I have been asked which cable shows I am shunning. Instead, let me give some of my guidelines I plan to use, and have been using .
We should not tolerate those who use analogies of violence to attack a persons’ positions on issues or who attribute motivations for political dispositions based on passing and limited associations. Conspiracy theories need substantive proof of both what happened and what did not happen. Angry expressions of fear and loathing need to be tempered; passions can be expressed in other ways. The English language is rich; analogies do not need to be expressed in terms of violence and comparison with hated historical figures or practices.
I can tell you what shows I have been shifting to when I find the cable conversation to be offensive:
CNN and Sunday morning programs hosted by Candy Crowley and Fareed Zakaria;I am a fan of Anderson Cooper
I have also (as always) listened to Sunday AM network news shows…all of them I can get to before church or Sunday activities turn my attention elsewhere.
Network news: all of them; I am not loyal to anyone in particular.
Always long time favorites and loyal fan:
PBS Evening News and Friday night public affairs lineups.
Where I find my comfort zone on MSNBC: Morning Joe (MSNBC); alternatives if MSNBC is not in range: Network morning shows. Joe Scarborough’s Morning Joe is particularly valued for its guests of varied political perspectives and ideology delivered in a pleasant, conversational tone. I get up early daily for that one.
For tickling my liberal funnybone in dulcet tones: Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Chris Matthews
Do I listen to FOX? Yes, particularly on weekends though FOX is sometimes tapped on weekdays, too.
Radio: I am rarely in range of NPR unless I am driving to Denver, but I do take seriously their sometimes different perspective..
Printed and web matter: AP News and other wire service reports delivered by Yahoo; on line with the Denver Post, New York Times; Bloomberg Business Week News; Time Magazine, Washington Post, and if time or if my investment banker son emails me attention to a story, the Wall Street Journal. Blessed be my Amazon Kindle Fire; it saves a lot of trees. I could not write without GOOGLE SEARCH or Wikipedia. ...at least to get the spelling and dates right and to be able to tap onto the variety of opinions and perspectives on an issue or the actual words used by an original source. I do not need to be at every DC press conference; the text is usually on line somewhere.
Always the Sky Hi Daily News on line.
The on line preference is due to the fact that we are often traveling; I have just gotten into the habit and do it when at home, too. For those who do not know where I live:I am an hour and a half from a major city, high in the Rockies with limited radio reception. Comcast, internet, and Amazon keep me supplied with material. Except for radio, I do not feel isolated.
I read books: Selectively and less frequently, because what I write is so tuned to weekly events. For background: I seek those non fiction written ones who are in a position to know what really happened, either because they were a participant or a reporter with close hand access. Auto-biographies and biographies are taken with a grain of salt and their perspectives are fed into a pot of other information. Fiction: historical and spy novels; great histories of past periods, especially the Revolutionary War and the founding of our nation. I have recently read biographies of Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Franklin and Lincoln or books about their times, such as “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Fiction: Ken Follett’s “Fall of Giants” is a recommended recent read; another: “Ironfire”, by David Ball…an amazing saga of Malta and the entire Eastern Mediterranean 400-500 years ago. Favorite books: “People of the Book” by Geraldine Brooks..a sweeping fictional history of the covering the same era to the current Balkan conflicts…from perspectives of Jews, Muslims and Christians. This is the story of both my husband’s region of birth and the Spanish roots of my father’s side of the family. “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee, describes a similar culture and a similar town in which I was raised. It described my childhood neighborhood. My parents were the moderates of the time in their attitudes. I credit them with passing to me respect for all human beings, regardless of race or religion. I take the historical references made by James Michener in any of his books seriously though, like any historical fiction, I also try to benchmark what is written against history books. My favorite of his: “Centennial”. My father, a native of eastern Colorado, born of a pioneer family early in the last century, said he got it right. His little known “Poland” gives great background for the history of eastern and central Europe. If any of these works have anything in common, most are about regions and locations which I have visited in person or have some family and personal ties. Classics: Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”…which inspired the names of our children, though I Anglicized them. I have never been to Russia, but I feel a strange kinship, perhaps because of my personal experience in Eastern Europe and a love of history and Russia's role in it.
2014 update: The challenge is searching for the middle ground and the facts upon which I can draw my own conclusions. I read two different on line or email postings every day. One from Real Clear Politics and the other, Politico. It is not that they are entirely in the middle, but that is the closest I can come. I do give great credence to fact checkers,especially those in the Washington Post. I often use all of these for links to the original report or sources and look at those sources myself. You will see me post those same links to original reports on this blog so that you can draw your own conclusions . I take most polls regarding issues with a grain of salt because so much depends upon how and what was asked. I have been in politics too long...writing, conducting, and making use of them...to rely on just one or the other. Even Gallup has gotten it wrong and others are overtly slanted to one ideology or another. They do it by being selective about who they poll and how the question is worded. On media, I miss Chuck Todd's daily rundown; he has a truly great grasp of the political goings on in the country. I know he got a better assignment on broadcast news, but I miss his insights. I have become a fan of Michael Smerconish on CNN. He often comes closest to a good balance between the extremes.
On foreign policy, I have never held any official position but I am a policy wonk since my high school days. I admit to being a bit right of center on foreign affairs since so much of my early life was conditioned by being a close hand observer of life in the Cold War. I am a believer in Real Politics, concurrence of self interest, and who holds the power. The world is not a democracy. Intervention and aggression are matters of asking what is in our national interest and smart politics is knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. I detest chauvinistic chest thumping and prefer Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly but carry a big stick". I do believe that democracy is the best way for a country to be peaceful and prosperous internally and externally..but that the form of democracy is what Thomas Friedman calls a "liberal" one...free press, free assembly and speech, fair and honest elections. I believe developing that liberal democracy takes time and doing it at the end of a barrel of a gun held by a force inside or outside the country is not the way.
My knowledge of foreign policy is based upon my own personal contacts, experiences, and family experiences...all of which are extensive and very grass roots. I have been married to a refugee from the Balkans, gone to school in Europe, and our children have similar experiences...one married to a European and another, an international investment banker, who has many stories to tell. We travel to Europe to visit friends and family nearly every year. The conflict between religions and culture played out in the Balkans has been a fascination, intellectually and emotionally, over most of my life, and flavors much of my writing.
I am by nature a lover of a good debate and it gives me great pleasure to craft a point of view and make a case for it. I also know that when you take a position in public , someone may disagree and try to personalize it. ...and frankly, I do not mind controversy and I respect well crafted, factual rebuttals. It just inspires me to write more.
