NEWS AND OPINION:
The news media had a field day with the Hawaii missile attack scare, using the incident to alarm the public, and as a handy way to bash President Trump and his administration, among other things. It was a dress rehearsal for a reality the nation has lived with for decades, and a teachable moment.
“Federal and state authorities are investigating how such a thing could happen. A far more profitable line of inquiry, however, would be to examine how prepared is that state — and, for that matter, all the others — to deal with the all-too-present danger of such an attack,” points out Frank Gaffney, president and CEO of Center for Security Policy.
“What Hawaiians experienced as they scrambled to find ways to protect themselves is surely what the rest of us would discover at present: America is almost totally unprepared for — and consequently, highly vulnerable to — ballistic missile threats that are increasing by the day. That’s unacceptable. The Navy’s AEGIS missile defenses at sea and ashore could help. Ditto civil defenses. Doing nothing is not an option,” Mr. Gaffney advises.
ANCHORS AS ACTORS
The media still dwells on a report that President Trump used a controversial expletive to describe certain nations affected by immigration policy. And there is manufactured drama, particularly among CNN anchors and analysts, says Rush Limbaugh.
“Anderson Cooper was near tears. And Brian Stelter could barely contain himself. And these CNN people were stuttering and they were preening as moral superiors — like it was the absolute, almost worst thing they’d ever heard. And that just offends me,” the talk radio host told his 10 million listeners Monday.
Mr. Limbaugh theorized that such well-known media folks actually use such dicey language to describe conservatives on a daily basis.
“They think Mississippi is a hellhole. They think Alabama’s a hellhole. They think flyover country is for bitter clinger redneck reprobates. They talk this way all the time. I don’t think Anderson Cooper almost crying was genuine. I don’t even think these people are news anchors. I think they are actors. I actually now believe that not only is the daily so-called news a soap opera, but the journalists reporting it on television are actors. And the White House press corps, the reason they want the cameras in there? They are actors,” Mr. Limbaugh concluded.
MODERN POLITICS
Running as a “strong and unapologetic progressive” for Senate in Maryland, transgender activist Chelsea Manning has released a new campaign ad which includes gritty images of protesters, police actions and the White House.
“We live in trying times. Times of fear, of suppression, of hate. We don’t need more or better leaders. We need someone willing to fight. We need to stop asking them to give us our rights. They won’t support us. They won’t compromise. We need to stop expecting that our systems will somehow fix themselves. We need to actually take the reins of power from them. We need to challenge them at every level. We need to fix this. We don’t need them any more,” the candidate advises on camera, clad in black athletic wear and carrying a red rose.
“This could be the trailer for any one of the dystopian, teen-lit movies which have been so popular in the past decade, i.e. ‘Maze-Runner’ series. Given Manning’s preferred gender, perhaps the ‘Divergent’ series is a better fit or better yet the ‘Hunger Games’,” writes Hot Air columnist John Sexton. “Without very much effort you can imagine Katniss Everdeen (actress Jennifer Lawrence) reciting this entire speech as she rallies the troops of district whatever to fight President Snow (actor Donald Sutherland) and his goons. Chelsea Manning is the girl on fire.”
BIG CHANGES IN JERSEY
Phil Murphy will become New Jersey’s 56th governor at high noon Tuesday, making him the first Democrat to hold the position since 2009.
Mr. Murphy, a multi-millionaire, has never held elected office, but he’s got big plans. Mr. Murphy hopes to legalize marijuana, raise taxes by $1.3 billion, and make New Jersey a “sanctuary state” in the face of White House immigration policy, according to Brent Johnson, an analyst for NJ.com.
He also points out that former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, plus former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, came to the Garden State to campaign for Mr. Murphy.
“And in the final days of the race, Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi held a special mini-concert for Murphy. The two are close friends and neighbors and have even vacationed together,” Mr. Johnson notes.
A BUREAUCRATIC WEB
The federal government provides access to government services though 4,500 websites. A recent analysis of the 500 of the most popular sites by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation found that 91 percent of them failed to perform well on important metrics like speed or accessibility.
“In decades past, agencies just had to worry about designing websites for use on desktops — but that’s no longer the case. Increasingly, users are looking for information on the go and websites need to be mobile friendly. While private-sector websites have kept up with demand, many government websites haven’t,” notes MeriTalk, a news and research group which covers the federal IT world.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise that government is lagging behind on mobile,” said Tom Cochran, chief digital strategist for Acquia, a software developer. “Nothing is quick in government because it’s a bureaucracy with challenges in procurement, hiring, security and more. The market forces which push companies to deliver exceptional customer experiences don’t exist in the public sector because there’s no competition. You only get government citizen services from the government. You can’t switch to a competing government.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 57 percent of Americans say illegal immigration is a serious problem in the U.S.; 86 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of independents and 36 percent of Democrats agree.
• 37 percent overall say illegal immigration is a minor problem; 11 percent of Republicans, 33 percent of independents and 59 percent of Democrats agree.
• 28 percent overall say illegal immigration is a serious problem in their own community; 44 percent of Republicans, 28 percent of independents and 18 percent of Democrats agree.
• 26 percent overall say they personally know an illegal immigrant; 26 percent of Republicans, 24 percent of independents and 29 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 8-9.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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