It Is Becoming Clearer: Big Media Is a Big Problem

 Big media -- the system whereby major media companies are bought and sold in a way which limits political discourse -- is becoming a big problem.  

Take for example news in today's New York Times  that a German (!) company is buying Politico, an online news source valued by many for its insider information and astute commentary.  This is the kind of transaction simply should not be.  

This sickening buying-in (quite literally) to Washignton, D.C. politics by a foreign company raised instant alarms with me. Is there no hope for prohibiting such journalistic intrusions?

There is at least one important person who wants to take on Big Media -- in this case Big New media.  That one person is none other than President Joe Biden, and the company is none other than Facebook.  Our home-grown cable news channel this evening alerted me to the desire of the Biden Administration to break up Facebook into independent and smaller companies which would be much less likely to dominate the spread of minsisnformation, for one thing.  

May this effort succeed.  And may it lead to a more thorough cleaning-up of the rotten power system of Big Media in America. 

Bay of Pigs Fiasco Led to a Kennedy Reconsideration

   Espeicially for those interested in world affairs -- 

  In these confusing days of pandemic and other world uncertainties, it may be useful to review the aftermath of the 1961 fiasco at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba.  This invasion, overseen ultimately by the new and inexperienced President John Kennedy, led the young Chief Executive to consult former President Dwight Eisenhower for advice.  In a well-publicized visit to Camp David, Eisenhower delivered to Kennedy the words of wisdom Kennedy sought. 

The story of this meeting is told elsewhere, including in a Life special magazine article, I believe.  One piece of advice Mr. Eisenhower gave Kennedy was to get all the experts in the room at the same time and let them hash it out.  It is not my purpose here to try to analyze what is going on in the world today.  But perhaps -- as I say -- a review of the Bay of Pigs disaster may prove more than a little useful.