues and look for solutions that will heal this nation at its core.  To begin to end racism, we must review the issues that only exist in minority communities. Rather than ask about a symptom like "black on black crime" we should challenge the fact that there is no money for after school programs, arts and music in our inner city schools, or no job training for the under-employed.  Yet, there is a new stadium in the same neighborhood and homes are being boarded up daily.  Looking through this lens, we can begin to see why someone might feel hostile and lash out at the nearest victim of their aggression.   I, in no way, condone the behaviors of crime and violence, but we must be mature enough to question why the exist at all.

This nation is sick.  We have ingested our own hatred so many times until we now are numb to its taste. 

We see senseless deaths as a way of life and we justify ignorance as a lack of will.  Surely, there must be a remedy.  We have to begin to talk about our social ills and then, demand that the laws be changed to be inclusive rather than exclusive.  We must put aside the fear of being misled and take the reigns of our own education.  Participation in the political process is just the beginning - but showing up and being counted may just assure that some thins will begin to change...

Instead of sit-ins and marches, create bills that must be reviewed by Congress for approval.  Register to vote by the millions and participate in the political process.  Unify and boycott businesses that do not stand beside you or your community in your fight for justice.  And, finally, use the political system as an asset instead of waging war against it.   Learn the laws that govern and - if you don't like them - write new ones.

But, alas, these are just the rantings of ONE Man's Opinion... What is yours?

The Pressure Is On

Air date: 10/9/2017

Join us as we interview Morehouse graduate, James "Rilow" Riley of Street Execs as we find out more about their web series, Pressure. As part of this innovative, young group of directors, actors, and producers, Riley offers a candid insight to the film industry and what it takes to create a show that both, enlightens and entertains.

We were also joined by Keith Preyer of Actor's Altar.  They provide opportunities for budding actors to promote themselves and network with professionals who can assist them in starting a rewarding career.

An amazing interview session followed by the usual antic of Uncle Sean & The Conscious Party, this airing allowed us all to learn more about the industry - from beginning to successful end.