Category: Media

A view on the Jobstown trial by Keego

~ jlpagano

Editor’s note – Apologies once more for this site remaining idle for so long…demand from other projects has been too strong of late.  We will get back to it soon.  In the meantime we are grateful to Keego for offering this post.  We have our own take on the Jobstown trial here at FPP and we hope to post on it soon.

 

I had planned on taking the summer off from furiously writing down thoughts on various topics. The plan was to be thought free for a few months as thinking about and reading the news was overloading my already fragile brain.

There was a Trump, a Brexit and a commissioner who appeared to enjoy her commisionary position a bit too much and is willing to do anything to keep it. But there was one issue that made me reach for my vintage dell Netbook (not my best investment) to vent and ask you your opinion on the topic and that was the trial of the jobstown 7. These were a group of people who protested against then Tanaiste and all round unlikable person, Joan Burton.

The coverage of this trial annoyed me, the way the protest was organised annoyed me and nearly everyone involved in the protest on both sides annoyed me. So I thought I would vent into your brain in the hope that you could either correct or agree with me.

Firstly, before we get started, a little about myself might help. I am pro protest. It is healthy and when used correctly, massively effective in sending a message to government. And I think that is where we start. From the moment the news hit the stations about an ongoing protest in Jobstown in Tallaght, it appeared to be an unorganised mess.

When a protest is organised it is near unstoppable. When something is unstoppable then things change. No doubt that there is a massive list of things that need to change in Irish politics, and this could have been a massive dent in that list.

Instead, the people surrounded Burtons car and shouted abuse at her, banged on her windows and all round intimidated her. There are pictures of her smiling in the car, but that is irrelevant. There is zero context to that photo, was it at the start of the protest? People sat down in front of her car not allowing it to move off. This is beyond stupid. If I sit down in front of a car of someone I don’t like, I get run over.

The garda siochana arrived and this is where it gets a bit murky. Aside from locking an old lady in a car and shouting abuse at her, the Garda were limited in what they could do. The geography of the area meant that the way out of this situation necessitated moving the Tánaiste into another vehicle. With the crowd at fever pitch, she felt that this would be unsafe.

And that is the first point. Whether you think that Joan Burton could have opened the car door and walked out or not is not the issue. She did not feel she would have been safe enough to do so. This is a logical response to being shouted at and intimidated for the preceding time.

I had a conversation with someone on twitter about the above point. He stated to me that she could have left anytime she wanted to, she just had to ask the Garda for help. Maybe I have been hit in the head too many times, but if I need to ask a Garda for help to get out of my car then there is a safety issue in progress, or is that a bit unfair of me?

The entire protest was leaded by Paul Murphy of the People Before Profit/Solidarity/Will protest for headlines party. Megaphone in hand he chanted slogans that riled up the crown and made any chance of a quick and safe ending to this protest a near impossibility.

Skipping forward a bit to the outcome. There are 2 massive issues arising from this. Firstly the government went full on in chasing the people who organised it. Dawn raids where a semi regular occurrence for a time. Nothing good happens at dawn as we all know! When the Garda go in heavy handed like this it plays into the hands of the protestors. Immediately, anyone who is hearing the news asks ‘what are the Gardaí/government trying to hide/cover up’. Again this is a healthy response. Even with my dislike for Murphy there was never any need to knock on his door at dawn. It was done for headlines, it was done to send a message and it makes the Garda/Govt look exactly the same as the people they are chasing.

That being headline hunters.

It comes to pass that the Garda who were there on the day of the protest couldn’t get their stories straight, or couldn’t remember the same story at the same time. As soon as this happens the case gets so filthy that the Jobstown 7 where always going to walk free. And in walking free became martyrs/celebrities for the left. This was what made me write this piece. I would be a left leaning person, I believe in taking care of everyone, I believe in being fiscally conservative but I also believe in having a plan. Murphy et al do not have a plan that works. They have tremendous sound bites, tremendous slogans but nothing of substance that will help anyone.

This protest shows the bad judgement of Murphy. Instead of planning, even if this was off the cuff he should have planned ahead. He was happy to stand by while people locked an old lady in a car and shouted abuse at her. Imagine if instead of that, they lined the streets and slowly turned their back on the Tánaiste, in silence. That would have been power and would have made for footage that would be shared on social media for years. Instead they acted like the kids in Berkley College when someone they don’t agree with comes to speak.

If you don’t believe in your beliefs enough to put them forward in an adult way then you are just a dreamer without a plan.

So, with the Jobstown 7 walking free. This means that protesters can shout/spit/imprison people who do not agree with them. It means you can say anything you want to anyone and have no repercussions.  It means that it is not about the idea, it is about the force and loudness with which you shout yours out.

This is not a good thing. This is not what Ireland should be about in 2017.

In closing I would like to repeat. I think protesting is the most powerful tool we have as citizens, especially with the voting system the way it is. But we need to be smart, we need to be productive in the protesting. It is not about who is the loudest, it is about who has the best idea for this country.

Please share this with Murphy and his party, I would welcome an opportunity to speak to him about it. I’ll even buy the coffee. I am not saying this so I can shout at the lad, I genuinely want to understand his thinking because it is so far away from mine, even though we would both be called loony lefties!

Do tag me in the sharing of this post @nkeegan on twitter

Leo Varadkar is first and foremost yet another pro-establishment Taoiseach

~ jlpagano

As far as I’m concerned, one of the principal tenets of “progressive” political thinking is that it does not matter who you are, where you come from nor whom you love; your equal place in society should be protected.

There’s going to be much reporting around the world about Ireland electing its first gay Taoiseach who is also the son of an immigrant.  This will no doubt be added to the marriage referendum result to imply that we are an ever-evolving tolerant country.

On a personal level, of course Deputy Varadkar should be congratulated but if he is to lead the country in a manner that matches his rhetoric and his ministerial performance over the years, then Ireland’s true opposition must continue on it’s path to break the Civil War duopoly’s grip on power.

What Ireland actually needs is its first Progressive Taoiseach.  One who has issues like health, education, housing and social justice as their priorities for government.

I know that sentence would invite howls of derisive laughter from most Irish political experts.  At best, it would be met with patronising talk about naivety with regard to how things work on these shores.  Our Taoiseach can only be the leader of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael and that’s simply the Irish political reality, they would no doubt say.

Well, the way I see it, if we’re not at least prepared to talk about it, then it definitely won’t happen.  You want to see Ireland’s first Progressive Taoiseach?  Then say it out loud.  “I want to see Ireland’s First Progressive Taoiseach”.  Now, say it out loud to someone else who would probably agree with you.  Then say it to someone who would probably laugh at you and when they do, keep your head held high and be sure to say it again next time you see them.

I believe it’s a conversation that can grow over time if we truly want it.  Issues such as #Right2Water, #RepealThe8th, social housing, the hospital trolley crisis, LGBTQ rights and immigrant rights provide a common thread that runs through communities up and down the country.  It surely can’t be that hard to bring them together and move the country in a new direction that is fair to all.

Who would this first Progressive Taoiseach be?  Who knows.  Now is not the time to name names.  Now is the time to get active and join the conversation.

One thing’s for sure…anyone who points out that we have at least had a Tánaiste or two from a party which called itself the “Progressive Democrats” can go to the back of the class!

Meanwhile, Stephen Fry has won the internet tonight I reckon.

 #IANWAE

The US news cycle in the Trump era

~ jlpagano

It’s all about the “news cycle” these days.

And it has gotten to a point whereby we are almost afraid to mention the “wrong thing” at the water cooler lest we be, at best, left behind by a conversation, and at worst, accused of being irrelevant.

Here in Ireland, there only seems to be one topic on the go on any given day and that is determined by what gets covered by RTÉ.  One thing I will say about the US…at least there is enough room for something resembling a battle over what people consider to be political priorities.

According to the corporate Democrats, it’s all about whether or not Trump & his cohorts were in collusion with the Russians.

According to the Republicans, it’s all about pushing their pro-big business agenda, while at the same time making small anti-Trump noises once in a while in case he brings them with him if/when he goes down.

According to Trump, it’s all about him, and anything he doesn’t like is merely “fake news”.

According to the mainstream media, it’s all about either taking a Democrat or Republican position or desperately trying to be “fair” ie finding a position somewhere in between them.

According to the Alt Right online media, it’s all about trying to trying to bend the news cycle towards the conservative viewpoint by any means necessary.

According to the more progressive online media, it’s all about deconstructing all of the above, taking breaks every so often to get us to buy razors through the post.

And last but certainly not least, you have Bernie Sanders.  Whether you agree with his politics or not, you can’t deny that when he goes to the media, be it mainstream or social, it’s all about the issues.  No scandal, no smoke and mirrors, no dog whistling, just the issues, with facts to support his argument.

Like this on his Facebook page from yesterday…

Trump is trying to cut $191 billion from the food stamps program, our nation’s most critical anti-hunger program. All over this country we have millions of kids struggling with hunger. Trump is telling them: sorry, we need to put that money into our military, when we already spend more on defense than the next 12 countries combined. This pathetic budget will be rejected by the American people.

We could all do with being more like Bernie when it comes to discussing government.

#IANWAE

If Sean Fitzpatrick did not commit a crime then we need new laws. Now.

~ jlpagano

Oh, how this makes my blood boil.

Here are some viewpoints on the role former Anglo-Irish Bank chairman Sean FItzpatrick played in the Irish banking crisis.

According to the judicial system…

But Judge John Aylmer ruled this morning on day 126 of the trial that the investigation carried out by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement fell short of the impartial, unbiased investigation that an accused is entitled to.

According to Solidarity TD Richard Boyd Barrett…

Mr Boyd Barrett claimed Mr FitzPatrick walked free because of a set-up and not a blunder. “This stinks to high heaven,’’ he added.

Leas Cheann Comhairle Pat “The Cope’’ Gallagher intervened to say he was referring to a trial and should “refrain lest there might be consequences’’.

Mr Boyd Barrett said: “There is a direct link between Seánie FitzPatrick’s rotten, corrupt activities and Anglo Irish Bank and the families this week being sent to Garda stations or are sleeping in parks because there are no homes.’’

…and then we have the viewpoint of the Irish Times Legal Affairs correspondent Colm Keena

“Sean Fitzpatrick did not commit a crime.” (paraphrase)

It won’t surprise you to learn that my own views would tend to lean towards those of Deputy Barrett.  And while the Irish mainstream media takes such great pains to point out that he was speaking under “privilege” as if it is some kind of cowardly act, I would put forward the proposal that the opposite is the case.

Maybe it’s true that technically Fitzpatrick did not break any laws.  And I would go further in pointing out that watching him “sent down” will not make me feel any better about what the Irish banking sector did to this country.

But if the way he comported himself in both managing Anglo Irish loans and his own personal ones was “legal”, then surely it must be a priority of our parliament to bring proper laws into existence.  And if we can’t bring down a sentence on him in a court of law, how about one from the court of public opinion, making sure the new laws get known as (at least commonly assuming the Dáil would never approve it) The Sean Fitzpatrick Laws.

On the subject of what actually has been done to improve legislation since the crash, here is but one recommendation of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis published in 2016…

A personal remuneration clawback provision linked to medium term performance should be part of the employment contract for senior executive management and board members.

Just to break that down…basically it seems to suggest that if a bank is losing money, the “bigwigs” at the bank should not make money in terms of bonuses.

BUT ISN’T THAT BLOODY WELL OBVIOUS???????  Did it really have to take a group of elected representatives the guts of three years to come up with stuff like that???

Like I said, blood boiling.  At least we have people like Deputy Barrett who are free to speculate as to what is really going on amongst the ranks of the establishment without fear of prosecution under libel laws by our nation’s real cowards.

#IANWAE

Marches planned across the US pressuring Trump to release his tax returns #TaxMarch

~ jlpagano

April 15 is traditionally income tax filing day in the US.  When it falls on a Saturday, you actully have until the following Monday, but Americans across the country are using the weekend date to voice their concerns over the President’s failure to release his returns.

Throughout the campaign he switched between promising he would release his returns and stating he couldn’t because they were “under audit”.  Well this new filing can’t be audited yet so he surely has an opportunity to prove all the doubters wrong by simply showing us what he has been hiding all this time.

When we didn’t see Obama’s birth certificate, he took that to mean that he was born outside the US.  When we didn’t see Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails, he took that to mean she was engaged in criminal activity.  So using his own logic, what are we to take from his refusal to do what every presidential candiate has done for the last 40 years?

Here’s what the organisers of the “Tax March” have to say :

The Tax March is a movement gaining momentum around the country to demand transparency and fairness from our Commander-in-Chief. Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump told the American people he would release his tax returns. Despite intense public pressure, President Trump has not yet done so – breaking with 40 years of precedent in the process. His administration’s excuse? “People don’t care.”

We do care. Without seeing his tax returns, we have no idea what he’s hiding – shady business deals? Financial ties to foreign countries? Conflicts of interest? – or who his policies are really benefitting.

On April 15, we’re marching on Washington and in communities across the country to send a clear message to Donald Trump: You work for us, and we demand answers.

It will be interesting to see how the marches are covered by the mainstream media, if at all.

#IANWAE

Mainstream media and “deranged” liberals square off over Trump’s Syrian attacks

~ jlpagano

The bible on which Donald Trump was sworn in as President was still warm from his touch as Sean Spicer launched the administration’s first attack on the mainstream media.  We later learned they were considered “the enemy of the people” and purveyors of “fake news”.

But all that changed once the attacks were being launched in a more conventional military fashion.  Then all the insults were miraculously forgotten.

Among the most notable admirers of Trump’s unique foreign policy style, which involves informing fellow super powers of your actions over chocolate cake apparently, was CNN’s Fareed Zakaria who claimed that he was “finally being presidential”.

Look – of course he’s entitled to his opinion, nobody is disputing that.  But this article of his in the Washington Post appears to be a sign of him being unable to cope with the backlash he received from the “Left”, as he goes the route of cherry picking the most abusive comments and constructs an absurdly straw man view from the “liberal” standpoint.

From the response on the left, you would have thought I had just endorsed Trump for pope. Otherwise thoughtful columnists described my views as “nonsense” and a sign that the media has “bent over backward” to support Trump. (Really?) One journalist declared on television, “If that guy could have sex with this cruise missile attack, I think he would do it.” A gaggle of former Obama speechwriters discussed how my comments were perhaps “the stupidest” of any given on the subject.

So basically when your opponents use hyperbole it means they’re “deranged” yet it’s ok for you to suggest you had endorsed Trump for the papacy?

A lot of people disagree with you, Fareed.  Get over it.

Meanwhile here’s Lee “Geeky Jesus” Camp with his take on the whole affair, which would be much closer to our view here at FPP.  Yes, we know his show is backed by Russia Today.  But while we don’t always agree with his show’s viewpoint, it often makes a lot of sense.

For another example of the gap in opinion here’s The Young Turks appraising Fox News’ “This is what freedom looks like” narrative…

#IANWAE

Trump probably won’t call media coverage of his Syrian air strikes “fake news”

~ jlpagano

As always, FAIR.org are on the ball to point out pro-establishment sentiment in the mainstream media.

The headline of the piece by Adam Johnson pretty much says it all – “Five Top Papers Run 18 Opinion Pieces Praising Syria Strikes–Zero Are Critical“…

No need to debate the morality or utility of the strikes, because the scene played out per usual: Dictator commits an alleged human rights violation, the media calls on those in power to “do something” and the ticking time bomb compels immediate action, lest we look “weak” on the “global stage.” Anything that deviates from this narrative is given token attention at best.

One thing the “failing” New York Times does point out, however, is the evolution of President Trump’s opinion on how to deal with Syria since 2013…

Of course the use of chemical weapons was disgusting.

But the failure to note the profound lack of sincerity in the president’s verbal response (which included him clearly forgetting the name of “Sarin” gas) demonstrates that when it comes to military matters at least, very little has changed in mainstream opinion , even with this administration.

Since the airstrike people seem a lot more interested in fawning over their knowledge of the hardware used to carry out the attack than they do remembering exactly what it was supposedly being done for.

It was bombs being dropped on children.  Children.  Never mind the gas for a moment.  Bombs being dropped on children.  If anything appears to be an afterthought in the media, it’s that. JLP

#IANWAE

Latest @BestOfTheLeft podcast is called “Living In An Empire Of Lies” – should we trust it?

~ jlpagano

Twice a week, the Best of the Left podcast from Jay! Tomlinson (yes he has an exclamation point in his name…deal with it) takes the best clips on a common theme from a range of mostly-Progressive sources and puts them together with apt choices of musical interludes separating them along the way.

The latesr midweek edition is titled “Living In An Empire Of Lies” and deals with propaganda and the use of distorted truth to control the masses.

Sure, you can presume it’s all about Trump.  But before we in Ireland throw stones, what do we think our own house is made of in this area?  Just yesterday we featured RTÉ’s “coverage” of the Mary Boyle case, and mainstream media’s coverage (or often lack thereof) is one of the principal functions of this site.

Anyway…here are a few quotes from the podcast…

Having trouble tracking down the name for this first quote but it was in an interview on the This Is Hell podcast…

“…unless we’re going to hold states to some sort of universal code of morality and try to transcend our particular locality or arbitrary nationality, we end up with just bias and ignorance which facilitates the worst war crimes that can be imagined.”

Next we have an interview with former US Supreme Count judge David Souter, and I can have absolutely no argument with this sentiment – the same applies to Ireland…too many people know too little about the Oireachtas and how it works.

“I don’t believe there is any problem of American politics in American public life which is more significant today than the pervasive civic ignorance of the Consitution of the United States’ structure of government.”

Last but certainly not least we have the Reverend Roger Ray.  O that all religious sermons could be like his.

“Martin Luther King, Jr. insisted that education was failing on two fronts: we were failing to teach students to think critically, and we were failing to teach character. A shocking number of people fall for fake news and it is changing our government and our society. King’s complaint is very relevant to our present crisis, as we now appear to live in an Empire of Lies in which speaking the truth appears to be treason.”

#IANWAE

How can a Prime Time report on #MaryBoyle fail to even recognize work done by Gemma O’Doherty?

~ jlpagano

Last night there was a report on the national broadcaster RTÉ on the disappearance 40 years ago of Mary Boyle in Donegal.

At the end, David McCullagh provides phone numbers for members of the public should  there be any further information about the case they would like to share.  Perhaps we should ring the numbers and suggest they watch the entensive documentary compiled by freelance journalst Gemma O’Doherty?

Look – this is a tragic situation.  We cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like for the girl’s family since she disappeared.  But one thing is clear – there are two camps within the Boyle family, one led by Mary’s twin sister Ann Doherty who believes there should be a full public inquest into the matter, and one led by the girls’ mother Ann Boyle who does not.

The piece put together by Barry Cummins is clearly biased towards the mother’s wishes.  It makes passing reference to the sister’s wishes and there is even a claim made that she “declined an offer to participate” (paraphrase)…personally I think she was wise not to do so.

For me, Cummins offered absolutely nothing new to the case, rehashing the events surrounding her disappearance with an incredible amount of time devoted to the search, and very little time spent covering the quest for answers (basically it amounted to “The gardaí are on it”).

Instead of asking Gemma O’Doherty on to explain her own investigations, the show instead skims over the topics she covers before mischievously linking some horrendous threatening letters received by Ann Boyle to “social media”, which is where O’Doherty’s work can be found; also it is where she offered many rebuttal’s to the Prime Time segment…

I cannot say who is right and who is wrong, but I will say this…my impression before watching Prime Time was that there were forces at work more concerned in protecting public figures than they were in finding out what happened to Mary Boyle.  That impression had not changed by the time McCullagh was reading out the phone numbers. JLP

#IANWAE

Media should put professional jealousy aside and listen to Rachel Maddow on Trump’s tax returns

~ jlpagano

Last night Rachel Maddow posted an attention-grabbing tweet ahead of her weeknightly 9pm slot on MSNBC.

She then proceeded to make her entire show about the issue.  Here’s a snippet.

Given how we had previously seen nothing of his tax returns up to this point, you’d think the media would be buzzing about this news?  Wrong.

Rachel Maddow Lands a Scoop, Then Makes Viewers Wait – said the New York Times

Rachel Maddow Just Trolled Us All For Ratings – said Mediaite

Rachel Maddow Turned a Scoop on Donald Trump’s Taxes Into a Cynical, Self-Defeating Spectacle – said Slate.com

And that’s just the so-called “left-wing” media….the likes of Drudge, Fox News & Breitbart also had a field day with it, but you can check those links yourself if you want.

I have already pointed out that I’m not wild about Rachel Maddow’s overall style of presentation…but I will say this – it’s a definitive style from which she does not deviate.  And if you put your prejudice aside and listen to what is being said, you will find she is making a relevant point way more often than not.

Were we meant to think that in having these tax returns she had a smoking gun that was guaranteed to bring down the President?  Well all I can say is that if we did, then we’ve only ourselves to blame.  Modern media is about grabbing your attention – I saw nothing in her original tweet that I haven’t seen in countless others from every outlet.

She had two pages of Trump’s returns from 2005, and she used here entire hour to explain in detail…

  1. what was in it,
  2. what WASN’T in it,
  3. why it’s important to speculate as to who leaked it,
  4. most crucially, why we should be concerned with the man’s tax returns in the first place.

On first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking we want to see his returns because we want to know if he paid his taxes.  And funnily enough, on this particular year 2005, he seems to have done so.  This is why I personally believe he leaked them himself.

But what Maddow does in her show is point out that there are many other important bits of information to be gleaned, and this can only be done by accessing ALL of his records, dating back as far as is humanly possible.

Does he owe anyone money who might be benefitting from his Presidency?

Does he really give as much money to charity as he claimed throughout the campaign?

How much does he stand to make personally if his proposed new tax plan takes effect?

The media should put petty jealousies aside and instead join Rachel in reminding the public as to the importance of asking such questions.   Otherwise, when she does other good reporting, like she did last Friday suggesting Mike Pence has been lying about what he knows about Michael Flynn, she will be ignored.

Actor Wil Wheaton put it best on twitter…

 

Hey – if we can listen to a reality-TV billion-heir, why not also listen to Wesley Crusher, right?  JLP

#IANWAE